SELECTING A TOPIC

Selecting a Topic

Dr. Irvin Heard

University of the Cumberlands

Running head: SELECTING A TOPIC

Running head: SELECTING A TOPIC

Abstract

You have read several journal articles at this point and may have an idea for your dissertation topic feel free to align this with your ideal dissertation topic. The topic must be related to any topics covered thus far in the course. Use this template to gather ideas.

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SELECTING A TOPIC

Selecting a Topic

Choose a topic that interests you must be Information Technology related, use and answer the following questions to help generate a topic.

· Do you have a strong opinion on a current social or cybersecurity controversy?

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· Did you read or see a news story recently that has piqued your interest?

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· Do you have a personal issue, problem or interest that you would like to know more about?

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· Is there an aspect of a class that you are interested in learning more about?

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Identify Key Words

Write down any key words of concepts that are interesting to you and related to your idea. These terms will be helpful to form a more defined research topic. Avoid overusing ideas when choosing a topic Ask the instructor for ideas if you feel stuck or need additional guidance.

Article Related to Topic

Find an article that is very close if not the same idea/topic as yours. Reading articles in the same subject area provides an overview allowing you to see how your own ideas relate to the topic. This will also help with finding more keywords that you can add to the above section later.

Task

Identify 3 articles and provide a summary of each within 500 of more words. Provide the articles in proper APA format and a brief summary below it.

Article 1

Summary 1

Article 2

Summary 2

Article 3

Summary 3

Refining and Scope Topic

Keep the topic manageable, a topic can be very difficult to research if it’s too broad, narrow and some cases little research is available within your topic. One way is scoping the topic is to provide limitations. Some common ways to limit a topic are below which you need to answer for this assignment and moving forward:

1. What is the geographical area of your research?

Example: What cybersecurity issues are most important in Washington D.C.?

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2. Does your research topic involve a culture?

Example: How does the cybersecurity issues related to Information technology specialists within public organizations.

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3. Does your research cover a specific time frame?

Example: What are the cybersecurity issues that are most important in Washington DC over the last 5 years?

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Example: How or does the cybersecurity issues effect the business practices of public organizations?

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4. Does your research area contain a population group?

Example: How does working as a network administrator in a public organization affect a person’s mental state i.e. does the cybersecurity issues create a stressful work environment?

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Note that if a topic is to recent there may not be books or journal articles as of yet, but you may search within magazine, newspapers and reputable websites.

Modify Topic

After completing the above exercises does your topic require any modification. If so explain why?

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Topic as Research Question

So far you have a general idea of the topic with a focused aspect of an area. What about your topic that you want to investigate or know? Create 4 research questions to answer within your research.

Question 1:

Question 2:

Question 3:

Question 3:

Read more in your research area to find answers to your question, pay close attention of how the answers were created, did the author use a survey, interviews or other methods. To include was the article quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods.

Chapter 1

Using the exercises above, then transfer the information as it applies to the chapter 1 section of the attachment in Week 14 .