• By Jason Bacot
• Published 11/2/2010
• Writing

If you’re coming to the end of your second year as an undergraduate, you have probably started to think about the kind of topics you might want to look at for your thesis. What topics you choose will, of course, depend on what you’re majoring in, what aspect of the main part of your studies has interested you the most, and if you are like many other students, the topic that won’t require too much work. Try not to think of your thesis as just another assignment, your thesis is important in terms of your final degree results and therefore deserves special attention. *Topics in Sociology* If you’re a sociology or cultural studies major, you will be looking at topics in that area. Many sociology students opt to undertake a research project for their dissertation, while others prefer the theoretical side of the discipline. What topic you choose will depend on whether you prefer to argue about the philosophical underpinnings of sociology and cultural studies, or whether there is a research problem you would like to investigate.

Many students choose literature based dissertation topics because they think it might be an easier option than doing some actual research, but they tend to miss the fact that they would need to do plenty of research into the literature if they choose theory. If you have studied the sociology of religion, which is usual in most sociology courses, then a research topic on different styles of worship among the undergraduate

population might be an interesting topic. If you do decide to do some empirical research, you have some ready made research subjects or participants in the student population. Whatever area you choose for your dissertation topic, you should attend all the tutorials that are usually run by subject supervisors. *English Topics* Students who major in English might decide to pick on an aspect of one of the novels they have read during their studies, critiquing and examining that particular aspect of their work. Sometimes English majors may decide to write their own creative piece for their thesis, but you would have to check this out with your professor. Examining the body of work of a favorite poet and providing text on the general tone of that particular poet’s work might also be a good topic. No matter what you’re majoring in nor what topic you choose, you will have to write either a learning contract for your thesis or alternatively a proposal, stating what you intend to study and how. It’s difficult to give much general information on learning contracts and proposals as the style of these documents and the information. What they contain will differ from one institution to another.

The basic information you’ll probably need to provide will be a provisional title, (sometimes titles change as work progresses) the topic area under study, a preliminary list of resources or a research plan and possibly some sort of timeline for the work. Your professor will give you all the information you need on the basics of writing a learning contract or proposal.

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