How to Address Assigned and Non-Assigned Dissertation Topics?

Dissertation topics are important components of dissertation writing tasks; without these dissertation topics, university and college students will find it hard writing or even starting the dissertation papers. In short, the dissertation topics serve as the compass for the students. Dissertation topics are compasses that help students navigate the tricky work called dissertation writing. There are two ways in which dissertation topics are managed in relation to dissertation writing as a component for assessment and testing. One, the dissertation topics can be assigned to the students. Two, dissertation topics are not assigned which means putting the pressure on the shoulders of the students in finding the best dissertation topics to focus on. So what’s the best approach when the dissertation topics are assigned and what should be the correct steps to be taken if the dissertation topics are not yet assigned?

There’s no question about it, writing dissertations is tough. Dissertations come in different forms and covering different styles and these concerns add to the complexity and difficulty of writing dissertations. Depending on the institution requiring these dissertations, these works are usually asked as a requirement for passing a certain subject or for assessment tool to test the competency of the student in relation to certain topics, subject areas and discipline and this is the reason why many colleges and universities require the submission of the dissertations before admissions to the colleges and universities. But these strict tests are just the start of the problems that will be faced by college and university students. There are other problems that are faced by students when tackling dissertations and it all starts from the top- how to attack the dissertation topics that will be approved, critiqued positively and accepted by the board of admissions or the professors.

What to do if the dissertation topics have been assigned?

This should be good news for many students if the dissertation topics are already assigned. The common thinking is that when the topics are already in, it’s easy to start writing the paper.  But this is not the case when it comes to college and academic setting. Keep in mind that there are a number of things that should be considered when working on the paper. One thing to keep in mind is the direction of the paper that will be written. Are you going to make the dissertations overviews of the dissertation topics? Or should you make specific analyses of the dissertation topics. If you are going to write an overview then you can now move to the next step of the dissertation writing activity. If you are going to present a paper that talk about specifics, you need to make sure that the dissertation topics are specific enough. If the dissertation topics are too general, then you need to drill it down to find specific versions of the dissertation topics.
 
A good example is the topic TRAINING AND HUMAN RESOURCES. If the objective of the paper is to write a generalized paper, then you can immediately go to the writing part. But if you will be writing a specialized dissertation on this topic, then you need to dissect and find specific topics or focus.  For example this topic can be narrowed down to TRAINING PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE MOTIVATION OF SLACKING EMPLOYEES.   Once you are confident that the topic you have in hand is specific, then that is the time that you can go to the next step of writing.

What to do if the dissertation topics are not yet assigned?

Now this can be critical for many students if they are faced with dissertation writing yet the dissertation topics are not yet underlined. For some students, this is a difficult situation to play with. But this can be used to your advantage since you are free to choose the dissertation topics that you want and the topics where you can easily find information. If you are at this stage, it’s important that you define what is the purpose of the dissertation or the direction of the dissertation. Are you going to convince the readers to take your position, to explain a certain concept or understand a certain scenario? The dissertation topics must fit into your direction that you want for your dissertation writing.

Once the purpose has been underscored then that’s the time that you brainstorm the subjects of interest. Get a pen and paper to write down some of the subjects that are close to you. Every direction for your dissertation will call for a different set of subjects. If you can’t seem to find the subjects to cover for the dissertation, just look around and you can find inspiration. Even your day to day activities can be source of subjects. When all potential dissertation topics are already listed, make sure that you evaluate each potential topic. Think about and feel all these dissertation topics that you have listed. If you will take a position and persuade readers, make sure that the topic is something you like or has an affinity with. In selecting from different dissertation topics, your best screening tool is to weed out the dissertation topics that offer you limited access to information. If for example all of the dissertation topics don’t appeal to you at all, just try working on one. You may be surprised that this topic may be better than the other dissertation topics the in your list! Make sure that you review all dissertation topics once you made the list. It’s costly to start a dissertation and to revert back to the list of dissertation topics to find another one to write about!