Though you have found a gap in literature, it’s still arduous to decide a topic for your thesis. You should read several theses on related subject to get familiar with different ideas. Undoubtedly you have to write in your own style, but scanning through these work will be of great use. Choose a topic that interests you. There are certain factors that will influence your opinion of choosing a topic such as:
- Your specialisation at Master’s level.
- How can the research at your Master’s level help you develop a fresh problem for your new research?
- How can your work profile add benefits to your research?
- Areas that you have already explored
- New opportunities that can lead growth during your doctorate research
- Support from your advisors
- Your specific interest for conducting an academic research
- Your investment potential in time and money
- How confident are you to defend your thesis?
Just imagine that you have analysed all these factors, and the top three factors are:
- Your specialisation at Master’s level.
- How can your work profile add benefits to your research?
- Support from your advisors
You will be confident in your thesis work now as you have already researched in the same area, plus you have practical knowledge that will be an additional advantage, and finally you have enough support of advisors.
Find an edge to work on
You have chosen a topic, and now you should start your research and writing work. Your research should be unique. However, it can’t be completely unique. Here originality means it operates on the edge of what has been researched, and what has been left, and how the gap or missing part would be developed further to add useful information, but still it depends on what has been done already.
So looking for a gap to continue your research work would be as same as finding an edge on existing research to work on. Refer the last five years’ research documents, and use a creative approach to find an edge. You will find many ideas.
Let your imagination run free
To make your project successful you should think with more creativity. Allow your brain to independently think of ideas without concerning about whether they are good or bad. Think of ideas as much as you can. Once you have developed ideas, refine them into a potential PhD project. Check your ideas with existing literature to know whether your ideas have already been investigated or any similar research has been conducted. This is important so that you can find an original idea to work on. If you have a partial original idea, you can talk to your advisors. They can suggest you some tips how to approach the same idea in a complete unique way.
Always remember your project should be comprehensive as much as you can. You should think of simple project version, and add all aspects to make it comprehensive.