What are the Challenges that you might face while choosing a dissertation topic using ChatGPT?

ChatGPT as an Adjunct to Research Endeavors 

ChatGPT is an advanced natural language processing tool developed using a Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) and artificial intelligence (AI). Its key feature is the ability to generate real-time responses. ChatGPT is designed to assist in creating content for essays, explaining historical events, providing answers, and generating functional programming code, often producing outputs that resemble human-generated content (Marusenko, 2023). 

 According to Herbold et al. (2023), essays generated by ChatGPT were structured and of higher quality, suggesting that ChatGPT could be effectively used to aid in writing essays, assignments, and dissertations. However, it is important to use ChatGPT as a supplement rather than a replacement for genuine research. 

 For more information on the reliability of ChatGPT-generated content for literature reviews, check out our blog comparing content generated by ChatGPT versus an expert. 

ChatGPT for Writing a Dissertation 

ChatGPT can assist students throughout the dissertation process. Anik et al. (2023) highlighted the various applications of ChatGPT at each stage: 

 Dissertation Topic Selection 

ChatGPT helps narrow down research objectives and assists in selecting a suitable dissertation topic by generating relevant responses. 

 Dissertation Proposal 

ChatGPT aids in rephrasing and organizing research objectives, improving wording, and providing a logical flow. It also enhances various sections of the research proposal. 

 Literature Review 

ChatGPT can help summarize vast amounts of information and incorporate insights from diverse fields. However, users should avoid relying solely on auto-generated content to prevent incorrect references. 

 Research Methodology 

ChatGPT provides insights for choosing a research design and helps compare various research methodologies, allowing students to frame a suitable approach. It is crucial for students to thoroughly assess ChatGPT's responses before incorporating them to ensure accuracy. 

 Data Collection and Analysis 

ChatGPT assists in identifying suitable statistical analysis methods and maintains coherence when incorporating insights from related studies. 

 ChatGPT for Dissertation Topic Selection 

Selecting a dissertation topic is crucial for writing a high-quality dissertation. ChatGPT can offer thesis subject ideas through prompts, helping students frame topics that interest them. However, challenges may arise, as described below: 

  

Challenges of Using ChatGPT for Choosing a Dissertation Topic 

Based on an autoethnographic study by Schwenke et al., several challenges include: 

 Awareness of Learning Objectives: Students must clearly understand their learning objectives, context, and expected outcomes to obtain useful information from ChatGPT. 

 Development of Prompts: Creating suitable prompts for ChatGPT can be challenging since it is sensitive to inputs and may generate incorrect answers. Clarity on learning objectives and outcomes is essential (Schwenke, 2023). 

  

Other Challenges: 

 Lack of Knowledge of Keywords: Students should know the keywords representing important research concepts before seeking ChatGPT’s help. 

Ideation: While ChatGPT can suggest relevant dissertation topics, students should not directly copy these suggestions. Responses are based on existing training data, and relevant papers may already be published. Students should study published papers, identify research gaps, and choose a feasible topic. 

Students can combine multiple responses from ChatGPT and select a topic that interests them, conducting thorough research to ensure feasibility. 

 For more guidance on selecting a dissertation topic, check out our study guide. 

 Conclusion 

ChatGPT is a powerful natural language processing tool that generates real-time responses and can assist in creating content. Research has shown that ChatGPT can be used as an adjunct to research for master’s dissertations, aiding in topic selection, proposal writing, literature reviews, data collection, and statistical analysis. However, it is important to understand its limitations. Students should clearly define learning outcomes, select appropriate keywords,