How to Choose a Thesis Topic?

In this short article, you'll learn how to choose a thesis topic well. If you manage to choose a good thesis topic, the rest will be almost child's play.

First and Most Important Rule: Be interested in the topic!

You can write about research on Mars, through a spaceship built from Mars chocolate, if YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED.

Look at these two astronauts, they don't even know where they are.

This is the first biggest mistake you can make.

With this, you hold yourself back, you won't feel like doing it and you'll constantly postpone it until you submit something heavily plagiarized.

How do you know you're not interested in the topic?

• You constantly procrastinate starting it
• You can't think of starting points for the topic
• You have no ideas for getting started, etc., etc.

Second Rule: Don't Let the Topic Be Too Broad / Don't Want Too Much.

First of all, we need to focus. This means we need to find a small topic that interests us and relates somewhat to our field.

The SMALL is important here. Size doesn't matter, they say, but YES.

If you give too broad a topic, it will be very difficult to build your thesis structure.

Let's look at an example.

• Title: "The effectiveness of digital marketing in the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises: With a Hungarian case study presentation."
• Title: "Application of modern marketing strategies in global markets: Theories, methods, and case studies"

If you had to choose, which would be better?

Well of course, the first one. But why is it better? The title is specific because it names the examined area (digital marketing), the target group (small and medium-sized enterprises), and provides geographical context (Hungary), as well as methodological reference (case study). It allows sufficient space for deeper research within the topic, but is still well-defined.

Why is the other title bad? Because this title is too general and broad, making it difficult for the reader to understand what specific area the research focuses on. It provides no information about what types of marketing strategies are involved, which industry, or which geographical area it focuses on. Therefore, based on the title, the thesis topic may seem summary and too broad.

Third Rule: Have Material to Research

If you choose a topic where you find almost no sources, you're back where the buck stops.

Check what sources are available for your given topic, you can do this through Google, Google Scholar, sci-hub.

We'll talk about these in more detail in the literature research article.

Fourth Rule: Don't Overshoot Your Limits!

Assess what knowledge you currently have and what you'll be able to research.

Don't try to invent the cure for cancer if you don't have the proper foundational knowledge for it, or can't connect it to your specialization.

Did you know? You can totally incorporate the material you learned at university into your thesis topic.

Think of a Topic and Write Down a Few Sentences About Whatever Comes to Mind.

Definitely think up a few sample sentences, it doesn't matter what about (but it should relate to your field!)

• If you're a Computer Engineer on the software specialization, think about your favorite game, how it might be built, what's behind it, what software it was written in, how its Session management works, why they use that specific infrastructure.
• If you're an Economist graduating in management, you could research, for example, what management solutions companies currently use, why they use exactly what they use in Hungary vs abroad, why it's better, etc.
• If you're a Pharmacist and you're interested in special foods, supplements, or biosensors, for example, think about how you could connect it to your area of interest?
• If you're in HR, think about what topic really interests you that's related to people, how could I connect this to a corporate context?
• If you're in Hospitality-Tourism major, think about what topic really interests you that's related to people, how could I connect this to a corporate context?

If you have NO ideas, REALLY nothing (which is almost impossible, only if you're lazy, or if you just came to warm up), then universities have pre-announced topics. The disadvantage of these is that you might work out a topic that doesn't interest you, thereby committing the number one, thesis-killer mistake.

For example, I'm interested in telecommunications and corporate life. In recent times, the virus has really affected everyone, corporate structures have changed.

A bunch of new programs gained strength that are being used.

My above sentences already help. How? They contain keywords:

• In recent times,
• virus,
• new programs,
• corporate structure,
• communication.

Keywords will be very important in the following chapters, this will be the secret to success!

What Should My Thesis Main Title Be?

The title must be targeted and clear.

From the title, it should be clear exactly what it's about, what the reader will find in it and what added value it gives them after reading your thesis.

If you have the sentences, ask questions about them.

• What new programs came in thanks to Covid?
• How long did or does the recent time last? 2019-2022, or just nowadays?
• What virus was I talking about? Covid? Monkeypox?
• What's the corporate structure like? Which companies were affected?
• What kind of communication? Physical or Remote? In-person or Home Office based?

You can read more in detail about choosing a thesis title by clicking the following link: How to Choose a Thesis Title?

Defining the Research Topic from Questions

The above questions you came up with, your thesis actually answers those.

If you answer all the questions, that could already be a thesis, for example:

• Newly emerged business programs thanks to Covid
• Covid's impact on companies for the period 2019-2022
• How SMEs use Zoom for business meetings?
• How Zoom usage has changed since Covid in the SME sector
• The evolution of Zoom's business use in the SME environment between 2019-2022. (SME = small and medium-sized enterprises)

Summary: Choose a topic that relates to your field, interests you, has source material, and creates value too.

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