Dear all,


what do you do when you are experiencing doubts about the research-worthiness of your topic, or its practicality? In other words, how do you deal with a loss of confidence in the research?


Thanks.

It depends at what stage of your PhD you're at. If you're in your first year, I think it's normal. If you're into your second or more, the loss of confidence may be temporary. You might just need a break from thinking about the same thing over and over and over again.

I think the best thing to do is to write down why you're unhappy with your research topic, and speak to someone else about it, preferably your supervisor. Sometimes all you need is some perspective and hopefully reassurance.

Also, perhaps you should have a look at how you've phrased your topic and research questions. Personally, I find it helps tremendously if you can list your research questions point by point in plain English. A mass of ambiguous text, written like an abstract, can cause a lot of worry and anxiety because it's easy to conflate the time taken to understand what you're trying to do (ie. read and process what the jumble of words is about) with a lousy topic. Of course this may actually reflect that you don't know what you're doing, but it could also mask the value of your project.

So, try to be as specific as possible. Cut to the chase. It's harder than it looks. You'll need to write many drafts. But I think it's well-worth the effort as the process will help clarify your thoughts.

Use these three questions to ask to guide you:

1. What am I trying to do?

2. Why am I doing it?

3. How am I going to do it?

Hey Ultimax! Thanks for your reply.

I am referring to my Master's dissertation. I am losing hope in my topic, but at the same time, I don't want to start on something new now. Confused....

I think writing your concerns out and speaking to your supervisor about them will still help. You need an objective opinion about your concerns.