changing topic
======= Date Modified 06 May 2012 00:21:49 =======
======= Date Modified 06 May 2012 00:16:51 =======
I changed my topic about three months or so into the PhD and am a Education PhD using social science methodologies. Like PhDJane, I had actually presented a fairly detailed formal proposal for my original topic, which had been an extension of my Master's thesis. Anyway, I found that I was struggling with doing any more reading for it but kept reading about other connected areas. Finally, I admitted to myself and family that I really didn't think that I could spend another 5 years (part-time) with this topic-which I had already spent 3 years on-the thought depressed me. (I work fulltime so my graduate study is all part-time-might clarify the timeframes I am presenting. The four months before change was really around 6 months part-time).
I played around with related topics and wrote down what I thought might be a new topic and then braved fronting up to my supervisor with my new ideas. She read my new proposal (which was pretty sketchy compared to the old one) and instantly knew what my topic was. Apparently it was embedded in my writing but I couldn't see it. So in around an hour we had fleshed out the new topic, proposed methodology and rough research questions. I really love my new topic and am now becoming equally enthusiastic about the methodology (which is also different from my last study).
The other thing that I changed was, I started doing a professional doctorate in Education, believing that this would be best for me and would fit in more fully with my professional career. But after being accepted, I gave a paper at a conference and realised again, that I wanted to do a PhD rather than a doctorate and so I changed that as well. I had to put a new application in to my university's Graduate Dean of Research and jump through a few more hoops to show that I had the qualifications to do so (Ed Doctorate entrance qualifiers are not quite as rigorous as PhD but rely more on professional experience in combination with aptitude) but that was accepted also. Now all I have to do is put through an official 'name change' as my original title for PhD is still on my records and I need to update this to allow for the new title. But that is just a formality really, should not be an issue.
I HAD to change my topic as I really found that my old one was not going to carry me through the next few years. There was enough in it to do so, masses of content and a fairly big gap (as far as gaps in research go) but I had changed, my life's direction and new job had gone in a slightly different pathway, and I just needed my study to reflect my new direction and interests more. Which it does-but I still find that all the work that I did is useful as part of the background to my new study (but only as part of the background and a minor part at that).
I know you are further into your PhD than I was when I changed, but if you are having serious doubts, talking to someone (supervisor or other mentor with expertise) would probably really help clarify what the issues are for you and, if you do change or adjust your research, what the best methods to do this might be. Good luck with it. It can be quite agonising as the topic and the PhD actually become part of your identity or self image-in a very real way. And to admit that you might need to change it can bring in issues of identity and self, as well. It isn't just as simple as changing it from the perspective of 'before the change'. However once you do change it then you find that you adjust quite quickly to the new topic and new area of expertise you are hoping to explore.
