1. Choose a topic from real life

People encounter a wide range of problems in real life, with a wide range of topics, from world politics, economy, culture and art to daily life. As long as we explore deeply, it is not difficult to find many topics worth studying. Marx studied and discovered the law of surplus value from people's general commodities. As a scientific research topic, it is not those superficial problems, but those valuable problems in a certain depth, which need some thinking and even investigation to be discovered. The need of reality is the first choice of scientific research. In the early 1930s, the American economy was at the lowest point of the Great Depression. How to get rid of economic difficulties is a common concern and hot topic for many economists. Most American scholars who won the Nobel Prize in Economics began to take an interest in economic theory or conduct research in 1930s. Milton friedman said that his study and research on economics was "the result of the inspiration of the times" (My Road to Success, Liaoning University Press, p. 82). There are many problems in China's current economic life that need to be solved urgently, such as establishing a modern enterprise system, turning some large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises into profits, product quality and protecting consumers' rights and interests, which are all important topics worthy of study. Many puzzling problems in political life are also worth studying. For example, why socialism was the aspiration of the people after World War II, but the drastic changes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s made capitalism a monument in many people's hearts. The rigid planned economy system almost ruined China's socialist future, while the large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises that dominated China's fate under the market economy system suffered serious losses; Over the years, the CPC Central Committee has repeatedly emphasized the construction of the party's work style and taken many practical measures, but the wind of corruption is spreading ... How to correctly understand and solve these problems needs in-depth discussion.

2. Theoretical research topics

Human understanding is infinitely developing, the truth of theory is only relative, the contradiction between theory and fact always exists, and the completeness of theoretical system is not eternal. Even the theoretical viewpoints that have been "summarized" need to be continuously expanded and deepened with the development of practice and understanding. Therefore, if we look at the existing and traditional theoretical viewpoints with an exploratory and critical eye, we will often find new problems from them. For example, traditional cultural theory, historical events, people's evaluation of inheritance and development issues. 1In the summer of 922, Mr. Gu Jiegang, the founder of the "Debate School of Ancient History" who is famous for doubting ancient history, discovered from the evolution of Yao Shunyu's status and related legends that the hierarchy of ancient history structure was originally caused by hierarchy. He believes that the time put forward by historical figures such as Shennong, Huangdi, Yao and Shun is just the opposite of their historical order. 1923, he formally put forward "the ancient history of China caused by accumulation", which broke the traditional concept and caused an academic debate on ancient history.

Marxist theory also needs to be constantly enriched and developed. Xu Dixin, an economist in China, began to study the generalized political economy put forward by Engels as early as 1930s. At that time, Das Kapital was the basic content of economics, which could not meet the needs of China revolution, especially the needs of young people to understand the social economy of semi-colonial and semi-feudal China. Xu Dixin was determined to write Generalized Political Economy, the first and second volumes of which were published in 1949, and the third volume was published in 1954, which contributed to the sinicization of Marxism. Attention should be paid to those contradictory theoretical problems. Through research, we can analyze why there are contradictions, where is the focus of contradictions, and whether the latter conclusion is the development or revision of the previous conclusion.

3. Choose topics from academic debates of different schools and viewpoints.

Scientific research is an exploratory and creative thinking, and there are often differences and arguments about the same viewpoint and theory, and even different schools of thought are formed. For example, the dispute between apes, the starting point of feudal society in China, the dispute between economic determinism and cultural determinism, the dispute between market regulation and planned regulation, the dispute between socialism replacing capitalism and convergence theory, the research of foreign Marxist schools and the theoretical research of "Western Marxism" and so on. In an argument, there will be right and wrong, even if it is basically correct, there will be imperfections, and both sides of the argument will have many problems worth discussing and studying. Therefore, it is an important way to find problems and choose research topics by paying attention to academic debates and deeply understanding their history, present situation and focus. He Qifang, a well-known writer and outstanding literary theorist, grasped a theoretical issue that is controversial in the literary and art circles, that is, the typical issue of art, and made a study. With the courage and boldness of a theorist, he broke the popular view at that time. I put forward my own unique opinion, which is a typical "* * * name" theory. He said: "In real life, in literary phenomena, it is impossible to draw a mathematical equal sign between characters and classes." Resolutely oppose the tendency of simplification and metaphysics in literary theory.

