Dissertation/Thesis Guide
1. Be inclusive with your thinking.Don't try to eliminate ideas too quickly. Build on your ideas and
see how many different research projects you can identify. Give yourself the luxury of being
expansive in your thinking at this stage -- you won't be able to do this later on. Try and be creative.
2. Write down your ideas. This will allow you to revisit an idea later on. Or, you can modify and
change an idea. If you don't write your ideas they tend to be in a continual state of change and you
will probably have the feeling that you're not going anywhere. What a great feeling it is to be able to sit
down and scan the many ideas you have been thinking about, if they're written down.
3. Try not to be overly influenced at this time by what you feel others expect from you (your
colleagues, your profession, your academic department, etc.). You have a much better chance of
selecting a topic that will be really of interest to you if it is your topic. This will be one of the few
opportunities you may have in your professional life to focus in on a research topic that is really of your
own choosing.
4. Don't begin your thinking by assuming that your research will draw international attention
to you!! Instead, be realistic in setting your goal. Make sure your expectations are tempered by:
... the realization that you are fulfilling an academic requirement,
... the fact that the process of conducting the research may be just as important (or more important)
than the outcomes of the research, and
... the idea that first and foremost the whole research project should be a learning experience for
you.
If you can keep these ideas in mind while you're thinking through your research you stand an excellent
chance of having your research project turn out well.
5. Be realistic about the time that you're willing to commit to your research project. If it's a 10
year project that you're thinking about admit it at the beginning and then decide whether or not you
have 10 years to give to it. If the project you'd like to do is going to demand more time than you're willing
to commit then you have a problem.
I know it's still early in your thinking but it's never too early to create a draft of a timeline. Try using the 6
Stages (see the next item) and put a start and a finish time for each. Post your timeline in a conspicuous
place (above your computer monitor?) so that it continually reminds you how you're doing. Periodically
update your timeline with new dates as needed. (Thanks to a website visitor from Philadelphia for sharing this idea.)
6. If you're going to ask for a leave of absence from your job while you're working on your research
this isn't a good time to do it. Chances are you can do the "thinking about it" stage without a leave of
absence. Assuming that there are six major phases that you will have during your research project,
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probably the best time to get the most from a leave of absence is during the fourth stage* - the
writing stage. This is the time when you really need to be thinking well. To be able to work at your
writing in large blocks of time without interruptions is something really important. A leave of absence
from your job can allow this to happen. A leave of absence from your job prior to this stage may not be a
very efficient use of the valuable time away from your work.
Stage 1 - Thinking About It
Stage 2 - Preparing the Proposal
Stage 3- Conducting the Research
Stage 4- Writing the Research Paper*
Stage 5- Sharing the Research Outcomes with Others
Stage 6- Revising the Research Paper
7. It can be most helpful at this early stage to try a very small preliminary research study to test
out some of your ideas to help you gain further confidence in what you'd like to do. The study can
be as simple as conducting half a dozen informal interviews with no attempt to document what is said. The
key is that it will give you a chance to get closer to your research and to test out whether or not you really
are interested in the topic. And, you can do it before you have committed yourself to doing something you
may not like. Take your time and try it first.
PREPARING THE PROPOSAL
Assuming you've done a good job of "thinking about" your research project, you're ready to actually
prepare the proposal. A word of caution - those students who tend to have a problem in coming up with a
viable proposal often are the ones that have tried to rush through the "thinking about it" part and move too
quickly to trying to write the proposal. Here's a final check. Do each of these statements describe you? If
they do you're ready to prepare your research proposal.
I am familiar with other research that has been conducted in areas related to my research project.
(___Yes, it's me)
( ___No, not me)
I have a clear understanding of the steps that I will use in conducting my research.
(___Yes, it's me)
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( ___No, not me)
I feel that I have the ability to get through each of the steps necessary to complete my research
project.
(___Yes, it's me)
( ___No, not me)
I know that I am motivated and have the drive to get through all of the steps in the research
project.
