Developing a productive setting 92 you will revise early drafts to reflect your new understanding. Rewriting is an essential element in your dissertation work and all polished writing. Your writing may take place at home, at your office, at the university, at a library, or at a computer facility. Wherever you find yourself, make sure that you always work on diskettes. And create multiple copies on diskettes or a zip drive. Be cautious of saving on your hard drive. There seem to be mechanical and human gremlins who play with these objects, and can potentially destroy your work. Be in control of your work by being almost paranoid about it. Always have multiple copies of each document. When giving work to your committee for reaction, always keep a copy for yourself. When working on text, frequently back up on additional diskettes and/or as hard copy. You cannot back up too much! And then secure these copies in multiple sites. The Other People in Your Life While your dissertation will become a large part of your life, your home life and your work life are important as well. Each setting needs attention, and this adds to the pressures on doctoral students. At Home Home relationships become tense for many doctoral students. If you cannot find ways to accommodate your responsibilities at home with the demands of your doctoral program, you are likely to experience major angst. Spouses may feel abandoned or intimidated while doctoral students typically look to their families to support them through the tense times. Hawley (1993) suggests, “As time-consuming as families are, they provide an anchor in the crazy world of doctoral study. They are your link with reality” (p. 149). Having a regular reality check is healthy for your soul, which you need to feed. You don’t want to finish your degree and find you don’t care about anyone and no one cares about you. Our lives are enriched by our friends and family. As you progress in your dissertation work, be mindful of others’ feelings and find ways to include significant others in your newly evolving world while you continue living in theirs. Many doctoral students find ways to balance the conflicting worlds of home and university by drawing on their spouse’s expertise in completing the dissertation. Others share their checklists, documenting the numerous hurdles, and collaborate on strategies to allocate time. Knowing how long this activity will last is instrumental in obtaining cooperation and understanding. When the time line is unclear, inordinate pressures come to bear on the relationship. The non-student spouse or child, for example, may resent the seemingly unending process. This annoyance may show itself in interesting ways. Marilyn told me, “My husband taped a TV program over the data I collected at my school.” Although she did not seem to interpret it as a malicious act, it might have been an unconscious one since it has been repeated many times in other settings. Developing a productive setting 93 Life goes on while you work on your dissertation. The draining of finances, the straining of relationships, and the vague requirements for completion contribute to untold tension. Margaret told me that she had the “worst fight of my marriage” on the day of graduation. These are predictable pressures which you must accommodate in some way. The entire process becomes a constant struggle for many students. At Work Having a full-time job makes the process very frustrating because of the constant disruption and interruption in the process. Try to find some connections between your doctoral program and your job. It is very possible that your work responsibilities will lead to the identification of your research problem. Let your co-workers and your supervisors know if you are “looking for a dissertation topic.” One person noted, “My job changed, and so did my question.” Ask to be included in conversations where topics related to your discipline are being discussed. When you are offered an opportunity to accept additional responsibilities, you can view this from several stances, as: • reward for good work; • respect for your work; • an obstacle to increase the burdens in your life; • a predictable sign of progress in a project; or • competition for the time needed to work on your dissertation. You will need to make a judgment and determine your response. Don’t let others set your agenda. Constantly consider your options and your priorities. It is often advisable to take a short-term perspective, giving great energy to completing your dissertation while expecting that you will subsequently be in a mental and physical state to devote all of your energies and enthusiasm for new projects. It is wonderful to have choices. Once you are done with your dissertation, a whole new world of choices will open up to you. And so, let’s get on to writing your proposal and completing your dissertation. Notes 1 Quoted comments were provided by respondents to anonymous questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions with doctoral students and completers at universities across the USA. For additional details about this study, see Appendix A. 2 Dissertations Abstracts International, a repository of most dissertations, is available in most university reference libraries. Journals and professional handbooks provide periodic summaries of recent dissertations. Review articles presented in journals, and some edited books, synthesize recent developments in your field, frequently suggesting future directions and recommendations for needed research. 97 10 Writing Your Dissertation Proposal While Designing Your Dissertation Research I have changed…in so many ways. I feel so much more confident about what I can do. I believe I can do almost anything! Writing and defending a dissertation caused me to approach issues more critically. (Quoted by Haworth, 1999, p. A13) Writing your dissertation proposal prepares you for conducting your research and subsequently writing your dissertation. A dissertation proposal typically is comprised of several related sections. In many instances, the dissertation proposal has a proscribed format, including several chapters. The content of the proposal may include an explanation of the rationale for planning the study and a design for conducting the study. In some institutions this can be a relatively brief ten- to fifteen-page document, whereas in others it is lengthy, averaging seventy-five pages. Writing the proposal takes a significant amount of time since most doctoral students are developing their ideas about their dissertation concurrently with their writing a document in acceptable form for institutional approval. Because the document includes components essential in conducting the research study, you may use the format as a preliminary outline for drafting plans for your