Some useful ideas for law dissertation topics

You need to think very carefully before embarking on writing your proposal. First of all, you should decide on your area of interest out of all the possible law dissertation topics available to you and research it thoroughly.

• The first step is to define your research question or hypothesis, and then work out how you will proceed to explain your hypothesis or answer the research question posed.
• You will need to explain the significance of your question or hypothesis and its originality.
• Next it is necessary to state how it adds to the current literature. Of course, your dissertation could challenge the existing literature, or it could develop it.
• You basically have to market yourself when you write your proposal to convince academics and perhaps funders, that your work is important and of course, you have to state why you are the ideal person to do the research and write it up.
• Check precisely how many words you need to write for your proposal. Different institutions have different rules, although generally the word count for a proposal is 3,000 words.
• You will also need to decide who you would like to supervise your dissertation. You need a supervisor that you feel comfortable with and one who is not thinking of leaving the institution before you complete. Students have often found that if a tutor leaves, they become discouraged and give up their dissertation.
• You will have to approach the person you want to supervise and discuss you proposed law topic with him or her. Mention in your proposal that you have contacted the academic and find out if he or she is interested in your proposed research topic. Be prepared to be persuasive and explain why you want him or her to supervise you.
• Remember that your proposal can be changed a little if necessary as you do more research and read more about your chosen topic.

Naturally you will need a working title for your dissertation. This can always be changed as your research continues. However, you will need to have a title for your supervisor and to help you focus your research. The title you choose should indicate what your approach to your research question will be. Your proposal should also include the key questions you will attempt to answer (limit these to a maximum of three).

Law dissertation topics are diverse, but there are key elements for all of them. You will need to provide an overview of the research you propose to conduct, and place it firmly within the current literature, any debates surrounding your topic and academic discourses. You have to give the context for your research, but you don’t have to go overboard and write too much about the sources you will be using.

Your overview should play up the strengths of the academics in your department. You need a supervisor who is an expert in the topic you are proposing. You can go online and find out what your department is researching. Make sure that you point out how your research can add to or complement this in your proposal.

Next you need to give a framework for your research. This will include your research question(s) and details of the approaches that you will take as well as the rationale for the research.

You will also have to clearly state the importance of your research.

Then, after this has been done, you will need to position your research by discussing the sources you will be using. Also, it is necessary to show that you understand the complexity of the research issues and specify areas where there are currently gaps. Of course, you will then have to attempt to fill these. In this section you don’t have to analyse the ongoing debates, but simply put your research questions into context.

This section of law dissertation topics usually has a word count of around 900 words.

Your Methodology and research design should be specified in the next section, which again should be about 900 words. Of course, when you come to write your dissertation your methodology section will be much longer. In this section you need to define the parameters of your research and your specific topic.

You will also need to discuss your overall approach, for example is it purely theoretical, or will it include your own research? Then you will have to give your rationale for deciding on your approach(es).

In this section you will also have to give your specific aims and objectives and say how long it will take for you to complete our research study.

If you do your own research, you will need to include a results section and explain the significance of your findings. This can be a lengthy section and you should not hurry it.

The reference section of all law dissertation topics should show that you have done your research well and judiciously. Don’t think of this section as an exhaustive bibliography. This section should demonstrate that you have critically evaluated texts and selected them carefully.

Think about how you will write your dissertation. You need to plan headings for sections and sub-sections, bearing in mind that these can be changed as necessary when you begin writing.

You will also need to collect the references you intend using and if necessary gather the articles you need to refer to. These may be paper photocopies, or digital copies of articles. Keep them organised in a file under appropriate section headings. you may want to file our material in chronological order. This takes time and is best done as you go along with your research. You will see the value of working in this way when you eventually start to write your dissertation topic.

After the abstract, possibly the most important section is the introduction. You will probably have to write and rewrite many drafts of this before it is perfect. Don’t try to rush the writing and editing processes as they are very important. You need to make a good impression on the reader from the beginning of the dissertation. If the introduction does not captivate the reader, he, or she, may well not bother reading further. A badly-crafted introduction will alienate your tutor and external examiners if it is allowed to remain as it is. You don’t want the reader to become bored while reading it, so make it as captivating as you can.

In the introduction you could point up relevant laws that pertain to the main arguments you will use in the dissertation. These set the scene for your research.

Take as much time as you need to phrase the research question(s) in the best possible way. Ask for help if you need it. Your tutor will give you as much help as you need to craft questions appropriately.

Make sure before you start writing up your dissertation that you are happy with your topic. You will lose valuable time if you decide, halfway though writing it that you should have been writing a different topic or taking a different angle on it.

At all stages, consult your tutor and get clarification on any point if you need it. Don’t wait until you think the dissertation is ready to submit to the university or college. It is most frustrating to be told that the dissertation needs to be completely revised because of a misunderstanding of one or more texts.