(___Yes, it's me)
( ___No, not me)
Okay, you're ready to write your research proposal. Here are some ideas to help with the task:
8. Read through someone else's research proposal. Very often a real stumbling block is that we
don't have an image in our mind of what the finished research proposal should look like. How has
the other proposal been organized? What are the headings that have been used? Does the other proposal
seem clear? Does it seem to suggest that the writer knows the subject area? Can I model my proposal after
one of the ones that I've seen? If you can't readily find a proposal or two to look at, ask your adviser to see
some. Chances are your adviser has a file drawer filled with them.
9. Make sure your proposal has a comprehensive review of the literature included. Now this idea,
at first thought, may not seem to make sense. I have heard many students tell me that "This is only
the proposal. I'll do a complete literature search for the dissertation. I don't want to waste the time now."
But, this is the time to do it. The rationale behind the literature review consists of an argument with two
lines of analysis: 1) this research is needed, and 2) the methodology I have chosen is most appropriate for
the question that is being asked. Now, why would you want to wait? Now is the time to get informed and
to learn from others who have preceded you! If you wait until you are writing the dissertation it is too late.
You've got to do it some time so you might as well get on with it and do it now. Plus, you will probably
want to add to the literature review when you're writing the final dissertation. (Thanks to a website visitor from
Mobile, Alabama who helped to clarify this point.)
10. With the ready availability of photocopy machines you should be able to bypass many of the
hardships that previous dissertation researchers had to deal with in developing their literature
review. When you read something that is important to your study, photocopy the relevant article or
section. Keep your photocopies organized according to categories and sections. And, most importantly,
photocopy the bibliographic citation so that you can easily reference the material in your bibliography.
Then, when you decide to sit down and actually write the literature review, bring out your photocopied
sections, put them into logical and sequential order, and then begin your writing.
11. What is a proposal anyway? A good proposal should consist of the first three chapters of the
dissertation. It should begin with a statement of the problem/background information (typically
Chapter I of the dissertation), then move on to a review of the literature (Chapter 2), and conclude with a
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defining of the research methodology (Chapter 3). Of course, it should be written in a future tense since it
is a proposal. To turn a good proposal into the first three chapters of the dissertation consists of changing
the tense from future tense to past tense (from "This is what I would like to do" to "This is what I did") and
making any changes based on the way you actually carried out the research when compared to how you
proposed to do it. Often the intentions we state in our proposal turn out different in reality and we then
have to make appropriate editorial changes to move it from proposal to dissertation.
12. Focus your research very specifically. Don't try to have your research cover too broad an area.
Now you may think that this will distort what you want to do. This may be the case, but you will be
able to do the project if it is narrowly defined. Usually a broadly defined project is not do-able. By
defining too broadly it may sound better to you, but there is a great chance that it will be unmanageable as
a research project. When you complete your research project it is important that you have something
specific and definitive to say. This can be accommodated and enhanced by narrowly defining your project.
Otherwise you may have only broadly based things to say about large areas that really provide little
guidance to others that may follow you. Often the researcher finds that what he/she originally thought to
be a good research project turns out to really be a group of research projects. Do one project for your
dissertation and save the other projects for later in your career. Don't try to solve all of the problems in this
one research project.
13. Include a title on your proposal. I'm amazed at how often the title is left for the end of the
student's writing and then somehow forgotten when the proposal is prepared for the committee. A
good proposal has a good title and it is the first thing to help the reader begin to understand the nature of
your work. Use it wisely! Work on your title early in the process and revisit it often. It's easy for a reader
to identify those proposals where the title has been focused upon by the student. Preparing a good title
means:
...having the most important words appear toward the beginning of your title,
...limiting the use of ambiguous or confusing words,
..breaking your title up into a title and subtitle when you have too many words, and
...including key words that will help researchers in the future find your work.
14. It's important that your research proposal be organized around a set of questions that will
guide your research. When selecting these guiding questions try to write them so that they frame
your research and put it into perspective with other research. These questions must serve to establish the
link between your research and other research that has preceded you. Your research questions should
clearly show the relationship of your research to your field of study. Don't be carried away at this point
and make your questions too narrow. You must start with broad relational questions.
