Paperback
How to Keep your Doctorate on Track
Insights from Students’ and Supervisors’ Experiences
9781800375307 Edward Elgar Publishing
The path of a doctoral student can feel challenging and isolating. This guide provides doctoral students with key ideas and support to kick-start a doctoral journey, inspire progress and complete their thesis or dissertation. Featuring observations from experienced supervisors, as well as the reflections of current and recent postgraduate researchers, this intimate and entertaining book offers vital insights into the critical moments in any doctoral experience.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
The path of a doctoral student can feel challenging and isolating. This guide provides doctoral students with key ideas and support to kick-start a doctoral journey, inspire progress and complete their thesis or dissertation. Featuring observations from experienced supervisors, as well as the reflections of current and recent postgraduate researchers, this intimate and entertaining book offers vital insights into the critical moments in any doctoral experience.
Bringing together the voices of doctoral supervisors and candidates past and present from around the globe, How to Keep your Doctorate on Track will be a trusted companion for any PhD, DBA or EdD student. Supervisors and those offering support and guidance to doctoral candidates will also glean valuable insight into fresh approaches and their own practice.
Bringing together the voices of doctoral supervisors and candidates past and present from around the globe, How to Keep your Doctorate on Track will be a trusted companion for any PhD, DBA or EdD student. Supervisors and those offering support and guidance to doctoral candidates will also glean valuable insight into fresh approaches and their own practice.
Critical Acclaim
‘. . . 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.’
– Kelly A Harrison, Technical Communication
– Kelly A Harrison, Technical Communication
Contributors
Contributors: A. Alecsandru, F. Archontoulis, C. Atkinson, J. Callahan, A. Casey, R. Cole, O.S. Crocco, M. Cseh, Z. Djebali, G. Dobson, J. Donaghey, D.C. Duke, U. Furnier, V.O. Gekara, T. Gray, T.W. Greer, A. Hallin, B. Harney, G. Henry, C. Hughes, A.N.B. Johnstone, P.J. Jordan, M. Knox, S.F. Lambert, A. Lee, Q.Y. Lee, A. Lobo, R. Markey, N.S. Mauthner, E. McDonald, L. McKerr, D. Nickson, K. Nimon, E. Partlow, N. Pillard Reynolds, H. Prescott, S. Riaz, A. Robertson, J. Robinson, K. Rosenbusch, G. Ryan, J.J. Saunders, M. Shirmohammadi, M.K. Tran, A. Trif, M. Valverde, P. Watson Black, V. Webster, R. Whiting, C.F. Wright
Contents
Contents:
1 What we wish we had known: lessons learned to keep your
doctorate on track 1
Rebecca Loudoun, Emily A. Morrison, Mark N.K. Saunders
and Keith Townsend
PART I GETTING INTO IT
2 Choosing your topic: a supervisor perspective 14
Jimmy Donaghey
3 ‘Begin at the beginning’: identifying ideas for a PhD 22
Graeme Dobson
4 ‘I want to do it because I want to do it’: boarding flight PhD 31
Jemma J. Saunders
5 Asking “the” question 34
Emily McDonald
6 Whose doctorate is it anyway? How students and supervisors
can work well together 36
Carol Atkinson and Keith Townsend
7 When an orchestra misses its harmony (or how I learnt to
work with my supervisors) 43
Mai Khanh Tran
8 ‘How much time do I get?????’ 52
Peter J. Jordan
9 Views from the top and views of the valley: the paths of
dissertation literature reviews 55
Maria Cseh
10 Critically reviewing the literature: the ghosts of literature
present, past and future 65
Linzi McKerr
11 Reading academic papers: visiting and re-visiting old
friends 74
Jennifer Robinson
12 Research philosophies and why they matter 76
Natasha S. Mauthner
13 Getting your research philosophy clear 87
Rosanna Cole
14 Changing philosophy (aka the only PhD is a finished PhD) 95
Brian Harney
15 Designing and conducting a quantitative study: lessons
learned from work, home, and school 97
Kim Nimon
16 Strategies for analysing qualitative data: how to get started
with making sense of all that material you’ve collected 107
Anette Hallin
