how to choose your dissertation topic? how to make the decision!

[phdbound710]

I am a second year PhD student in clinical psychology. I am having a bit of trouble honing in on my dissertation topic. I know the area I would like to research. The trouble is with narrowing down in this area to a specific issue to look into and questions to ask. I have so many ideas and every time I read articles in my area of interest I get more and more ideas! I want to do something that is not too complicated, but also want it to be publishable. I would love some advice from people who have been through this process!

[Monochrome Spring]

A couple pieces of advice to mull on:

 

1) Your dissertation only needs to encompass one issue. It should be a grouping of projects fitting a common theme, working to answer a larger question. You can always address your other ideas with a postdoc or in your later career.

 

2) Some of the greatest findings have come from simple ideas and simple experiments. Don't worry about making everything complicated. Break up your larger ideas into smaller, simpler questions/experiments.

[mdiv2014]

go to where the data can be the easiest to find

trust me on this on

[fuzzylogician]

If you already have many ideas, it may be time to stop reading. There is always more stuff to read, it just never ends unless you decide to stop. I'd see if there is a way to organize your ideas into general topics or interests. At that point, it may be interesting for you to look at job ads from this year and maybe last year, to get a feel for what kind of jobs are out there. If there is something among your ideas that is "sexy" right now, that's a good way to go. Keeping it simple would be great--it'll make it easier to sell your work and to explain it to a wide non-specialist audience (read: search committees). 

 

Also, for the record, here is some advice that one of my friends got from her advisor on how to choose a topic: 

Finding a good topic is like finding a husband:
- there's no such thing as the one
- there needs to be passion, at least in the beginning
- you and only you can figure out the best fit

[juilletmercredi]

I actually agree with mdiv2014 on this one.

 

While I think it's always useful to be in a currently "sexy" field...you're a second-year, and you won't be on the market for another 4 years.  What's "sexy" now could be old hat by then.  But there are things that are always in-demand, like work with vulnerable populations (especially with racial/ethnic minorities, LGBT populations, and people with disabilities) and anything that is methodologically or statistically sophisticated (hierarchical linear modeling, repeated measures, structural equation modeling...)  You definitely want to pick something that could potentially be appealing to a search committee, that you could easily explain to "outsiders" outside of your subfield, and that you could potentially turn into a seminar that you could teach to upper-level undergrads or grad students.

 

I agree that there needs to be passion in the beginning, to keep you motivated.  It will eventually go away and frustration and desperation will be what motivates you, lol.  (I'm joking...mostly.)

 

In all seriousness, I was never in love with my topic.  I liked it, and it interests me.  But I selected it because it was quick and easy; it was cutting edge; I knew that I could publish from it and that it would be impressive to search committees and employers, but more importantly I knew I could finish it in a year.  To be completely honest, a dissertation is something of a means to an end.  Yes, you learn a tremendous amount through the process, and yes, you should enjoy the topic.  But the best dissertation is a finished one, and my main concern was getting the heck out of here.  I work in a health sciences lab and my adviser already has a large amount of data, so I selected a topic that he already had some data on that I could analyze and get done.  The data collection takes the longest amount of time!  You don't want to pick something that is going to have you toiling for more than 2 years (not in psychology, anyway).

 

Generally, I think students get 2-3 papers out of a dissertation.  So think about projects of a scope that would make up 2-3 publishable papers.

 

I will also add that it gets far easier once you have finished coursework and exams.  Your exams are actually supposed to help you think more like an independent scholar in the sense of narrowing down appropriate projects.  When I was still in coursework, I was convinced I would never be able to define a research project like a dissertation much less a multi-year grant.  Once I finished my exams, I was like "I could totally do this."