Doug Chung- Starting the Dissertation
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Transcript of Doug Chung- Starting the Dissertation
STARTING THE DISSERTATION
Doug J. Chung, Harvard Business School
2014 Winter AMA DocSIG Pre-Conference Symposium
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
� When ¡ Ideal: As soon as you can…0th year…never too early to think about a topic ¡ Reality: A;er taking the full set of coursework : end of 2nd year
� In what area/topic ¡ Ideal: An area/topic that you have PASSION for ¡ Reality: data constraints, ideas from advisor/other faculty members/hot
current topics
CHOOSING AN AREA
� Relevance ¡ Ideally, your topic has to be relevant to the REAL world
� Importance ¡ Ideally, it has to be an important problem worth solving
� Rigor ¡ Ideally, want to apply the latest state-‐of-‐the-‐art technology in methods
WHAT IS “IMPORTANT”?
� QuesKon to ask yourself: ¡ Given the (expected) findings of the research, how will these findings alter
standing thought in an area? ÷ New boundaries to an established empirical phenomenon ÷ New theoreKcal explanaKon for an established phenomenon ÷ New method that allows improved measurement and/or predicKon
� Traps to Avoid ¡ Simply being the “first” to do something (e.g., analyze certain data, apply
an established method to a new area) does not, by itself, make it valuable; the exercise has to have the potenKal for a belief shi; (see above)
¡ Picking a topic simply because it is “hot” ¡ LeXng data drive the topic
LEARNING THE TOOLS
� Start from the absolute basics ¡ Take demanding and rigorous courses from Economics, Psychology, StaKsKcs
to develop the fundamental skills ¡ Don’t try to take the easy route – simple courses, MBA courses, etc. ¡ If you don’t have the fundamentals, it will hurt you even a;er geXng a job.
� Apply to ideas that YOU come up with ¡ Methods are important but the substanKve contribuKon is MORE
� Don’t worry too much about publishing at this stage! � ALWAYS follow your PASSION!
¡ Remember why you started this (PhD) in the first place…
ANY QUESTIONS?