Destination Dissertation

Sonja K. Foss is professor of communication at the University of Colorado at Denver. She created and is co-director of Scholars' Retreat, designed to provide intensive, focused, and supervised writing time for dissertations, theses, and other writing projects. William Waters is associate professor of English at the University of Houston, Downtown and co-director of Scholars' Retreat.

• Acknowledgments1: Preparing to Go: The Dissertation JourneyCan a Dissertation Really Be a Trip?Packing Your BagsOur GuaranteesYour Travel AgentsHow to Use This Guide2: The Journey before You: 29 StepsOur TimetableYeah, But . . .3: Planning the Trip: The Conceptual ConversationSelecting and Orienting a PartnerAsking and Answering QuestionsIdentifying Key Pieces4: Developing Your Itinerary: The PreproposalNaming the ProblemFormulating Your Research QuestionSelecting Your DataIdentifying Your Method of Data CollectionIdentifying Your Method of Data AnalysisIdentifying the Literature to ReviewIdentifying the Significance of Your StudyIdentifying Your ChaptersWriting Your PreproposalAssessing Your DecisionsCommitting to the Preproposal with Your Advisor5: Advice from Other Travelers: The Literature ReviewCoding Your LiteratureCutting Apart Your CodesSorting Your CodesChecking Your PilesCreating Your Conceptual SchemaWriting It Up6: Getting There: The Dissertation ProposalIntroductionResearch QuestionDefinition of TermsLiterature ReviewResearch DesignSignificance of the StudyOutline of the StudyRecap: Sections of a Dissertation ProposalApproval of the Proposal7: Things to See and Do: Data Collection and AnalysisCollecting Your DataCreating Codable DataIdentifying Your Unit of AnalysisCoding Your DataSorting Your CodesChecking Your CodesCreating Your Explanatory SchemaGetting Inspiration for Your Explanatory SchemaAssessing Your Explanatory SchemaWriting It Up8: Making the Most of Your Travels: The Last Chapter PlusSummaryInterpretation of FindingsLimitationsSuggestions for Future ResearchThree-Article FormatFinishing Up9: Useful Phrases: Writing and EditingFast WritingSlow Revising10: Travelogue: The Dissertation DefensePreparing for Your DefenseThe Defense ItselfFollowing Your Defense11: Making the Best Use of Your Guide: Advisor AdvisingAsking AppropriatelyAgreeing on a VisionArticulating NeedsEnacting ProfessionalismAssessing Your Relationship12: Avoiding Delays and Annoyances: Enacting the Scholar RoleIncomplete-Scholar RolesEnacting the Scholar Role: Writing RegularlyIndexAbout the Authors

With relevant, realistic, and easily accessible information, this book covers a wide array of issues pertinent to one of the most important milestones of a graduate education—the creation of a dissertation. It is an outstanding book, and adopting it may only lead to better guidance on my part, and success for my students.