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THE ALL-BUT-DISSERTATION SURVIVAL GUIDE™ The All-But-Dissertation Survival Guide™ focuses on ways to help its readers more readily overcome the roadblocks that often seem to stand in the way of completing the dissertation. It is read throughout the world. Want to become a coach?New MentorCoach Training Programs launching—tuition discounts for grad students Subscribe to our other ezines: INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH A DISSERTATION
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE - Aug 8, 2006
3. Top Ten Tips for Choosing Your Dissertation Topic
by Dr. Gina Hiatt
4 . Breaking News: ABDSG Reader Graduates
August 8, 2006
A Note from the Editor
Tracy Steen, Ph.D.
We’ve Got Mail!
In fact, we’ve had a mini-mountain of mail since our request several weeks ago for feedback from ABD Survival Guide readers. We asked, among other things, what motivates and inspires you, and the responses were exactly that—motivating and inspiring! So let me share a few of them with you:
Caroline Sullivan, a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas, writes that she keeps the following Albert Einstein quote on a desktop e-sticky: “If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be called research, would it?” Catherine adds that it always makes her feel better to read this “as I muddle through data analysis.”
Meghan Reid, writing from the University of York in the UK, contributed a quote linked to Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom: “Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength.” She keeps this quote taped to her office wall and says, “I constantly worry about my thesis, so this is particularly inspiring for me.”
A good sense of humor comes into play for Catherine Fortin’s choice of a favorite motivational quote. It’s from the popular BBC series, “The Office,” in which Gareth Keenan remarks, “He’s thrown a kettle over a pub. What have you ever done?” Catherine shares this from the University of Michigan where she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Linguistics.
Jenifer Tharpe, MBA, ABD, doesn’t know the source of the following quote, but states that it sometimes helps her to write one more page: “The truth is, we don’t have to do ‘great things’ to make a difference, only small things. By taking small steps and actions, our lives can become instruments of love and compassion.” Thanks, Jenifer—Anything that can elicit “one more page” is gold to an ABD.
Probably the most common theme of all the quotes submitted was discipline. Shannon Bridgmon Rinaldo cited John Irving: “My life as a writer consists of 1/8 talent and 7/8 discipline.” It’s comforting to know that even the big guys have to work hard to get it on paper.
Katherine Pakieser-Reed wrote that she finds inspiration in music with an Olympic theme of triumph, as well as movies such as “The Legend of Bagger Vance.” In the movie she could identify with Bagger as he lost his swing, finding his predicament analogous to her “losing” (sort of) her ability to do research. Katherine obviously “found” her ability to do research because she recently graduated with her Ph.D. in Nursing. Congratulations, Dr. Pakieser-Reed!
Another ABD Survival Guide reader who recently completed her Ph.D. is Cathy Keller—that is, Doctor Cathy Keller! And Dr. Keller sent a quote found in one of the books she read about completing a dissertation. She has since shared it with many other doctoral students, and now passes it along to you. Take note: When asked by committee members to add additional items to your study, it is often appropriate to respond with “I believe that is outside the scope of my study.”
Dr. Keller adds, “This is such a strange phenomenon. At first your major professor tries to get you to focus/narrow your study…and then constantly along the course of your study, your committee members keep suggesting things for you to ADD to your study. This is when the above quote comes in very handy.”
And Dr. Keller passes on another excellent suggestion: “We formed a group of female doctoral students who met weekly to discuss the accomplishments, frustrations, etc. of the doctoral process. I recommend this to everyone! It was a great source of support throughout the process. We came to calling ourselves the ‘Dissertation Divas.’”
In additional to sharing their helpful hints and inspiring quotes, many of our readers had some very nice things to say about the ABD Survival Guide. Modesty precludes our printing the compliments here, but I will post one or two letters at the end of this newsletter in case you would like to know what your peers are saying. You are in many ways a diverse group, yet you have one HUGE thing in common. The dissertation is indeed a monumental endeavor. But strangers pursuing a common goal aren’t quite strangers after all, and an exchange of ideas can be heartening. I hope you will continue to write us, and we will continue from time to time to pass along your comments to our readers.
This issue’s guest article is “Top Ten Tips for Choosing Your Dissertation Topic.” If you have moved so far along in the ABD process that this topic is not applicable to you, rejoice in your progress! On the other hand, if you are just getting started, do not feel overwhelmed. Dr. Gina Hiatt can help.
