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THE ALL-BUT-DISSERTATION SURVIVAL GUIDE™
The All-But-Dissertation Survival Guide™ focuses on ways to help its
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Devoted to providing practical strategies for completing
your Doctoral Dissertation.™
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE - August 30, 2007
1. A Note from the Editor
2. Inspirational Quotes
3. Defending Your Dissertation
by Mary Renck Jalongo, Ph.D.
August 30, 2007
A Note from the Editor
Tracy Steen, Ph.D.
This issue of the ABDSG is going to put you on the defensive! However, it
won't be in the usual way, and getting on the defensive is actually a great
strategic move for the ABD. With that in mind, let the following article by
Dr. Mary Renck Jalongo provide a preview for the biggest defensive day of
your life--your dissertation defense!
Having worked with doctoral students for nearly 20 years as an academic advisor,
dissertation chair or committee member, Dr. Jalongo knows what she's talking
about when it comes to a dissertation defense, and she knows what you need
to know. So go ahead; get on the defensive!
And for sources in agreement on one irrefutable piece of dissertation advice,
check out this issue's Inspirational Quotes. We usually give only one or two
quotes, but in this case we thought it noteworthy that there was a similar
thought among a very diverse group, successful in various fields, on the subject
of preparation, so we included them all. (Is there such a thing as too much
good advice-- long as it's succinct?
Inspirational Quotes
Miguel De Cervantes
To be prepared is half the victory.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
Henry Ford
Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success.
Louis Pasteur
Luck favors the prepared mind.
Bear Bryant
It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.
Defending Your Dissertation:
Advice from a Doctoral Program Director and Journal Editor
Mary Renck Jalongo, Ph.D.
You've seen this nightmare portrayed in the media: A doctoral
student works on a dissertation for many years, only to have it rejected by
the committee. All is lost and any hope of program completion is dashed.
If fear of the dissertation defense is undermining your confidence and sabotaging
your plans for degree completion, it's time to see the defense in a completely
different way.
Recognize that "Defense" is a Misnomer
Presumably if a defense is required, then something (or someone) is under
attack. Not so with the dissertation. If visions of scowling committee members
with their arms folded resolutely across their chests are dancing in your
head, replace that mental image.
A tough committee comprised of members who believe in you and the quality
of your work is your best safety net. Although they may have tested your patience
with numerous recommendations for revision, your committee will stand by you
if you did your homework. Disasters occur when doctoral students go in search
of committee members with a reputation for saying yes to everything. Usually
these individuals are inexperienced in working with dissertations, not highly
regarded by colleagues, and easily defeated in a battle of wits.
Think of your defense as a high-level professional conversation about a topic
of interest. No doctoral dissertation committee worthy of the name assembles
for the sole purpose of publicly humiliating a candidate; faculty members
are in the business of supporting successful program completion whenever possible.
To avoid last-minute, unpleasant surprises, check with each committee member
individually about recommendations for improvement before the defense.
Your chair should guide you through this process and make sure that everyone
has had the chance to voice any serious reservations in advance.
Most doctoral programs provide opportunities to participate in the dissertation
defense meetings of other doctoral candidates. Make it a point to attend a
few of these meetings. Chances are that you'll be pleasantly surprised by
a tone that is much more supportive and respectful than what you had imagined.
Don't Panic, Pace Yourself
When it comes to dissertations, the German philosopher Goethe's advice of
"Do not hurry; do not wait" is doubly applicable. Avoid putting
yourself or your committee in a huge time crunch. Pushing and prodding makes
even the kindliest faculty members grouchy. It also casts you in a negative
light--desperate rather than competent.
Trust in Your Preparation
Within any solid study is an interesting story of research in action. You
have struggled to decide what goes into which chapter. Use it now as a structure
for presenting your research. How did you:
Be certain to find out how much time you'll have to present and adhere to
that time limit. Walk the committee through your study. Do not assume that
they remember your dissertation in every detail. Chances are that it has been
days, weeks, or even months since they read the document and it probably is
not the only dissertation committee on which they serve; jog their memories
a bit. Prepare visual materials and duplicate selected pages from the work
to distribute as handouts.
Committee members are eager to talk with you about the study, not merely
to sit and listen. Talking too much is not a good coping strategy because
it not only irritates the committee but it also keeps you there longer as
faculty members are determined to ask the questions that they have prepared.
Project a Professional Image
Before you go to the defense, think about how you will look the part and maintain
outward calm. Take your cue from the professionals in your field. What do
they typically do? How do they dress? At some point in a successful dissertation
defense, your committee members will sit back, relax, and imagine that they
are hearing and seeing you for the first time, as if they were participants
in your session at a major conference. Emulate the best in your field, for
this is how you are being evaluated.
