How to Keep your Doctorate on Track

Edited by Keith Townsend, Professor of Human Resources and Employment Relations, Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Griffith University, Australia, Mark N.K. Saunders, Emeritus Professor, Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK, Rebecca Loudoun, Associate Professor, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia and Emily A. Morrison, Assistant Professor of Human Services and Social Justice, Sociology Department, The George Washington University, US

• Contents:1 What we wish we had known: lessons learned to keep yourdoctorate on track 1Rebecca Loudoun, Emily A. Morrison, Mark N.K. Saundersand Keith TownsendPART I GETTING INTO IT2 Choosing your topic: a supervisor perspective 14Jimmy Donaghey3 ‘Begin at the beginning’: identifying ideas for a PhD 22Graeme Dobson4 ‘I want to do it because I want to do it’: boarding flight PhD 31Jemma J. Saunders5 Asking “the” question 34Emily McDonald6 Whose doctorate is it anyway? How students and supervisorscan work well together 36Carol Atkinson and Keith Townsend7 When an orchestra misses its harmony (or how I learnt towork with my supervisors) 43Mai Khanh Tran8 ‘How much time do I get?????’ 52Peter J. Jordan9 Views from the top and views of the valley: the paths ofdissertation literature reviews 55Maria Cseh10 Critically reviewing the literature: the ghosts of literaturepresent, past and future 65Linzi McKerr11 Reading academic papers: visiting and re-visiting oldfriends 74Jennifer Robinson12 Research philosophies and why they matter 76Natasha S. Mauthner13 Getting your research philosophy clear 87Rosanna Cole14 Changing philosophy (aka the only PhD is a finished PhD) 95Brian Harney15 Designing and conducting a quantitative study: lessonslearned from work, home, and school 97Kim Nimon16 Strategies for analysing qualitative data: how to get startedwith making sense of all that material you’ve collected 107Anette Hallin17 Discovering statistics and developing a quantitativeresearch design 117Ursula Furnier18 Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, how am I making sense of it all? 125Merrel Knox19 Too much of a good thing – tradeoffs between training andcompletion? 135Keith TownsendPART II GETTING ON WITH IT20 Critical feedback: transforming criticisms into indispensableinsights 142Emily A. Morrison21 ‘They think I’m stupid’: dealing with supervisor feedback 159Amanda Lee22 No book or resource has all the answers 167Rebecca Loudoun23 “Ok Google … since when did you join my supervisionteam?” 169Adam Robertson24 Embracing research ethics: from cognitive walk-throughto reflexive journey 171Rebecca Whiting25 Gaining ethical approval 182Nora Pillard Reynolds26 But I am just going home: research ethics and student safety 191Safa Riaz27 Organizational governance: the final hurdles for researchapproval 193Amy N.B. Johnston28 Wearing skirts and writing like a woman: a winding roadto gaining access to research 200Ana Alecsandru29 Gaining access to apparently easy informants 210Mireia Valverde30 Letters from a doctoral researcher to a data collection advicecolumn … and the responses 213Sharon F. Lambert31 Addressing power differentials and managing egos: howto collect reliable qualitative data when researching ‘elites’ 228Chris F. Wright32 Time is waiting in the wings 238Mark N.K. Saunders33 Navigating the supervisory relationship: the case of thedisappearing supervisors 248Vicki Webster34 Managing time and maintaining focus 256Colin Hughes35 Tightrope walking: balancing the dynamic tensions ofthe doctoral process 264Andrea Casey36 Keeping your life on track: living one spoon at a time 272Emma Partlow37 Opportunities and challenges of studying abroad 281Aurora Trif38 Keeping life and career on track as a non-traditionaldoctorate student 283Vicki Webster39 Finders, keepers, losers, weepers! A doctoral candidate’sreality of changing thesis advisors 285Polly Watson Black40 To leave or not to leave your Alma Mater 293Raymond Markey41 My journey 303Gerard RyanPART III GETTING IT FINISHED AND MOVING ON42 Eat, sleep, redraft, repeat 308Ana Lobo43 Challenges in writing up qualitative findings 316Victor Oyaro Gekara44 The power to write 323Melika Shirmohammadi45 Writing your thesis quickly and well 325Tara Gray46 Rewriting and overcoming writer’s block 336Grace Henry47 Overcoming writer’s block (and submission anxiety) 344Fiona Archontoulis48 The final mile: avoiding and overcoming viva trip-ups 345Dawn C. Duke49 My viva voce examination: a rollercoaster! 356Zeineb Djebali50 Let me defend myself (or at least my thesis) 365Qian Yi Lee51 Networking with academics to solve your PhD puzzle 367Adam Robertson52 Are conferences worth attending as a graduate student?Reflections and lessons from a former graduate student 377Tomika W. Greer53 A tale of three dissertations: experiences of transformingmentored research into an article 387Jamie Callahan54 How can you publish from your dissertation? 398Katherine Rosenbusch55 Publishing from your thesis 408Dennis Nickson56 Getting the first academic job 410Oliver S. Crocco57 Beyond the doctorate: getting your first job 420Holly Prescott58 Publications, what publications? 429Mark N.K. Saunders59 Balancing act 431Polly Watson BlackIndex 433

‘. . . anyone pursuing graduate work should have plenty of support and at least one practical guide, like How to Keep Your Doctorate On Track. While the primary audience is obviously those considering or undertaking doctoral work, one key secondary audience is supervisors themselves. Each section pairs the perspectives of supervisors/professors with those of students. As the editors themselves point out, the student perspectives can be eye-opening. Perhaps if more supervisors paused to reflect on the varied experiences presented in this text, they could help mitigate some of the anxiety and depression felt by students under their tutelage.’