Years ago, I was on a dissertation committee where the student spent 1-year working on their dissertation. Prior to the dissertation defense, I was sent a copy of their final dissertation to read. Frankly, I was disappointed. Not for me, but for the student. My gut reaction was that he had spent a year doing the research and found no significant findings. Did this mean they did something wrong or that it was a waste of time? NO – Absolutely not. Instead, I had to reframe my thought. The value of reporting insignificant or no significant findings is huge.

Recently, I chaired another dissertation and the student used a well-known survey. He had plenty of data that proved to be reliable using the coefficient alpha. However, when we looked at the statistical significance of his data, we found it to be greater than .05. That same feeling appeared in my gut. I thought to myself, “Oh no. Poor guy. He did all this work and has nothing to show for it.” Then I reconsidered the value of his project and the importance of publishing.

When we do a research project and find the results are insignificant, the findings are hugely valuable because they are helping to define the theory. The main goal of testing theory is to see if it works with specific conditions. When we find that it does not work with a specific set of conditions, we should shout it from the mountaintop to show we have found something that is drawing the line in the sand, something that has put up a boundary or a guardrail to the theory.

Instead of considering insignificant as a negative term, we should view it in a positive light. Having an insignificant finding means we have found something that is defining the theory in such a way that a, traditionally thought of, statistically significant finding would not.

I encourage you to publish your research; all of your research. Instead of viewing it as a failed project, which it certainly was not, please reflect on the positive benefits of publishing such a paper.

When papers are published about insignificant results, we see the boundaries of the theory. For many researchers, this helps us to know what not to test in the future and gives us new ideas of what to test. It also helps us to see that the theory is not immortal. Personally, I find the insignificant findings quite attractive to me as a researcher because we are pushing the limits to see what will and will not be included in the theory.

Publish your work, all of your work. Each research project that is done with high-quality standards demonstrating robust methodology is valuable, regardless of the findings.

Writing the Interview Questions

In my previous post, I showed you how to draft the research questions that are an extension of your problem and purpose statements. Now that I have my research questions, I need to write my interview questions for research. These are questions that I will ask my participants and will use personal pronouns such as “you” and “I” because we will be using this in a conversation with our participants.

Importantly, interview questions for research should be aligned to my research questions and reflect the themes from the literature. Because of this, it’s best to hold off on completely writing your interview guide until you’ve completed your literature review, or at least until you’ve completed your annotated bibliography for your literature review.

If you organize it well, you can draft some interview questions for research that you might like to ask your participants as you read research studies for your literature review. These can be questions you enter into your research journal that gets revised at the end. But this is a great way to have a large collection of questions from which to design your interview guide.

In addition to aligning the interview questions for research to my literature review, I also want to align them to my research questions. If I look at my three research questions, I might write three or so interview questions for each, knowing that I may add probing questions as I go to get more insight from my participants. In doing this, I will, by default, be aligning my interview questions to my theoretical framework, as two of my research questions contained the tenets of my theoretical framework.

See the image below:

Other considerations in writing your interview questions

Just like the research questions, there are considerations for your interview questions. The first is that in most cases – especially in a one-on-one interview – the interview questions should be open-ended. This allows the participant to answer in detail rather than answering yes or no. It’s easy to slip into writing closed-ended questions, so be sure to check your questions before you submit them to your chair for review. If you can answer yes or no to the questions, change them to open-ended “how” or “why” questions.

In addition to the open-ended nature of the questions, the questions should be conversational in a way that enables the participant to understand what you’re asking. Remember, even though your participants are living the phenomenon you’re asking about, they’re not schooled in the terms and jargon of your theoretical framework or research literature.

Check the readability score of your interview questions using online readability checkers like the one on plagarismsearch.com. Practice delivering interview questions and see how easily you can ask them and how they sound. Practice your questions with a friend or colleague, not for the purposes of collecting data but just to see if they think your questions make sense. We can get into a researcher ‘blind spot’ when we write interview questions, forgetting that these questions need to be for people not ensconced in scholarly literature and writing.

Finalizing the interview guide

As you pull together the various interview questions you have collected throughout your writing process, you will want to sculpt your draft questions so that they flow well and are not redundant. You will want to make sure that your interview questions are not focused too heavily on one aspect; they should cover the depth and breadth of the themes in your research. Depending on the number of interviews you will conduct with each participant, you also need to ensure that you consider how long it will take to get through the interview questions you have designed.

The final interview guide is for you to use during your interviews with participants. In many styles of qualitative research, the questions are just there for you to refer to, but not necessarily used in the precise order you have them listed because you are having a conversational encounter. Your participants, if given the time and space to answer your questions, may answer the question you have asked and address a later question, too. Be prepared to move seamlessly among your interview questions, pulling up the relevant question based on where the interview takes you.

We have worked with hundreds of clients. No two clients are the same, but we do see many of the same challenges holding them back from completing their doctoral program. This blog lists some of the best advice to finish your dissertation once and for all! I have either come across, given, or used to address these common challenges. Ultimately, it comes down to these seven things: knowing your why and being able to justify your decisions, being purposeful in designing your study and presenting your methods, writing as you go and being effective in presenting data, choosing the right chair, and using resources (software, coaches, editors, statisticians, etc.), and being kind to yourself.