What if you are a bundle of nerves? Analyze what would help you to appear
calmer. If you voice tends to fade in high pressure situations, it probably
is because you are breathing rapidly and shallowly, so take a deep breath
before you begin to speak. If you are fair skinned and get splotchy when nervous,
try wearing something with a high collar so that you are the only one who
knows. If your throat goes dry and your hands sweat or tremble, try sipping
discreetly from a small bottle of water (cups are too prone to being knocked
over).
Above all, don't announce to everyone that you are nervous or they will spend
the next hour watching for signs of anxiety. Be yourself at your professional
best-that is what got you this far and it is what will carry you through to
completion.
Field Questions with Aplomb
One persistent source of anxiety associated with a dissertation defense is
that someone will ask you a question that you cannot answer. Remember that
you are the resident expert on your own study. Questions seldom are challenges
to that authority; rather, they are points that were not clear or just items
of interest. Think of the dissertation as your textbook and study it beforehand.
Know your way around it so that you can direct attention to key points and
specific pages in the document. Have faith in your preparation.
Actually, you can anticipate what some of the questions will be. For example,
a very common mistake of dissertation writers is to run out of steam in Chapter
5 and say that "more research" needs to be done. Don't be surprised
if someone asks you to get more specific with a question such as, "If
you had this study to do over again, what would you do differently?"
or "Is this a line of research you care to pursue beyond the dissertation
and, if so, how?" Dissertation committees are fond of asking why you
chose a particular methodology as well. But if you did your homework in Chapter
3, you provided that rationale and can expound upon it now.
Realize That the Defense is a Good Sign
If there are serious problems with a study, a defense should not be scheduled.
The most common decision about a dissertation is "pass, pending some
relatively minor revisions." A lengthy document without a single typo,
grammatical gaffe, or referencing style error is exceedingly rare, so this
is to be expected. Treat corrections and revisions as an indication of thoughtfulness
rather than as a criticism.
When your committee has had a chance to reflect on the study a bit further
and read it in its entirety, don't be surprised if they suggest that you add
a short explanation, move a paragraph, add a statistical table, or the like.
Take good notes as these recommendations are made, thank them for reading
it thoughtfully (and saving you from lifelong embarrassment after the dissertation
is online or bound), and attend to the corrections and revisions soon afterwards,
while the discussion is still fresh in your mind. Do not put it off until
the day it's due to the graduate school or you are just asking for a natural
disaster or computer crash.
Conclusion
Doctoral students frequently are daunted when they first hear that their dissertation
research is to be a contribution to the field. "What could I do, as a
mere doctoral candidate, that would revolutionize the field?" seems to
be the question. But here's the secret: Contributions can be large or small
but significant nevertheless.
After all is said and done, a dissertation is an elaborate exercise. It is
a demonstration that you are capable of conceptualizing, conducting, and reporting
research in a (reasonably) independent way. Only a tiny fraction of the dissertations
written are published, and even then, they require extensive editing (Hartman,
Montagnes, & McMenemy, 2003). Why? First of all, dissertations are written
by novices. As a result, they initiate your career as a scholar rather than
define it.
Faculty members who suggest that you can carve up your dissertation and publish
several articles from it probably did not do this themselves nor have they
successfully guided students in doing so. If my experience as an editor of
a journal for over a decade is any indication, it is a mere pleasantry, the
dissertation-speak equivalent of "Have a nice day." Transforming
a dissertation into a publishable piece is a major overhaul because the manuscripts
written by students and the articles published in scholarly journals have
a different purpose, audience, and style. The real contribution of most dissertations
is that they lead to conferral of the degree, open up new career options,
help you to mature as a scholar, and socialize you into the scholarly norms
of your field.
See a dissertation for what it is: an unwieldy task, completed under less
than ideal conditions by an inexperienced researcher working to a deadline.
It simulates what you will be expected to do as a scholar when your work is
subjected to the anonymous peer review process of scholarly publications.
For whether it is a journal article, a book, or a dissertation, you have learned
to defend without being defensive.
Reference
Hartman, E., Montagnes, I., & McMenemy, S. (Eds.). (2003). The thesis
and the book: A guide for first-time academic authors. Toronto, Canada:
University of Toronto Press.
Mary Renck Jalongo, Ph.D., is director of the Doctoral
Program in Curriculum and Instruction at Indiana University of Pennsylvania,
the author of over 20 books, and a journal editor for Springer. You can e-mail
Dr. Jalongo at mjalongo@iup.edu.
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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 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
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