You’ve come this far. All the coursework, all the essays and papers, sitting through boring lectures, and pulling “all-nighters” at examination time. Now, you just have this one last project – the dissertation – and you will have that degree in your hand.
Here’s the thing – a dissertation is going to take you a long time, usually 12-18 months. And along the way, you will make some mistakes and have to re-do some parts. There are some mistakes, however, that are so big, your dissertation will lie unfinished or will be rejected. And that is one horror story in which you don’t want to be the main character. Here are 7 of those big mistakes.
1. Procrastination
It’s so easy when you know you have a deadline date that is so far down the road. “I’ll just take a day off,” you say to yourself. Then that one day multiplies and pretty soon the weeks and months are creeping by, your advisor is asking to see your progress, and you are nowhere. Serious procrastinators miss deadlines, lose their motivation, and sometimes the piece never gets finished at all. One friend of mine knew his department’s rule – a dissertation had to be finished within seven years of the coursework completion, and he decided to take one year off before starting on it. By that time, he was working, got married and had a baby on the way. Still, he insisted he would get to it. The seven years passed, and it was all over for him.
Another product of procrastination is that students will come up to a deadline and then try to get an entire chapter written in just a few days. This never ends well. It is rejected by the advisor or committee and it has to be completely re-written. What a waste of time.
Successful dissertations are written by people who know they must commit to some work at least five days a week. Think of a dissertation as a slow jog rather than a sprint to the finish line. And a little bit each day saves stress, carelessness, and, in the end, the dissertation itself.
2. Not Taking Comments and Suggestions from Your Advisor or Committee Members
When you submit our proposal and as you complete each chapter, your advisor, and sometimes your committee members, will want to see it. They will request changes or suggest ways in which it could be improved. Take these seriously and follow through. If you do not, you may damage some egos and make someone angry. It can mean a final rejection, and then you are starting again.
3. Not Using the Tools that will make the Piece Outstanding
Be thankful you are living in the age you are. Years ago, there were no digital tools that could assist with research, writing, statistics, etc. Today, there are so many and so easy to find. Here are a few that you should be using.
- Grammarly or ProWritingAid: These tools will check your grammar, sentence structure, punctuation and more, and make suggestions for how to fix/improve what you have written. Why would anyone not take advantage of these, especially since a dissertation must be perfectly composed.
- Online Libraries: In the past, students had to go to the physical library on campus to conduct their research. And because the research works they were reviewing could not be checked out, they had to stay in that library day after day. You may have to pay a fee to access a library or two you need, but that cost is well worth it when you have the ability to research from anywhere.
- A Professional Writing Service: There are writing companies, like SupremeDissertations, that have Ph.D.’s in all academic disciplines who are available to consult with you, conduct research, write, edit, and perform statistical analyses.
- Statistical Analysis Software: No more struggling with the analysis of your data. Pick one of many software packages, select the analysis type/need, plug in your data, and let the software do the work.
- Reference and Citation Tools: You will be researching and using a huge variety of resources, and they must all be cited properly, no matter how obscure they may be. You can our over citation and bibliography guidelines and then hope you have made no typos, or you can use a digital reference and citation tool, many of which are free. Plug in the information and the tool will create the perfect citation in a format you designate.
4. Research Errors
These mistakes fall into two categories. Some students fail to do enough research, and the review of literature chapter falls short of advisor and/or committee expectations. You will be sent back to conduct more research, and this means a re-write of that chapter.
The second mistake is to leave out a major piece of research that your advisor or committee members are familiar with and that you should have included. Again, you will be sent back to review that resource and work it into your review of literature chapter.
5. Not Using Some Type of Graphic Organizer
You will have a huge amount of research notes, paperwork on your methodology, data from your own research, etc. All of this paper has to be organized in some fashion, so that you can write each chapter in a coherent way. You need some type of organizer for each chapter. Traditionally, this is usually an outline, but you may have a different template that works better. Choose whatever template works best for you, but do choose one. Each chapter must be completely organized on paper before it can be written. Otherwise, your writing will lack coherence and logical flow.
6. Making a Mistake in Topic Selection
Your advisor may have his/her “pet” topics. And in an effort to please, you may get talked into a topic about which you have no passion or abiding interest. When you do this, your final product will be less than stellar and may, in fact, get rejected. No one can do a major research work like a dissertation on a topic that they find dull or boring. Be careful with topic selection – it must be something you will enjoy researching.
7. Not Selecting a Skilled Editor
You will not be editing and proofreading your own dissertation – that will spell disaster. You are too emotionally involved to be objective. Find a skilled editor in your field to review your work, even if you have to pay them. You need fresh “eyes” on your work, if you are to submit a final product that is not just acceptable, but exceptional.
No one who has not been through the dissertation writing process can possibly understand what you will go through as you write yours. And, because this is the first time you have ever written a dissertation, you can expect to make mistakes. You can avoid the big ones, though, by heeding these seven points.
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