1. Know your why and be prepared to justify your decisions.

1. 1. in order to finish your dissertation, you must know “the why” behind your research. In all decisions you make in your research, you need to know why you made those decisions and be able to articulate it in a scholarly way. In other words, you must be able to justify your choices.
   2. You must be able to explain your methodology. This includes writing it out in detail being explicit about every step.  This is important for communication and identifying any problems or concerns that may arise.

2. Be purposeful in designing your study and presenting your methods.

1. 1. Factors you may consider in choosing the right methodological approach for your research include finding a method that is comfortable for you and recognizing what data is needed to address your research question(s).
   2. It is essential to carefully design your research approach, including preparing for or preventing critiques of your methods or the data they produce. Careful design includes what you are doing and how you present this information.
   3. Factors that are considered in choosing a suitable method include what others are doing to study your topic and what each approach produces as far as data and the meaning of that data.
   4. Generally speaking, the more data you have, the better your study will be. The sample size is determined by the size of the population and the analysis you want to conduct.
   5. The methods chapter is not an encyclopedia of your data. Your methods chapter should focus on the key points of your data collection, dataset, and analysis.  If needed, additional information can be placed in the appendices.

3. Write as you go and be effective in presenting data.   

1. 1. To finish your dissertation once and for all, we suggest writing your dissertation as you go instead of simply taking a series of notes. This is will not only help you understand what you are doing, but it will also add up and feel less daunting.
   2. There are benefits to using graphs, charts, or infographics to supplement the text. For instance, if you find yourself writing several sentences describing numbers, you may have information that is better presented in a table or figure.
   3. Be purposeful in choosing the best place to write. Some people prefer to work from home, work outside, or even work at a coffee shop.  Consider the comfort of the chair, the noise level (or using apps for noise control), and other factors that might improve concentration.  Consider the best time to do your writing; some are early birds, and others might be night owls. We also recommend creating to-do lists and using timers to stay focused during your working and writing sessions.

4. Choose the right dissertation chair.

1. 1. In order to finish your dissertation once and for all, choose a chair who has a history of graduating students on time. You may get an idea of this from talking with other students in your program or from reviewing dissertations that have been completed in your program. You will want to be sure the chair is not overloaded, which could result in excessively divided attention.

Stay in control when you face advice that does not align with your direction. You do not always have to take all the advice provided if you feel someone else is trying to control your dissertation.  This does not mean you have to have a conflict with your chair—you can be cordial and professional.

5. Software programs are out there to help make your life easier.

1. 1. Consider the benefits of using software programs to make your life easier as you work on your dissertation. There are software programs for recording and organizing your data, notes, and references, such as Nvivo, Zotero, OneNote, and Mendeley.

6. Coaches, editors, and statisticians are here to help.

1. 1. Similar to sports teams, individuals have multiple specialized coaches. Dissertation coaches assist students in doing their best work, making progress, and even saving money by moving through the process faster. To schedule a free strategy call with one of our dissertation experts, apply here!
   2. Know when to turn to a trained statistician for assistance in your design, IRB application, research questions, hypotheses, sample sizes, and coaching on the use of parametric or non-parametric design and the analysis of data.
   3. Coaches, editors, and statisticians can help in all stages of the dissertation process. This can save you significant time and give you more time to think about the essential things you might have on your plate.
   4. The relationship between the Ph.D. student and the dissertation chair can be fraught with challenges, or it can be very rewarding, and of course, it can be both.
   5. Look into the benefits of working with a writing and citation editor. They can help with citation styles, your school’s formatting, template, and generally editing, like grammar. Working with an editor may lead to fewer post-defense revisions.

7. Be kind to yourself.

1. 1. Yes, we know you want to finish your dissertation once and for all, but it is a marathon, not a sprint. Take mental breaks. It is essential to take breaks and do something radically different for yourself while you are away from your research. You may find that your best ideas come when you step away, such as while you are exercising.
   2. Your dissertation only has to “be good enough.” it does not have to be perfect—consider it more of an apprenticeship where you will make mistakes and look back upon them as learning experiences.  Look at scholarship as a work in progress.

Ultimately, the best way to address challenges is to use all your resources, advocate for yourself, and communicate.  Your chair is there to help as well. It might not always feel this way when receiving critical feedback, but keep in mind that this feedback is there to improve your study. So, let us emphasize this once again: be kind to yourself. We work with so many doctoral scholars who beat themselves up every time they encounter a challenge.  There will always be challenges, so it comes down to how you address them.  We hope that some of this advice helps you to finish your dissertation once and for all and overcome the challenge of becoming Dr. You.

This is an easy guide to help you to organize your research methodology. Using a matrix will help you see the alignment between your research questions, theoretical or conceptual framework, and the methods you intend to use.

1. Create a table with the headings for each column:

a. Research Questions

b. Theoretical / Conceptual Framework

c. Methods

d. Type of Analysis

You can use Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to create a matrix or relational table. If you are “old school,” please feel free to use a pencil and paper.

2. List your research questions

Under Research Questions (if you are using Excel or Sheets, this would be the first column), write the research questions you intend to study in a logical order so that the first question will lead to the next question. If you only have one research question, that is ok, along with you knowing the framework you intend to use in your study.

