Writing your doctoral dissertation - part 1 docx

Preface For the past twenty-five years I have been working with doctoral students, guiding their evolution to doctoral recipients.. While most doctoral students expect to draw on their e

Preface

For the past twenty-five years I have been working with doctoral students, guiding their evolution to doctoral recipients During the time we work together, I become intensely conscious of their need to understand the culture

of the university as it impacts on their progress Concurrently, they need to

be receptive to engaging in a transformative, life-changing experience, the essence of learning As I recall my own days as a doctoral student, I remember being at a total loss to understand what was happening to me I have discovered this is not unique Most have no idea what a dissertation looks like or how it evolves

While most doctoral students expect to draw on their earlier collegiate experiences, nothing in the academic world prepares them for the complexity and intensity inherent in the doctoral process I have identified the crucial

issues to include in Writing Your Dissertation: Invisible Rules for Success

from multiple sources:

• my experience in guiding more than seventy-five doctoral dissertations to completion;

• more than 200 anonymous responses by doctoral students and graduates

to open-ended questionnaires;

• focus groups with doctoral students and graduates; and

• informal conversations with current doctoral students and graduates, including some of whom teach in doctoral programs across the nation Increasing numbers of adults are receiving doctoral degrees (Magner, 1999), but it is a culture in which most admit a lack of knowledge of the rules They frequently search for explicit information about what this complex, highly interactive, academic, social, and political process involves Access to knowledgeable sources of information is limited, yet essential for emotional and intellectual survival This book serves as a practical guide for students to progress in planning, writing, and defending their dissertations

When students seek to understand the rules of the program, they are

frequently referred to the university Bulletin or told to see their advisor There

is little explicit documentation of what occurs in a doctoral program What is particularly missing from these sources is information about the human

element, the social interactions which are the hallmark of doctoral programs, and probably the most problematic for most doctoral students Recognizing the need to address this gap, I have developed a comprehensive guide to many dimensions of the doctoral process, particularly focusing on the writing of the doctoral dissertation

While the primary goal in writing this book is to help current doctoral students to survive and flourish in their programs, I have also become aware

of the need to consider major reforms in the doctoral process This has been supported by recent publications (e.g.: Kennedy, 1997; Lovitts, 1996; Menand, 1996; Olson and Drew, 1998) For current enrollees, survival is probably the key issue, but from a long-term perspective, I think we in the academic world need to reflect on what is expected of students, and find ways

to create more supportive settings for students and the academic

community-at-large While the primary audience for Writing your Doctoral Dissertation

is current students, doctoral students may find it productive to share this book with friends and relatives, helping them to understand and provide more supportive settings in completing a dissertation In addition, graduates have impressed me with their desire, now that they are done, to compare their experiences with others, as well as to obtain a clearer sense of the totality of the experience Certainly faculty would benefit from understanding the students’ perspectives as well

Each academic institution creates unique rules and procedures for completing a doctoral degree, but there are many similarities across

institutions Writing your Doctoral Dissertation offers a combination of the

general rules, along with strategies for coping with the range of experiences you may encounter in your progress The book will prepare you for some of the likely hurdles, offering guidance to avoiding conflicts, and to working through problems which are impossible to predict but will inevitably occur I frequently remind you to “check with your advisor,” “check with your peer-support group,” “check with your chair.” These individuals know your local terrain The more information you have, the more prepared you will be to address each of the issues in your program and to handle your unique experiences

A case could be made that doctoral students are required to be the most rigorous researchers Researchers are resourceful, seeking information in a

wide array of sites As a reader of this book, you are a researcher Writing

your Doctoral Dissertation supplements any materials available at your

institution It cannot supplant any institutional documents or explanatory requirements Read all publications from your institution which enumerate the steps in the process, as well as any academic calendars which might offer clues about mandated activities (e.g preliminary examinations, matriculation interviews, oral defenses) and their frequency of occurrence (e.g once each

semester, annually) The Bulletin is a good starting point, but don’t stop there.

Look for brochures, pamphlets, fliers, bulletin board notices, advertisements

in campus newspapers, and program newsletters Explore the materials available in the Graduate Office and the Office of the Dean of Graduate

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Studies, or like, which might describe some of the requirements Inquire about program meetings, informal gatherings, and advisement materials which may offer a map of what to expect

To obtain the information contained in these pages, I have engaged in intensive research, obtaining numerous lenses on this phenomenon which we call “going for my doctorate.” Some 250 people provided information on their own experiences as doctoral students and doctoral advisors Within the text, and as epigraphs at the beginning of chapters, you will see direct quotations from these sources For more information about my research procedures, see Brause (1997) and Appendix A A critique of the doctoral process based on this research is in preparation

While there are increasing numbers of books which are outlining the parts

of a dissertation (see Appendix B for some useful titles), there is a need for students to understand both the academic and the social elements which contribute to their progress This book combines both of these elements as it provides step-by-step guidance in moving from identifying a research problem to defending your dissertation Most students in doctoral programs proceed through the steps with only a vague understanding of what a dissertation is or what is involved in getting one Having a sense of typical issues, you will be ready for what lies ahead for you

This book will probably be useful to read in two ways:

• first, as a quick read—offering an overview of “the terrain” and an

explanation of all the steps in the process of writing a dissertation;

• second, as ready reference—providing a step-by-step guide to creating

your committee, writing your proposal, and preparing for your oral defense, for example

I expect that you will initially review the total contents, noting the range of information, realizing the impossibility of attending to all the details, but happy to know that they are available for later reference Recognizing the depth of detail provided, you will intelligently read carefully up to the point where you are in writing your dissertation Then, you will read the next chapter v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y You will refer to each chapter in turn, as you progress through your research apprenticeship (This assumption follows

from Gail Sheehy (1976)’s experience with Passages: Predictable Crises of

Adult Life, in which people tended to read to the chapter which represented

their current stage, and deferred reading subsequent chapters until the time when they were at that next stage.) Each person will start this intense reading

at a different place, eventually proceeding to the final chapters as you triumph

in writing your doctoral dissertation I am writing this book as a student advocate I acknowledge there are numerous, significant problems in the process, many of which were highlighted in the process of collecting the data for this book The most notable event was the recent suicide of a doctoral student which was attributed to university procedures that isolated students and made them vulnerable to the whims of one faculty member (see