Changing focus from what was written about in application

[UnusualSuspect]

So... when I wrote my statement of purpose last year, I expressed interest in researching a particular topic, and in the past six months or so, I've been very interested in another topic. I'm entering a master's program, and I can still easily study what I'm interested in at the school I'm attending. Has anyone else done this, and should I expect problems? I've heard before that changing one's focus is less of an issue for master's students than for doctoral students, but I'm still a bit anxious.

[Riotbeard]

Is this a change of field or focus? Like where wanting to nineteenth century U.S., and now you want to do medieval europe? Like how dramatic is this change?

[UnusualSuspect]

I wrote about wanting to research popular culture in the Midwest, and I've grown more and more interested in American environmental history, although I am still interested in popular culture and its relation to environmentalism. My time period would remain the same, although the location within the United States might change.

Some further history: I recently finished a distance master's program in library science at my school, which is located in the Midwest, and I conducted research on a certain digital collection as part of that program. One of the history professors mentioned that he was looking for a student to study that collection, and I mentioned in my SOP that I'd be interested in continuing to research it. While finishing my research last year, I grew to hate the collection and really don't want to study it any further. I'd much rather focus on environmental history, and there is at least one professor who is doing this sort of research.

[Riotbeard]

I mean I would guess that is not that big of a deal. My adviser does religious history and I do sci/med stuff. I mean, you never know, but it does not seem like that big of a deal to me.

[triplebogey]

A colleague of mine made a similar switch. Based on our conversations, it seemed like laying the groundwork for such a change and keeping your department's DGS in the loop is important. In other words - get in touch with any new folks you'd like to work with, make sure they're on board, and play with your hand in the open. If you can show you've got a legitimate interest in a different field and a halfway concrete research question in mind, things ought to pan out. This is something on my mind, as well, though I doubt I'll ever actually switch fields (I'm rather happy where I am).

[CrazyCatLady80]

A lot of people in the MA program change their research focus. When I entered the program, I was interested in African Americans in Los Angeles. As I continued with the program, I became more interested in political history. Now my field is 20th century urban political history focusing largely on race - a lot more specific. Also, I know a lot of students that entered the MA program that didn't have a focus at all, except for something super general (i.e. U.S. cultural history). One advantage of the MA program is that you find out what you like before entering a PhD program.