3. List the theoretical or conceptual framework

Under Theoretical/Conceptual Framework (column B), list the key areas of your theoretical or conceptual framework that aligns with the research question(s). If you are in the proposal phase, you need to check whether the key areas (qualitative) or variables (quantitative) you intend to study are compatible with your framework. If not, you need to revise your research to align with your framework. The theoretical or conceptual framework you intend to use is the lens to explore your problem of practice or research topic.

4. List the methods

Under Methodology (column C), list the specific methods you intend to use to collect the data. Examples of qualitative methods are interviews, focus groups, case studies, ethnography, observation, or document analysis. Examples of quantitative methods are polls, questionnaires, surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques.

5. List the appropriate type of analysis

Under Type of Analysis (column D), list the type of analysis you intend to conduct for the method you indicated. For qualitative data, you will code and analyze interviews, text, or observations. For quantitative data, you will conduct appropriate statistical analysis based on the research question.

The example matrix is a mixed methods research. The research topic is online vs on-ground learning for nursing students.

Should you have any questions regarding the research matrix, please contact us!

For many students, the thought of presenting their dissertation at an academic conference is something they see happening after they have completed everything, the signatures are dry, and they don’t have the pressures of their doctoral studies on their plate. However, there are a lot of benefits to presenting an incomplete dissertation study at an academic conference. There is a great benefit to presenting a dissertation, yes, even incomplete research and an incomplete study. In this blog, we will go over some of the benefits of presenting a dissertation before you may feel 100% ready.

So, let’s walk through the benefits of presenting research at a conference. These benefits include being forced to think through your dissertation study in a way that makes you able to communicate it, building confidence in communicating even an incomplete dissertation, building your CV, getting feedback that can be used to improve your research, and even getting a head start on your final defense slide deck. Oh yes, it also gives you a hard deadline (which many lacked in the dissertation stage). I’ll conclude the blog by discussing timing your presentation just right, presenting to the right audience, and documenting your feedback.

1. Presenting an incomplete study makes you think through and communicate how to present a dissertation.

To be able to give a presentation, you are forced to move beyond notes. When I develop academic presentations, I consider my audience and how I should communicate with them. It takes you out of a narrow focus on the exact part you are working on and forces you to return back to the big picture and think about what others might need to know about your research to understand it and how to communicate it with different audiences, and even the sequence of the information they need to know.

2. It builds confidence in how to present a dissertation.

I don’t know that many people who just really love to stand up and present in front of large groups of people. And the few that I know that do enjoy this probably came to feel that way through practice. Practicing builds confidence. One part of being an expert in your chosen area of study is being able to communicate confidently with other academics. This confidence takes time for many people, so it is important to put yourself out there to learn your strengths and weaknesses in communication.

3. You get feedback on your incomplete dissertation that could improve what you do next. 

There will likely be questions or comments after your talk. For most talks, there is a short presentation (often 10, 15, or 20 minutes) and then time for the audience to give feedback on your dissertation. The audience will often provide comments and questions. This is a great way to have experts in your field share their ideas on your research. Keep in mind that even critiques of your research, while they might be hard to hear, are great opportunities for peer-review of your study. Approach this feedback with an open mind, and it might give you direction for your next steps in the study.

4. You get to build your CV.

Your CV documents your expertise as a researcher. It includes your education, your work history, your publications, and also other forms of academic involvement, including academic presentations. Even if you are presenting an incomplete dissertation, your presentation can go on your CV, and it shows that you want to be an active academic that participates in the discipline.

5. You get to practice for your dissertation defense and will already have some of your slides completed. 

Whenever I am asked about oral dissertation defense, my answer is to practice. Even if you are in the preliminary stages of data analysis, there is a lot that you have completed, and that can be developed into slides to document this process. It is likely that you can use a lot of the slides you develop for the conference in your final defense, so presenting your work at an academic conference will give you a head start on the practice and on the slides.

6. Presenting a dissertation gives you a hard deadline. 

Many students feel lost in the dissertation stage. While classes have hard deadlines, the dissertation stage is often self-paced. This can make it harder to self-impose deadlines. Conferences have hard deadlines that might encourage you to work harder to complete your work. There are deadlines for submitting your proposal, and of course, there is a scheduled date and time for you to present your work.

Some conferences also request your paper and/or presentation beforehand. This allows them to upload all the presentations to one computer for the conference, but sometimes these files are also provided to an expert panel so they can prepare comments or questions. This can be helpful if you are having difficulty getting motivated to move forward without other deadlines.

The best time to present a dissertation completely depends on what you want to get out of it. If you want feedback on your methods of data collection or analysis, you will want to present it before you collect or analyze your data. If you want feedback on your preliminary analysis, you will want to have collected your data and started the analysis.

In this case, you will want enough data analyzed so that the audience can get a good picture of what you have done and where you are heading with it. Even if you have completed all of your analysis, you may find it beneficial to present your results and get feedback on the implications, recommendations, or even limitations.

