An all-inclusive, practical guide to help you design, conduct, and finish your academic dissertation—with minimal drama
Sharing the secrets for successfully navigating through the dissertation and thesis process while maintaining your sanity, Finish Your Dissertation, Don't Let It Finish You! presents comprehensive coverage of the entire dissertation process, from selecting a committee and choosing a research topic to conducting the research and writing and defending your dissertation.
Joanne Broder Sumerson follows the sequential flow of a dissertation, to help you move through the process in a logical, step-by-step manner, with an abundance of practical examples and useful tips on:
- Proper dissertation etiquette—smarts and strategies for managing the committee
- Breaking ground on your study
- The anatomy of the five chapters of your dissertation
- Making a compelling argument for why your study should be done
- Creating an exemplary literature review
- The best practices in research design
- Getting official approval from the Institutional Review Board
- Organizing your freshly collected data
- Concluding your dissertation
- Presenting a smooth oral defense
JOANNE BRODER SUMERSON, PhD, is a research professor at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, a seasoned researcher, program evaluator, thesis advisor, consultant, and past Research Review Committee chair. She developed an online blog, called Research Notes, on research best practices for the popular magazine Psychology Today. She, along with James Kaufman, are founding coeditors of Psychology of Popular Media Culture, a new scholarly journal published by the American Psychological Association featuring empirically based articles on how popular culture and general media influence individual, group, and system behavior.
Introduction
Chapter One The Secret Handshake
Chapter Two Breaking Ground on Your Study
Chapter Three Anatomy of a Dissertation
Chapter Four Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Your Study: The Strong Introduction
Chapter Five Write, Write, Write: Literature Review Made Simple
Chapter Six Data Scavenger Hunt: Designing the Right Methodology
Chapter Seven The Institutional Review Board (IRB) Process
Chapter Eight Making Sense of the Data Collection Scavenger Hunt: Results
Chapter Nine I Am Listening, Data: Discussion
Chapter Ten Your Data’s Next Chapter After the Dissertation Write-Up and Graduation
Appendix Sample Dissertation Rubric
References
Other versions by this Author