From the author: In this article I share my experience and observations. Additions on the topic are welcome! If you are studying to become a psychologist and are thinking about a topic for your coursework, this article is for you! I'll walk you through 5 strategies for choosing a topic, mentioning the pros and cons of each approach. I hope that the article will be useful, because... I missed such “advice” at one time. So... 1. Choose a topic based on the principle: “I’m interested.” This strategy was my favorite until I sat down to write my thesis. My scientific research over the years has revolved around the following topics: manipulation, superpowers, charisma, outrageousness. The advantages of the “I’m interested” strategy: high motivation to get acquainted with new materials on the topic; when you are passionate about the topic, others are interested in listening to you. A good help in case of speaking at conferences, if you want to be noted by the public; the opportunity to become an innovator and a unique expert by choosing a little-studied area. Cons: the risk of not finding / finding very few scientific publications on the topic, which will make it difficult to write a theoretical chapter, justifying the topic; the topic may be inaccessible to study the arsenal of methods available in psychology - will entail difficulties in justifying the choice of methods / developing new ones; the sample population (or, colloquially, a sample) for your topic will turn out to be such that with great difficulty you will recruit even 5 respondents. A friend had a very interesting, topical topic about persons with disabilities. And even through agreements with special institutions, she was barely able to collect the required number of answers in 3 months; the likelihood of disapproval on the part of the scientific supervisor, his lack of expertise in this matter, could negatively affect the content of the consultations. 2. Choose a topic according to the principle “A popular topic, there is a lot of literature on it - it’s easier to write.” I’ll tell you straight up that I didn’t choose it myself based on this principle. I observed my classmates and others. The advantages of the approach: however, it is easier to search for materials, besides, many articles contain links to venerable psychologists; for me personally, when there is a lot of material on a topic, it is easier to rewrite, create a unique text, snatching something from everywhere - that's interesting. The uniqueness of texts is in demand and is checked; the scientific supervisor will also have an easier time with you. Disadvantages: as for relevance, novelty - try to find and justify; if you are not used to sifting through literature, but are content with the first search engine links on the topic (and the topic is very popular!) - there is a risk of including low-authority sources and the author's opinion were included in the work, while some fundamental research was omitted. 3. Select a topic that is easier to research, “based on available sampling and methods.” I did this once while working at the employment center for students and graduates. Visitors to the center filled out a questionnaire, which allowed them to explore their expectations of their future profession. Advantages of the strategy: a minimum of “headaches” about methods and respondents! And in my case, it’s even better - you take the questionnaires for the N-period and process it; the likelihood is that other psychologists have already acted according to this principle at your workplace / place of study, which means there is a “sample” Disadvantages: since we did not go from theory and problems of the modern stage of development of science, and from some conditions of comfort in data collection, you will have to rack your brains to justify aspects of novelty, theoretical significance, relevance, etc.; for the same reason, it will be difficult to harmoniously connect theory with practice, especially at the stage of approaching the diploma; If you use a questionnaire, as in my case, created for specific purposes, there may be little psychological component in it, more of a sociological one. And this will become a significant disadvantage of the coursework. 4. Choose the topic given by your supervisor. The topic of my dissertation was recommended to me by my supervisor. Moreover, it turned out to be interesting to me and corresponds to point 5. More on that later... But some are less lucky: they teach from leaders such topics that for the students’ perception!