The feedback you get will depend on the expertise of the audience you are presenting to. If you want very specific feedback, you will have to target a conference that is a niche within your discipline. You could also consider a national or regional conference in your discipline that is large enough to have conference panels in your specific area of study. Other academics with an interest in your topic can then choose your presentation, among others.

Consider recording your dissertation feedback. In that moment, you might have some great ideas, but you can’t really pause the conversation to take detailed notes. If possible, ask a friend to record the presentation and any conversation that takes place after the presentation. If you aren’t there with anyone else, you could always set up your phone to record everything. Audio or video would be helpful. This will allow you to more accurately capture the conversation.

Finally, if there is something specific you want feedback on, be sure to let the audience know. I have highlighted all the ways that you can benefit from presenting your dissertation work at an academic conference. Be sure to think through these items and go into the conference presentation knowing what you want to get out of it.

If you are looking for suggestions or critiques of something specific, let the audience know. This can be as casual as plugging it into the presentation by saying, “And next I am going to tell you about X and Y, but I am looking for suggestions on Z” or “Here I am trying to choose between X approach and Y approach, and I welcome any discussion or advice regarding this decision.” Going into the presentation knowing what you want to get out of it will ensure that it is a positive learning experience that advances your work.

As you begin your doctoral program search or even as you are well into your program, you may be confronted with the option to do a capstone track rather than a traditional dissertation track. Both offer you the opportunity to put “Dr.” before your name, and both require coursework and a report – dissertation vs capstone – at the end. However, that is often where the similarities end. Before you jump into doing a capstone or before you flatly rule it out, take some time to really understand the two tracks that your university offers.

1. Capstone vs Dissertation: Understand what a capstone is

What is a doctoral capstone? A capstone is a report or a research study that a doctoral student produces at the end of their program. Typically, it is done in conjunction with a local research site in which the student has some involvement, such as a local school or business. The purpose of the capstone is to allow the student the opportunity to conduct an action research study where they will identify a process that needs to be changed, design the program or process to initiate the change, and then evaluate the results.

2. Capstone vs Dissertation: Learn how a capstone is different from a dissertation

In a capstone, the writer is working within an organization to bring about some kind of change – to a process or a program. For example, the writer may work at a university where the financial aid office is taking too long to get information to prospective students and as a consequence, many potential students give up in frustration.

The writer might do some background research by interviewing financial aid officers to understand where the bottlenecks are and what policies govern their processes. At that point, the writer then would design, using the theory of change and evidenced-based research, a capstone project that addresses the need for change. This could be done through training that teaches a new process or a new policy, and then the writer would evaluate the results.

In a dissertation, the writer is examining a broader topic and collecting data that addresses a societal problem and helps to fill a research gap. Using a quantitative or qualitative approach, the writer would identify who they wanted to use as participants to further explore the problem and identify key themes and concepts that could be used to collect data from participants. The writer then analyzes that data, determine what the key findings of the data reveal, and forms recommendations for policy, practice, and future research.

3. Capstone vs Dissertation: Review what the benefits are to each

The capstone may be a good option for you if you are already working within an organization that is going through some kind of change and is open to having one of its employees or someone affiliated with it engages in a study of a process that is not working well.

The capstone option can also be a good choice if you are working on a team already conducting research for which you can use the existing data to create your study. Some universities allow this option. Finally, the capstone may be a good choice for you if you are interested in change theory and find process issues fascinating. Remember, the capstone is not about addressing large societal problems, but rather, zooming in and creating a program to train people on a new process in their workplace or within an organization.

The dissertation may be a good option for you if you are not affiliated with a particular organization in which you can get into the weeds of specific processes or organizational policies. This kind of access is essential for the capstone process, so without it, you would need to do the dissertation. But let’s talk about why the dissertation is the best choice for you, otherwise.

If you like to explore broader issues, societal problems, and want to write about those while collecting data from participants who help you form recommendations then the dissertation is for you. Furthermore, if you are anticipating that you want to be a faculty member in higher education, or if you want to continue to conduct research, a PhD program with a dissertation is likely the better path. Finally, the dissertation is widely accepted as it has a much more standardized process than a capstone which can vary by university and by department.

 4. Capstone vs Dissertation: Recognize what the downsides are to each

First, explore your motivations. If you are choosing the capstone because you’ve heard it’s easier or it’s shorter or it doesn’t involve research, please know that none of this is true. Ironically, a capstone is often longer than a dissertation because it typically includes two parts: the program you’ve designed and implemented to address the needed change (this might be a 4-week professional development program for faculty, for example) and the final report, which includes an overview of your project, the literature review, the data collection and data analysis, the results, and recommendations.

My capstone students were always shocked to discover what went into the capstone project. It is not shorter and it is not easier than a dissertation. Thus, choose the capstone option based on its better choice for your situation, not because you’ve heard it is easier. It is not. The dissertation, while more straightforward than the capstone, can be the wrong choice for students who want to do more applied work in their field. If a company’s IT Director is interested in examining how staff members at her organization need to be trained to prevent email fraud, doing a dissertation on broader societal issues around email fraud is going to be misaligned to her motivations.

A dissertation also needs to address a unique problem. A dissertation on spam in email is either not unique enough because it is a subject explored widely or it’s going to be out of date as soon as it is published. In a capstone, the writer only has to be as unique as the situation requires in their organization.

