Thesis Questions

[PastHistory]

I have my general area of focus and I have my advisor. We are putting together the rest of my supervisory group/committee. Right now, I have a very broad idea of what I am interested in, but I am not really sure how to begin narrowing that down to something thesis worthy or something that hasn't already been explored 150 different ways. I have a meeting scheduled with my advisor later this month (they have a huge project/event this week and next, so I don't want to pester) about the thesis, but I would absolutely love some advice from people who have been in my shoes, so to speak. How did you come to your thesis topic? Is there any advice you can offer in how I can narrow my interest down enough? Some others in my cohort seem to have such perfectly defined topics that I feel like I am already behind!

Thanks!

[Bukharan]

I have a week to come up with a somewhat detailed research proposal for my Master's thesis. Currently, I don't have a topic. No panic though - it will come.

[Grimm101]

I had a general idea of what I wanted to write about. Throughout the process of research, prior to finalizing the topic idea, I found ideas and concepts which really stood out. This helped me narrow my topic enough to write my prospectus and later, my thesis. The key is in the literature. Since you already have an topic of interest, start flipping through sources. Also, if you have access to it, online dissertations done in the field. See what they are missing and what is being covered repeatedly.

[sankd]

I wrote two wildly different seminar papers my first year. I decided to build on one of them to make into a MA thesis, especially since I knew I barely cracked into the sourcebase. I went to my advisor last semester, gave them the 35 pages I already finished and wrote up a plan for research. I should be done by April. Of course, if I don't get into any PhD program, I'm just going to take the summer to finish it while interning in DC. Plan B!

[rsldonk]

What I ended up doing was writing something quite different from what I presented as my thesis proposal as I ended up getting deeper in the archives and looking at my sources. I am sure you have a basic idea of what you want to do, this is a good place to start. I would look at what archival sources you have available (it does little good to come up with a project that's cool but due to lack of sources, impossible to complete) and sort of go from there. Your advisor can help you focus things and especially point you to good secondary literature that will give you more context and help you to come to terms with your sources.

[TMP]

I came to my MA program almost kind of knowing what I wanted to do my thesis on- taking the framework that I created with my BA thesis and applying it to another scenario. My advisor wanted me to do my thesis locally but I gave her a disgusted look as if she was really kidding me. Then I was reading one of my professors' preface in his first book and his description of his time off in another city just... hit my head. I was inspired. Once I got there though to explore the archives, the findings took me to a different direction because I realized that this particular story had never been told.

It's very good that you are exploring your thesis topic right now. Read as much as you can. I agree with the above comment about what archives are available to you. Can you get summer funding to visit archives outside of your university and area? You should really try to make a goal to get much of your research done by September so you can begin writing in September. Too many MA students take longer than expected (2 years in program)) to finish because they get hold up with the MA thesis topic, convinced that they'll never find that "unique" topic. You just need to get into the archives to really start building up what you'd like to write about. Let your curiosity and interpretations guide you.

[StrangeLight]

i BS'd my SOP for grad school. i mentioned a few avenues of interest and a geographical, thematic, and temporal focus, but that was it. so when i got here i had nothin'.

i started reading the secondary lit on my region and then looked for gaps or silences in the scholarship. grabbed 3 potential topics and looked for sources on each (not the sources themselves, just trying to find if they exist in an archive somewhere). then i picked one of the topics that seemed most interesting and had the most potential and i read the secondary literature on that particular issue. made a rough outline of two potential theses, depending on whether or not my sources said what i thought they would. gathered sources in the summer, processed them, and formulated a single, tight research question. then i wrote a lit review. three times. then i wrote a detailed, 6-page single-spaced outline. then three drafts (one of which required major revision). now i'm waiting on notes from the latest version. hopefully it'll be line edits and not a rewrite (again).

but yeah... i just started with secondary lit and looked for potential ideas based on the kinds of tangential questions left open in the work. i did that reading in an independent study with my advisor, but i realize that's not an option for everyone. getting a general reading list from your advisor on your specific country, sub-region, or whatever, would help.