Choosing a Research Idea

Choosing a PhD topic

Assuming that most students choose a discipline they have significant familiarity with then a specific topic can be determined by:

i)           Building upon a thesis completed at undergraduate or masters level.

ii)      Investigating specific problems encountered in practice. Those that have worked as practitioners can draw upon their experiences and rich insights.

iii)        Reading research and practitioner journals and magazines and becoming particularly interested in and knowledgeable about a problem area or emerging opportunity.

iv)        Discussions with a number of academics. This is a common way of settling on a topic area. Even so, this approach may take considerable time to work through and academics may not have the time to discuss at great length the merits of a range of potential topics.

Prospective students must be prepared to be flexible. Even if they have identified what they believe to be a good topic for a doctorate, it will still evolve from the original idea as discussions are entered into with academic supervisors. The academic supervisor with research experience will be able to refine and improve upon the basic idea which may change the topic focus to some extent. The candidate needs to trust the potential supervisor in this process.

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