Destination Dissertation
by Foss, Sonja K.; Waters, WilliamFormat: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2007-06-01
Publisher(s): Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc
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Summary
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!
Author Biography
Sonja K. Foss is professor of communication at the University of Colorado at Denver William Waters assistant professor of English, coordinator of composition, director of the writing center, and coordinator of assessment at Northwest Missouri State University
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. xi |
| Preparing to Go: The Dissertation Journey | p. 1 |
| Can a Dissertation Really Be a Trip? | p. 2 |
| Packing Your Bags | p. 3 |
| Enjoyment | p. 3 |
| Doability | p. 3 |
| Competence | p. 4 |
| Agency | p. 6 |
| Support | p. 6 |
| Our Guarantees | p. 7 |
| Your Travel Agents | p. 10 |
| How to Use This Guide | p. 13 |
| The Journey before You: 29 Steps | p. 17 |
| Our Timetable | p. 18 |
| Yeah, But... | p. 22 |
| Dissertation Checklist | p. 23 |
| Planning the Trip: The Conceptual Conversation | p. 25 |
| Selecting and Orienting a Partner | p. 27 |
| Asking and Answering Questions | p. 28 |
| Identifying Key Pieces | p. 31 |
| Developing Your Itinerary: The Preproposal | p. 35 |
| Formulating Your Research Question | p. 36 |
| Criteria for a Good Research Question | p. 37 |
| Multiple Research Questions | p. 43 |
| Selecting Your Data | p. 46 |
| Aligning Your Research Question and Your Data | p. 48 |
| Identifying Your Method of Data Collection | p. 50 |
| Identifying Your Method of Data Analysis | p. 51 |
| Identifying the Literature to Review | p. 52 |
| Identifying the Significance of Your Study | p. 57 |
| Identifying Your Chapters | p. 59 |
| Writing Your Preproposal | p. 60 |
| Assessing Your Decisions | p. 69 |
| Committing to the Preproposal with Your Advisor | p. 71 |
| Advice from Other Travelers: The Literature Review | p. 75 |
| Coding the Literature | p. 75 |
| Sorting Your Codes | p. 84 |
| Checking Your Codes | p. 86 |
| Creating Your Conceptual Schema | p. 86 |
| Writing It Up | p. 92 |
| Getting There: The Dissertation Proposal | p. 113 |
| Introduction | p. 115 |
| Research Question | p. 120 |
| Definition of Terms | p. 122 |
| Literature Review | p. 125 |
| Research Design | p. 126 |
| Data | p. 126 |
| History or Context | p. 135 |
| Procedures | p. 142 |
| Data Collection | p. 142 |
| Data Analysis | p. 146 |
| Assumptions | p. 151 |
| Significance of the Study | p. 157 |
| Outline of the Study | p. 161 |
| Recap: Sections of a Dissertation Proposal | p. 163 |
| Approval of the Proposal | p. 163 |
| Things to See and Do: Data Collection and Analysis | p. 185 |
| Collecting Your Data | p. 185 |
| Creating Codable Data | p. 186 |
| Identifying Your Unit(s) of Analysis | p. 186 |
| Coding Your Data | p. 187 |
| Sorting Your Codes | p. 191 |
| Checking Your Codes | p. 194 |
| Creating Your Explanatory Schema | p. 196 |
| Writing It Up | p. 212 |
| Making the Most of Your Travels: The Last Chapter Plus | p. 217 |
| Summary | p. 218 |
| Interpretation of Findings | p. 224 |
| Limitations | p. 237 |
| Suggestions for Future Research | p. 243 |
| Finishing Up | p. 249 |
| Useful Phrases: Writing and Editing | p. 265 |
| Fast Writing | p. 266 |
| Turning Off the Screen | p. 268 |
| Making Notes to Self | p. 269 |
| Writing with Headings | p. 270 |
| Skipping Around | p. 272 |
| Keeping the Ideas Flowing | p. 272 |
| Slow Revising | p. 273 |
| Editing | p. 273 |
| Proofreading | p. 275 |
| Computer-Aided Proofreading | p. 276 |
| Hard Copy Proofreading | p. 277 |
| Travelogue: The Dissertation Defense | p. 279 |
| Preparing for Your Defense | p. 280 |
| The Defense Itself | p. 284 |
| Following Your Defense | p. 290 |
| Making the Best Use of Your Guide: Advisor Advising | p. 293 |
| Asking Appropriately | p. 294 |
| Agreeing on a Vision | p. 298 |
| Expectations about Roles | p. 298 |
| Expectations about Advising | p. 299 |
| Replication Model | p. 300 |
| Apprenticeship Model | p. 300 |
| Cocreation Model | p. 301 |
| Expectations about Dissertations | p. 301 |
| Articulating Needs | p. 303 |
| Conceptual Conversation | p. 303 |
| Ground Rules | p. 303 |
| Information about the Dissertation Process | p. 314 |
| Information about Research and Writing | p. 315 |
| Information about the Dissertation Defense | p. 315 |
| Enacting Professionalism | p. 317 |
| Assessing Your Relationship | p. 320 |
| Understanding Your Advisor's Perspective | p. 321 |
| Framing Issues Collaboratively | p. 322 |
| Protecting Your Advisor's Face | p. 323 |
| Planning for Action | p. 324 |
| Applying Productive Chicanery | p. 325 |
| Performing Completion | p. 327 |
| Asking for Help from a Mediator | p. 328 |
| Adding a Coadvisor | p. 328 |
| Switching Advisors | p. 329 |
| Avoiding Delays and Annoyances: Enacting the Scholar Role | p. 331 |
| Incomplete-Scholar Roles | p. 332 |
| Housekeeper | p. 333 |
| Model Employee | p. 334 |
| Undocumented Worker | p. 336 |
| Patient | p. 337 |
| Good Student | p. 339 |
| Proxy Critic | p. 340 |
| Executor | p. 341 |
| Maverick | p. 343 |
| Enacting the Scholar Role: Writing Regularly | p. 343 |
| Writing on a Schedule | p. 345 |
| Focusing on Successes | p. 350 |
| Index | p. 361 |
| About the Authors | p. 367 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
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