Writing your doctoral dissertation - part 8 docx

Insights and suggestions for success

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• dissertation topic selection;

• the dissertation committee;

• organization;

• writing;

• the university community;

• personal stance.

Each suggestion is numbered, to note the different contributors. You will find

some reassuring and some daunting. While some may not make any sense at

this moment, as you progress, you will probably identify with the range of

perspectives represented.

Dissertation Topic Selection

1 Start searching for your dissertation topic with your first course—and

your course assignments.

2 I could not find anyone in the department who was willing to work with

me on a subject I wanted to research. It was only when I asked to help one

of the professors with his research that I was accepted into the “club.”

3 Read multiple dissertations—chapter by chapter—as you go through your

courses.

4 Find a topic you love. You could be working on it for years.

5 Choose a topic which will have significance to you after you are done.

6 Choose a topic in which you are intensely and independently interested.

7 I wish I had looked for a dissertation topic from the moment I started the

program and used the course assignments as an opportunity to explore

topics that might have led me towards a dissertation topic.

The Dissertation Committee

8 Find professors with a track record for graduating students.

9 Find a good mentor—a person you respect and can work well with.

10 I worked in isolation and misinterpreted critique as failure.

11 Look on your chair as you ally.

12 While your committee has Chapters 1 – 3, work on Chapter 4. When they

return their chapters, give them the next chapter.

13 Take ownership of your dissertation.

14 If you don’t ask for professors’ time, professors will assume all is OK.

Pester them!

15 “Although I value all I’ve learned, I wish I had chosen an adviser who

was actively involved in research. Then I might have begun to acquire

the practical knowledge and skills I’ll now need to do the dissertation,

and in the future. …Recognize that the ambivalence and uncertainty you

may feel is not unique to you nor necessarily a reflection of your