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Waiting to Get Your Dissertation Accepted?
Last Updated on: 10th June 2024, 02:02 am
What should you name your dissertation? This is an important question as your dissertation title will stay with you forever. You can’t go back and change it after the fact. It will be part of your legacy, so you want to take some time and make sure that it communicates what you want it to do.
Choosing Your Dissertation Title
Here are five things to consider when choosing your dissertation title. I’ll include some examples as well.
1. University Requirements
Let’s get this out of the way first. When deciding on a dissertation title, you should be aware of any university requirements or limitations. I know one school that requires that dissertation titles be no more than 12 words long.
Look at the rubric or instructions to determine if there are any requirements for your title. Make sure to meet those, otherwise your draft may be sent back for revisions.
2. Style Requirements
Every discipline follows some manual of style. It could be APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. The style used is based upon convention within your field. Each style guide will have requirements for dissertation titles as well. Make sure that you comply with the guide that is used in your field.
3. Alignment
Many committee members initially look at your dissertation for alignment. This means they want to see that your dissertation title is consistent with your problem statement, your purpose, and your research question(s). If they seem to go in different directions that is a red flag.
For example, your title may be The Impact of Video Games on College Student GPA Levels, but if your problem statement discusses television viewing habits or your RQs only look at male college students, there is a problem with alignment.
See my article on the subject for a more complete explanation of alignment.
4. Purpose
Your title is there to tell readers what to expect in your dissertation. One approach to use when coming up with a dissertation title is to think about what information you would find useful if you came across the dissertation while doing a literature review.
Some things that might be useful to include are the methodology used, the general population used, important variables involved in the study, and the purpose of the study.
Using this set of criteria, I have rewritten the dissertation title from the previous section. It might look like this:
“A Quantitative Logistic Regression Examination of the Impact of Video Gaming Use on First-Generation College Students in Regional Public Universities.”
This gives the reader a great deal of information and lets them make an intelligent decision about using this work or not.
5. Humor
There are very few chances in writing a dissertation to bring humor into the document. Some people try to add a humorous or catchy phrase to draw in readers.
An example might be, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf: How Amazon Impacts Small Business Profitability”.
This may catch the eye of a reader but be careful, catchy phrases may seem good now but how will they hold up in 10 years? Avoid references to pop culture such as TV shows (yes, that includes Game of Thrones).
And, what you think is catchy may not grab other people. It’s best to get feedback from several trusted sources if you’re going to add humor into your title.
Final Thoughts on Choosing Your Dissertation Title
Your dissertation title is the introduction to your work. It is what the reader sees first. You want to make sure that you tell the reader what your work accomplished and what they can expect.
A well-worded title will bring more readers to your work and will be something that you will be proud to add to your CV. It will also help your mother explain what you did to get your doctorate when she brags to all of her friends.
PS. If you need support getting through the dissertation process, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve helped many students do just that as a dissertation coach, and now offer editing services as well for those who need help with their writing.
