Dissertating is a Multiyear Process
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Dissertating is a multi-year process which has been visualized as four concentric circles. The centermost circle represents publishing, the culminating experience of the dissertation process in which the newfound and meaningful contribution to the field is shared with the larger scholarly community. Publishing, however is bounded (restricted) by the defense. Represented in the image above as a light brown circle, the successful defense (defending) is the specific acknowledgement by scholar mentors as to the quality of research conducted. Defending and publishing are depicted more closely as they are intricately related and the step between the two is relatively small. Entirely encompassing the defense and publishing is the yellow and red circles of researching and writing, and planning, respectively. Researching and writing form the core of the dissertation process, with the act of engaging in and producing high quality research capable of providing a meaningful contribution to the larger body of knowledge being the primary focus of the dissertation process. This all, however, is encompassed within the larger process of planning. Planning forms a foundational layer, as it is through identifying a problem of practice, developing a deep understanding of prior research (i.e. literature review), skillfully formulating an appropriate research question, and outlining proper methodology that quality research can be accomplished in the first place.
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To these four concentric circles, my own additions would be two additional circles. The first circle represents the doctoral student’s family, it is shown in blue as intersecting each of the original four circles, but also containing a realm outside of each. This circle representing family expresses the way that the dissertating process is influenced by and has an impact on one’s family, themselves simultaneously occupying a sphere encompassing a realm outside of the dissertating process. Immediate family members have affected, and been affected by, each step of the process. They were there when I made the decision to start, they were there when I struggled through planning; I missed children’s games, plays, and more, in order to finish my research. They will be among the first to congratulate me if I successfully defend, and they will be the ones to whom my published dissertation is dedicated. In hindsight, I wish that I had a better understanding of the toll that completing the doctorate would have on my family - it hasn’t been easy - and I wish other doctoral students would carefully consider this before they begin the process.
The second circle represents the role of the LSC cohort on the dissertating process. The support - both academically and emotionally - provided by the LSC has been an extremely important part of my success in this program. I value the scholarly contributions of my cohort members, and the way they have encouraged and cheered me on through this process. The circle, drawn in orange does not intersect the defending or publishing circles, however, as I feel that these two aspects - with as much influence as the LSC has had on the lead up to them -- are ultimately my own for success or failure. Ultimately, the responsibility lies on the doctoral student alone.
The second circle represents the role of the LSC cohort on the dissertating process. The support - both academically and emotionally - provided by the LSC has been an extremely important part of my success in this program. I value the scholarly contributions of my cohort members, and the way they have encouraged and cheered me on through this process. The circle, drawn in orange does not intersect the defending or publishing circles, however, as I feel that these two aspects - with as much influence as the LSC has had on the lead up to them -- are ultimately my own for success or failure. Ultimately, the responsibility lies on the doctoral student alone.
The Final Push: Proposing, Researching, Writing and Defending
In a sense, the dissertating process spans the entire duration of a doctoral program; familiarizing oneself with problems of practices, research skills, etc. are all important components of designing good research and the knowledge gained in course work (ideally) proves to benefit the quality of research a student develop. However, it is the dissertation proposal, conducting the final study, and writing up the results in a final dissertation that make up the 'meat' of the dissertation process.
Shown below is a graph of (conservatively) the time spent writing a proposal, researching, and writing the dissertation for my study.
Shown below is a graph of (conservatively) the time spent writing a proposal, researching, and writing the dissertation for my study.
Code Analysis
53 Codes
The research resulted in 29 usable interviews upon which a coding process was conducted using Dedoose research software. At right is a screen capture of the initial review of code charts that were produced from the first and second rounds of coding. At this point in the research, 53 codes had beed developed and applied to 630 interview excerpts for a total of 1949 code applications.
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