That is an excellent thesis topic question…
My emergent research strategy…
It has probably happened to many professors in classrooms all over the planet: An interesting conversation during a class takes the debate down an unsuspected path. At one point, somebody will mention
“well, that would be an interesting thesis topic question”
Given the amount of stress that students have with regard to that particular issue, the quip often ends abruptly the discussion.
Recently, I have been thinking that this graduate education trope is actually a good lens to build a research agenda. What are the “interesting thesis topic questions” that we listen to? Why do we think they are good thesis topics? Which ones do I retain, versus those that made me roll my eyes? (hey, total honesty here!)
I would assume that there are a few common denominators that trigger the that-would-be-an-interesting-thesis-topic-question meme. They differ (and probably complement) from what would be considered a good academic advice of how to build a good thesis question. These are a few I can think of:
About the question itself:
- It is a well defined problem that sounds new.
- It is somewhat counterintuitive; if it is a common place, probably is not a good thesis topic question. Platitudes do not trigger curiosity.
- It provides, like good titles, a narrative or a story. This means you can get a glimpse of the thesis proposal in the question.
About my reaction to the question:
- - It made me feel curious. I immediately found cognitive gaps that made it hard for me to answer the question. I recognize from the question that I do not know enough to answer it.
- It made me feel ambitious. Good research questions make me think I can solve an important problem; they trigger an entrepreneurial reaction that makes me think that my work can help build a better tomorrow.
- I see a good match between the challenge presented by the question, and the skills of the research team (myself for my own projects, or the student and the thesis committee for the thesis topics)… think flow state.
With these foundations in mind, I have started to organize in this Medium post some of the “that-is-an-excellent-thesis-question”-questions (☺) that I think would be fun; and interesting; and rewarding to try to answer.
Some of them came directly from a classroom discussion. Some others are the product of my own internal dialogue when reading new material. A few of them are incremental, they derive from some of my previous work. Some others are actually quite disruptive and surprising.
At this point, some of my favorite “thesis question” questions can be arranged in trends. These mega-trends mostly coincide with what I have always thought it is my research agenda. That said, some questions were completely independent from them and it has surprised me that I now have an emerging research interest I was not aware of.
Henrry Mintzberg is right, of course. Emergent strategies differ from stated strategies in important ways. In this case, these thesis questions that attract my attention map patterns of behavior in the absence of intention. Without me thinking about it, now I have developed new interests in fields I never thought I would care about. For example, the whole urban planning trend in the following list came to me as a research interest out of nowhere (I used to find it a very boring topic!). My level of attention to the“That is an excellent thesis topic question” meme is my way of identifying my emergent research strategy.
I have clustered some of the interesting thesis questions I would like to explore myself or with a student under some trend titles. I call them trends and not fields of study because many of them have only a loose formal relation with the other questions in the same trend, but I see personal cognitive correlation among them. I will also keep an area for outliers (no trend) to allow them to grow into a new trend… or die alone.☺
These ideas would still need a fair amount of refinement, but they all hold the potential of becoming “excellent-thesis-topic-questions” or, in my case, good papers, book chapters, blogs posts or any other publication.
“That-is an-excellent-thesis-topic-question” trends list.
Trend 1: Transnational geopolitics, geostrategy and strategic studies in general
Easy. I am a geopolitical scientist by training (masters and PhD in Geopolitics) so most geopolitical questions attract my attention immediately. Geopolitics is the study of power rivalries over territories, so many of these conflicts are actually domestic in nature. Most Homeland Defense issues tend to fall here too.
- What are the geopolitics of radicalization in North America (in particular in the US) and how can homeland security de-escalate them? (In particular I am interested in the territoriality and cartographic representation of extreme ideas and their interplay with domestic politics of security and defense)
- What are the geostrategic challenges of homeland security and defense policies for the insular territories, states and overseas possessions?
- What geopolitical challenges emerge from the implementation of charter cities in Honduras?
- How does the geopolitical representation of _____ (fill the blank) affect homeland security and defense?
- Is the US more generous in international negotiations when dealing with non friendly administrations? In other words, does it pay to give the US a cold shoulder?
Trend 2: Future studies
From structured scenario planning to the political agenda of the transhumanist movement. Most of these questions are a variant of the “What if?” question.
- What are the effects of current governance mechanisms for spacepolitics to the innovation capacities of the American private space industry?
Can the politics of space exploration and exploitation be studied through the lens of the myth of the last frontier during Westward Expansion?
- How can homeland security policies and managerial practices become more adaptive to the uncertainties of change to the strategic environment, triggered by _______ (fill the blank with an emerging technology: Drones, 3d printing, self-driving cars, wearable computing, etc.) vis-a-vis ___________________ (fill the blank with a specific problem space)
- Long now: When does a slow-onset disaster becomes a new normal?
Tend 3: Cyberstrategy, the hacker ethic and clandestine innovation
- Can a better internet be built through good cyber public policy to reclaim privacy and security from governments and corporations, while maintaining law enforcement capabilities to prosecute criminals empowered by technology?
- How to reconcile the dangers of tech appropriation to produce harm and suffering with the important positive consequences of hacking behaviors?
- How to move beyond current cyberscare narratives of the politics of fear, towards a more effective security mechanism for cyber policies that is compatible with our innovation friendly society? (I already answered this one in this publication)
Trend 4: Innovation and entrepreneurship for law enforcement, emergency management, security and defense
- What would it be required for technologies like Altaeros BAT to be used during a crisis response?
- Given the increase in the pace of innovation because of what Bryan Arthur calls combinatorial evolution of technology, how can planning, procurement and appropriation policies be changed to make homeland security more innovation friendly?
- What would be a good way to estimate how much money is executed by Drug Cartels for R&D?
Trend 5: Mexico politics and government, including but not only issues regarding to security and defense.
- How does the emergence of the Mexican middle class affect the security and defense policies of that nation? What should the US do about it?
- What can we learn from the “Pacto por Mexico” about the causes of congressional gridlock and potential solutions?
Trend 6: Border theory and the geopolitics of border management and security
- In many instances, the labor market and the workplace are being decoupled by new technologies. What criteria should be followed to upgrade border management and immigration to this new reality?
- A nation of positive self-selection? Immigration as a component of innovation policies.
Trend 7: Complexity science and systems thinking.
- What can we learn about the political conflicts vis-a-vis complex policy X from a systems thinking perspective? (replace X with Obamacre/ACA, NSA dragnet programs, Gun control, etc.) Note: cold heads required for this one.
- Most policies and laws are hypothesis crafted with very little data. How can we improve X through better experimental politics? (this one fascinates me, as it applies to almost every policy problem today. Experimental federalism and the emergence of the metro zone as a center of governance is making this a good time to study experimental politics!)
Trend 8: Spatial (Urban) planning.
- How can urban planning methods make cities more resilient?
- What does the change in governance due to the metropolitan revolution signifies for security and safety policies?
No trend…..yet.
- How can homeland security and defense policies and strategies deal more effectively with conspiracy theory thinking?
- How do the memes and semiotics of Homeland Security narratives influence public policy and politics, and the opposite?
- Human Factors in Homeland Security and Defense policies: How can we apply design thinking to improve citizen-government interactions?
- Homeland Security Inc. The rise of the private sector as a key actor of domestic security policies.
