A Handy Guide to Choose the Best Dissertation Topic Dissertation proposals should be penned in detail to give a clear idea of the questions being asked and their significance, the relevant historiography, the conceptual framework, the sources as known, and your research strategy. But before we come to the proposal stage here are some tips to select a good Ph.D. dissertation topic. Topic of interest The key factor in choosing a Ph.D. thesis topic is that it should interest you; it is also vital that it suits your intellectual capabilities and your student life situations. Ideally, you will be working on your topic for a long duration – from its start as a proposal to end as a book. In a worst-case scenario, the choice of a topic becomes an obstacle to your finishing your degree or publishing it. The obvious task of selecting a PHD topic is not always that all apparent.
Topic of choice Some PHD students are fortunate and they have a nagging question to which they should know the solution. A question accessible to the tools of the subject, the sources required, the student already has the skills needed to effectively research it, the question is one that quickly reminds others as important, and it’s a project a faculty member in the student’s department is wellequipped to advise. This ideal conjunction is rare. More often humanities graduate students find themselves, as they approach the end of course work, or complete their preliminary exams, intrigued by many questions, and by many historical methodologies. They may have a topic but no sources, or a fascinating archive, but no question, or both a problematic and documentation one that lacks skill. Many students are distracted by nervousness, convinced that if only they can identify the next “important” topic, their future will be safe. An “apt” topic will give research and write-up support funds (grants), fellowships for post-doctoral, and lead to a professional employment.