Thesis and Dissertation

Thesis & DissertationWorkshopPresented byNancy Wilson &Michelle ElliottTexas State University Writing Center

Today’s Program Getting Started

Step One: Fishing for a Topic Step Two: Assessing Your Topic Choices Step Three: Narrowing Your Topic

The Proposal The Thesis/Dissertation Organizing Thyself Writing the Darn Thing Selecting and Working Successfully with a

Chair and Committee The Big Picture

What do you wish you’d known when you entered your graduate program? Expect to sell yourself to your director Don’t worry about the possibility of

change in focus Realize the importance of self-

management

From Peggy Hawley’s Being Bright Is Not Enough

The first step: Fishing for a topic

Negative Topic-seeking Behaviors The Expedient Approach: you select

a research topic out of expediency rather than thinking it through.

The Procedure-First Approach: you fall in love with a procedure and then set about finding ways to employ it. Instead, you must determine the problem first and then design the methodology to fit it.

Choosing a Research Topic

Whether you start from scratch or have a project well in mind, your journey begins with a search of the literature.

Look for gaps in the body of knowledge and errors of omission as well as commission.

Work from the general to the specific by starting with generic ideas that fall within the ballpark of your interests and gradually narrow the field.

Read copies of theses/dissertations accepted in your department.

Look at the conclusions and suggestions for further research in recent dissertations and publications.

Take into consideration potential committee members when choosing a topic.

Choosing a Research Topic• Consider papers you have written that

were particularly successful. Can your thesis/dissertation include a similar type of research and organization?

• Early on in your coursework, consider potential research topics and try to write pieces of your thesis/dissertation as you go along.

As you review each topic, ask these three questions: “What kind of information will I need? How and where will I get this

information? Is the topic feasible in terms of available

sources of information, the complexity of getting that information and analyzing it, and the time I have available?

Types of Research Replication Study

“In what way could I change a published study’s method a bit so as to produce an interesting variation on its results?”

Explanatory Theory “Can I suggest a reasonable and apparently

new explanation of the author’s results that is different from the author’s explanation?”

From Thomas and Brubaker’s (2001) Avoiding Thesis and Dissertation Pitfalls

Types of Research Typology

“Can I suggest a reasonable and apparently new typology for categorizing research results that’s different from the ones available in the professional literature?” Ethnographic Case Study

“How can I accurately describe the events that transpire in the society that I study so as to make clear the roles people play and the influence that the physical environment, the society’s traditions, and the individuals’ interactions exert on individuals’ behavior and the group’s outcome?” From Thomas and Brubaker’s (2001) Avoiding Thesis and Dissertation Pitfalls

The following is a short list of possible sources which have links to other sites. American Educational Research Association (AERA) – promotes educational research and its practical applications Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) – the nation’s oldest and largest study of higher education ERIC clearinghouse for social studies/social science education – National Library of Education Social Science Electronic Publishing: Social Science Research Network – SSRN is devoted to a rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research The Center for the Humanities: Fellowship; research and writing, supporting individual research and teaching Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) – Home page. Supports scholarly publishing projects.

Assessing your research topic Is it manageable? Will your results will be regarded as significant

whether they confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis?

Is the data source reliable? Does it make a significant and original

contribution? Is it controversial? Is it interesting to you? Does it play to your strengths? Will it reflect well upon you as you enter the

market?

Narrowing a Topic “Theories of Education”

“Thomas Dewey’s Reflective Theory and Concept Formation among Gifted Fourth Graders”

“Protecting the Environment” “Natural Burn Policies and the

management of Our National Park System: Yellowstone, a Case in Point”

“The Classical Humanists” “Classical Humanistic Values and the

Reality of Anti-Semitism in the United States in the 1980s”

Create a calendarFall 2013 Spring 2014Coursework Coursework

Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Thesis A Thesis B & Graduation

Thesis DeadlinesFALL 2012Submit Thesis to Committee: October 16Submit Thesis to Graduate Dean: November

