Meeting with Dr. Paul

I met with Dr. Paul last night (my dissertation chair). He is just amazing. Every time I leave his office I feel like I have accomplished so much in that hour or two. He challenges me to really think long and hard about what I am trying to accomplish with my dissertation. He makes a broad suggestion and then leaves it up to me to dig deep down into my gut and say what I want to say and how I want to say it. Dr. Paul has told me once before, "You have it all in your head, you just need to figure out a way to capture every detail and write it on paper." I know what I know, but I have to remember that the readers may not know what I am trying to say.

Writing a dissertation is like riding on a roller coaster - you will have your ups and downs and twists and turns as you conduct your research. With my experience, I have found that the Review of Literature Chapter (2) is the most difficult. Reading a million articles and previous studies conducted on the same research you want for your own dissertation will drive you insane. I actually enjoyed writing Chapter 3 - the Methodology. This chapter explains how you are going to carry out your research.
My dissertation is going to be qualitative and the instruments I will use to collect my data will be interviews and focus groups. I must be able to explain every little detail on how I will collect data, describe the participants, explanation of how I will analyze the data, etc.....

Here is a brief explanation of the chapters in a Dissertation:

• Chapter 1 - Introduction - Introduce your research, the significance, research questions/hypotheses - much more
• Chapter 2 - Review of Literature - the HELL chapter - what studies have been conducted on your research? You have to write about the good, the bad, and the ugly. What are some of the theories on your research.
• Chapter 3 - Methodology - what is your research design, who are your participants, how will you collect and analyze the data?
• Chapter 4 - Results - strictly results, no flub.
• Chapter 5 - Discussion - discussion of findings, recommendations, future research opportunities

This is just a quick and dirty rundown of the chapters in a dissertation. I have seen some dissertations that are 200 pages and others that are 600 pages. I am hoping my dissertation will be somewhere in the middle, leaning more toward the 200 pages.

So, when it is time to pick a Dissertation Chair, make sure it is someone you trust and can count on to help you through this journey. I think that your Chair makes all the difference in the world. I don't think I would be where I am today if it weren't for Dr. Paul - he is the BEST!

Until next time!