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Step One: Topic
Selecting a topic
In many ways, selecting a topic should be the easiest part of your project.
You should not write a thesis unless you can find a topic that can sustain
your enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity for a year. In reality, however,
defining a feasible topic for research is not always so intuitive a task. You
may have many interests, or you may wonder how you can convert an interest
in an area into a manageable research project. Nonetheless, even if you are
presently unsure of a topic, a systematic approach will help you define a
workable question. To approach the defining of a topic methodically will also
help you get used to the level of organization that a thesis will demand.
There are two main ways to choose a topic. The most common one is to join a lab you are interested in, then find a topic that is in some way aligned with what the lab is doing. You can come up with your own topic within the lab's line of research, or add your own piece to an ongoing project, as long as your particular piece is independent. This is the easiest way to pick a topic, because you are more likely to find a faculty member who is interested in and qualified for supervising your thesis. If you believe that
your interests tie in to an ongoing faculty project, it is important to learn as much as
you can about the research area and to get to know the faculty member doing the
research. You might also volunteer as a research assistant to acquaint yourself
thoroughly with the direction and procedures of the project. Remember, however,
that not all faculty research programs lend themselves to thesis projects, and you
should not assume that faculty members will have ideas or work for you that
connects with their work.
The second, and less common way, is to come up with an idea completely on your own, and find a faculty supervisor. This can fulfill a desire you've always had to answer a question or study a topic, but you may have more difficulty finding a suitable supervisor if your area of research is outside the interests of our faculty. To begin picking a topic, you should read in the literature of your area of interest. Employing
the skills you developed while writing your Sophomore Essay, you should be
able to gain a sense of the current state of knowledge in your area—its
achievements, its failing, its unanswered questions. Because you will want to
include in your eventual project proposal a literature review (as in your Sophomore
Essay), you might make your literature search as systematic as possible.
Regardless of the method you use to pick your topic, you should do some background reading to narrow down your topic. Your reading should raise possible research ideas in your mind, and will also
likely raise questions you may want to ask others. Thus, once you have begun
some initial reading, you will want to talk with others about your interests and
intentions. Speak to fellow students, seniors who are now writing theses, your
former Sophomore Tutor, and current and former Teaching Fellows. This initial
feedback should help prepare you to speak with faculty members. Faculty can be very helpful while you are trying to focus your interests.
When you first meet with faculty, let them know that you are trying to crystallize
your interests into an actual research proposal, and ask for their reactions and
suggestions. You are apt to receive valuable ideas for further reading and possible
lines of investigation. You may also get some idea of how feasible it will be for
you to carry out research in the area of your interest and what the availability of
Department faculty advisers is likely to be. Although faculty will not expect you to present a complete plan for your project at
this point, it is always helpful to be as specific as you can. Be careful not to ask a
faculty member to supervise a project while you are still solidifying your ideas; you
should always have a basic idea of the question you are asking and possible methods for addressing it, and will ideally have a draft proposal in hand when you seek out a supervisor. You
may, of course, encounter faculty who are enthusiastic about your ideas even at
this early stage; you will certainly want to approach them again when you have
prepared further and are searching for a supervisor.
Once you have done some reading in appropriate literature and spoken with
several people about your interests, you should be in good shape to select a topic
area that interests you, that can be shaped into a do-able thesis or research project,
and that offers you the opportunity to make a contribution to psychology.
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