Getting the Best of Your Dissertation: Practical Perspectives for Effective Research

Writing a doctoral dissertation is often viewed as an ordeal to tolerate and survive. This book looks at the dissertation in a different light, examining the dissertation project from several different perspectives with the aim of helping scholars understand the project better, work more effectively, and ultimately get the best of their dissertation. When you write your dissertation do you want to survive? Or do you want to thrive? Writing a dissertation requires a lot of time and effort and offers plenty of frustration, but it’s not mindless drudgery. It may be difficult, but it can be interesting and personally rewarding. If you approach it right, writing a dissertation can be a positive experience that helps you develop skills that will serve you well whether you are going to pursue an academic or professional career. If you approach it right, you may experience the same satisfaction of learning and discovery that the Ancient Greeks called the love (philia) of wisdom (sophia), giving us our modern word philosophy. Drawing on ideas from cognitive science, psychology, philosophy of science, and the study of design methods and processes, as well as the author’s experience working with dissertation writers and other scholars, this book presents a series of perspectives on the dissertation aimed at helping you work more efficiently and effectively, with a better sense of purpose, and with more satisfaction. Subjects include fitting the dissertation into the rest of your life, developing a good writing practice, dealing with professors, designing research, and more. If you work more effectively and with a greater sense of purpose, you’ll be able to finish more quickly and have a greater sense of the value of your efforts.