#bc i only know like five profs and none of them fit my topic

[shiinsei]

bachelor thesis/work/plan/life panic 🙃🫣😱😮‍💨🤯😬😵😵‍💫🫠😶‍🌫️🥴

[rhysintherain]

Sorry if this is a too random question but do you have any advice for how to choose a thesis topic when you feel like you don't have any real skill set or theoretical knowledge and none of the suggested topics really sound like anything you could reasonably write more than five pages about? And the mere thought of setting on a single topic to stick to for entire months is almost panic attack inducing

Okay, I'm going to treat this as a master's thesis, or maybe honours thesis, question. This sounds like a bigger thing than a class project, but correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll see what I can come up with for that.

First of all, you didn't get to the point of having to write a thesis without building up some skills and theoretical knowledge. You just aren't in the greatest position (inside your own head) to know what those are. I recommend asking someone who regularly interacts with your work (like a tutor or prof) to help you figure out what those are.

Second, do you have a thesis advisor? Are they assigned to you, or do you get a say in who? If so, focus more on picking an advisor you work well with before you settle into a topic. Ask the one you end up with about their study areas, and what gaps exist that you could build up with your work. You might not be particularly passionate about the topic they recommend, but knowing that your work has an important place in the literature could help you stay invested.

On a practical note, it never hurts to do some preliminary research into your potential topics. You want to make sure no one else has written the thing you want to write, but your life will be easier if there's a decent amount of source material in the field. You can't write a thesis with only 2 or 3 sources, but you also can't contribute to scientific knowledge by saying something that has already been said half a dozen times.

If you're working with some sort of primary source, there can be some wiggle room here. For example, if I wanted to write a meta-study type paper about bifacial blade cores in BC I wouldn't get very far, because only 2 people have written about that. However, if I wanted to write original research from my own hands-on analysis of those blade cores I could make that work, because the artefacts themselves are my primary source, and I know where to find a few in repositories.

If you have the time and access to go to geological formations, historical documents, interviews with Elders, '70s pop lyrics, etc, you can write about some pretty obscure things and make it work, because you're studying the things themselves. If you have limited time and resources, it might be better to stick closer to the well-trodden academic paths. You don't want to put yourself in a position where you need the primary sources but don't have the means to access them.

And as far as making a connection with recommended topics you're not that interested in, I recommend doing some preliminary digging here too. Is there a niche thing related to one of those topics you like better? Something related but a bit different? Really bad takes in the field you think need to be addressed? An epic academic debate you want to weigh in on? This part Is less about collecting useful data and more about finding where you want to be. This is the time to dig through the drama, follow the rabbit holes, and go off topic if you feel like.

And if none of that works? Talk to your advisor again. Tell them why this isn't working and what you're actually interested in, and maybe they can help you redirect your attention to a topic you'll connect with.

Your best resource for this sort of thing is your thesis advisor, which doesn't always work (sometimes an advisor is a bad fit), but if working with someone helpful who you respect is an option, that's the best way to set yourself up with something you can get invested in. If you don't have an advisor in this setting, see if you can reach out to another prof, colleague, or grad student who's willing to help. Doing things like this alone in your head is rarely the best option.

So some closing thoughts: lots of people have done this before and come out the other side. Most of them were also overwhelmed when they started, and you'll get to look back and go "well that wasn't so bad" eventually.

Your topic isn't on rails. You'll shape your goals and findings as you go along, and it will be a different story in the end than it looked like in the beginning. That's how it usually goes, and that's okay.

You don't need to know what you're talking about, just what you want to talk about.

Talk to people in your field. Ask questions. This is not a thing you need to do alone.

*just to be clear, I haven't actually written a master's thesis, although I've done training workshops on writing them, given advice to lots of people who were, and done a couple extended research projects. Lots of people who will probably see this are doing them, or have done them (you know who you are, I'm looking right at you) and hopefully will chime in with advice based on their experiences.