Choose Great Research Topics

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 27th, 2010

Doing research and writing research papers does not actually have to be as horrible as everyone makes it out to be. I have learned to enjoy the process of research from start to finish. Call me crazy if you will, but I guarentee that the future of your educational career can be much more enjoyable if you learn now to enjoy research. For me, enjoying it started with choosing the right research topics.

Whether you are in high school, college, gradudate school or are writing for your doctorate degree, research is an inevitable part of education. For me, it wasn't until I was nearly finished with my undergraduate college degree that I had a revelation about research that changed my whole perspective. These are the simple and somewhat obvious things that came to me. First, I had to do research projects and papers to make it through school. There was no way around it. Second, I knew from experience that everything in life is harder when you do not enjoy what you're doing. I determined to find a way to make researching enjoyable for me. Third, I made researching enjoyable by deciding to only research about things that I really cared about. The transformation came when I decided that no matter what, I was only going to choose research topics that I really cared about, even if it made my projects harder or longer.

As soon as I started choosing great research topics I found that the entire process of creating a research project or writing a research paper was easier, more enjoyable, and less stressful for me. I no longer spent hours trying to learn about the ancient history of tribes I knew or cared nothing about. Instead, I began to choose research topics such as the history of soccer or the development of education in Africa. Of course, the things that excite me will likely be things that bore other people to death. But, you see, that is the beauty of it. If everyone destined to write research papers commits to choosing only research topics that they love, everyone will learn from each other and enjoy the process.

So, my advice to you, fellow student, is simple. Never let yourself start the long process of research with a research topic that you could care less about. Commit in advance to finding a research topic that excites you and begin from there. You will be so glad you did, and your projects and papers will probably be better off as well.