4. Select topics from the infiltration and intersection of disciplines.

The infiltration and intersection of disciplines is the inevitable trend of the development of science in breadth and depth. Everything is universally related, and so are all disciplines. In the past, people paid attention to the relatively independent research of disciplines, while modern science paid attention to the research of mutual infiltration and intersection of disciplines. There are a lot of new topics to choose from in the "zone" where disciplines permeate and cross. This kind of zone mainly includes: comparative discipline: through comparative analysis, explore the similarities and special laws of different systems, such as comparative philosophy, comparative history, comparative law, comparative management, etc. Marginal disciplines: social psychology, management psychology and other two or three disciplines combined to form a new research object; Soft science: a comprehensive and intelligent subject centered on management and decision-making Its research objects are mostly management science, leadership science, decision science, forecasting science, policy science, strategic science, consulting science and other complex systems related to the development of national economy, society and science and technology. Comprehensive discipline: a discipline that uses multidisciplinary theories, methods and means to conduct three-dimensional research from different aspects; Interdisciplinary: on the basis of interdisciplinary research, study some of the same attributes in everything; Superscience: studying general laws from a higher level, such as topics in science of science and philosophy. Guo Moruo has a wide range of interests and profound knowledge, and attaches great importance to the research of related disciplines and interdisciplinary subjects. In order to put the study of ancient history on a more solid foundation, he devoted a lot of energy to the study of ancient documents in China and made a breakthrough in the study of ancient Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Lawrence Klein, an American economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economics, established a new American economic model by combining econometric methods with Keynesian macroeconomic analysis methods.

5. Select topics from scientific research management and planning.

Countries, provinces, cities and various academic groups often put forward many scientific research topics, such as the national, provincial and municipal "Ninth Five-Year Plan" key topics and annual topics. These topics are usually important in theory and practice, and should be an important source of topics for scientific researchers. This kind of topic is a leading topic, many of which are very difficult and large in scale. When selecting a topic, researchers should make the topic specific from their own advantages to ensure its feasibility. In addition, many research topics have been put forward in various scientific research plans formulated by governments and scientific research departments at all levels, which is also an important source of topics.

6. Choose topics from intuitive thinking and unexpected discovery.

Researchers have a strong interest in exploring research objects, which is also an important source of scientific research topics. A large number of topics worthy of study are first manifested in various social phenomena, and the task of scientific research is to understand the essence of phenomena. Phenomenon is the most easily felt problem. At this time, the topic selection often benefits from the imagination, inspiration and intuition of researchers, as well as the capture of opportunities brought by these intuitive thinking and unexpected discoveries. Of course, this kind of topic selection may seem naive and superficial from the beginning, which needs in-depth thinking and argumentation. Guo Moruo accidentally discovered Zheng Chenggong's coins in the process of tracing and investigating his deeds, thus pushing the history of China's self-made coins for nearly 200 years, and further discovering Zheng Chenggong's financial policy and grand plan of rejuvenating the country, thus promoting the study of the history of the late Ming Dynasty.

Philosopher and logician Jin often said that his interest in logic originated in the streets of Paris. 1924 One day, Jin He was walking in the street of Paris. They met a group of people who were arguing fiercely, which aroused his curiosity. He wants to know whether there is a reliable (logical) solution to this debate. The data sources summarized above are only some direction clues for reference when selecting a topic, and cannot cover all research directions and topics. For the complicated social phenomena, there are endless topics worth studying. Whether or not to choose a suitable topic requires researchers to have the spirit of exploration and creativity. Third, the general principles of scientific research topics The problems faced by scientific research can be said to be endless. For a scientific researcher, one can only choose a suitable subject. How to choose, there is no fixed model, and summing up the historical experience and lessons of scientific research topics can sum up several principles.