Finally, a dissertation often requires more emphasis on the data collection and data analysis, as the results and discussion in chapters 4 and 5 help to justify the rationale for the study and importantly lay out the findings that should in some way address a gap in the literature.

Whereas a capstone writer might conduct brief interviews with staff or administer surveys to 25 people in an organization to gain further insight into a problem, a dissertation writer will either have to use a large sample size for a quantitative study in order to have statistical significance or they will have hundreds of pages of qualitative data to code from the 10 people they interviewed. Without a separate program report to include as in the capstone, the dissertation relies heavily on what the data says and how the writer interprets it.

5. Capstone vs Dissertation: Determine what your long-term goals are

Think about this decision first through the lens of what you want to do with your doctorate. If your goal is to continue in higher education as a faculty member or if you want to continue conducting and publishing research, then the dissertation is likely to be a better option. If you prefer hands-on research and designing processes and the organization you are affiliated with is open to your involvement in it, then the capstone is possibly the better option.

So what will you choose: capstone vs dissertation? One is not necessarily better than the other. One is not easier than the other. Determine what your goals are, what the programs available offer, and what you have access to in the way of a research site. Then make your decision!

Scholars think critically.  We think critically about the world, about what we know about the world, and about what we don’t know about the world.  This also requires an examination of our own beliefs, values, and behaviors.  For this reason, many dissertations include positionality and/or reflexivity sections.

In these sections, the authors seek to explain their own positionality and to document their own ontological (beliefs about the nature of social reality) and epistemological (beliefs about the nature of knowledge) beliefs and how they influence the study.  It is about who you are, the experiences that have made you who you are, and your decisions that have come from these positions.  This is sometimes referred to as a paradigm as well.  All of these aspects influence your research.

Most often used in qualitative research, reflexivity is when the researcher reflects on how they have influenced the study.  As such, some researchers will use the terms reflection and reflexivity interchangeably.  While positionality is a critical self-reflection on what we know and believe, reflexivity is a critical self-reflection on what we do with this knowledge and how it impacts our research.  All researchers have basic assumptions that they take for granted and in this sense, the researcher is always part of the research.

While we sometimes assume someone’s positionality (i.e., assuming a Black researcher supports the Black Lives Matter movement or assuming a rural White researcher votes Republican), this can lead to wrongly assuming the positionality of the researcher until they make a positionality statement.  To write and present these sections means to draw attention to the researcher as a part of the study.

Our worldview seeps into our research and is closely related to our positionality.  To examine your own positionality includes critically asking yourself who you are, what are your experiences, what is your trajectory to interest in this topic, what are your experiences with the phenomenon being examined, what has shaped your ideas about the phenomenon, etc.  There are often moments that a researcher can reflect on that help explain how they perceive their own study, how they interact with their participants and with their data, and also how the study impacted them as a person.

1. So how does this all come into play?

Well, it depends.  Sometimes it is formalized and sometimes it’s informal.  Sometimes it is presented, sometimes it is written for the purpose of critical reflection, and sometimes you are encouraged to think through or discuss with your committee.  Many mentors will encourage their mentees to write down their positionality to help them be more reflexive in the doctoral journey.

As our positionality is fluid, some students are encouraged to journal their positionality at the beginning of the process and at the end of the process to better understand how they have changed and how the research may have impacted them.  It can even be a recurrent practice that takes place at key milestones in your doctoral journey.  In this sense, positionality is a necessary and ongoing process to allow the researcher to better understand themselves, but also to relay the researcher’s assumptions to the reader.

2. And how do I even identify my own positionality?

In many ways, doctoral students are still novice researchers and as such, they struggle with identifying their positionality.  It is not that they don’t have positionality, but that they don’t know how to put it into words. Our ontological and epistemological beliefs are shaped by our identity and our life experiences—gender identity, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, (dis)abilities, religion and faith, political alignment, and other social influences.

Positionality requires trying to reflect on which of these have affected your position relative to your study, including how you have conducted your research, the outcomes of your research, and what you conclude based on these outcomes.  Positionality is also present in the phenomena you have chosen to study.  We often choose topics that we have personal interest in.  For example, we work with a lot of teachers who are studying education and a lot of nurses who are studying issues in healthcare.  Sometimes, however, it isn’t so direct.  We work with students, for instance, studying particular topics because they have a relative that has been impacted by it or because they were personally impacted by the problem they are studying.

There are strategies for positioning yourself in the research to think through your own positionality. Examples include:

• journaling why you chose the topic, your personal connection to the topic, your opinions about the phenomenon being studied, what you personally know about the topic that is not documented in the literature, and how you can use the results in your personal or professional lives;
• taking your own survey and/or answering your own interview questions;
• printing your conclusion chapter and adding your opinions about everything in the margins to better identify what your assumptions might be;
• and reflecting on your position as an insider or outsider to the topic and what this meant for your study design, data collection, and interpretation of data.

