How to Write a Dissertation

Hello everyone,

Recently, my friend Tony Normore and I facilitated a writing workshop for the UCEA Jackson Scholars Program in Pittsburgh. We crammed a lot into a relatively brief session and I think it went pretty well. Doing that session made me revisit a brief book chapter I wrote for Ray Calabrese and Page Smith's excellent book, The faculty mentor’s wisdom: Conceptualizing, writing and defending the dissertation. It's a quick little set of tips for writers written in a lighthearted way, but I think there is also some useful stuff in there that may apply to writers from many walks of life. In any event, here are the points from my chapter:

How to Write Your Dissertation: A Top Ten List!

I offer the following list having reflected on my own experience as a dissertation-writer and on my experiences chairing and serving students on dissertation committees. Admittedly (and unabashedly), I’m having a bit of fun with my charge of offering advice to students in the form of a top ten list. 

10. Know what a high-quality dissertation looks like. Before you begin, take the time to find several exemplars—examples of outstanding works you can use for inspiration and guidance. In particular, make sure to look for exemplars that (a) focus on a similar topic to the one you have chosen, (b) employ similar research methods to those you have chosen, and (c) are considered high-quality both in your department or at a national/international level. Points “a” and “b” will help inform the way you construct arguments, how you substantiate your claims, and how you understand how much detail to include in your work. Point “c” will help you understand what success looks like, both in your program area and on a national-international level. There are many dissertation awards that list outstanding works, but make sure you also ask your mentors and fellow students for good, close-to-home examples that don’t have a blue ribbon stuck on the cover. 

9. There must be synergy between all parts of your dissertation. One of the most common mistakes I see in dissertations is a disconnection between the various chapters and sections. For example, I read about teacher professional development in the literature review and then in the findings I find that all of the sudden I’m reading about gender dynamics of the superintendency. Not all are this dramatic, of course, but I find some level of this disconnection in nearly every supposedly final dissertation draft I’ve read. This is in part due to the fact that students are often encouraged to write chapters in isolation; they write one chapter and then move on to the next. To be sure, this is a completely appropriate and logical way to begin, but there is a crucial step missing if that is all you do—you must seek and create synergy between extant literature, methods, findings and the discussion—they must be in concert. To help ensure this synergy, after you have written a draft of all chapters, re-read them out of sequence; read chapter one and five together, read chapter two and four together, etc. Ask yourself—are there clear links here? Is it obviously part of same study? Am I introducing superfluous ideas that don’t have a logical place in the final manuscript? There should be an overall coherence and consistency throughout the work. 

8. Know yourself as a writer. As writers, we all have strengths and weaknesses and it is important to concretely assess what these are. Some of us are great technical writers, with a firm grasp of mechanics, grammar, and construction. Others are “big-idea” writers, able to synthesize a great deal of information, understand intricate theories, or see the broad implications of the work beyond what is readily apparent. Conversely, some of us are poor grammarians and some folks can write a part of the whole but have a tough time putting it all together. Of course, this list goes on and on—some people write quickly, some slowly; some write well in the morning and others past midnight; some do their best work when they receive constant feedback throughout the process and others need prolonged isolation; some write well with a good cup of coffee and others after a beer. Guess what? People with each of these styles are world-class writers. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to writing and it is important for you to find what works for you. You are unique, and regardless of your weaknesses, if you build on your strengths and find a rhythm that works, you can be a successful writer. 

7. Establish and cultivate a multi-tiered and a multi-purpose support network. It is important to take stock of the forms of support and resources available to you through your university and in your extant support network. Keep in mind that the person you meet over lunch to vent about the week’s frustrations may not be the best person to edit your manuscript. Take stock of your dissertation committee, fellow students and university/community resources. Is there a great editor in your network? Is there someone who understands the literature informing your study? Is there a competent and experienced methodologist at your disposal? Do you know the librarians at your university? Are there writing groups in your college? If you take stock of yourself as a writer (see #6, above) and then take stock of the support network around you, you will likely see strengths and weaknesses—do something about them! As a final note, don’t have the illusion that your dissertation chair is your one-stop-shop for dissertation maintenance and repair. Be clear and critical about that person’s strengths and weaknesses as well, and understand that they are only part of your network, not your entire universe. Can’t find some of these things at your university? Consider establishing them yourself or enlisting support from somewhere else—for example, the “outside” member of my dissertation committee was from another university.  

6. Get organized. This means something different to everyone, but broadly speaking, if you are unorganized you will take longer than you should to finish your dissertation and the quality of your work will suffer. Get a paper filing system, get your computer files into a system that makes sense, make sure your data are in a secure and ordered location, put the date in a header or footer on every draft of your manuscript. Notably, this means that you need to be organized with respect to the document itself and with all paperwork and deadlines for the university, college and department—those dates are your responsibility.  

5. Focus. Print off your research questions and tape them to the wall in full view so you can refer to them as you type. Every single word and sentence you type should ultimately contribute to answering those questions. If you find a section, paragraph, sentence, or word that does not make such a contribution, get rid of it—the delete button is your friend.

4. Don’t just be a scholar, be a productive scholar. Universities are full of smart people who are unable or unwilling to translate their brilliance into scholarly products. If you want to finish your dissertation, don’t work with those people and don’t be that person. Those folks are scholars, but you want to be a productive scholar, and a productive scholar produces. Every time you sit down to work, every time—whether you are reading an article or working on your methodology section, you should have something you can hold in your hand to show for that time. If you haven’t produced something—a paragraph, three pages, a set of notes that correspond to the article you just read, a rough draft, some free writing, etc. then you wasted your time. Sitting in a coffee shop and thinking deep thoughts may be a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but it will not get your dissertation written. If you find you spend your time in an unproductive manner, change your routine, get new friends, write longhand instead of typing—you are in a rut! Do something to get out of it. 

3. Think about the impact of your dissertation on the rest of your life, now and in the future. Some of the best advice I received during my dissertation was from my committee member Bill Ayers, offered over an early-morning coffee in Chicago: “don’t make your family victims of the fact that you chose to be a qualitative researcher.” You can do scholarly work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you let it, this can take a toll on your health, your relationships and your general happiness. Don’t let the dissertation eat your soul or body! Go jogging, take a day off, eat healthful food, laugh, play, appreciate the people in your life, and pay attention to the world outside of those five chapters—these other things are more important than your dissertation. 

2. READ. You must make time to read throughout the dissertation-writing phase and approach that reading with a critical eye. This must be critical reading both of new literature and your own work. Pay attention not only to content, but also to the way in which other authors construct their arguments, support their claims, and make their recommendations. I guarantee you will learn something and you will be able to put it to good use!

1. WRITE. As a former language arts teacher, I’m biased, but I strongly believe that all of the things your elementary and middle school teachers taught you WORK. Use an outline, write a topic sentence and support it with evidence, write something in several ways, use synonyms and antonyms, vary your sentence structure, set deadlines to complete parts of the work and hit them. In part, a scholar’s life is a writer’s life, and there’s no better way to improve as a writer than by writing.