17 Discovering statistics and developing a quantitative
research design 117
Ursula Furnier
18 Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, how am I making sense of it all? 125
Merrel Knox
19 Too much of a good thing – tradeoffs between training and
completion? 135
Keith Townsend
PART II GETTING ON WITH IT
20 Critical feedback: transforming criticisms into indispensable
insights 142
Emily A. Morrison
21 ‘They think I’m stupid’: dealing with supervisor feedback 159
Amanda Lee
22 No book or resource has all the answers 167
Rebecca Loudoun
23 “Ok Google … since when did you join my supervision
team?” 169
Adam Robertson
24 Embracing research ethics: from cognitive walk-through
to reflexive journey 171
Rebecca Whiting
25 Gaining ethical approval 182
Nora Pillard Reynolds
26 But I am just going home: research ethics and student safety 191
Safa Riaz
27 Organizational governance: the final hurdles for research
approval 193
Amy N.B. Johnston
28 Wearing skirts and writing like a woman: a winding road
to gaining access to research 200
Ana Alecsandru
29 Gaining access to apparently easy informants 210
Mireia Valverde
30 Letters from a doctoral researcher to a data collection advice
column … and the responses 213
Sharon F. Lambert
31 Addressing power differentials and managing egos: how
to collect reliable qualitative data when researching ‘elites’ 228
Chris F. Wright
32 Time is waiting in the wings 238
Mark N.K. Saunders
33 Navigating the supervisory relationship: the case of the
disappearing supervisors 248
Vicki Webster
34 Managing time and maintaining focus 256
Colin Hughes
35 Tightrope walking: balancing the dynamic tensions of
the doctoral process 264
Andrea Casey
36 Keeping your life on track: living one spoon at a time 272
Emma Partlow
37 Opportunities and challenges of studying abroad 281
Aurora Trif
38 Keeping life and career on track as a non-traditional
doctorate student 283
Vicki Webster
39 Finders, keepers, losers, weepers! A doctoral candidate’s
reality of changing thesis advisors 285
Polly Watson Black
40 To leave or not to leave your Alma Mater 293
Raymond Markey
41 My journey 303
Gerard Ryan
PART III GETTING IT FINISHED AND MOVING ON
42 Eat, sleep, redraft, repeat 308
Ana Lobo
43 Challenges in writing up qualitative findings 316
Victor Oyaro Gekara
44 The power to write 323
Melika Shirmohammadi
45 Writing your thesis quickly and well 325
Tara Gray
46 Rewriting and overcoming writer’s block 336
Grace Henry
47 Overcoming writer’s block (and submission anxiety) 344
Fiona Archontoulis
48 The final mile: avoiding and overcoming viva trip-ups 345
Dawn C. Duke
49 My viva voce examination: a rollercoaster! 356
Zeineb Djebali
50 Let me defend myself (or at least my thesis) 365
Qian Yi Lee
51 Networking with academics to solve your PhD puzzle 367
Adam Robertson
52 Are conferences worth attending as a graduate student?
Reflections and lessons from a former graduate student 377
Tomika W. Greer
53 A tale of three dissertations: experiences of transforming
mentored research into an article 387
Jamie Callahan
54 How can you publish from your dissertation? 398
Katherine Rosenbusch
55 Publishing from your thesis 408
Dennis Nickson
56 Getting the first academic job 410
Oliver S. Crocco
57 Beyond the doctorate: getting your first job 420
Holly Prescott
58 Publications, what publications? 429
Mark N.K. Saunders
59 Balancing act 431
Polly Watson Black
Index 433
1 What we wish we had known: lessons learned to keep your
doctorate on track 1
Rebecca Loudoun, Emily A. Morrison, Mark N.K. Saunders
and Keith Townsend
PART I GETTING INTO IT
2 Choosing your topic: a supervisor perspective 14
Jimmy Donaghey
3 ‘Begin at the beginning’: identifying ideas for a PhD 22
Graeme Dobson
4 ‘I want to do it because I want to do it’: boarding flight PhD 31
Jemma J. Saunders
5 Asking “the” question 34
Emily McDonald
6 Whose doctorate is it anyway? How students and supervisors
can work well together 36
Carol Atkinson and Keith Townsend
7 When an orchestra misses its harmony (or how I learnt to
work with my supervisors) 43
Mai Khanh Tran
8 ‘How much time do I get?????’ 52
Peter J. Jordan
