Question

Topic: Student Questions

Too Many Ideas For A Disseration

Posted by Anonymous on 2/11/2010 at 4:02 PM ET 250 Points
Hi Guys,

I'm working on my disseration at the moment but I have a real problem with too many ideas and so I end up in limbo for ages, so I hope you can help me out of the rut.

Originally I wrote a Research Proposal/Lit Review and got an A on:

The effect of the internet on consumer behaviour: An analytical study of how independent record shops can achieve competitive advantage over internet CD retailers

The problem is that when I started my full disseration I wanted to go more into consumer behaviour and so the title became:

A comparative study analysing the influence on the consumer purchasing behaviour between online and traditional music retailers

This basically covers the areas of:

Internal Influences
Customer Shopping Experience
Risk
Loyalty

However I am still interested in finding out how retailers can achieve competitive advantage, so I was going to tie loyalty and risk into customer shopping experiences and look at the value chain to come up with a plan of action.

Now, what I really want to do is a research project on Social Marketing looking at how Racism can be tackled in the town where I live (a BNP stronghold). I'm wanting to do an MBA in that subject so it would be good to get a good grasp of the subject, but I would have to start again. I have finshed all other assignments now so it is possible (although I work full time).

What a pickle. Please guide me, my uni isn't helping me at all.

Thanks
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 2/11/2010 at 10:07 PM Accepted
    Being in this sort of pickle is a good thing sometimes...
    puts you in a greater learning situation.

    What I have always advised my students is to decide
    on 2 possibles---2 that you are most passionate about.

    Then, take time to do thorough research on each one.
    Chances are, the research will help you decide very quickly which of the 2 is the "right one" for you to pursue.

    For research, you can set up Google Alerts using some of your various descriptions of the topics---you will receive daily
    inbox notifications of info from the Internet relative to your topics.

    Also, some great places to gather even more thoughts
    are the University websites that have accessible archives.
    (via Google research)
    Chances are, someone somewhere has written a cognate, working paper, thesis, or dissertation that may have in its content some information that would point you toward further research---giving you more ideas/areas to explore.

    As well, personal interviews with any Entrepreneurs in your area (relating to your thought about Social Marketing)
    may turn up some kind of field research that may be helpful..and can always be built upon with other documented works.

    Once you get into the "exploration" portion of the research,
    it usually opens new and interesting "cans of worms"
    (or Pandora's Boxes) and then your relative material becomes endless.

    Just do not get stalled in indecision---that's the main point.
    Decide, then go for it.

    I'm SURE that what you decide upon will be a very high quality piece of work!

    Hope that was somewhat helpful.
  • Posted on 2/12/2010 at 3:00 AM Author
    Thanks very much, I will do as you say and get cracking.
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