This semester I’m writing my thesis proposal for my MA, and it is absolutely stressing me out. I’m not one of those rare people who shows up at university knowing exactly what they want to do. Nope, I’m the everything-looks-interesting, major-changing, wandering academic nomad (read: “unfocused”). Choosing term paper topics is like pulling teeth, and narrowing down topics is always excruciating, so I imagine that figuring out my thesis proposal will be the mother of all root canals.
I know that I will be studying something in the realm of Canadian drug policy, but it’s the scoping that I find so daunting. There are so many interesting dimensions to this issue and so to choose one of them is a challenge. Not to mention to make the topic narrow enough, researchable, figuring out methodology, and finding some way to tackle it so that I’m contributing something to the field (thesis) rather than just discussing it broadly (research essay). *hyperventilates*…umm, speaking of drug policy, I think this calls for Valium.
My friend Val introduced me to the book “Getting What You Came For
When it comes to settling on a topic, the author talks about the “dreaming in a vacuum” method that most students use, that is, sitting around thinking/worrying about the topic and waiting for some flash of inspiration. I know that I do entirely too much of that and need to spend more time digging into the research.
Last night I sat down in a coffee shop armed with a soy mocha and my big ‘notebook method‘ thesis binder, reading over the thesis proposal guidelines and all my notes and brainstorms. I suppose it’s a start.
Great post, I feel the same way about my masters dissertation. It’s incredibly difficult to choose a topic and then stick with it! Good luck with your proposal and thesis.
hey thanks, I’m glad I’m not the only one with the thesis angst. We’ll make it through though (and then onward to a PhD? ACK! haha)