9 Views from the top and views of the valley: the paths of
dissertation literature reviews 55
Maria Cseh
10 Critically reviewing the literature: the ghosts of literature
present, past and future 65
Linzi McKerr
11 Reading academic papers: visiting and re-visiting old
friends 74
Jennifer Robinson
12 Research philosophies and why they matter 76
Natasha S. Mauthner
13 Getting your research philosophy clear 87
Rosanna Cole
14 Changing philosophy (aka the only PhD is a finished PhD) 95
Brian Harney
15 Designing and conducting a quantitative study: lessons
learned from work, home, and school 97
Kim Nimon
16 Strategies for analysing qualitative data: how to get started
with making sense of all that material you’ve collected 107
Anette Hallin
17 Discovering statistics and developing a quantitative
research design 117
Ursula Furnier
18 Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, how am I making sense of it all? 125
Merrel Knox
19 Too much of a good thing – tradeoffs between training and
completion? 135
Keith Townsend
PART II GETTING ON WITH IT
20 Critical feedback: transforming criticisms into indispensable
insights 142
Emily A. Morrison
21 ‘They think I’m stupid’: dealing with supervisor feedback 159
Amanda Lee
22 No book or resource has all the answers 167
Rebecca Loudoun
23 “Ok Google … since when did you join my supervision
team?” 169
Adam Robertson
24 Embracing research ethics: from cognitive walk-through
to reflexive journey 171
Rebecca Whiting
25 Gaining ethical approval 182
Nora Pillard Reynolds
26 But I am just going home: research ethics and student safety 191
Safa Riaz
27 Organizational governance: the final hurdles for research
approval 193
Amy N.B. Johnston
28 Wearing skirts and writing like a woman: a winding road
to gaining access to research 200
Ana Alecsandru
29 Gaining access to apparently easy informants 210
Mireia Valverde
30 Letters from a doctoral researcher to a data collection advice
column … and the responses 213
Sharon F. Lambert
31 Addressing power differentials and managing egos: how
to collect reliable qualitative data when researching ‘elites’ 228
Chris F. Wright
32 Time is waiting in the wings 238
Mark N.K. Saunders
33 Navigating the supervisory relationship: the case of the
disappearing supervisors 248
Vicki Webster
34 Managing time and maintaining focus 256
Colin Hughes
35 Tightrope walking: balancing the dynamic tensions of
the doctoral process 264
Andrea Casey
36 Keeping your life on track: living one spoon at a time 272
Emma Partlow
37 Opportunities and challenges of studying abroad 281
Aurora Trif
38 Keeping life and career on track as a non-traditional
doctorate student 283
Vicki Webster
39 Finders, keepers, losers, weepers! A doctoral candidate’s
reality of changing thesis advisors 285
Polly Watson Black
40 To leave or not to leave your Alma Mater 293
Raymond Markey
41 My journey 303
Gerard Ryan
PART III GETTING IT FINISHED AND MOVING ON
42 Eat, sleep, redraft, repeat 308
Ana Lobo
43 Challenges in writing up qualitative findings 316
Victor Oyaro Gekara
44 The power to write 323
Melika Shirmohammadi
45 Writing your thesis quickly and well 325
Tara Gray
46 Rewriting and overcoming writer’s block 336
Grace Henry
47 Overcoming writer’s block (and submission anxiety) 344
Fiona Archontoulis
48 The final mile: avoiding and overcoming viva trip-ups 345
Dawn C. Duke
49 My viva voce examination: a rollercoaster! 356
Zeineb Djebali
50 Let me defend myself (or at least my thesis) 365
Qian Yi Lee
51 Networking with academics to solve your PhD puzzle 367
Adam Robertson
52 Are conferences worth attending as a graduate student?
Reflections and lessons from a former graduate student 377
Tomika W. Greer
53 A tale of three dissertations: experiences of transforming
mentored research into an article 387
Jamie Callahan
54 How can you publish from your dissertation? 398
Katherine Rosenbusch
55 Publishing from your thesis 408
Dennis Nickson
56 Getting the first academic job 410
Oliver S. Crocco
57 Beyond the doctorate: getting your first job 420
Holly Prescott
58 Publications, what publications? 429
Mark N.K. Saunders
59 Balancing act 431
Polly Watson Black
Index 433
