Friday, September 14, 2012

Assembling a Dissertation Proposal



I'm not a great cook, but I can assemble a great salad.

Writing, on the other hand, is totally my thing.  However, writing a dissertation proposal (about 75 pages) was starting to get unwieldy and overwhelming, especially with the naive ambition of my ideas.

So I have decided to change the way I think about it and bank on my strengths.  Now, I am in the process of assembling my dissertation proposal.

The proposal has the following sections:  Introduction, Statement of Problem, Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Research Questions and Hypotheses, Methodology, Abstract and Timeline.

I have butcher paper representing each section gracing every bare wall space in my dining room (my art work is resting temporarily on the ground).  I will post pics soon - it's quite lovely in a colorful, creative and organized way.

As I read through articles (from the sweet spot of my venn diagram - the intersection between low-income urban families, parent-child communication and posttraumatic resilience), I am posting ideas about research questions and methods that are recommended in the discussion section of these articles.  I am also posting information for the lit review.  Index cards, post-it notes and sharpie pens (in lots of cool colors) are my best friend right now.

Also, I had to completely re-write the discussion section of my publishable paper - I didn't really know what I was doing the first time and tried to fake it.  I decided to learn how to write it by doing what painters do - copy the experts.  So I literally wrote out - sentence by sentence - the discussion section of about a dozen articles (the very ones I am using for my dissertation proposal - a two-fer) to crack the code and find the pattern:  (1) study finding, (2) how it is consistent or contradicts with existing research, and (3) interpretation(s) of finding, (4) repeat as necessary.


Surprisingly, it meant I could read and internalize what I was reading no matter where I was reading (cafe with great music, cafe with cute men everywhere, on the couch with the TV tuned to So You Think You Can Dance or Top Chef or Project Runway, etc., or 11pm at my dining room table).  Now I can skim through those sentences - and the inevitable stars and notes I wrote in response - in order to post them on a corresponding butcher paper.  I am actually EXCITED about going through all the articles to mine them for ideas for my proposal.  I am a nerd and I like it. 

Who said research can't be creative and fun?  That's precisely why I do it.




10 comments:

  1. I like your idea of having a kind of organizing your idea. Having this kind of strategy can really help a lot when it comes to writing and formulating dissertation or thesis topic ideas. Anyway, it reminds me of how lishting.com work, which can be good as it can be shared to many people you want.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am very agitated that I have discovered your post because I have been penetrating for some information on this for about two

    hours. You have helped me a lot undeniably and by reading this article. I have found much new and valuable information about this

    subject. I was guessing if you could write a little more on this subject? I’d be grateful if you could involved a little bit

    more.
    Thanks for sharing it.
    coursework writing help


    ReplyDelete
  3. Students find it a tad difficult to cope up with the pressure to write various papers for many subjects and topics.go to Coursework Writing Help

    ReplyDelete
  4. Get History Essay Help, Research Papers, Dissertation and Thesis by expert Writers at very Reasonable prices.Go to Essay Writing Service | History Essay Writing Service

    ReplyDelete
  5. Quality College Homework Help Available at Most Reasonable Prices.Thanks | Social Study Homework Help

    ReplyDelete
  6. hi, you are very good author who is posting awesome, interesting and precious.thanks for sharing assembling a dissertation proposal.
    dissertation writers uk

    ReplyDelete
  7. hi, you are very good author who is posting awesome, interesting and precious.thanks for sharing assembling a dissertation proposal. thanks for sharing it.
    Cheap dissertation writing services

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your blog really very fantastic and all the information are very awesome and great it's really interesting all the topic about the work motivation.
    PhD Proposal

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Such a nice blog and i appreciate your all efforts about your thoughts. it's really good work. well done.
    dissertation writing services uk

    ReplyDelete

My high school senior. When she was born and breastfeeding every two hours, 24-7, and I couldn’t shower or read the Sunday paper anymor...