Planning the dissertation

Planning the
Dissertation
RWJF || GRC

• “Many academics will tell you that students who fail
to plan their dissertation project accurately and
substantially are actually planning to fail it
inadvertently. “

• Translation: If you fail to plan, you are planning to
fail.

How Long Is It?

• “A dissertation should be just as long as it takes to
defend the research, but no longer.

How Long Is It?

• Mathematical Dissertations: 50-80 pages

• Biology: 4-5 papers

• Anthropology: ~400 pages or 3 papers + intro,
conclusion

How Long Is It?
• As long as your committee decides it should be.

Envision the Final
Product
• How long will it be? What must be said in the
document?

Read.
• To get a handle of what your dissertation will look
like, read those from people in your
department/field.

Read.
• For a moral boost, read the dissertations of your
committee members.

Strategies for
Writing

• The Outline

• Writing Groups/Circles

• Calendar

The Outline
• Generally, your committee will ask for an outline of
your dissertation

• This can be a powerful tool for organizing your
approach to the project.

The Outline
• Include citations and other details in your outline -
make it something useful for you.

The Outline
◦ Forchammer’s forest transition argument coupled with midden deposits
■ Johan Forchhammer (1794 - 1865), considered the father of Danish Geology, oversaw a commission on shell
middens with Steenstrup and Worsae. They studied the middens on Sjaelland and identified that the middens had
formed in a mixed fir, pine, and oak forest.
◦ Development of Palynology
■ The first significant pollen classifications originate in John Lindley’s 1830 work on orchidaceous plants. Trybom
(1888) identified pine and spruce pollen in a Swedish Quaternary lake deposit, arguing that they could be used as
index fossils for the period. C.A. Weber (1893) developed the first quantitative presentations of pollen. His were also
the first figures to use relative frequencies.
■ Blytte (1876) and Sernander (1908; 1910) identified alternating warm and dry periods following the retreat of glacial
ice - developing a model for forest succession that could be easily recognized in pollen assemblages across
Europe.
■ Lennart von Post developed the first pollen diagrams (1916) that displayed frequencies of pollen per sample over
time, a method of analysis that continues to dominate palynology today.
■ Rudolph (1931) developed the first forest transition model for Holocene Europe, idenfitying four key phases,
including 1) Betula-Pinus, 2) Corylus, 3) Quercetum mixtum, 4) Fagus.
■ Iversen (1946) revised von Prost’s original pollen diagrams to hold arboreal pollen equal with anemophilous herbs
and Ericales. These combined totals became the percentage. This helped demonstrate changes in forest density.
■ Fagerlind (1952) identified problems with non-linearity as pollen abundance data is expressed as relative
relationships.
■ Sugita (1995) developed a model to estimate pollen contributions to lakes, establishing a model of source area
productivity. She identified 50m as an important threshold for distance.
◦ Dendroclimatology
■ A.E. Douglass (1867 - 1962) developed the science of dendroclimatology in 1894 while working for the Lowell
Observatory.
■ Clark Wissler (1870 - 1947) suggested to Douglass in 1918 that by counting the tree rings in Aztec Ruin and Pueblo
Bonito, he could determine when they were built. The resulting analysis revealed that the last timbers of Pueblo
Bonito predate Aztec Ruin by 40-50 years.

The Outline
• It can also be helpful to include estimated word
lengths for each section of the outline.

• e.g. “Discussion on the influence of the Cold War on
Marxist Thought, 800 words”