According to Malterud (2001, p. 483-484), “A researcher’s background and position will affect what they choose to investigate, the angle of investigation, the methods judged most adequate for this purpose, the findings considered most appropriate, and the framing and communication of conclusions.”  We can actually dissect this quote to guide the writing process.  Here, I’ll present the quote again with emphasis on the elements to consider:

• what they choose to investigate
  • Ask yourself: Why did I choose to investigate this topic?
• the angle of investigation
  • Ask yourself: What is my opinion/assumptions about this topic?
• the methods judged most adequate for this purpose
  • Ask yourself: Why did I choose this method, this population, this data collection instrument, etc?
• the findings considered most appropriate
  • Ask yourself: Why am I highlighting these findings?
• framing and communication of conclusions
  • Ask yourself: Why will I communicate the findings this way?

While I have focused on developing your own positionality statement, it is important to note what we can learn from others as we are developing a better understanding of the literature.  When you are reading studies on your topic, especially if it is a controversial topic, be sure to assess the positionality of the researcher to better understand their approach and conclusions.

Reference

Malterud K. Qualitative research: standards, challenges, and guidelines. Lancet. 2001 Aug 11;358(9280):483-8. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(01)05627-6. PMID: 11513933.

At some point in the dissertation journey you have probably heard the saying, “A good dissertation is a done dissertation.  A great dissertation is a published dissertation.  A perfect dissertation is neither.”  This is 100% true, but what does it mean and how do you know when you have what they call a “done dissertation”?  How can it be done if it isn’t perfect? The simple answer is that no one else is expecting your research to change the world, and you should not expect this either.

Research needs to be novel and it needs to be valid and reliable, but it does not need to be perfect. A doctoral dissertation needs to contribute new knowledge to the current body of literature and show that you can stand as an independent scholar.  It has to be completed and it has to be novel, but it is not meant to be earth-shattering in any way.  Here are ways to discern when you have what they call a “done dissertation.”

1. Remember to not get lost in your Dissertation Research

What are the parameters of your literature research? The literature is endless.  This is probably where we see students get lost in very, very deep rabbit holes.  Bottomless rabbit holes.  As you know, new literature comes out every day.  This means that your search could actually have no end.  Realistically though, you will have to “cap it” and include everything as of a certain date or you could literally be updating your literature review forever.  “Everything” is a tricky term here as well since there are volumes of books written on some topics. This means you have to set date boundaries around your search yet also set parameters around content.

Parameters around content can be controlled by having a strong outline for your literature review, but parameters around what is considered recent is often not as clear or easy.  Most often, “recent” is based on when you defend your dissertation proposal.  However, there are schools or chairs that do want students to re-scan the literature when they complete their conclusion chapter to make sure they are accounting for any scholarly conversations or findings that have occurred since the time of their proposal.  It is best to ask your chair if this is necessary for your conclusion.

2. Assess what you want to accomplish with your Dissertation

What are your career goals? This will likely impact when your dissertation is “good enough.” If you are seeking a career in higher education your “uses” for the dissertation might be different than if you are just wanting to obtain your doctoral degree to advance in your current career or for the title. It is important to consider your career goals and how they impact your dissertation. Some students truly want to improve some area of policy or quality of life. In these cases, they really focus on the “so what” and how to practically use the information to improve some area of quality of life.

If you are just after the doctor title or seeking to finish (this is perfectly fine, of course), then this might adjust your idea of “done” or “good enough.” Good enough may look like simply checking the boxes and getting the minimum done. However, we find that many students are very passionate about their topics and have a personal connection to their topics, so good enough is not the goal.

In other words, think about what you want to get out of your dissertation. Is your goal to have actionable recommendations? Is it advancing knowledge on a specific topic? Or is just checking all the boxes to finish? We work with people with many different goals in completing their dissertation, and we find that this affects when the dissertation is considered good enough. In other words, we suggest thinking about what you really want to get out of the dissertation and what this means about when it is good enough.

3. Discern your chair/committee’s requirements – done dissertation

Next, we have to recognize that you are not the sole decider of when it is actually good enough. What is your chair/committee looking for?  It is likely that if you start over promising, your chair or committee will reign you back into reality. Your committee wants to keep your study realistic and feasible. If your committee is experienced, they should have a good idea of what is and isn’t within the scope of doctoral research. As your committee will be the ultimate signatories on when you have completed this element of your doctoral journey, you might want to consider having early and direct conversations with them about expectations and what they are looking for in your dissertation.

4. Decide on your timeline

What is your timeline? Timeline matters because some students have the flexibility and finances to take longer to complete their dissertation than others.  As a doctoral student in the dissertation phase, you are often on your own timeline. However, some students are trying to graduate in three or four years and others will take up to ten years or more to graduate. Your timeline might affect the way you approach or define what is good enough. If you are approaching hard deadlines, your quality might be reflective of the pressure that you are under.

5. Focus on the purpose of your Study

Perhaps most importantly, there is definitely a mental aspect here. Perfection often seems unattainable. It seems like something far away and likely very daunting. However, “good” has a different feel to it. It feels like there is an end to the process when you set realistic parameters around what to expect from yourself and what you are proposing to your committee. Therefore, our final advice is to focus on the purpose of your study, what you want from your study, and what your committee expects from your study — these expectations are important for understanding what it will take complete your dissertation and become Dr. You.

