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A graduate career begins by consuming knowledge, and ends by producing it. Choosing one's contribution-the dissertation topic-should be guided foremost by one's intellectual interests. Yet this is a personal, somewhat arbitrary matter. There might be a good reason why one student focuses on international trade and another on the drug trade. But, as elsewhere, there is no accounting for taste.
There are, however, several less subjective considerations that should be taken into account in deciding upon a topic. They include tractability, resonance with organizational culture, learning a new methodology, contribution to knowledge, and assistance in a job search.
Tractability
Some dissertation topics are more likely, than others, to result in a finished product. Tractability, in turn, has three components: reach, data availability, and clarity of problem.
Reach: A good argument can be made for taking on a relatively narrow research problem. The key advantages are the speed and certainty of completion. Further, a dissertation is merely a first step in one's professional career. A small but certain step can later be followed by a more formidable contribution when professional support and salary are better.
On the other hand, a "big" dissertation has the potential for future development and publication. Agrarian Socialism (Lipset 1950), States and Revolution (Skocpol 1979), Governing Prisons (Dilulio 1987) and, most recently, Hitler's Willing Executioners (Goldhagen 1996) were all based on dissertations. Lipset, Skocpol, DiIulio, and Goldhagen each succeeded in writing a big dissertation, and the gains for scholarship (most certainly) and their individual careers (most probably) were substantial.
One can easily imagine getting in over one's head. A planned five-hundred page dissertation can remain forever two-thirds done. The number of pages, though, is only one indicator of scope. Others are the complexity of the problem and the number of items on the relevant bibliography. A dissertation on the causes of the U.S. Civil War, for example, is a daunting undertaking, simply because of the volume of work on the topic. One should also keep in mind that Skocpol, for example, sought to explain no less than the causes and outcomes of the French, Russian, and Chinese Revolutions.
Data availability: Obtaining the right data in a timely manner can make or break a dissertation. Some topics permit the researcher to rely on...