Light blogging as of late. I'll be back soon--especially now that I have finally turned in to my committee my Official Dissertation Proposal. (YAY!) In the meantime, while I am preparing for my proposal meeting next week, I thought I'd share this random wisdom about research and writing. I should say this is wisdom from my chair; as they say in 'Netland, your mileage may vary...
1) Sometimes, dissertation work (and graduate school in general) is less about time management and more about guilt management.
2) Logic dictates that one begins writing once one has figured out what one needs to do; in practice, however, it is often the process of writing that helps you figure out what you need to do.
3) You can read all the "how-to" dissertation writing books you want, and it will still be the case that the most effective way to write (starting/resuming/finishing) is to put your hindside on a chair and to not move it until you've made progress. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Daily. Really: Daily. (This actually was from one of my many, many dissertation how-to books. When I think of which one I'll pass along the title.)
4) There is no proof for the feasibility for a study quite like actually doing the study. Pilot studies are worth their weight in gold.
5) Pay no attention to those who say "All this 'the best dissertation is a done dissertation' stuff just leads to lowered standards". They will not be around to help you when you are ABD 10 years and shelving books at B & N.
6) All those nightmares (about you showing up at your prospectus meeting clad only in rumpled undergarments, or about you reading the print-out of your proposal--the very one that you just delivered to your committee members--and finding that you've written it entirely in wingdings) are terrifying at the time. But they have their purpose in making whatever reality that comes to pass look downright jolly by comparison.
Posted by perry032 at January 23, 2006 09:00 PM