Remember, a good dissertation is a done dissertation. That doesn’t mean you don’t work hard. Of course, you do! But don’t get stuck on trying to make chapter one perfect and never move on to chapter two. Write a draft of chapter one, then write a first draft of chapter two, and then go back and refine chapter one. Your dissertation will get better as you go back and refine it, but remember to not get lost in your dissertation research, assess what you want to accomplish with your dissertation, discern your chair/committee’s requirements, decide on your timeline, and focus on the purpose of your study. These five aspects will help you to discern when you have a “done dissertation”.

Although it may feel like it at times, you are not the first person to write a dissertation. Use this to your advantage! There are multiple ways to draw from the work of existing dissertations that have already been completed and published.

This blog walks through 5 Values of existing dissertations and how they can make your dissertation and life easier. In short, you can review published dissertations to get ideas for formatting, for the literature that should be cited and referenced, for scholarly voice, for current conversations in the literature, and even, for what your advisors might be looking for. In other words, you are not alone and can use published dissertations to get past many of the barriers that doctoral students experience.

Before we get to the 5 values of existing dissertations, let’s talk about how to choose the first dissertations to review. Ideally, you will have access to a dissertation that was recently defended in your program on a topic that is similar to yours and had the same (or similar) committee as yours. This might be a bit of a unicorn for some- it may simply not exist, but these are the factors you will want to look for if you want all of the value to come from a single dissertation.

You may start by asking your committee chair for recommendations or by contacting recent graduates from your program. If this doesn’t lead you to anything useful, then try searching for dissertations in EBSCO Open Dissertations or ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Your school may even have its own dissertation database. If you are not sure about how to find this, try contacting a research librarian at your institution for recommendations. Finally, you can often find dissertations just by Google searches. Be sure to include the topic, school, and a recent year (2021 at the time of writing this blog) in your search.

1. Get Ideas for Formatting by Reviewing Existing Dissertations

If you are trying to get an idea of what the formatting looks like, you will want to reference a dissertation from your school (and likely from your program within your school). All schools have directions for formatting, but these guidelines are not all the same. They have different formats and even different levels of detail in how to format dissertations. Of course, you will always want to start with your school/program’s guide for formatting, but sometimes it is just easier to visualize what the formatting looks like to get a better idea of what they are looking for in that area.

It can be bigger issues (like what sections to include in a chapter) or smaller issues (like what spacing to use for the Table of Contents or if the abstract should be listed in the Table of Contents). You can assume that a published dissertation has gone through the review to finalize formatting to the school’s liking, but be sure that formatting templates have not changed since the sample dissertation was published.d2. Ideas for the Literature

This one is probably my favorite. Although your literature review is original work, there is so much you can learn from other literature reviews on the same or similar topics. For example, review different dissertations on your topic to get an idea of how they organized the literature. Sometimes it is helpful to even review the table of contents of different studies to get some ideas on the different ways it can be done.

You might find that a similar outline will be useful for your study or that you can adapt the outline to be a better fit for your study. Next, reviewing published literature reviews may give you a good start for other studies to review. If they are writing on a similar topic, then there are likely citations that you will also want to look up and read or even cite for your own literature review. Finally, published dissertations are a good place to brainstorm theories or conceptual frameworks related to your topic.

2. Get Ideas for Scholarly Voice by Reviewing Existing Dissertations

Scholarly voice is a tricky one since this is not something that is easily taught. The best way to improve scholarly voice (academic style writing) is to read academic articles and to practice writing as an academic. This is one area where students can work with coaches or editors to improve their own writing. In the meantime, you may find it helpful to pay close attention to the wording in published dissertations.

Note how they have worded key sentences like the problem statement and the purpose statement. Also pay attention to the use of passive versus active voice and how they reference researchers. Published dissertations have been through the scrutiny of a doctoral committee and are likely to exhibit academic writing.

3. Get Ideas from Current Conversations in the Literature by Reviewing Existing Dissertations

You want your contribution to the literature to be relevant. If you can’t find recent dissertations that are even remotely related to your broad topic, you may want to step back and reassess the relevance of your work. Some research is truly exploratory in that it is approaching a problem that is not well studied, but even then, you should be able to see where it fits into the extant literature. Reviewing dissertations is a good way to get an idea of current conversations in the literature.

If you can’t find many dissertations or even peer-reviewed articles on your topic from the past few years, you might need to think about what you are studying and if there is really a current issue leading to your problem. Most dissertations on the topic should give an idea of what current discourse is taking place around this topic, including any contrasting views.

4. Learn what your Advisors Might be Looking For by Reviewing Existing Dissertations

If you are lucky enough to have access to dissertations that your committee advisor also chaired, there is a lot to learn from this. As much as we like to pretend that research is objective, so much of it is actually subjective and comes down to the preference of the chair and other committee members.

I recommend starting with asking your chair if there are any dissertations that they chaired and would recommend. If there are, then ask what they think the strengths of this dissertation are- this will give you an idea of what should be replicated from the sample dissertation. Was it something about how they outlined it, something about the writing style, something about the conclusions they reached, or even something about the actual problem or approach?