8Submit Thesis to Alkek Library: December 6

Spring 2013Submit Thesis to Committee: March 7Submit Thesis to Graduate Dean: April 8Submit Thesis to Alkek Library: May 2

Dissertation DeadlinesFALL 2012Submit Thesis to Committee: September 12Submit Thesis to Graduate Dean: November

6Submit Thesis to Alkek Library: December 6

Spring 2013Submit Thesis to Committee: February 1Submit Thesis to Graduate Dean: April 4Submit Thesis to Alkek Library: May 2

The Proposal

Proposals (see handout) Title Abstract The Problem Literature Review Methods Institutional Review Board? This IS what you will be expected to do. It

may change in minor ways, but if you make major changes, you must resubmit the proposal.

Proposals: Title Title

“A Study of the Efficacy of Vocational Interest Inventories Versus Personality Inventories Using Multivariate Analysis in the Prediction of Job Satisfaction for Adults, Aged 18-24 in Their First Year of Employment”

Proposals: A Problem Statement In simplest terms, a problem statement

is an inquiry about the relationship between two or more variables. “Are children whose mothers work outside

the home more self-sufficient than children of mothers who do not?”

Proposals: A Problem Statement The Research Problem (2-8 pages)

A well-developed statement of the problem or research question is a result of sifting through a mountain other people’s findings to extract those few question which you want to address. Example: There is a significant relationship between bilingualism and self concept. A) do college students who are fluent in a language other than English achieve higher scores on the Tennessee Self Concept Scales than those who speak only English; B) Is there a significant difference in scores on the Tennessee Self Concept Scales among people whose second language is Spanish, French, or German?

Proposals: Literature Review Each cited source should help further

your thesis/dissertation Locate your study among similar

published studies Identify strengths and limitations of those

studies Demonstrate what contribution your

study can make to that domain of knowledge

Proposals: Literature Review Make sure you develop a detailed

outline first, to be reviewed by your adviser.

Use headings within the chapter, conforming to your outline, which allow you to break the review into discrete sections that are more easily handled.

Proposals: MethodsThe main purpose of the Methods section is to

describe (and if necessary defend) the experimental design and then provide enough detail so that a competent worker can repeat the experiments. Many (probably most) will people will not read this section.

1) The usual order of presentation is chronological.2) Use subheadings, preferably matching them to those in the Results section.3) Be precise, objective and accurate.4) Use graphics (tables, graphs, photographs) as

needed.

The Thesis &Dissertation

Front Matter (see handout) A title page A copyright page Signed certifications by your committee Acknowledgments A table of contents A list of tables and figures

Back Matter Bibliography Appendices Tables of original data Facsimiles of supporting documents Questionnaires used for collecting data Vita

The body Introductory chapters (often from proposal)

Introduction Literature review Methodology

Presentation chapters Results Discussion Theme chapters Conclusions

Organize Thyself

Organize Thyself Keep a Things-To-Do list Create a calendar (work back from deadlines to

establish mini-deadlines) Create a TRACS site for yourself

Keep your articles in a file in “Resources” Keep your drafts in another file in “Resources”

Entitle your drafts to show what section they represent (i.e. “Methods,” “Appendices,” “Back Matter.”

Date your drafts, too (i.e. “MethodsAugust1” and later “MethodsAugust15”)

Determine early the citation method you will be using.

Use an online reference system such as RefWorks or Worldcat.org if you want a program to generate your bibliography.

Things-to-Do List Helps you plan Helps you use time effectively Separates the project into manageable

parts Compels you to do a little each day N.B. Write something every single day and

build in rewards when you successfully complete items on your to-do list.

Examples of a Things-to-Do List Spend 30 minutes checking library data

bases Identify and download the best articles Check out books Work on bibliography (5 references) Take notes on Chapter 1 Effinger Read Simonds

Calendar Coordinates Things-to-Do list with your

real life Allows you to get the big picture May be integrated into your existing

planner Establishing contracts with your

committee chair and listing them on this calendar keeps you moving forward and feeling the pressure to finish.

