Use previous work to guide you.

When deciding on a dissertation topic, you can build momentum and get ahead quickly by building up on your previous work. Hopefully, your graduate program was set up to provide you assignments which incrementally move you towards picking a dissertation topic. If so, you probably have a body of work that you can refer to for guidance. If not, you’ll need to do some detective work on your own. Take each of your major papers and figure out what, if any, themes are in common or what you enjoyed about working on each one. Figure out what topics/themes you might like to explore further. You can take existing work and push it further- using, perhaps, a different study design, a different population or group, a different set of data, adding a longitudinal piece, using a different instrument, analyzing different parameters- all of these would provide a good basis for extending existing research/work into a new, original, contribution. If you’re just starting the dissertation process, pick a topic that’s right for you, the right size, and which feels doable in a year or two. If you pay attention to these factors at the start, you’re more likely to finish when you plan to.

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