Dear Dissertation Coach,
EEK! It is the beginning of the Fall semester, and I don’t know what question my dissertation is supposed to answer. How do I find it?
Harried Dissertation Student
Dear Harried Dissertation Student,
Yeah, finding the right question to write your dissertation about is key to getting it done. You can write circles around a topic, but if you don’t know what you are trying to answer, that’s what you’ll get…circles.
First, of course, you have to decide on a topic. I address this in Chapter 6 in my book Dear Dissertation Writer: Stories, Strategies, and Self-Care Tips to Get Done. The chapter summary gives you the tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) version. I’ll repeat it here:
- Think of faculty legacy.
- Pick a topic/theory you like.
- Use a class research paper topic or conference presentation.
- Ask your faculty advisor for suggestions.
- Go with a whole new idea.
- How difficult will it be to find subjects for this research?
- Think about methodology, also.
I had a client who knew her topic area, but she hadn’t nailed down the question she wanted to ask about it. She wrote thousands of words on the topic, including the fundamental theories and the published literature surrounding it. When she arrived at one of our meetings, I found her frustrated because she didn’t know what to do with those thousands of words.
I started asking her questions:
- What do you see is missing from the literature you have reviewed?
- What do you find most fascinating in those things that are missing?
- Can you conceive of a research project that could provide some of the missing information?
- Is the research project small enough to achieve results in one or two semesters of data gathering and analysis?
- Finally, what does your faculty advisor think of this project?
If you can answer all of those questions, then you are well on your way to finding yourself a research question worthy of a dissertation.
Your question may not come easily to you. What is missing from the literature is sometimes a difficult question to answer, but it is essential for a dissertation. You need to be adding to the academic knowledge of the world with a dissertation. A dissertation should be original research.
Talking through your ideas makes it easier to figure out the direction of your dissertation than just thinking about it alone. I’ve always found that conversations help clarify my ideas. You may find that to be the case, as well.
Find someone to discuss these questions with, whether it’s your faculty advisor, a fellow graduate student, or even a dissertation coach. Remember, you always get one complimentary forty-minute consultation with me. I have helped students discover a direction during that conversation.
So, Harried Dissertation Writer, good luck with finding your topic and/or question to write your dissertation about. It can be a challenge, and you are not alone.
Sincerely,
Susan
Your Dissertation Coach
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