A good question:
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Do adult learners in a rural adult education setting have characteristics that are similar to
adult learners in general ?
A poor question:
What are the characteristics of rural adult learners in an adult education program? (too
narrow)
A poor question:
How can the XYZ Agency better serve rural adult learners? (not generalizable)
15. Now here are a few more ideas regarding the defining of your research project through your
proposal.
a. Make sure that you will be benefitting those who are participating in the research.
Don't only see the subjects as sources of data for you to analyze. Make sure you treat them as
participants in the research. They have the right to understand what you are doing and you have a
responsibility to share the findings with them for their reaction. Your research should not only
empower you with new understandings but it should also empower those who are participating with
you.
b. Choose your methodology wisely. Don't be too quick in running away from using a
quantitative methodology because you fear the use of statistics. A qualitative approach to
research can yield new and exciting understandings, but it should not be undertaken because of a
fear of quantitative research. A well designed quantitative research study can often be
accomplished in very clear and direct ways. A similar study of a qualitative nature usually requires
considerably more time and a tremendous burden to create new paths for analysis where previously
no path had existed. Choose your methodology wisely!
c. Sometimes a combined methodology makes the most sense. You can combine a
qualitative preliminary study (to define your population more clearly, to develop your
instrumentation more specifically or to establish hypotheses for investigation) with a quantitative
main study to yield a research project that works well.
d. Deciding on where you will conduct the research is a major decision. If you are from
another area of the country or a different country there is often an expectation that you will
return to your "home" to conduct the research. This may yield more meaningful results, but it will
also most likely create a situation whereby you are expected to fulfill other obligations while you
are home. For many students the opportunity to conduct a research project away from home is an
important one since they are able to better control many of the intervening variables that they can
not control at home. Think carefully regarding your own situation before you make your decision.
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e. What if you have the opportunity for conducting your research in conjunction with
another agency or project that is working in related areas. Should you do it? Sometimes
this works well, but most often the dissertation researcher gives up valuable freedom to conduct the
research project in conjunction with something else. Make sure the trade-offs are in your favor.
It can be very disastrous to have the other project suddenly get off schedule and to find your own
research project temporarily delayed. Or, you had tripled the size of your sample since the agency
was willing to pay the cost of postage. They paid for the postage for the pre-questionnaire. Now
they are unable to assist with postage for the post-questionnaire. What happens to your research? I
usually find that the cost of conducting dissertation research is not prohibitive and the trade-offs to
work in conjunction with another agency are not in favor of the researcher. Think twice before
altering your project to accommodate someone else. Enjoy the power and the freedom to make your
own decisions (and mistakes!) -- this is the way we learn!
16. Selecting and preparing your advisory committee to respond to your proposal should not be
taken lightly. If you do your "homework" well your advisory committee can be most helpful to
you. Try these ideas:
a. If you are given the opportunity to select your dissertation committee do it wisely. Don't
only focus on content experts. Make sure you have selected faculty for your committee
who are supportive of you and are willing to assist you in successfully completing your research.
You want a committee that you can ask for help and know that they will provide it for you. Don't
forget, you can always access content experts who are not on your committee at any time during
your research project.
b. Your major professor/adviser/chairperson is your ally. When you go to the committee
for reactions to your proposal make sure your major professor is fully supportive of you.
Spend time with him/her before the meeting so that your plans are clear and you know you have
full support. The proposal meeting should be seen as an opportunity for you and your major
professor to seek the advice of the committee. Don't ever go into the proposal meeting with the
feeling that it is you against them!
c. Provide the committee members with a well-written proposal well in advance of the
meeting. Make sure they have ample time to read the proposal.
d. Plan the proposal meeting well. If graphic presentations are necessary to help the
committee with understandings make sure you prepare them so they look good. A well
planned meeting will help your committee understand that you are prepared to move forward with
well planned research. Your presentation style at the meeting should not belittle your committee
members (make it sound like you know they have read your proposal) but you should not assume
too much (go through each of the details with an assumption that maybe one of the members
skipped over that section).