The Outline
◦ Forchammer’s forest transition argument coupled with midden deposits
■ Johan Forchhammer (1794 - 1865), considered the father of Danish Geology, oversaw a commission on shell
middens with Steenstrup and Worsae. They studied the middens on Sjaelland and identified that the middens had
formed in a mixed fir, pine, and oak forest. (600 words)
◦ Development of Palynology: (5000 words)
■ The first significant pollen classifications originate in John Lindley’s 1830 work on orchidaceous plants. Trybom
(1888) identified pine and spruce pollen in a Swedish Quaternary lake deposit, arguing that they could be used as
index fossils for the period. C.A. Weber (1893) developed the first quantitative presentations of pollen. His were also
the first figures to use relative frequencies. (600 words)
■ Blytte (1876) and Sernander (1908; 1910) identified alternating warm and dry periods following the retreat of glacial
ice - developing a model for forest succession that could be easily recognized in pollen assemblages across
Europe. (400 words)
■ Lennart von Post developed the first pollen diagrams (1916) that displayed frequencies of pollen per sample over
time, a method of analysis that continues to dominate palynology today. (700 words)
■ Rudolph (1931) developed the first forest transition model for Holocene Europe, idenfitying four key phases,
including 1) Betula-Pinus, 2) Corylus, 3) Quercetum mixtum, 4) Fagus. (200 words)
■ Iversen (1946) revised von Prost’s original pollen diagrams to hold arboreal pollen equal with anemophilous herbs
and Ericales. These combined totals became the percentage. This helped demonstrate changes in forest density.
(800 words)
■ Fagerlind (1952) identified problems with non-linearity as pollen abundance data is expressed as relative
relationships.
■ Sugita (1995) developed a model to estimate pollen contributions to lakes, establishing a model of source area
productivity. She identified 50m as an important threshold for distance. (100 words)
◦ Dendroclimatology: (2000 words)
■ A.E. Douglass (1867 - 1962) developed the science of dendroclimatology in 1894 while working for the Lowell
Observatory. (1000 words)
■ Clark Wissler (1870 - 1947) suggested to Douglass in 1918 that by counting the tree rings in Aztec Ruin and Pueblo
Bonito, he could determine when they were built. The resulting analysis revealed that the last timbers of Pueblo
Bonito predate Aztec Ruin by 40-50 years. (1000 words)

The Outline

• Color codes

• Red for parts being written

• Purple for parts finished

• Green for parts that need more info.

Powerpoint
• If it helps, make a powerpoint instead of an outline
(or along with one).

• It is a form of organization you are likely familiar
with by this point, and it can be a familiar way to
organize ideas and concepts

Powerpoint
• If you make a powerpoint, record yourself giving the
presentation. Then listen to your self. You can
quickly find weak points in your argument, as well
as places to shift emphasis.

Writing Groups /
Circles
• The bad news is that you have to write a book.

• The good news is that you are on a campus with
thousands of people facing the same challenge.

Writing Groups
• A writing group can be a way to check up with peers
who are working on the dissertation. You meet once
per week, and share work.

Writing Groups
• Check up groups are used mainly to keep tabs on
each other to see how things are progressing.

• Writing groups are used to provide feedback and
strengthen writing.

Writing Groups
• pPE

• p: Your peers, people who can look at your
first draft.

• P: Professors, people familiar with your
work who can provide feedback.

• E: Experts, the professional community in
your field.

Writing Circles
• You can also simply send out your work for peers to
read.

• Are there other students in your department who you
can share work with? Can you provide comments
back to them?

Writing Circle

Try to start a proofreading circle among your friends. Offer to
proofread your friend’s papers. Be critical, use lots of red ink.
Make them mad. That way, they’ll be happy to return the favor.

Calendar
• Develop a calendar for each stage of the project.

• Include specific benchmarks.

Calendar
• 3 hours scheduled on a Thursday for writing the
dissertation is good.

• Identifying December 1st as the date to have the
methods section done is better.

Calendar
• ...but “Finish the section on Dudalsik’s work (2004)”
is best of all.

• Set small manageable goals, and give yourself a
deadline.

Calendar
• The biggest benefit to having a calendar is having an
accountability system.

• In this sense, it serves one of the primary functions of
a writing group.

Writing
• The Rule of Threes

The Whole Thesis
What the Thesis will Say Details of the Work What the Thesis Said

(Introduction) (Body) (Conclusion)

Source: http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~sme/presentations/thesiswriting.pdf

Writing

Each Chapter
What this Section Says The Details What this Section Said

(Signposting) (Body) (Summary)


Writing

Each Paragraph
Link with Previous Conclude Idea, Link with
The Details
Paragraph Next Paragraph

(Signposting) (Body) (Summary)


References
• Develop a filing system for your literature

Editing
• Separate Editing and Writing.

• Write your thoughts down.

• Edit them a few weeks to a month later.

Editing
• Don’t let the desire to produce a first, polished draft
detract from your writing. It doesn’t have to be
perfect.

• The best writing is finished writing.

Final Thoughts
• Make a list of your priorities right now. What is #1 to
you? #2? #3?

• Make a second list. What is taking up most of your
time?

Final Thoughts
• You have sacrificed a great deal to come to
Albuquerque and accomplish the Ph.D. How much
of each day is spent on it?

Final Thoughts

•“In preparing for battle, I have always found
that plans are useless but planning is
indispensable” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Planning the dissertation

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