EDHE 6500

11.13.2008

Overview of Dissertation

Chapter 1

• the issue
• my problem/question
• "so what?"
• SUMMARY of what I did and found (what I'm going to do)
• a lot of people will only read the first chapter--about ten pages of what you did and why

Chapter 2

• what do we know?
• how do we know it?
• what don't we know? (the set-up for your study)
• you don't want this to be an annotated bibliography; find some way to organize it; historical periods, elements of your question, schools of thought--break it into several thematic sections (2 - 5 sections)
• very brief: a few paragraphs to a page on very relevant works--others get brief 1-2 sentence mentions; "Blah Blah supports this idea as well, etc."
• average # of references? 70 or 80--can be good with only 25 or bad with 100
• find out what are any limitations of previous methodologies

Chapter 3

• what I did (how you investigated the question)
• make it explicit--so the quality can be examined, and so they can replicate the research
• for the proposal, you'll have the first free chapters, but chapter 3 will be written in the future tense "this is what I WILL do"
• change the tense after proposal

Chapter 4

• this is what I found
• NOTE: qualitative dissertations often break this chapter into two chapters, for a six-chapter format (instead of 5 chapters)--moves from raw data to thematic finding

Chapter 5

• what it means
• what we still need to know (further research questions)

Common Dissertation Mistakes

• failure to examine the relevant literature
  • examining business lit without looking at educational lit--look broadly, at a couple of fields outside of education
• failure to understand the difference between research and popular lit
• failure to examine the lit for research methods and further questions
  • need to see how people made inquiry into those questions
  • will help you refine your own research methods
  • be able to critique the lit in terms of its value
• failure to "own" the project
  • this has to be your work
  • you have to have enough interest in and confidence in the significance of your research to stand up for it
• unwillingness to consider advice
  • thin line between failure to own and bullheadedness
• dissertation as an effort to "prove" a point of view
  • you have to be objective in your research
• poor selection of committee members
  • need to be able to work well with your chair (or change them)
  • don't select your committee before selecting your chair--they have to work together
  • you want your chair to help select or approve your committee members
• not allowing sufficient time to complete the project
  • good rule of thumb: multiply time by 3
• failure to multitask
  • multitask--do more than one track on your dissertation at one time--don't be sequential or every delay delays the entire project
• failure to secure IRB approval or understand human subject issues
  • get it early!
• procrastination and perfectionism
  • yep
• attempt to use the advisor as a fundamental editor
  • good to use chair as a methodologial editor
  • they won't want to correct all of your grammar, at this level
  • hire an editor, if necessary
• trying to do the "easy" dissertation
  • it's the faculty's job to make it harder
  • pick something that you're interested in--but it needs to be doable in the given time frame
  • don't do something that is so huge and "important" that it chokes you or takes a long time
  • this is not your life's work--this is your ticket to the show
  • once you finish it, then you begin your life's work
  • but write something you're not ashamed to put your name to
• failure to identify and support the "so what?" of a study
• failure to get the study into the literature after completion
  • should be publishable in some format or another
    • adapt to journal format (or presentation, paper, etc.)
  • Dr. Cutright expects a print piece within one year of graduation, with himself as second author
  • could also be a book--multiple projects can come out of it
  • also practitioner pieces
  • having a PhD or EdD isn't just a privilege, it's an obligation to share what you know

General Class Discussion

• discussing Foster & Cone (book on thesis/dissertation)

• ASHE was excellent (Baaska & Peggy went)
  • a lot of networking and discussing research
  • presentations about policy and practice
  • financial policies, how to use databases, etc.
  • acceptance is pretty tough there (Peggy presented with another student)

• discussion of GRE scores vs. holistic admissions
  • also comprehensive exams and more real-world alternatives

• when you're in orals, you have to be strong in your convictions--you're going to be an administrator in higher education
  • can you handle pressure?
  • ultimately, the faculty's objective is to see you succeed--but they have to push you

• discussion of our third (and final) reflection papers

• you deal with the enormity of the dissertation by breaking it down into discrete tasks

• if you're doing a qualitative dissertation, you need to find a committee chair that is experienced in qualitative research (or very friendly to it)

• if you can't get a copy of someone's dissertation, email the author and request an electronic copy--they are usually happy to provide you with it