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WRITING THE THESIS OR DISSERTATION
Now this is the part we've been waiting for. I must assume that you have come up with a good idea for
research, had your proposal approved, collected the data, conducted your analyses and now you're about to
start writing the dissertation. If you've done the first steps well this part shouldn't be too bad. In fact it
might even be enjoyable!
(NOTE: Periodically I receive requests for information on how to prepare a "thesis statement" rather than actually writing
a thesis/dissertation. How To Write a Thesis Statement is an excellent website that clearly sets forth what a "thesis
statement" is and how to actually prepare one.)
17. The major myth in writing a dissertation is that you start writing at Chapter One and then finish
your writing at Chapter Five. This is seldom the case. The most productive approach in writing the
dissertation is to begin writing those parts of the dissertation that you are most comfortable with.
Then move about in your writing by completing various sections as you think of them. At some point you
will be able to spread out in front of you all of the sections that you have written. You will be able to
sequence them in the best order and then see what is missing and should be added to the dissertation. This
way seems to make sense and builds on those aspects of your study that are of most interest to you at any
particular time. Go with what interests you, start your writing there, and then keep building!
(David Kraenzel - North Dakota State University - wrote in describing the "A to Z Method". Look at the first section of your
paper. When you are ready go ahead and write it. If you are not ready, move section-by-section through your paper until you
find a section where you have some input to make. Make your input and continue moving through the entire paper - from A
to Z - writing and adding to those sections for which you have some input. Each time you work on your paper follow the
same A to Z process. This will help you visualize the end product of your efforts from very early in your writing and each
time you work on your paper you will be building the entire paper - from A to Z. Thanks David!)
18. If you prepared a comprehensive proposal you will now be rewarded! Pull out the proposal and
begin by checking your proposed research methodology. Change the tense from future tense to past
tense and then make any additions or changes so that the methodology section truly reflects what you did.
You have now been able to change sections from the proposal to sections for the dissertation. Move on
to the Statement of the Problem and the Literature Review in the same manner.
19. I must assume you're using some form of word processing on a computer to write your
dissertation. (if you aren't, you've missed a major part of your doctoral preparation!) If your study
has specific names of people, institutions and places that must be changed to provide anonymity don't do it
too soon. Go ahead and write your dissertation using the real names. Then at the end of the writing
stage you can easily have the computer make all of the appropriate name substitutions. If you make these
substitutions too early it can really confuse your writing.
20. As you get involved in the actual writing of your dissertation you will find that conservation of
paper will begin to fade away as a concern. Just as soon as you print a draft of a chapter there will
appear a variety of needed changes and before you know it another draft will be printed. And, it seems
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almost impossible to throw away any of the drafts! After awhile it will become extremely difficult to
remember which draft of your chapter you may be looking at. Print each draft of your dissertation on a
different color paper. With the different colors of paper it will be easy to see which is the latest draft and
you can quickly see which draft a committee member might be reading. (Thanks to Michelle O'Malley at University of
Florida for sharing this idea.)
21. The one area where I would caution you about using a word processor is in the creation of
elaborate graphs or tables. I've seen too many students spend too many hours in trying to use their
word processor to create a graph that could have been done by hand in 15 minutes. So, the simple rule is to
use hand drawing for elaborate tables and graphs for the draft of your dissertation. Make sure your
committee can clearly understand your graph, but don't waste the time trying to make it perfect. After you
defend your dissertation is the time to prepare the "perfect" looking graphs and tables.
22. Dissertation-style writing is not designed to be entertaining. Dissertation writing should be
clear and unambiguous. To do this well you should prepare a list of key words that are important
to your research and then your writing should use this set of key words throughout. There is nothing so
frustrating to a reader as a manu*** that keeps using alternate words to mean the same thing. If you've
decided that a key phrase for your research is "educational workshop", then do not try substituting other
phrases like "in-service program", "learning workshop", "educational institute", or "educational program."
Always stay with the same phrase - "educational workshop." It will be very clear to the reader exactly
what you are referring to.
