Surviving Your Dissertation

by Rudestam, Kjell Erik; Newton, Rae R.

• ISBN13: 9780761919612
• ISBN10: 0761919619
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Sage Pubns

Summary

Written from the perspective of an ideal mentor, the authors provide guidance that other books often miss from ways to improve your writing to identifying your learning style and dealing with emotional blocks. Using examples from a wide range of disciplines, they a supply expert advice on the entire dissertation process: selecting a suitable topic; conducting a literature review; managing data overload; building an argument; presenting the material, data, and results; and, working with faculty committees. New to this Edition: The use of the internet as a source of reference material and as a tool for data collection methods Greatly expanded coverage of writing the qualitatively based dissertation from methods to writing up the results (including the use of software packages for qualitative analysis) Detailed coverage of presenting the results, including recent challenges to null hypothesis significance testing Tables showing Web addresses (URLs) for quantitative and qualitative software as well as numerous other sources of information for the dissertation student

Author Biography

Rae R. Newton, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at California State University-Fullrton and Senior Statistician at the Child and Adolescent Health Services Research Center in San Diego, California Kjell Erik Rudestam, Ph.D., is an Associate Dean at The Fielding Institute, Santa Barbara, California Jody Veroff, Ph.D., is a faculty member in the Human and Organizational Development Program at The Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, California

Table of Contents

Preface	x
Preface to the Second Edition	xiii
PART I Getting Started
The Research Process	3	(6)
The Research Wheel	5	(4)
Selecting a Suitable Topic	9	(14)
Some Guidelines for Topic Selection	10	(1)
From Interesting Idea to Research Question	11	(4)
Generating Researchable Questions	15	(3)
Note	18	(5)
Methods of Inquiry: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches	23	(32)
Quantitative Methods	27	(6)
Qualitative Methods	33	(12)
Other Possible Approaches to Dissertations	45	(6)
Note	51	(4)
PART II Working With Content: The Dissertation Chapters
Review of the Literature and Statement of the Problem	55	(20)
The Introduction	55	(1)
Review of the Literature	56	(5)
Long Shots and Close-Ups	61	(3)
Statement of the Problem	64	(9)
Note	73	(2)
The Method Chapter: Describing Your Research Plan	75	(28)
The Method Chapter in a Quantitative Dissertation	76	(1)
How to Begin a Method Chapter	76	(2)
Describing Your Sample	78	(3)
Instrumentation: Describing Your Research Tools	81	(6)
Procedures: Describing How You Did (or Will Do) It	87	(1)
Data Analysis: How to Justify and Describe an Analysis	88	(2)
Should You Discuss the Limitations of Your Research?	90	(1)
The Method Chapter in a Qualitative Dissertation	90	(13)
Presenting the Results of Empirical Studies	103	(64)
Where to Begin?	104	(1)
Addressing Research Questions and Hypotheses	105	(2)
The Nuts and Bolts of Describing Quantitative Results	107	(6)
Presenting Tables and Graphs	113	(6)
Preparing the Data for Analysis	119	(3)
Some Guidelines for Creating Correctly Constructed and Labeled Tables	122	(1)
Constructing One-Variable (Univariate) Tables and Statements That Describe Them From Computer Printouts	123	(5)
How to Construct and Interpret Two-Variable (Bivariate) Tables	128	(13)
How to Interpret and Present the Results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)	141	(4)
Presenting the Results of Multiple Regression Analysis	145	(7)
Streamlining Your Results: Presenting Multiple Analyses in a Single Table	152	(4)
Presenting the Results of Qualitative Research	156	(10)
Note	166	(1)
Discussion	167	(12)
Abstract	172	(1)
Title	173	(6)
PART III Working With Process: What You Need to Know to Make the Dissertation Easier
Overcoming Barriers: Becoming an Expert While Controlling Your Own Destiny	179	(18)
Working With Your Committee	180	(2)
Emotional Blocks	182	(2)
Task Blocks	184	(2)
Getting Organized: A Case Study	186	(3)
Collecting and Analyzing Data: Depending Upon Others	189	(4)
Dissertation Orals	193	(4)
Writing	197	(26)
Jody Veroff
Past Experiences With Writing	199	(4)
Overcoming Obstacles	203	(1)
Getting Started	204	(5)
Topic and Passion	209	(1)
Authorship and Voice	210	(4)
Concern About Audience and Evaluation	214	(2)
Revision	216	(2)
Conclusion	218	(1)
Twelve Tricks to Keep You Going When You Write	218	(3)
Refrences	221	(1)
Suggested Readings	221	(2)
Computing: Using a Personal Computer Effectively	223	(32)
Two Scenarios	224	(5)
Using Your Computer as a Literature Searching and Bibliographic Management Tool	229	(2)
Databases: Using Your Library's Computerized Search Capability	231	(6)
Advantages and Disadvantages of Computerized Literature Searching	237	(1)
Reading and Recording: How to Take Notes With Your Computer	238	(1)
Bibliographies: A Special Case	239	(1)
Writing, Spelling, and Grammar	239	(1)
Software for Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis	240	(4)
What About Qualitative Data Analysis?	244	(4)
What About Data: Can I Obtain My Dissertation Data Using On-Line Data Collection Methods?	248	(2)
How to Protect Your Work	250	(1)
Utilities: Software to Streamline and Protect Your System	251	(1)
How Much Computer Do I Need?	251	(1)
Should I Copy My Friend's Program and Save Some Money?	252	(3)
Guidelines for the Presentation of Numbers in the Dissertation	255	(10)
Expressing Numbers as Figures	255	(3)
Expressing Numbers as Words	258	(1)
Combining Figures and Words to Express Numbers	259	(1)
Ordinal Numbers	260	(1)
Decimal Fractions	260	(1)
Arabic or Roman Numerals	261	(1)
Commas	261	(1)
Plurals of Numbers	262	(1)
APA Requirements for Statistical and Mathematical Copy	262	(3)
Informed Consent and Other Ethical Concerns	265	(14)
Common Ethical Concerns	265	(1)
Informed Consent	266	(7)
Bias-Free Writing	273	(5)
Note	278	(1)
References	279	(8)
Name Index	287	(3)
Subject Index	290	(7)
About the Authors	297