research. Apprentice researchers typically write each section of the proposal, intending to revise it, based on professors’ feedback. In the process of moving from section to section, you will refine your ideas, requiring your revision of earlier sections to present a consistent perspective. The multiple drafts enable you to contemplate important issues while becoming proficient at writing in the acceptable genre for your institution. This chapter offers a great number of details inherent in the writing of your dissertation proposal. From a “quick read” you will get the gist of the chapter. Since there are numerous minute details discussed, you will find it useful to return to each section as you progress in your own proposal writing. I will discuss the purposes for writing a dissertation proposal first, and then proceed to discuss the content of the proposal, as well as typical steps towards approval of your proposal. While there are probably unique components to each institution’s process and proposal form, the guidelines which follow are fairly representative of most program requirements. Writing your dissertation proposal 98 Purposes for Writing a Dissertation Proposal There are six major purposes accomplished by writing your dissertation proposal. In writing it, you: • identify your specific research focus; • create a group of faculty scholars who will guide your research apprenticeship; • establish your research proficiencies; • acquire proficiency in a writing style acceptable for your dissertation; • draft early chapters of your dissertation; • and prepare yourself for writing your dissertation. Let’s consider these purposes. Identify your specific research focus In order to write your dissertation, you need a clear research agenda. Your research agenda is derived from your depth of knowledge of your “field,” including your understanding of the theories which are guiding your discipline and the directions in which your discipline is moving. Your research typically either systematically tests one aspect of a theory, or generates data towards theory-building where there is no viable theory. The dissertation research is intended to contribute to an on-going professional discussion. In each discipline there are debates about important issues. Your dissertation is intended to inform that dialog. Your dissertation proposal is your opportunity to present an “argument” acknowledging multiple perspectives while advancing a new perspective on the on-going discussion. Your focused presentation is intended to convince your readers that this proposed study is worthwhile doing and that you have the necessary expertise to conduct the study. Create a group of faculty scholars Faculty with expertise in areas germane to your study direct your writing of your dissertation proposal. These professors nurture your learning and evaluate your work, eventually deciding when they believe it meets the university’s standards. As you progress you will give evidence of understanding another element in the dissertation process: your reliance on others. Some chairs want their doctoral students to be “humble,” displaying their dependency on their mentor for progress in their dissertations. Others want students to be independent, utilizing all the resources available to them without overburdening the chairs. In most instances, students need to adopt multiple stances, depending on the stage they are at in the dissertation process and the preferences of the members of their committee. Establish your research proficiencies Since most doctoral students have limited experience in conducting research, particularly on dissertation scale, Writing your dissertation proposal 99 the dissertation proposal serves to validate the doctoral student’s potential as a researcher. From this perspective, then, your preparation of the proposal is a quick immersion in research methodologies and problem finding. Acquire proficiency in a writing style acceptable for your dissertation The style of writing in dissertations is often disparagingly called dissertation-ese. While this style is unique, it is not universally valued. Many universities are more expansive in the styles which they accept. It is essential that you demonstrate your writing proficiency in the genre (s) acceptable at your university as part of the proposal writing process. Draft early chapters of your dissertation It is not unusual for many parts of the dissertation proposal to be included in your dissertation. Particularly in settings where the proposal is quite lengthy, students incorporate large parts of the proposal text in their dissertations. Prepare yourself for writing your dissertation Once you have succeeded in meeting the expectations for the dissertation proposal, you will have a clearer idea of the form, content, and procedures for completing your dissertation. In some respects you can view the proposal writing as a dry run for your dissertation writing. Writing the proposal is a major step on the road to getting done with your dissertation. It provides students with the necessary tools for conducting dissertation research while assuring the university that the student has the appropriate knowledge and proficiencies for succeeding at this project. Contents of the Dissertation Proposal The dissertation proposal is a preliminary, scholarly document. It is preliminary to your dissertation. It is scholarly in that it follows the style guide adopted by a scholarly organization (e.g. the American Psychological Association or the Modern Language Association) and it presents an academic argument or position advancing your research as a potential contribution to knowledge. Each word is carefully chosen to convey precisely the intent of the writer. The organization clearly facilitates the reader’s understanding of the major issues. The content impresses the academic community with the writer’s breadth and depth of knowledge and with the importance of the proposed study to advance knowledge or understanding of a practice or a phenomenon. The proposal typically contains four major components: 1 A descriptive title. 2 A statement of the research problem or question and the theoretical concerns to be addressed. . requirements. Writing your dissertation proposal 98 Purposes for Writing a Dissertation Proposal There are six major purposes accomplished by writing your dissertation proposal. In writing it,. acceptable for your dissertation; • draft early chapters of your dissertation; • and prepare yourself for writing your dissertation. Let’s consider these purposes. Identify your specific research. completing your dissertation. In some respects you can view the proposal writing as a dry run for your dissertation writing. Writing the proposal is a major step on the road to getting done with your dissertation.