Of all the things you’ll do while writing your Master’s dissertation or PhD thesis, picking a title might not seem that important. On some levels you’d be right: nobody has ever earned a degree on the strength of a good title alone!
Nevertheless, it’s worth putting thought into what you’re going to call your final piece. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, after all, and the title will be doing the impressing.
As such, a good title should be clear and informative, providing your reader with what they need to know the moment they look at your work. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Topic and Focus
The most important thing the title of your dissertation should communicate is what you’re actually writing about. This can be broken down into a topic and a focus.
The topic of your research is the general area you’re researching. The focus is the specific thing you are investigating within that field.
In an essay titled ‘International Business Expansion: Innovative Strategies for Smaller Enterprises’, for example, the topic of the research is international expansion, while the focus is on how new strategies can help smaller companies to achieve this.
2. Research Approach
Since the research approach you adopt will have a major impact on the design and results of your study, it can be helpful to include this in the title.
For example, if the essay above relied on an in-depth case study, the title could be amended to ‘International Business Expansion: A Qualitative Analysis of Innovative Strategies for Smaller Enterprises’.
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3. Research Outcomes
Including a reference to the outcomes of your research can give your reader a better idea of what to expect. Unlike a good murder mystery, you don’t have to keep your reader guessing until the end!
For instance, rather than calling an essay ‘International Business Expansion in Smaller Enterprises’, you could use the title, ‘Success Factors for International Business Expansion in Smaller Enterprises’.
This immediately communicates the aim of your research: i.e. to discover the factors which influence the success of business expansion.
4. Clarity, Focus and Format
Long or obscure titles can leave your reader confused from the outset. This should be avoided by trying to make your dissertation title clear and focused.
One way to do this is to ask someone else – your supervisor, course convenor or fellow students – to check your title. It is also best to avoid acronyms and abbreviations unless they’re in common usage.
5. A Bit of a Laugh?
There aren’t many times you can fit jokes into serious academic research, but a humorous title can make your work stand out. However, remember that clarity is most important. If you want to add a joke to a title, it should not detract from communicating what your work is about.