Question

Topic: Student Questions

Needing Help With Narrowing Disssertation Question

Posted by eikifr on 4/26/2010 at 3:29 PM ET 250 Points
Good afternoon everybody!
I am a marketing student going into my dissertation for my MSc, and something is telling me to write about new media/old media and I even have a question that needs to be narrowed down. Hope I can get some help in narrowing it down as I am really (and I mean REALLY) struggling to do so! So here is my dissertation question/headline:

"From Dark Ages to the Front pages: Is traditional media becoming an obsolete form of communication in advertising when compared with new media"?

All help is extremely welcome! I am going through my trial stages at marketing profs and if I find it very useful then I will go full time while doing the paper (at least).
Thank you.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 4/26/2010 at 4:00 PM Accepted
    The problems with the topic you've selected are that (a) you'll need to define what constitutes "obsolete" in this context, (b) you'll need to put some kind of timeframe on this (i.e., obsolete by when?), and (c) there's really no good way to research the topic. There are many opinions out there, and no ultimate "judge" of which are right and which are wrong.

    So how are you going to address the issue? What are you going to measure?

    My suggestion: Drop this topic altogether. It's a matter of opinion, not great for a Masters Dissertation. Instead look at something like "The impact of Facebook in generating leads for XYZ Company in the RST industry." Get very specific and report/analyze something that you can measure.

    Otherwise you'll never reach the end of the line and actually finish your dissertation. By the time you have the first draft finished, the world will have changed, and you'll have to revise it. Etc. Etc. Etc.
  • Posted by mf on 4/26/2010 at 7:04 PM Accepted
    I suggest you read an article I wrote about a video named "The last advertising agency on earth". Check it out, I think it's worth it and will answer your dilemma... The article is titled "Creatives in desperate need of innovation"

    https://www.marianaferrari.net/Mariana_Ferrari/Innovation_Talk/Entries/2010...
  • Posted by eikifr on 4/27/2010 at 8:28 AM Author
    Thanks for the comments so far. I have thought it a bit and am looking at this from another perspective.

    I was thinking about stating the question about Facebook, whether it is a viable advertising media, etc.

    My aim/objectives would be to investigate the usage pattern by users of facebook, determine whether users are much aware of the advertises on facebook and compare it to other type of advertising.

    I know the question needs to be more precise but how about that for a dissertation topic?

    Regards,
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Student Questions)