Choosing A Research Topic
This is really important to do the right research as well as to
do the research right. You need to do 'wow' research, research that is compelling,
not just interesting.
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| Research Topics for good research |
Of all the decisions you'll make as an emerging scientist, none
is more important than identifying the right research area, and in particular,
the right research topic. Your career success will be determined by those two
choices.
The research you do as a graduate student will set the stage for
your research as a postdoc and as a professor. While it is unlikely that your
later research will be a straightforward extension of your dissertation, it is
also unlikely that it will be completely outside your field. Stories to the
contrary are the exception, not the rule. The knowledge, expertise, and skills
that you gain early on will form the foundation for your later investigations.
Choosing the right topic as a graduate student will help you insure that your
research will be viable in the future. The right topic will be interesting to
you, complex, and compelling.
According to Cliff Davidson and Susan Ambrose of Carnegie Mellon
University, "The most successful research topics are narrowly focused and
carefully defined, but are important parts of a broad-ranging, complex
problem."
Finding the ideal research problem does not mean simply
selecting a topic from possibilities presented by your adviser or having such a
topic assigned to you, attractive as this may first appear. It means going
through the process of discovering and then developing a topic with all the
initial anxiety and uncertainty such a choice entails. This is how you develop
your capacity for independent thought.
There are a number of factors to consider when selecting a
research area. Some of them have to do with your particular interests,
capabilities, and motivations. Others center on areas that will be of greatest
interest to both the academic and private sectors.
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To know about the factors of journal for publication
Factors to consider in selecting a journal for publication
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Lists 11 points to consider in
finding and developing a research topic:
1.
Can it be enthusiastically pursued?
2.
Can interest be sustained by it?
3.
Is the problem solvable?
4.
Is it worth doing?
5.
Will it lead to other research problems?
6.
Is it manageable in size?
7.
What is the potential for making an original contribution to the
literature in the field?
8.
If the problem is solved, will the results be reviewed well by
scholars in your field?
9.
Are you, or will you become, competent to solve it?
10.
By solving it, will you have demonstrated independent skills in
your discipline?
11.
Will the necessary research prepare you in an area of demand or
promise for the future?
Let's take a closer look at Mr. Smith's list. Clearly it is
important to pick a problem you are enthusiastic about (1), and one that will
interest you over the long haul (2). Much research is just that, re-search. At
times it will be mundane, and it will surely be frustrating. Experiments won't
go right; equipment will fail; data from other sources won't arrive on time (or
at all); researchers who pledged their assistance won't come through as
expected, while others will do work that competes with your research. During these
times you'll need courage and fortitude.
Picking a problem that you can solve in a reasonable period of
time (3), that will lead to further research (5), and that is manageable in
size (6) is a particular challenge for most graduate students and postdocs.
Doctoral students tend to take on more than is necessary to achieve what ought
to be their goal: completing a dissertation or obtaining another publication or
two. That's why it is essential to have the right supervisor. It's his or her
job to help you determine how to make your dissertation original and
publishable, yet also manageable. (More on choosing the right adviser in my
next column.) There will be plenty of time for further work after you complete
the Ph.D.
Whether or not a problem is worth solving (4), will make an
original contribution to the literature in your field (7), and if solved, will
have results that will garner the attention of scholars in your discipline (8),
is at the heart of what is meant by choosing compelling topics leading to a
meaningful "stream of ideas."
One way to tell if a subject is compelling is to note how many
people attend seminars or symposia on different research topics. In some cases,
attendance may be up for big-name speakers, but often it is because the work
presented is of broad interest. These seminars can give you clues to possible
research directions and topics. Of course, going into an area where there are
too many other researchers has its drawbacks, but beware of going to the
opposite extreme. You don't want to be the only researcher in an area that has
little chance of drawing interest or support.
Your capacity to tackle the problem (9) will depend somewhat on
your innate abilities. However, to solve the problem you'll also need to
develop basic knowledge and technical understanding, computer skills, and
experimental expertise. To acquire such skills you'll need direct access or Web
access to courses and seminars, library materials, independent-study
opportunities, and most importantly, other students, postdocs, faculty members,
and even industrial scientists and engineers.
To develop independent skills in your discipline (10), start by
defining and developing a problem that is sufficiently robust. You'll then need
to acquire a fundamental understanding of certain phenomena or behaviors and
experimental techniques in order to solve the problem. However, as Peter
Feibelman, author of the popular book A Ph.D. is Not Enough (Addison-Wesley,
1993), says: "It is important that your focus be on problems and not on techniques
or specialized tools. The latter come and go and as a researcher you want to be
able to shift your approaches as needed to solve the more fundamental
problems."
Choosing a research area that will be in future demand (11) can
be tricky. Some fields, such as semiconductor physics and fiber optics, may
have been compelling for some time, but are now approaching maturity and
shifting focus and are likely to be less promising in the future.
Other areas, such as telecommunications and biotechnology, are quite
popular. However, their very popularity may have oversaturated the fields. In
such cases, large numbers of investigators often compete for limited financial
and experimental resources.
Some fields drive the technology for other fields, and therefore
may be in a better position to thrive as specific applications shift. You need
to look at emerging fields and see if your work can affect these areas in some
specific way. For example, work on amorphous silicon may apply to the emerging
field of flat-panel displays, which, in turn, is part of an even broader field
of low-power portable communications systems.
Finally, you need to pay attention to the broader implications
of your work and to the possible appeal such work has to both academia and
industry. As Smith notes:
"Interdisciplinary research is no substitute for good
disciplinary training during the greater part of a graduate career. It is
advisable, however, to seek exposure to interdisciplinary activities in
graduate as well as postdoctoral training since most researchers engage in
interdisciplinary research during their professional careers."
Once you've found the ideal research topic, your next challenge
will be choosing the right research adviser.
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