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Dear researchers. I’m a sixth-form student and am just starting my A-level dissertation. How do I choose a topic for my A-level dissertation? What scientifically recommended methods are there for finding a topic for an A-level dissertation or seminar paper?

Kind regards, Yaëlle

","questionShort":"How do I choose a topic for my Matura thesis? ","note":null,"easyLanguage":false,"userBackground":"Pupil","precision":10,"duration":7,"attachment":null,"thumbnail":"maturaarbeit_michael-mittag.webp","confidential":false,"status":"PUBLISHED","assignedExpertId":142,"assignedExpert":{"id":142,"firstName":"Michael ","lastName":"Mittag","slug":"michael-mittag","image":"c73233d4-8e56-47f8-99dc-b4c132d44a48.webp","title":null,"organization":{"id":12,"name":"Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW)"},"knowledgeCharacter":{"title":"observer","bgColor":"lightred","textColor":"red","description":"Die Beobachter:in ist aufmerksam und sensibel für Feinheiten, die anderen entgehen. Sie nimmt sich für ihre Betrachtungen Zeit und vermeidet schnelle Urteile. Im Gespräch gibt sie wertvolle Hinweise, ohne ihr Gegenüber überzeugen oder überreden zu wollen.","image":"beobachterin.webp"}},"createdAt":"2023-11-03T10:00:09+00:00","updatedAt":"2024-02-24T08:43:07+00:00","submitter":{"id":125,"email":null,"firstName":"Yaëlle","lastName":"Bianchet","image":null,"title":null},"answer":{"id":9,"expertId":142,"answerText":"

Dear Yaëlle

Put simply: choose something that interests you and narrow it down to a scope that you can tackle in a piece of work. If you have a strong focus, everything will be easier afterwards. You can then simply assess everything you come across in terms of whether it advances your cause.

This raises the question: how do you narrow down an interest to the point where it makes for a good topic for a piece of work? I’ve sketched out an outline of this (see image above). I see two possibilities: narrowing it down in terms of content, or narrowing it down based on your own resources.

Let’s take the first case: narrow down the topic in terms of content. For example, if you’re interested in ecosystems, then “The role of bats in the food chain in Swiss mixed woodland” is a good and manageable topic.

Now for the second scenario: narrow down your topic based on your resources. Another example: if you want to create a comic, ask yourself how many pages you can realistically produce and roughly how much content fits into 10 pages. Limited resources also help you to focus.

I hope this helps you – I don’t supervise Matura theses myself. However, I’ve supervised around 100 bachelor’s theses at the University of Teacher Education, and I’m simply assuming that it’s similar for Matura projects.

Good luck with your project!

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scientific work

Researchers

Martin Reinhart

Ruzica Dadic

Questions

How do I choose a topic for my Matura thesis?