23. Review two or three well organized and presented dissertations. Examine their use of
headings, overall style, typeface and organization. Use them as a model for the preparation of your
own dissertation. In this way you will have an idea at the beginning of your writing what your finished
dissertation will look like. A most helpful perspective!
24. A simple rule - if you are presenting information in the form of a table or graph make sure you
introduce the table or graph in your text. And then, following the insertion of the table/graph,
make sure you discuss it. If there is nothing to discuss then you may want to question even inserting it.
25. Another simple rule - if you have a whole series of very similar tables try to use similar
words in describing each. Don't try and be creative and entertaining with your writing. If each
introduction and discussion of the similar tables uses very similar wording then the reader can easily spot
the differences in each table.
26. We are all familiar with how helpful the Table of Contents is to the reader. What we sometimes
don't realize is that it is also invaluable to the writer. Use the Table of Contents to help you
improve your manu***. Use it to see if you've left something out, if you are presenting your sections
in the most logical order, or if you need to make your wording a bit more clear. Thanks to the miracle of
computer technology, you can easily copy/paste each of your headings from throughout your writing into
the Table of Contents. Then sit back and see if the Table of Contents is clear and will make good sense to
the reader. You will be amazed at how easy it will be to see areas that may need some more attention.
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Don't wait until the end to do your Table of Contents. Do it early enough so you can benefit from the
information it will provide to you.
27. If you are including a Conclusions/Implications section in your dissertation make sure you
really present conclusions and implications. Often the writer uses the conclusions/implications
section to merely restate the research findings. Don't waste my time. I've already read the findings and
now, at the Conclusion/Implication section, I want you to help me understand what it all means. This is a
key section of the dissertation and is sometimes best done after you've had a few days to step away from
your research and allow yourself to put your research into perspective. If you do this you will no doubt be
able to draw a variety of insights that help link your research to other areas. I usually think of
conclusions/implications as the "So what" statements. In other words, what are the key ideas that we can
draw from your study to apply to my areas of concern.
28. Potentially the silliest part of the dissertation is the Suggestions for Further Research section.
This section is usually written at the very end of your writing project and little energy is left to make
it very meaningful. The biggest problem with this section is that the suggestions are often ones that could
have been made prior to you conducting your research. Read and reread this section until you are sure
that you have made suggestions that emanate from your experiences in conducting the research and
the findings that you have evolved. Make sure that your suggestions for further research serve to link your
project with other projects in the future and provide a further opportunity for the reader to better
understand what you have done.
29. Now it's time to write the last chapter. But what chapter is the last one? My perception is that
the last chapter should be the first chapter. I don't really mean this in the literal sense. Certainly
you wrote Chapter One at the beginning of this whole process. Now, at the end, it's time to "rewrite"
Chapter One. After you've had a chance to write your dissertation all the way to the end, the last thing you
should do is turn back to Chapter One. Reread Chapter One carefully with the insight you now have from
having completed Chapter Five. Does Chapter One clearly help the reader move in the direction of
Chapter Five? Are important concepts that will be necessary for understanding Chapter Five presented in
Chapter One?
THE THESIS/DISSERTATION DEFENSE
What a terrible name - a dissertation defense. It seems to suggest some sort of war that you're trying to
win. And, of course, with four or five of them and only one of you it sounds like they may have won the
war before the first battle is held. I wish they had called it a dissertation seminar or professional
symposium. I think the name would have brought forward a much better picture of what should be
expected at this meeting.
Regardless of what the meeting is called, try to remember that the purpose of the meeting is for you to
show everyone how well you have done in the conducting of your research study and the preparation of
your dissertation. In addition there should be a seminar atmosphere where the exchange of ideas is valued.
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You are clearly the most knowledgeable person at this meeting when it comes to your subject. And, the
members of your committee are there to hear from you and to help you better understand the very research
that you have invested so much of yourself in for the past weeks. Their purpose is to help you finish your
degree requirements. Of course other agenda often creep in. If that happens, try to stay on course and
redirect the meeting to your agenda.
The following ideas should help you keep the meeting on your agenda.