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This is usually the most agonising part of the dissertation for students. It is vital that you are clear in your mind about the topic. If not, your dissertation work will lack direction and focus and ultimately will not do you justice. The choice of topic lies primarily with the student because it is important that the student has a strong interest in the subject area and that they have ownership of the dissertation from the outset.

The department of Languages, Tourism and Hospitality impose only two restrictions on the choice of topic;

1.The topic should be related to an area of academic knowledge associated with the broad areas of hospitality, tourism, business or services management.

2.The topic should be appropriate in terms of approach and rigour to the final year of a primary business degree.

In choosing or refining their research area students are strongly advised to seek guidance from their lecturers. By consulting with lecturers at an early stage students are more likely to develop a topic that is suitable, feasible and less likely need changes.

It is important that you know what you are researching and limit the topic to an attainable outcome. You cannot research the area exhaustively; nevertheless you have to strike an acceptable balance between the breadth and depth of research undertaken and you must continue to be selective throughout the project so as to keep your focus on the topic chosen.

Below are some points to keep in mind when choosing your dissertation topic

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The topic should be clear and focused – you should initially be able to say in one sentence what you intend on studying.

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The topic should be within your capabilities and achievable within the timeframe allotted
How to choose research topic?
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There should be articles and texts available on the subject area – you cannot write a literature review if there is no literature available

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There should be some scope to conduct primary or secondary research on the subject

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The topic should be related to an area about which you have some knowledge; starting a new subject area from scratch will make the task harder

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The topic should have a practical application; it will benefit you all the more if you can use it in your future career.

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The topic must have some element of originality to it - you cannot do a dissertation which has already been done - you must either advance the research or take a different slant on the topic. Completed final year dissertations from your course or other similar courses, e.g Rec Man/BBS4, can often prove a good indicator of suitable topic areas and will avoid you replicating previous work

Please note - The research topic and the research question are different. For example two students could pick the same topic (e.g. training in the hospitality industry) but do 2 entirely different dissertations because the kinds of research questions they ask about their topic are different, e.g. one could look at the types of training conducted in the hospitality sector, the other could look at the impact of training on customer satisfaction.