Bibliography Work on your

bibliography as you go along.

Book/Journal location Bibliographic Entries

Citing Sources Modern Languages Associationhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/American Psychological Association Style Guide:http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html American Sociological Association Style Guide:http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=Quick+Style+Guide&section=Sociology+Depts

Writing the Darn Thing

Writing the Darn Thing Write a little each and every day Make contracts and honor them Meet your advisor regularly Join a support group Avoid stress Talk, talk, talk to crystalize ideas Stay motivated by regularly rewarding yourself for work completed As you accumulate data, do not omit data to fit the research question(s); change the research questions.

Your Chair, Your Committee, and You

Your Chair, Your Committee, and You “The single most important relationship

you will ever make as a doctoral student is the one with your dissertation chair” (Hawley 53).

Your chair must be someone with whom you can communicate, who is knowledgeable in your area, who is politically astute, and who has enough interest in you to see you through the process.

Professors to Avoid Autocrat Judge and Jury Opportunist Sexist Seducer or Seductress

Strategies for Finding the Chair You Want

Take a class from the prof under consideration

Consult the study grapevine Ask faculty about faculty Make sure the faculty member is

available short-term and long-term.

Strategies for Working with your Chair Establish clear guidelines and

expectations on each side from the beginning.

Be professional. Remember that you’ve engaged this person to help you improve your work, not to rubber-stamp it.

Speak up, politely but firmly. Stay in charge of your own writing. Establish regular meeting times and

stick to them! Settle explicitly what your advisor is, and

isn’t, willing to read.Adapted from Joan Bolker’s Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day

The Role of the Ph.D. Candidate and the Faculty AdvisorFrom Martin Hammerhead’s So You’re a New Ph.D. Candidate: The How Tos of Completing That Dissertation (1995)

The Grad. Student The Advisor

Have a clear research question and focus of your dissertation

Help refine YOUR ideas


Have performed extensive literature review on your topic. You should know your topic better than your advisor. Communication should be at the level where you tell your advisor about literature NOT where you advisor finds literature for you.

Discuss where your literature review may have gaps.


Link your literature review clearly to hypotheses. Explain to the advisor how each variable you use in your analysis is derived from previous literature and what your expected relationships are.

Help in organizing your presentation more clearly.


Develop your measures based on measures used in previous studies, logic, content validity. Be able to defend what variable you have included in each index and why you have included them.

After you have selected the variables, the advisor may be able to help you cull or add others.


Develop your measures/indexes using standard methodological techniques. For example, be able to explain the results of factor analysis and what items you selected for inclusion in your index based on factor analysis.

After you have made your decisions about how to measure particular concepts (e.g. after you have completed your factor analysis and explained results to your advisor), the advisor may be able to give you suggestions for further improvement of measures.


Decide what statistical techniques you need to use.

Consult on whether or not these are appropriate.


If you do not know the particular technique, learn it and perform it. Tutoring and consultation are available. Do not expect faculty to have the time to tutor you on techniques you should have learned on your own. Tell the advisor the results of your analysis.

The advisor can suggest modifications on your analyses, adding new variables, testing for relationships you may not have thought about.


Be able to write up your analyses in the style of a professional. See journal articles and other dissertations for guidelines.

The advisor can help refine your writing style.


Be able to link the results of your analyses to your hypotheses and theory.

The advisor can help strengthen these links.

The Big Picture This is a thesis/dissertation, not your

entire life’s work. This is a thesis/dissertation, not your

life. This is a thesis/dissertation–a means to

an end.

Sources Bolker, Joan. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen

Minutes a Day. New York: Henry Holt, 1998. Hammerhead, Martin. So You’re a New Ph.D.

Candidate: The How Tos of Completing That Dissertation,1995.

Hawley, Peggy. Being Bright Is Not Enough. 2nd edition. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 2003.

Peters, Robert L. Getting What You Came For: The Smart Students’ Guide to Earning a Master’s or Ph.D. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997.

Thesis and Dissertation

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