Dissertation Solutions: A Concise Guide to Planning, Implementing, and Surviving the Dissertation Process

New graduate students are often unaware of the many hazards and pitfalls that occur during the dissertation process: intensive schedules, dwindling motivation, difficult or unavailable mentors, and research and publication complications. Lacking the experience and wherewithal to successfully overcome or avoid these impetuses for derailment, many students are unable to complete the dissertation process, losing sight somewhere in between reading, studying, collecting data, and writing a thesis. Based on the authors’ inside knowledge and extensive experience, Dissertation Solutions provides graduate students with the basic tools and skills to help them navigate the whole process with minimal damage, making the whole process of planning, researching, and writing more manageable. This thorough, but concise guide will help even the most naïve graduate student become experts in navigating and surviving their graduate experiences. Outlining the dissertation process, explaining the key players involved, and offering advice to help complete any research project, this book will also provide overwhelmed, intimidated, or just reluctant students with the motivation required to complete this arduous project.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Background Chapter One. It Isn't Simply Hazing Chapter Two. The Dissertation Process Part II: Before, During, and After the Dissertation Chapter Three. Don't Fear Starting Chapter Four. Get it Out of the Box -- Work on it Early and Often Chapter Five. Work Ahead Chapter Six. Back it Up Part III: Selecting Your Topic or Research Study Chapter Seven. Use Coursework Strategically Chapter Eight. Read Journals and Attend Conferences Aggressively Chapter Nine. Investigating Faculty Members’ Research Chapter Ten. Save the Nobel Prize for Later Chapter Eleven. Pitfalls of Concurrent and Absentee Data Collection Chapter Twelve. Pitfalls of Archival Data Collection Chapter Thirteen. Maximizing Flexibility Chapter Fourteen. Locale and Availability of Data Collection Chapter Fifteen. The Financial Pain of Research Part IV: Selecting Your Committee Chapter Sixteen. Selecting Your Advisor Chapter Seventeen. Selecting Other Committee Members (Part I)…Choose Who You Know Chapter Eighteen. Selecting Other Committee Members (Part II)…Know Who You Choose Part V: Preparing to Begin Chapter Nineteen. Marriages Are For People, Not Work Products Chapter Twenty. The Runaround and Getting your Ducks in a Row Chapter Twenty-One. The Human Investigating Committee and the Institutional Review Board Hurdle Part VI: The Project: Ins and Outs of the Process Chapter Twenty-Two. Managing Anxiety Chapter Twenty-Three. Managing Indifference Chapter Twenty-Four. Managing Lunacy Part VII: Approaching the Defense Chapter Twenty-Five. No Surprises -- Certainly Not During the Proposal or Defense Meetings Chapter Twenty-Six. Preparing for the Defense Chapter Twenty-Seven. You Know More Than You Believe You Know Chapter Twenty-Eight. The Ruler Lady Part VIII: Publishing Chapter Twenty-Nine. Authorship Chapter Thirty. Finding a Journal Chapter Thirty-One. The Reviewers Said What? Chapter Thirty-Two. Editors and Reviewers are People, Too Part IX: Collaborating Chapter Thirty-Three. Making a Team Chapter Thirty-Four. Who is Doing What on the Project? Part X: Wrapping It Up Chapter Thirty-Five. Congratulations! You Did It! Now, Where do You Go from Here? Appendices Appendix A. Recommended Resources Appendix B. References

About the Author :
Bradley N. Axelrod, PhD, is the director of neuropsychological and psychological assessment services at the John D. Dingell Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has published extensively in the area of psychometric analysis of neuropsychological and psychological test measures. He provides clinical training to psychology interns, and also provides research support to graduate students while serving on dozens of master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation committees. James Windell, MA, has been a court psychologist in the Oakland County Circuit Court’s Family Division in Oakland County, Michigan, where he provides group therapy for delinquents and divorced co-parents with high conflicts. He is the author or co-author of fifteen books on parenting, medicine, and high-conflict divorce.

Review :
Dissertation Solutions gives the broad strokes and fine points of how the dissertation actually works, on stage and behind the scenes, by using student accounts of dissertation successes, tragedies, and sagas. For those students who are stuck, fear getting delayed, or need to obsess about the dissertation constructively while anticipating it or procrastinating on it, this is a must read. Dissertation Solutions is a very practical guide that will tell students some of what you already know and some of what you don’t want to hear, it will help you hear it, and help you navigate the real-world messiness of the dissertation process. There’s something for every student. Give it a read for its ability to motivate you, provide useful information, and convey wisdom. Dissertation Solutions is a gold mine of sound advice for students planning to undertake a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. With an engaging writing style and interesting anecdotes, the authors provide a road map of the most practical paths to success. The tasks that must be completed are discussed in considerable detail and the most common land mines and dead ends to avoid are clearly presented. This is a must read for graduate students in psychology and the behavioral sciences. Dissertation Solutions promises to be a very helpful guide for graduate students in clinical, counseling, and school psychology. Even for those few students who have published as an undergraduate and no longer aspire to a Nobel Prize type of dissertation, the sections on preparing for a dissertation defense and the sections on selecting one’s advisor and committee members add to the strengths of this book. In addition, the section on approaching the defense of one’s thesis or dissertation adds relevant information. I think graduate students will like this book! Dissertation Solutions is an excellent resource for students . . . who are working on their dissertation, a major milestone in graduate education. This book takes the complexity of undertaking a dissertation and helps students breakdown the process into manageable steps. . . . This book can aid students in flourishing with their dissertation project. Moreover, Dissertation Studies not only deals with the dissertation research and writing, but deals with some of the problems that may arise from working on such a major project. It offers practical advice and provides motivation and support. . . . Students will benefit from this book. While the primary audience is for doctoral students, I would recommend the book for students working on Master essays and theses. There is no such thing as having too much information when undertaking the capstone event for a graduate degree.