TO ENSURE YOUR SUCCESS, YOU MUST RESPECT “THE DISSERTATION”: PART 2

Last week, I recounted my experience hiking Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, an endeavor that I did not take seriously enough, and I suffered unnecessarily because I had not sufficiently prepared. This week, I use this cautionary tale to emphasize the importance of preparing well for your dissertation as you will be doing yourself a huge favor if you appreciate the gravity of this undertaking. There are four important parts to this preparation: inform yourself, prepare well, plan well, and respect the task.

INFORM YOURSELF

Before embarking on your dissertation – or as early as possible after you have begun, talk to faculty and fellow students; read and review some books on dissertation writing (such as my book De-Stressing the Dissertation). Look at one or two recent dissertations in your school library that either used your same methodology and/or had your same dissertation chair.  

You will get a sense from this process of how challenging the dissertation is, how much time it realistically will take you, what the many steps involved are, and how to best approach or organize yourself.  You will also likely get many good tips about how to best proceed and protect yourself from possible missteps (such as not communicating well with your dissertation chair) or hindrances (such as choosing to study a population that is difficult to recruit or a subject that has very few sources).

PREPARE WELL

By informing yourself, you will also get a sense of the importance of preparing well. You will be deciding in advance important considerations, such as (a) how many sources you will need for the literature review, (b) how to best organize those sources, and (c) how you work best and where you’ll want to do most of your work. You’ll also want to (d) put together a support team that may include your significant other, friends, fellow students, family, your chair (you’ll want to ascertain what your chair will and will not do), other faculty, administrators, and support services.

PLAN WELL

Once you have informed yourself and done the preparations you need before starting your dissertation, you need to create a realistic timeline that takes into consideration the time you need to:

 (a)         conceptualize your study 

(b)        collect the sources for your literature review

(c)         read, summarize, and synthesize your sources

(d)        organize the best way to present the literature review (e.g., via major themes, theories, variables,

or chronologically)

(e)         write your proposal chapters

(f)          allow time for your chair and others to read and review (such as your second reader, editor,

friends, and colleagues)

(g)        revise per your chair’s instructions or your own wish/need to revise, expand, etc.

(h)        conduct the research

(i)          collect your data

(j)          analyze your data

(k)        write the results and discussion chapters

(l)          create a final draft that adheres to all of the academic rules and is the best representation of

your writing, analyzing, synthesizing, and organizing abilities

(m)      complete all the final steps, including obtaining signatures, filing copies with the library, etc.

And depending on your study, you may also need to:

(n)        recruit participants 

(o)        create an instrument or questionnaire 

(p)        perform a pilot study

(q)        create tables and figures

You will also want to:

(r)         give yourself an adequate cushion for:

— possibly having underestimated the time you need for doing all of the above steps

—all the many unforeseen curve balls thrown your way (e.g., illness, family emergencies, chair

traveling to India or curating a large museum show)

—the need to take a break from time to time, as well as

(s)         planning for your financial needs

(t)          planning for your childcare needs, as well as

(u)        galvanizing your support team and determining how and when to ask for their support,

as well as

(v)         determining how to take care of your health and well-being, including:

          —good diet

          —sufficient exercise

          —adequate rest

          —R&R, as well as

(w)       planning your weekly schedule (what days and times you will be working on your dissertation),

as well as

(x)         how you will celebrate once you have finished your dissertation

(y)         how you will recover from this long, intense process, as well as

(z)         __________________________________ (other—you fill in the blank!)  

 RESPECT THE TASK

Don’t underestimate the challenge, such as cavalierly thinking that although others have taken years, you can complete your dissertation in a matter of months. The dissertation is a weighty undertaking. If you give it the respect it requires, you will be in a position to complete this undertaking in the most advantageous manner.   

In reflecting back to our Half Dome experience, we thought that we had informed ourselves and prepared well in that we ensured that we would have as much water and trail mix as we needed (√), good hiking boots (√), and gloves for the cables (√). We did one hike in the Berkeley Hills to try out our hiking boots and prepare for the challenging climb. We found accommodations outside the park, determined when we would start our hike, and agreed that we would be down in time to catch dinner in Yosemite Valley.

In hindsight, I realize that we communally and I individually did not respect the extent of the challenge. My boots weren’t worn in, and I hadn’t clipped my toenails. I didn’t take my knee into consideration (I should have had walking poles). We didn’t start early enough — we were the last ones to reach the subdome)[1], and none of us paid attention to where we had parked. 

So, I hope I have convinced you to respect the dissertation by informing, preparing, and planning yourself well!

[1] Here are the park’s recommendations: Check sunrise and sunset times and leave around sunrise (or earlier) and then have a non-negotiable turnaround time. For instance, if you haven’t reached the top of Half Dome by 3:30 pm, you will turn around.

What Is the Cost to Have Your Dissertation or Thesis Edited? Based on a 100-Page Dissertation

All of the students I have worked with across the globe have one thing in common: They don’t have much money. Yet, most students—regardless of their writing ability and time factors—would undoubtedly welcome some form of help from an editor. But can they afford it? Is it worth the cost?

Here is a guide for help you can get from working with an editor. Note that these prices are general estimates and are based on a 100-page manuscript.  

$500. A cursory review for formatting and compliance with your school’s specifications and academic style guide.

 There are a few formatting commands that I can perform in seconds or minutes that some students never master or spend hours trying to figure out. For example:

·      Creating/formatting the Table of Contents. Do you know that the customary dots in the Table of Contents is a simple tab? Take a second. Under paragraph formatting, click on tabs. You will see two options on the right: “alignment” and “leader.” So, rather than hitting dot, dot, dot, dot, dot across the page and still not being able to line up the page numbers, a simple tab is all you need (as shown here with the tab stop at 6.5”). 

·      Formatting headings and block quotes:

As you are getting ready to submit your dissertation, there can be a lot of anxiety around formatting and style guide compliance. For many students, it is well worth the cost of hiring an editor to review their dissertation before final submission. 

$1,500. A careful/technical reading of your dissertation, correcting grammatical errors (data are, none is), typographical errors, formatting errors, and noncompliance with the academic style guide (10 or ten? noncompliance or non-compliance?). Many students hire editors for technical editing as they would rather not slog through the rules in the 200+-page style guide. It is very reassuring to have a professional do a once-over, page-by-page reading of your dissertation.

$3,000-$6,000. In this price range, you are asking an editor to provide copyediting. Some students need this for a number of reasons, such as: 

·      They are so busy in their professional life that they simply don’t have time to do more than the first draft.

·      They are unfamiliar with academic writing or do not have confidence in their ability to write at a level that they themselves wish to see in their own scholarly publications. 

·       Writing is not their forte for other reasons: ESL (English is not their native language), LD (they may have a learning disability), or they were never taught how to write well.

Is it worth it? Yes.

If you hire an editor, you will finish your program sooner—which in and of itself may save you the cost of working with an editor; you will be proud of your published dissertation; and you will be able to get on with your chosen career (i.e., start to make money!).

One important caveat: Editors are not licensed, and thus, you must be confident that the editor you hire is qualified, trustworthy, and ethical. 

Are considering hiring an editor? Stay tuned. Next week, I will be writing about how to hire an editor.

You may also wish to purchase my book, De-Stressing the Dissertation and Other Forms of Academic Writing: Practical Guidance and Real-Life Stories.  

Kathleen Kline is an academic editor with over 35 years’ experience working with students across six continents. She is the Director of the Writing Center at the Wright Institute, a clinical psychology school in Berkeley, California.