And do check out yet another Inspirational Quote. Although in this issue we have passed along many of our readers’ tested and true favorites, we have one of our own that we think is worthy.
Inspirational Quote
The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving.
----Oliver Wendell Holmes
Top Ten Tips for Choosing Your Dissertation Topic
by Dr. Gina Hiatt
One of the self assessments on my web site is entitled "Do You Deserve a Ph.D?" It asks the question, "What is one aspect of this subject that you would most welcome some advice, information or help on?" By far the most common answer is "I need help choosing my dissertation topic."
Your choice of dissertation topic will indeed play a big role in your academic career, so you are wise to put a lot of thought into it.
Here are some tips to jumpstart this all-important decision:
1. Read as much as you can! As you read, don’t just underline. Make notes about how each article does or doesn’t fit in with your fledgling ideas, how you might use the article later, and any other deep thoughts you might have. You won’t remember later why you put a big star near the title.
2. Start early. If you can use as jumping off points the papers that you are required to write during the courses of your early graduate years, you’ve saved yourself a lot of time. Be thinking about the potential topic from the day you start graduate school.
3. Talk to others. Don’t insulate yourself. Run your ideas by your peers and your advisor. If your advisor doesn’t like to engage in such scholarly dialogue with beginners (which should be his/her role, but you may not be lucky enough to have such an advisor), then find a mentor and throw ideas around with her/him.
4. Use a systematic approach. Organize your search and the notes and references you accrue.
5. Look in the right places for ideas. Scan completed dissertations by students in your department or in your field of interest and read the conclusions to find suggestions for future research. Do the same with recent articles or conference presentations by noted scholars. Someone has already done a lot of thinking about this, for this very reason - to advance the field and encourage further work on the topic.
6. Look at excellent studies in a different area than yours and see if you can adapt the methodology, use of theory, or other aspects of the study to your area.
7. "Write before you’re ready." This is the mantra of Robert Boyce, a researcher who studied successful professors to find out what they did right (Advice for New Faculty Members). A common theme was that they wrote their thoughts down regularly, no matter how poorly formed they were. He found in his studies that a regular writing habit increased the number of daily creative thoughts significantly.
8. Think strategically. The topic of your dissertation will probably determine where or whether you get a job, and how your career will advance. Make sure there is a need in academia for your specific area of specialization.
9. Listen to your gut instinct. If you love a topic, you will have a much more satisfying life if you pursue it. If it’s not a well-positioned topic, perhaps you can tweak it to make it more strategically desirable.
10. Don’t try for the Nobel Prize. Make the scope of your dissertation possible. You want to be able to finish it and get a job. Elegant, simple research is often the most highly regarded work.
You can do it! Follow these steps and you will find a topic that you love (or at least like).
About Dr. Gina Hiatt
Do you get stuck when you try to write? Gina J. Hiatt, Ph.D, is the founder of a website for both ABDs and professors and conducts individual and group phone coaching for ABDs and faculty. She has 3 full ongoing groups and a new one forming right now! The last group ended when all clients successfully defended. Many of her clients are now professors on the tenure track. Gina can be reached at Gina@AcademicLadder.com.
Inspirational Letter from a Reader Who Made It!
Dear ABDG Team,
Thank you so much for your advice. I cancelled my subscription today. I submitted my thesis a day before Christmas in December 2005, received my reports in April 2006 and graduated in May. As you can see, I did hang onto the newsletter for a while after submitting as I found your advice relevant and helpful. Thank you so much for making me believe (at least most of the time) that I can finish and survive my dissertation.
All the best to all the ABDs!
--Emilia Djonov
Dr. TRACY STEEN, Editor, ABDSG
Tracy Steen, Ph.D. , is a clinical psychologist and dissertation
coach in Philadelphia, PA. She received her Ph.D. from the University of
Michigan and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in positive psychology at
the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Steen draws on her research background
in positive psychology in her coaching work with writers, helping them to
remove internal obstacles so they can find more engagement and flow in their
work. You can contact Dr. Steen with questions about this newsletter or about
writing coaching in general at tracy@mentorcoach.com.
You can also visit her website at www.tracysteen.com
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BEN DEAN, Publisher, ABDSG
Ben holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at
Austin. He began writing the ABDSG in 1997. Over the years, the ABDSG has
provided thousands of hours of pro bono coaching and teleworkshops to ABDs
all over the world. Ben is also the founder of MentorCoach (www.MentorCoach.com),
a virtual university focused on training accomplished helping professionals
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