December 7, 2007
- How’s the Proposal?
I was speaking with a colleague earlier this week and we were talking about the dissertation proposal process. One of the topics we touched on was the idea that the proposal can sometimes feel bigger or more significant than the dissertation as a whole. We kept referring to the idea as “Yes, but what about the rest of the dissertation?”, which we used to mean that there is sometimes so much focus on the proposal, the proposal, the proposal that what gets lost is the idea of the proposal in context of the larger project.
From my experience, people sometimes get over-focused on the proposal because it is easier than considering the project as a whole. In any case, there does seem to be a thread of common experience related to difficulties completing the proposal quickly.
March 22, 2007
- Creating Strong Hypothesis Statements
When writing the hypothesis statements for your dissertation, remember that simple is better. Your hypotheses should be clear, direct, and able to be measured by your research. Let’s address each of these elements more fully:
March 1, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part XI
Tip #11: Remember to restate and repeat. Your proposal should begin with a statement of what you propose, should follow with relevant examples, and research, and should end with a restatement of your objectives. This form of tell, re-tell is one key component of scholarly writing.
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February 27, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part X
Tip #10: Make your proposal easy to read. Focus on making your proposal easy to read and easy to follow. Focus mainly on your conceptual creativity, your methodological rigor, and important, useful content. Keep your writing style clear, direct, and straightforward. Avoid being verbose, pompous, or unnecessarily complex. Remember, the hallmarks of an expert scholar [...]
February 24, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part IX
Tip #9: Use short, relevant examples. Examples should illustrate your view point. Build the main points of your argument and then focus on supporting details and facts to bolster them. Be clear and definite. Avoid being abstract, "kitchen sinking" or using too many obscure references. Good examples are clear examples.
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February 22, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part VIII
Tip #8: Outline your methodology. Good methodology means that you have selected the best method to answer your primary research question. The choice of best method will vary by discipline. Methodology refers to the process of collecting, evaluating, and analyzing information to answer your research question. For qualitative work, you may need to define your [...]
February 20, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part VII
Tip #7: Pick the best and most relevant citations. A good rule of thumb is to pick the most relevant 3-5 citations for every main point. Relevancy is defined as being some combination of coming from a primary text, being published in an well respected journal and/or being presented by a well respected researcher. You [...]
February 17, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part VI
Tip #6: Be comfortable with "selling" your ideas. "Selling" is a bad word in academic circles. But we use it as a quick way of saying "persuading". Your entire proposal (and dissertation) is, essentially, one long persuasive paper. You are trying to present facts and information to persuade the reader to adopt your viewpoint. Remember [...]
February 15, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part V
Tip #5: Develop a plan for research. You should have at least a basic idea of your question and how you will study it. Try to keep your research as simple as possible. While you want to impress with your knowledge and overly complex research designs, simple is better. Why? Because if you propose a [...]
February 13, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part IV
Tip #4: Identify your current scholarly position. In any research project, there will be voices for and against your scholarly position. This is expected. It is easier to ‘combat’ these voices when you are clear on what your scholarly position is. More simply: what do YOU believe about the topic, and why? Who agrees with [...]
February 10, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part III
Tip #3: Consider your past work as a base for the proposal. What other writing, analysis, or research have you completed which you could apply to this proposal? The easiest proposals to work on are those which come from earlier work. If you haven’t looked recently, go back through your comps questions and completed papers [...]
February 8, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part II
Tip #2: Find an angle to engage your advisor (and future readers). You might begin with a thoughtful question, a relevant anecdote, or a bold statement. Be sure to outline the intellectual problems and include a concise statement of why this problem is important to study here and now. Be sure to link your reasoning [...]
February 6, 2006
- Tips for the Proposal Part I
The proposal is probably the most difficult part of writing the dissertation. The next few entries will contain tips to, hopefully, make it easier. Tip #1: Get clear on your project focus, topic, and relevancy. Place your topic within current literature and research. Spend some time outlining your project’s main focus, purpose, and contextual relevancy. [...]
October 18, 2005
- Steps to take in developing the proposal.
Today’s entry comes from a question asked by a website visitor. The visitor asked: "I’m a first year doctoral student and having trouble deciding on my dissertation topic. Can you help?" And I answered: It may be a bit early to be worrying about a dissertation topic since you are just in your first year [...]
August 25, 2005
- Test your idea in a short paper.
When developing your research ideas for the proposal, it’s a solid first step to write about 5-10 pages on your proposed topic. Share this with your advisors/mentors/colleagues and get feedback on your ideas. This 5-10 page paper can then be expanded to fit the requirements of pre-dissertation doctoral essay or prospectus (requirements differ by school). [...]
June 29, 2005
- Writing the Introduction.
I suggest that all ABD’s write their introductions last (or close to it). A good way to think about it is this: After you’ve written all your substantive chapters, then I would read the whole dissertation and figure out what information you’d need to include before the first chapter to provide the reader enough background [...]
March 7, 2005
- Building the proposal is similar to building a house. Part II
After you’ve figured out what the dissertation will show, you’re ready for step two: Working backwards, list what types of research methodology would support your desired outcomes. Be sure to keep in mind your limitations- time, resources, etc. There’s no use in designing a complex study and then not being able to collect enough data [...]
March 1, 2005
- Make the methodology fit the research question.
It might sound beyond obvious, but you need to make certain that your methodology "fits" your research question. By "fits", I mean you need to make sure that your methodology will answer your research question. This came up today because I spoke with a dissertator who had just finished up her full proposal- but then [...]
February 25, 2005
- Building the proposal is similar to building a house. Part I
One analogy I often use when coaching clients to develop the proposal is that of building a house. The proposal represents the foundation or "frame" of the house, and, as such, needs to provide a sturdy foundation for the upper floors (data collection, analysis, reporting). Often, many dissertators try to write the first three chapters [...]
February 15, 2005
- Beginning plus end equals middle.
When you are developing your proposal, it’s a good strategy to figure out the introduction and methodology first, and then use this information to refine the literature review. Some graduate students work on the proposal in order- introduction first, then literature review, then methodology. Some work in reverse order- starting with the methodology and then [...]