1. Purpose principle

The first problem to be solved in scientific research topic selection should be "why", and the purpose is the first principle of topic selection. The most fundamental purpose of topic selection is to meet the needs of society. The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has clearly pointed out that the primary task of developing science and technology is to revitalize the economy. At present, China's economic construction and social development are advancing in breadth and depth in a wider range, and the topics to be solved and studied are getting newer, more complex and more difficult. Such as energy, transportation, food, management, trade, employment, population, human rights and so on. Solving one of the practical problems is contribution. Only when scientific research meets the needs of society can there be a real future. Related to the purpose and necessity of the topic is the value of the topic. Only the problems to be solved by scientific research projects are valuable, such as economic value, social value, theoretical value and academic value, can we meet the needs of society. Therefore, the value of the topic has become a standard to measure the purpose and necessity of the topic. On the topic selection, the purpose principle, necessity principle and value principle are consistent. On the topic selection, we should pay attention to the following aspects when implementing the purpose principle. First, generally choose practical topics. Second, we should not only attach importance to urgent affairs, but also attach importance to scientific prediction, and combine practical needs with long-term needs. Third, both theoretical research and applied research are equally important. Fourth, make full use of local departmental conditions and pay attention to the use of external conditions. Fifth, actively carry out and undertake collaborative projects, especially research projects combining politics with Industry-University-Research. How can we achieve the purpose of topic selection? It is very important to fully implement the principle of creativity in selecting topics.

2. The principle of innovation

The essence of scientific research should be creativity, and the most important principle to evaluate the quality of scientific research results is to see whether the results are innovative. Therefore, we should pay full attention to this point from the beginning of scientific research topic selection. The state has clear requirements for dissertations, among which the master's thesis should be innovative, showing that the author has the ability to engage in scientific research or independently undertake specialized business work. Doctoral thesis should be a creative achievement. Don't repeat the problems solved by others in scientific research. The so-called innovative topic selection refers to those topics that have not been solved or completely solved, and it is expected that new achievements with certain value can be obtained through research. Such as new ideas, new ideas, new ideas, new designs, new concepts, new theories, new means, new products, new quality and new benefits. Innovation is novel, exploratory, advanced and risky. It further embodies the necessity and value of the subject. On the topic selection, the key to implementing the principle of innovation lies in the word "new". Where is the subject of this innovation? Generally speaking, in all kinds of contradictions, especially in the old and new contradictions. For example, the contradiction between new facts and old theories, the contradiction between new theories and old theories, and the contradiction between different disciplines. These contradictions are manifested in the frontier of scientific development, blank areas between disciplines, areas where different theoretical viewpoints and schools argue, areas where research work encounters setbacks and failures, and so on. This requires researchers to be sharp-eyed, seize clues, track and chase, in order to make a breakthrough. These requirements are generally difficult for researchers. Many experienced tutors often guide students' scientific research from three aspects: First, they are innovative in local topics. That is, to solve an unresolved factor in a multi-factor big topic, or to make a thorough and reasonable analysis and opinion; Second, on the basis of other people's research results, they have their own supplements, new insights or improvements; Third, correct other people's mistakes. In short, innovation can be big or small, difficult or easy, and how to choose a topic depends on everyone's specific situation. The topic selection needs to be valuable and innovative. Choosing and completing such a topic should be based on a certain scientific basis, and should not be divorced from reality. Therefore, the topic selection needs to follow the principle of seeking truth from facts.

3. The principle of realism

The reality of selecting a topic means that the topic should be based on real and reliable basis, or factual basis, or scientific theory, and the topic should have a reason. Any new topic or even new achievement is put forward on the basis of existing achievements and is innovative on the basis of inheritance. Theoretical research should have a certain factual basis, and applied research should have a certain theoretical basis. As the physiologist Pavlov said, the practical thing is the air of scientists. We will never take off without practical things. Insisting on seeking truth from facts means adhering to the principle of seeking truth from facts of dialectical materialism. In the selection of topics, we should not violate the facts and laws tested by practice in a certain range, but should be based on scientific theories, which are essentially based on objective facts and laws. However, the understanding of facts and theories should also be dialectical. The facts and theories on which the topic is selected are not comprehensive and thorough, but also have certain limitations, all of which are changing and developing. With the deepening and development of practice, new knowledge, new discoveries and new inventions will review the existing facts and theories. Therefore, the word "real" in seeking truth is not rigid or inflexible. Therefore, the principle of realism requires that when choosing a topic, we should respect the facts instead of sticking to them, accept the guidance of existing theories, dare to break through the shackles of traditional concepts and adopt a dialectical analysis attitude. Can you start the topic selection work by satisfying the above three principles? It is also necessary to analyze the subjective and objective conditions for completing the topic selection. There is also a practical principle.

