Students adopt idealistic goals for their microbiology projects, due to the competition for good grades and postgraduate positions. Others select project topics on microbiology that make significant contributions to the microbiology literature, while other select topics are manageable and their ideas can attract a large pool of audience. Irrespective, the selected topics should not override the importance of a do-able project. Often students and professionals in microbiology want to conduct research on broad and all-encompassing topics. Such broad topics take significant time and effort, which a majority of students and researchers cannot afford. However, project topics on microbiology that are too narrow should also be avoided, as it is difficult to generalize such results. Researchers should strike a balance by selecting project topics on microbiology that are narrow enough to focus on but not too narrow that the results have no generalizability.
How to Evaluate Project Topics on Microbiology
It is common for microbiology students to develop a list of potential research topics. The difficulty arises when learners must choose a topic from a list, and develop a research project.
The main evaluation criteria should focus on among others:
- relevance of the project topic,
- effectiveness and efficiency of the available research information,
- impacts of the topic on the intended audience,
- sustainability of the research topic.
Topic Significance
When deciding on the project topic, the researcher should select a topic that elicits interest and curiosity on not only the researcher but also the target audience. The project writer should make a decision based on what he or she feels about the subtopics on microbiology. In this regard, the writer should focus on:
- the sustainability of the topic during research,
- the availability of material on the topic,
- the level of interest the topic will elicit on the audience and the researcher.
The topic should be one that not only elicits interest in the researcher and the audience but also one that elicits curiosity among both parties. The researchers’ curiosity and interest should manifest themselves by adding to their enthusiasm about the project; therefore, it should have the potential to act as a powerful motivational and educational device.
Topic Sensibility
Evaluating topic sensibility should involve analyzing whether the topic is worthwhile in the research field. The field of microbiology is always evolving due to increased research findings and evolvement of technological applications. Accordingly, the project topic should be valuable in the context of the field of study. For instance, the researcher should evaluate applicability of the topic on living things, microorganisms, environmental issues, or medical fields.
Topic Manageability
It is important for a project topic to be feasible, which implies that the researcher should make critical decisions regarding the research to enable him or her collect primary data to answer potential project topics. Therefore, the project researcher should consider whether the project topic is do-able.
The Overall Evaluation Criteria
The project’s appropriateness and effectiveness should assess:
- relevance,
- efficiency,
- effectiveness,
- impacts.
Hope these ideas will come in handy for your project!