By this point, you have probably realized that published dissertations can be used in many different ways. One that I haven’t mentioned- published and existing dissertations are completed dissertations and should remind you that it is possible. The goal of completing your dissertation as the last milestone of your doctorate is an attainable goal. Completing a dissertation is an achievable goal and published dissertations should remind you of this while also giving you ideas of expectations and rigor in regards to doctoral research. Use these existing dissertations to your advantage and to help you become Dr. You!

We have worked with hundreds of clients. No two clients are the same, but we do see many of the same challenges holding them back from completing their doctoral program.

This blog lists some of the top tips I have come across, given, or used to address these challenges to help clients finish their dissertation. Ultimately, it comes down to seven things: knowing your why and being able to justify your decisions, being purposeful in designing your study and presenting your methods, writing as you go and being effective in presenting data, choosing the right chair, and using resources (software, coaches, editors, statisticians, etc), and being kind to yourself. So let’s dive into the Top 7 Tips to Finally Finish your Dissertation.

1. Know your why and be prepared to justify your decisions.

• You must know “the why” behind your research. In all decisions you make in your research, you need to know why you made those decisions and be able to articulate it in a scholarly way. In other words, you must be able to justify your choices.
• You must be able to explain your methodology. This includes writing it out in detail, being explicit about every step. This is important for communication, but also for identifying any problems or concerns that may arise.

2. Be purposeful in designing your study and presenting your methods.

• Factors you may take into consideration in choosing the right methodological approach for your research include finding a method that is comfortable for you, but also recognizing what data is needed to address your research question(s).
• It is important to carefully design your research approach, including preparing for or preventing critiques of your methods or the data they produce. Careful design includes what you are doing, but also how you present this information.
• Factors that are considered in choosing a suitable method include what others are doing to study your topic and what each approach produces as far as data and the meaning of that data.
• Generally speaking, the more data you have, the better your study will be. Sample size is determined by the size of the population and the analysis you are wanting to conduct.
• The methods chapter is not an encyclopedia of your data. You methods chapter should focus on the key points of your data collection, dataset, and analysis.  If needed, additional information can be placed in the appendices.

3. Write as you go and be effective in presenting data.

• We suggest writing your dissertation as you go, as opposed to simply taking a series of notes. This is will not only help you understand what you are doing, but it will also add up and feel less daunting.
• There are benefits to using graphs, charts, or infographics to supplement the text. For instance, if you find yourself writing several sentences describing numbers, you may have information that is better presented in a table or figure.
• Be purposeful in choosing the best place to write. Some people prefer to work from home, to work outside, or to even work at a coffee shop.  Consider the comfort of the chair, the noise level (or using apps for noise control), and other factors that might improve concentration. Consider also the best time to do your writing; some people are early birds and others might be night owls. We also recommend creating to-do lists and using timers to stay focused during your working and writing sessions.

4. Choose the right dissertation chair.

• Choose a chair who has a history of graduating students on time. You may get an idea of this from talking with other students in your program or from reviewing dissertations that have been completed in your program. You will want to be sure the chair is not overloaded, which could result in excessively divided attention.
• Stay in control when you face advice that does not align with your direction. You do not always have to take all the advice provided if you feel someone else is trying to control your dissertation.  This does not mean you have to have conflict with your chair—you can be cordial and professional.

5. Software programs are out there to help make your life easier.

• Consider the benefits of using software programs to make your life easier as you are working on your dissertation. There are software programs for recording and organizing your data, notes, and references, such as Nvivo, Zotero, OneNote, and Mendeley.

6. Coaches, editors, and statisticians are here to help.

• Similar to sports teams, individuals when coached often have multiple specialized coaches. Dissertation coaches assist students to do their best work, to make progress, and even save money by moving through the process faster.
• Know when to turn to a trained statistician for assistance in your design, IRB application, research questions, hypotheses, sample sizes, and coaching on the use of parametric or non-parametric design in addition to the analysis of data.
• Coaches, editors, and statisticians can help in all stages of the dissertation process. This can save you a lot of time and give you more time to think about the important things that you might have on your plate.
• The relationship between the PhD student and the dissertation chair can be fraught with challenges or it can be very rewarding and of course, it can be both.
• Look into the benefits of working with a writing and citation editor. They can help with citation styles, your school’s formatting and template, and generally editing, like grammar. Working with an editor may lead to fewer post-defense revisions.

7. Be kind to yourself.

• Take mental breaks. It is important to take breaks and do something radically different for yourself while you are away from your research. You may find that your best ideas come when you step away, such as while you are exercising.
• Your dissertation only has to “be good enough.” it does not have to be perfect—consider it more of an apprenticeship where you will make mistakes and look back upon them as learning experiences.  Look at scholarship as a work in progress.

Ultimately, the best way to address challenges is to use all your resources, advocate for yourself, and to communicate. Your chair is there to help as well.  It might not always feel this way when you are receiving critical feedback, but keep in mind that this feedback is there to improve your study. So, let us emphasize this once again as well: be kind to yourself. We work with so many doctoral scholars that beat themselves up every time they come across a challenge.  There will always be challenges, but it ultimately comes down to how you address them. Our hope is that some of this advice helps you to overcome a challenge in becoming, Dr. You! 

7Thank you for reading the top 7 tips to finally finish your dissertation. Please don’t hesitate to schedule a free strategy call so we can help you finally finish your dissertation!