4. Feasibility principle

Scientific research is an exploratory and creative activity to understand and transform the world, which is always limited by certain conditions. As Engels said, we can only understand it under the conditions of our times, and to what extent these conditions reach, we will realize it. The feasibility principle embodies the conditional principle. If you don't have the subjective and objective conditions to complete the topic, the best topic can only be a wish. Therefore, the feasibility principle is the key to determine the success of the topic. When choosing a topic, we must take into account the difficulties we will encounter. Such as theory, technology, data, various interpersonal relationships and so on. It should be possible to solve these difficulties. The difficulty of topic selection is different, and the workload is also different. A common mistake is to choose too many topics and try to complete an oversized topic in a short time. When choosing a topic, we should fully analyze and estimate the following conditions: First, the realistic subjective conditions. It mainly refers to the knowledge structure, research ability, interest, understanding and sense of responsibility of scientific researchers. Second, the objective conditions of reality. Mainly refers to information, funds, time, cooperation conditions, tutor conditions, etc. For application projects, the conditions for the development and promotion of the results should also be considered, and the users should adopt the acceptance conditions. Third, actively create conditions. The so-called conditions, that is, in addition to the existing conditions, can create conditions for those conditions that are temporarily unavailable. If the knowledge is insufficient, it can be supplemented, and the equipment funds are insufficient. Some people can work hard to overcome some difficulties. If the situation is unknown, they can investigate and study first. When choosing a topic, we should choose a research topic that is basically in line with our own situation according to the conditions we have or can obtain through hard work. The above principles of topic selection reflect the social demand, social contribution, scientific basis and basic conditions of topic selection respectively, and are four interrelated and mutually restrictive principles. In the actual operation process, the situation is often much more complicated. The most fundamental point is to strictly select the topic and make the best choice, that is, try your best to complete the most creative and valuable topic. Take this as the goal of my research.

Four, the establishment and evaluation of scientific research projects is essentially a comprehensive and systematic research work, and its results are appropriate, inappropriate, correct and wrong. It is not a whim, nor is it arbitrary, especially those topics that are of great significance, difficult and expensive. In order to ensure that the topic is correct, it needs to be taken seriously. After the topic is selected, before the topic is officially opened, it is still necessary to scientifically demonstrate and evaluate the topic and make a decision on the best scheme. In the evaluation decision, the following procedures are essential. Opening report (i.e. project application). Including the source of the subject, the research purpose and significance, the research status at home and abroad, the innovation and difficulties of the subject, the main research methods, measures, steps, phased achievements and ultimate goals, the quality and level of researchers, the advanced nature of research results, benefits and budget, etc. Demonstration and evaluation. Five methods or steps are usually adopted, namely, investigation, comparison, prediction, synthesis and decision-making. Historical comparison/current situation investigation/future prediction → system synthesis → expert review and optimal decision. It is the most critical and important procedure and basis for questioning. The expert review team mainly reviews the project application. Evaluate one by one, and if there are key conditions that do not meet the requirements, eliminate them. Approved by the supervisor. The examination and approval work of the competent department is mainly to grasp the direction and focus, and it is also a comprehensive, balanced and reasonable allocation of funds. Projects that have not been approved are generally immature and meet the requirements, and it is still necessary to create conditions to re-declare. Of course, there may also be cases where the expert group has insufficient evaluation and leadership, and can't really find the right topic. If conditions permit, such topics can still be studied as elective topics.