October 9, 2007
- From Confusion to Clarity in Fifteen Minutes
In my earlier post, I told you about the question I asked one of my committee members before I started work on my dissertation. Months later, I made another trip to his office with a request. This time, I had four chapters of my dissertation with me. I knew that I had a solid thesis and was onto something significant. But I also knew that there was something fundamentally wrong with the chapters I had written.
March 27, 2006
- Look to the future.
If you’re still searching for an original idea, here’s one final tip: Look to the future. What kinds of work will you want to pursue in the future? How could today’s dissertation become the springboard for your future endeavors?
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March 24, 2006
- Look to your practical experience.
Look to your practical work or teaching experience. What issues do you confront in your clinical or practical work? What questions do the undergrads have? What do people interested in this field want to know more about?
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March 22, 2006
- Look to other completed dissertations.
Look to other completed dissertations from your department. This is a wonderful way to accomplish several important goals. First, you can find easily relevant information that you can use. You can see how a completed dissertation is attained. And you have a great resource in the section “questions for additional study” because you have possible [...]
March 20, 2006
- Look to your past work.
If you’re still looking for an original idea, you can also trying looking to your past work. What kinds of questions did you most enjoy addressing in your previous papers or other research? What ideas interest you? What are your research/ methodological strengths?
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March 17, 2006
- Look to the research.
Another avenue for finding original ideas? Look to the current research. What questions continue to dominate the field? What remains to be studied? What would be interesting to learn more about?
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March 15, 2006
- Look to your Advisors.
When developing an original idea, the second place to look is to your advisor(s). What topics are they studying? Are there any that you can build upon or expand upon? (This can be a great way to create a collaborative working relationship with your advisor, and it almost always guarantees a greater level of interest and support [...]
March 13, 2006
- How to develop your original idea
One aspect of the dissertation process is the necessity of developing your original idea. Many graduate students feel daunted or uncertain about how to do this. Our next few posts will discuss this in greater detail. The first place to start is looking to yourself. Why did you choose this field in the first place? [...]