Changing your research project after you get in

[moraurora]

Hello,

I have a question about what happens after you get in. Can one change her/his research project along the way to phd? I mean, imagine that you said in your proposal to study X in the field of linguistic anthropology. Then, after the first year, for some reason, you decide to study Y again in the field of linguistic anthropology. I am curious about how binding the proposal is.

I am asking this because I have two possible research ideas in my mind and I'm gonna stick with one of them in the proposal. Of course when I am making the applications I will try to apply to schools in which I can study both of them. I just would like to hear your ideas.

Thanks in advance.

[eucalyptus]

Hello,

I have a question about what happens after you get in. Can one change her/his research project along the way to phd? I mean, imagine that you said in your proposal to study X in the field of linguistic anthropology. Then, after the first year, for some reason, you decide to study Y again in the field of linguistic anthropology. I am curious about how binding the proposal is.

I am asking this because I have two possible research ideas in my mind and I'm gonna stick with one of them in the proposal. Of course when I am making the applications I will try to apply to schools in which I can study both of them. I just would like to hear your ideas.

Thanks in advance.

Note: I'm not in your field, but I figure psychology is close enough. In general, most departments I've seen understand that grad students are unlikely to know exactly what they want to do for their dissertation before they even start grad school (interests change over 5 years, especially when you're learning a ton). However, the ease of switching projects varies from department to department, often based on your funding source. If your funding is tied to your advisor (like if you're being paid out of one of their grants), it can be harder to switch advisors. If your funding is through a TA position or is otherwise not tied to your lab, it's usually easier to switch advisors. Also, some department atmospheres are more encouraging of students working with multiple projects or switching advisors than others (you can usually gauge this by how many, if any, current grads are working in multiple labs or publishing with multiple professors). If, however, you're talking about switching projects but staying with the same advisor, it is much much easier.

[CultureOfIdeas]

I'm in a cultural anthropology program, but I think the previous poster's comments are solid. It's almost expected that you will deviate in some ways from the project you proposed in your admissions essay. What would be the point of coursework, seminars, colloquia and so on if not to help you develop and expose you to the ways in which professional anthropology is done? No one expects you to come in already ready to write a book, no more than they expect you to have an outline for it. Graduate school is, at least for us, about formation. I think the previous posters comments are on point regarding the difference between laboratory science and anthropology/humanities/social sciences - for us, it has always been made clear to me, we are here to learn, to change, and to develop the "touch" that's required to do the sorts of work we do. I'd be shocked if your project didn't change.

[Sarah S.]

Yeah, I applied to study new world monkeys and instead I'm working with lemurs. My interests actually changed over the summer, after I knew where I was going, and I freaked out a little bit since I wasn't even here yet but things are fine.

[anthropologygeek]

Yes you can change what you do. However I wouldn't recommend a drastic change but you can even change everything about it

[samjones]

a change is usually expected. i mean, especially for someone coming out of undergrad who MAY or may not have a thesis that (if it was for a anthro degree) utilized fieldwork. unless you already have a field site that you plan to continue to study after having already studied it in some way prior to starting your phd program, i think it's expected that you may change the interest that you may or may not have quickly strung together for your application. i think that portion of the application is really just a test to see if you can string together an interesting project (relevant and based on your previous academic/field experience) because it proves that you may be able to do the same thing 2, 3, or 4 years later when you have to submit a dissertation proposal that relates to the interesting (and hopefully coherent) coursework you take while in your phd/ma program.

and i agree with the previous sentiment that it's expected that you would expect to grow and develop in the program, which would inevitably lead to changes in your project and/or you choosing something totally different (but hopefully still relevant for your program).