How to identify a research topic

-“How do I find a research topic when I have no ideas?”
- “I am trying to identify a research project, where should I start?”
-“How do I know which of my research ideas is the best adapted for a research assignment?”
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These are questions I am often asked by students in the modules assessed by autonomous research projects that I teach at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In this blog, post I have put together for you a three-step process to help you a find a research topic:

1. Starting points to identify a research topic
2. Criteria to help you select the most adapted research topic
3. One thing to keep in mind: research topics are not set in stone and they evolve over time

Starting points to identify a research topic

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Where do people with a research topic have found them in the first place?
Here I highlight three ways in which students commonly identify a research topic. If you don’t know where to start, looking there can be a first step to help you identify a research topic.

• Starting point 1: Something that interests you in the socio-political world. Is there a social or political phenomenon that sparks your curiosity? Events that you would like to know better? Problems that you would like to understand? These are all relevant starting points. Your next step then would be to identify the key words and concepts through which social scientists talk about such phenomena so you can identify the relevant literature.
• Starting point 2: Analytical frameworks (theories and concepts) that make sense to you and that you would like to use. Are there theories or concepts that you would like to explore? That you would like to apply to a case or phenomena to help people understand it differently? This is a common way of starting a research project. You next step then would be to identify a specific case to which you can apply your framework, and make your idea more concrete.
• Starting point 3: There is a piece of research that inspired you and that you would like to emulate. Are there articles you read that really made you think and stayed with you for a long time? An academic conversation/debate that you would like to contribute to? Then go for it. Your next step would be to identify what exactly in this publication/conversation you want to focus on and find an angle through which you can contribute through your project (you can write something that is inspired by a published piece but this must be different to a simple copy of it, be careful of plagiarism!).

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Take a step forward: Brainstorm using the three starting points above and list 3-5 potential research topics. For each of these options, address “the next step” identified (1. finding key words in the literature, 2. identifying a potential case, 3. pinpoint specific contributions/positioning).
At the end of this exercise, you should have 3-5 potential ideas for research topics in front of you in writing.

​Criteria to refine and select your research topic

​Once you have written potential options, it is time to select the one you will keep for your project. I have listed below five criteria to help you compare different options and refine/adjust your research topic:

1. Module’s/programme’s expectations. If you are developing a research project for a graded assignment, the first thing you should do is to read the documentation for your module to make sure you understand the objective(s) of the assignment, its potential structure, and marking criteria. Make sure that you pick a research topic that enables you to showcase the skills you will be assessed on. For example, if your module is about text analysis, pick a research topic that enables you to analyse textual data. Or, if your module is about producing a research design for empirical work, make sure that your topic enables you to do just that.
2. Skill set. Chose a topic that you have the capacity to investigate. By skillset, for example, I refer to your methodological and linguistic skills. Basically, you need to make sure that you have the skills required to deliver your project to completion. If the topic requires the use of certain methods of data collection and analysis, you need be comfortable using them. For example, if you have to produce an empirical analysis but you have never done statistics or text analysis, avoid choosing a research topic that requires advanced methods in these domains – let’s say multivariate analysis or discourse analysis – if your deadline is a few months and you are not taking specialised modules to learn these methods. Producing research takes time and if you work under time constrains, it might be more strategic to use methods you already know or that are easier to learn on your own (let’s say descriptive statistics or thematic analysis if we follow the previous example). The same goes for learning a new language. If a project requires learning a new language, that might work for a PhD where you have several years to develop your skill set but, considering all the other things you have to do in a shorter programme, it might not be reasonable to assume you will be able to do so.
3. Personal interest. Another important criterion when it comes to selecting a research topic is to consider what sparks your interest and curiosity. Better to pick a topic that you personally enjoy learning about rather than something that you would do just because a lot of people are doing it. For many students, the research projects they do during their studies are the only ones they will do in their life, so you might as well pick something you are passionate about. Also, you will be more motivated to spend time working on your project if you have a personal interest in it and therefore more likely to produce better work!
4. Feasibility. Make sure that you pick a project that you can actually deliver. This criterion builds upon the skill set point I made above and encompasses other elements. Quite often, students come to my office hours saying things like: “It is the perfect topic but to be able to do it, I would need to have access to secret military material that is classified and which therefore I cannot access”. By definition, if your project is impossible for you to do, it is not a perfect project! A perfect project is a project that shows the readers something they did not know before and that you can finish on time. You need to find the right balance between going out of your comfort zone and forcing a project onto yourself that you cannot actually deliver.
5. Planned trajectory. Finally, I also encourage students to choose their project in relation to what they want to do after the end of their programme. Depending on the professional path you want to take, producing a piece of work that you can showcase on your resume or send to your future employer might be useful. Here I think in terms of your research question/research problem, case study, and methodological skillset demonstrated. Between the different options in front of you, is there one that is more likely to be seen as a bonus for the type of interviews/applications you are considering?

It is likely that no research topic will perfectly tick all these boxes. So rather than searching for a research topic that surpasses all other research topics, it is about you comparing the different options in front of you, assessing the trade-offs and making an informed choice on this basis.

​Evolving topic vs changing topic

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Finally, it is important to consider that the topic you have chosen will likely not be exactly the same topic as the one you end up submitting. By this I mean that it is normal that your research project evolves throughout your research journey, which includes transforming/tweaking some aspects of your initial research topic. That research topics evolve is a process inherent to research; letting go of our previous ideas, perceptions and anticipations is an integral part of being a self-critical researcher!

​That being said, transforming a research topic through research is different to changing a research topic all together. By changing topics, I mean that you have started working on one of the options selected through the criteria above, but a couple of months down the line you decide you want to work on another option. This is a different scenario. If this is something you consider doing, you need to ask yourself the reasons behind this desire (as some might be strategic and relevant but many are ... not). For example, if you realise that you didn’t anticipate a feasibility issue, it might be wiser to reorient the research question instead of changing the topic altogether. Indeed, if you have a deadline, time is precious and it might be risky to completely change a project after a certain point.