Can anyone help me create a title for my research paper?

My research paper is about the mother/daugther relationship and how this relationship continues to fail due to the lack of communication between the two. My 1st draft title was going to say something similiar to this "The Oedipus Complex, the Elektra Complex, Oh No! The Mother/Daughter Complex?" My 2nd draft title: The Mother-Daughter Relationship: A Whole New Complex...If you like the 1st one, can you help me arrange it so that the punctuation is correct. And also, should i state these other complexes, if I'm not speaking about them in my paper?

Can anyone help me create a title for my research paper?
Although catchy titles are very important when you are trying to sell a paper (or book or movie), in the research fields what matters most is that your title is descriptive but concise. That is, the title should briefly describe what the research is all about. Most college-level, and especially graduate-level, titles are very technical and unless you know exactly what is being discussed, you won't really find the title "catchy" by any means.





Having said that, you shoud choose a title that is relevant, and you should not include extraneous, irrelevant info. Does the so-called Oedipus or Electra Complex have anything to do with your subject-matter? If not, ditch any reference to it. As far as I know, the Oedipus/Electra Compelxes are often-used fiction themes that have been largely debunked in the scientific (non-fiction) realm. Wasn't it Freud who was all hooked on that idea, and Shakespeare and the Greeks before him?





Anyways, the second draft title seems more to the point. You may wish to brieflly discuss popular ideas and/or myths about "complexes" as a way to broach the subject if you intend to use "complex" in the title. Perhaps you wish to dispel some myths about "jealousy" and those Shakespearean/Greek play themes that play so popularly in something like "Hamlet" or "Oedipus Rex" and just say that the relationship reaches deeper than the simplicity of jealousy. If you are doing a research paper, you should definitely use real scientific resources, and not something like Dr. Phil or Dr. Laura. (I believe neither of them actually has a real research-level degree in psychology anyway).


God forbid, don't use Jerry Springer lol.





Generally a title helps you start your research (usually you have a working title first) and afterwards, after you discover new information, you chisel the title down (or even work it up) to something more concise and descriptive. If you have any new ideas, you are free to email me and ask me. I think starting with "The Mother-Daughter Relationship: " is good, and after the colon describe briefly what your paper intends to show about it.





I have never seen anyone get heavily-penalized for a bad title.
Reply:First title is too cutesy and I figure from your question, Oedipus and Electra complexes are not part of the discussion, so don't mention them. Is the Mother/Daughter relationship a whole new complex? Maybe to you, but I think a stroll through Freud or Amazon will convince you otherwise:


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search...
Reply:Give this a try, "The difference between a mother and daughter, a family conflict".
Reply:i think you should use The Mother and Daughter Relationships or life of a mother a daughter relationship
Reply:If you use the first one, I think it would be better this way: "The Oedipus Complex. The Elektra Complex. The Mother/Daughter Complex? Oh No!"





When you state the unrelating complexes, I think it's fine because they both ARE called complexes. I think it works.





It is probably too long of a title, but I like what you are trying to do. Maybe just simplify it to "The Mother/Daughter Complex? Oh No!"





Good luck!

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