Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation
Dissertations aren't walls to scale or battles to fight; they are destinations along the path to a professional career. Destination Dissertation is a handbook that helps students successfully develop and complete their dissertations. It uses travel as a metaphor framing the process as an exciting trip of 29 steps that can be completed in less than nine months. Designed for use by students in all disciplines and for both quantitative and qualitative dissertations, the book shows concrete and...
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Dissertations aren't walls to scale or battles to fight; they are destinations along the path to a professional career. This friendly guide helps doctoral students develop and write their dissertations, using travel as a metaphor. This time-tested method comes from the authors' successful work at the Denver-based Scholars' Retreat. Following concrete and efficient steps for completing each part of the dissertation, it includes a wealth of examples from throughout the dissertation process, such as creating the dissertation proposal and coding data. Essential for all PhD candidates!
Acknowledgments xiPreparing to Go: The Dissertation Journey 1Can a Dissertation Really Be a Trip? 2Packing Your Bags 3Enjoyment 3Doability 3Competence 4Agency 6Support 6Our Guarantees 7Your Travel Agents 10How to Use This Guide 13The Journey before You: 29 Steps 17Our Timetable 18Yeah, But... 22Dissertation Checklist 23Planning the Trip: The Conceptual Conversation 25Selecting and Orienting a Partner 27Asking and Answering Questions 28Identifying Key Pieces 31Developing Your Itinerary: The Preproposal 35Formulating Your Research Question 36Criteria for a Good Research Question 37Multiple Research Questions 43Selecting Your Data 46Aligning Your Research Question and Your Data 48Identifying Your Method of Data Collection 50Identifying Your Method of Data Analysis 51Identifying theLiterature to Review 52Identifying the Significance of Your Study 57Identifying Your Chapters 59Writing Your Preproposal 60Assessing Your Decisions 69Committing to the Preproposal with Your Advisor 71Advice from Other Travelers: The Literature Review 75Coding the Literature 75Sorting Your Codes 84Checking Your Codes 86Creating Your Conceptual Schema 86Writing It Up 92Getting There: The Dissertation Proposal 113Introduction 115Research Question 120Definition of Terms 122Literature Review 125Research Design 126Data 126History or Context 135Procedures 142Data Collection 142Data Analysis 146Assumptions 151Significance of the Study 157Outline of the Study 161Recap: Sections of a Dissertation Proposal 163Approval of the Proposal 163Things to See and Do: Data Collection and Analysis 185Collecting Your Data 185Creating Codable Data 186Identifying Your Unit(s) of Analysis 186Coding Your Data 187Sorting Your Codes 191Checking Your Codes 194Creating Your Explanatory Schema 196Writing It Up 212Making the Most of Your Travels: The Last Chapter Plus 217Summary 218Interpretation of Findings 224Limitations 237Suggestions for Future Research 243Finishing Up 249Useful Phrases: Writing and Editing 265Fast Writing 266Turning Off the Screen 268Making Notes to Self 269Writing with Headings 270Skipping Around 272Keeping the Ideas Flowing 272Slow Revising 273Editing 273Proofreading 275Computer-Aided Proofreading 276Hard Copy Proofreading 277Travelogue: The Dissertation Defense 279Preparing for Your Defense 280The Defense Itself 284Following Your Defense 290Making the Best Use of Your Guide: Advisor Advising 293Asking Appropriately 294Agreeing on a Vision 298Expectations about Roles 298Expectations about Advising 299Replication Model 300Apprenticeship Model 300Cocreation Model 301Expectations about Dissertations 301Articulating Needs 303Conceptual Conversation 303Ground Rules 303Information about the Dissertation Process 314Information about Research and Writing 315Information about the Dissertation Defense 315Enacting Professionalism 317Assessing Your Relationship 320Understanding Your Advisor's Perspective 321Framing Issues Collaboratively 322Protecting Your Advisor's Face 323Planning for Action 324Applying Productive Chicanery 325Performing Completion 327Asking for Help from a Mediator 328Adding a Coadvisor 328Switching Advisors 329Avoiding Delays and Annoyances: Enacting the Scholar Role 331Incomplete-Scholar Roles 332Housekeeper 333Model Employee 334Undocumented Worker 336Patient 337Good Student 339Proxy Critic 340Executor 341Maverick 343Enacting the Scholar Role: Writing Regularly 343Writing on a Schedule 345Focusing on Successes 350Index 361About the Authors 367
\ The AthenaeumTo the rescue comes Sonja K. Foss and William Waters with their outstanding book, Destination Dissertation. This book is a must-have for anyone in graduate school, and for anyone who faces the prospect of writing a research paper or journal article with trepidation. In this book the authors succinctly and efficiently guide you through the entire dissertation process via a step-by-step, easy to follow format. . . . No matter what field you are in, or the type of research you are conducting, you can effectively use Destination Dissertation as a guide to writing your dissertation or thesis. . . . If you are facing the prospect of having to write a dissertation or thesis, get this book!\ \
