Topic SELECTION for dissertation or research - Section 1

TOPIC SELECTION

The Bachelor/Masters/PhD dissertation is likely to be the largest piece of academic work you will do in your lifetime. It is important that you choose well so that you can increase your chances of successfully completing it. Because you will spend so much time working on it, it is important that you chose a piece of research that you are interested in in order to sustain your interest when motivation is running low. The following sections, along with the class sessions, will help you to choose and refine your topic into a researchable dissertation.

Inspiration for topics
There are a number of sources you can use for inspiration; business trends that you are aware of from attending lectures, a chat with a lecturer in your favourite subject, newspaper and magazines and observations from everyday life. The following table outlines some ideas from business trends:

GENERATING TOPICS FOR RESEARCH

Areas to look for some topics

• New technologies

Find out what‟s happening in the area of new technologies and how they might impact on business

• Open source

There is a lot of talk about the “open source” business model; is it just hype or will it influence the way we do business?

• Green economics

What opportunities exist in business in addressing environmental issues?

• Ethical business 

What impact is ethical trading having on traditional business models?

• Old chestnuts with a new twist

What problems are being faced in business that have not been the subject of research (perhaps in a particular context

• Globalisation 

What it means for various sectors/industries, how they are being prepared, what their response is, etc.

These are very general but may provide you with a start that can be funnelled into a researchable topic with some investigation and reading.

The next table goes further and provides some ideas about business related problems that may spark off further ideas that can be developed and refined. It might be useful to join with your “research buddy” to brainstorm and come up with some ideas. After this you need to ensure that the topics are worthy of further consideration. Start the process off by continuing on to the next section. Please refer to section 2 

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