Any thoughts regarding beginning a dis before one is enrolled in a program... then enrolling in a program and tweaking the dis to suit your advisor?
Yes: Very common. The draft is often called a "Masters thesis" (although not in my case). ps. it's spelled Dissertation
From what I've seen, most doctoral programs expect all new learning. Whether that applies to the dissertation or not is probably a very subjective question. To be safe, I think I would go into a program with nothing more than a subject and maybe a rough outline. Bruce
but if none of the work has been published or used for another degree isn't it considered "new learning". my issue is this... if you are considering doing a dissertation over a longer period of time and if you will take a few years to complete the research, why not delay application / tuition / residency issues until you are ready to for the first draft?
Likely it would depend on which area you are doing the dissertation in. If it's a hard science, there might be questions (because of the significant lab time required and it only being your second week in their program!). However, if in, for example, Business, it's unlikely that anyone would even know that you had already started. Most of the people that I know who have done doctorates have not been closely supervised (but most of those have been in the liberal arts/social sciences areas). Probably boils down to how much do you let people know. Tom Nixon
In areas of interest such as my own (Philosophy) it would seem perfectly feasible. If, for example you're writing on some matter related to Nietzsche's, Will To Power, you could research and write for years before even applying to a doctoral program, especially if you were applying to one of those research doctoral programs. I've always presumed that this idea was one of the reasons for "minimum period of enrollment" regulations at the various schools. Jack
It is not a bad idea to start thinking about a dissertation topic before one enrolls in a Ph.D. program, but there is no guarantee that your advisor will accept the topic. It is important to note that a dissertation is not a project. It is not just a good research or researchable topic. It is also not a well-written academic or peer reviewed article. It must make contribution to the body of knowledge. Your dissertation advisor and dissertation committee must agree with you that the topic has something to contribute to the body of knowledge before it becomes a dissertation topic. It may tantamount to efforts in futility to finish your “dissertation” before you start your real dissertation since your advisor could reject your topic. Ike Okonkwo Ph.D. (ABD), Nova Southeastern University
DON'T DO IT!! (Unless you like lots of extra work.) In a decent program, you'll learn so much during the stages prior to the dissertation that your question *will* change. Barry Foster
Please allow me to talk about something that I know very little about... ;-) I understand that you don't want to write the whole thing and I understand that your advisor has lots of influence and I understand that your question may change. I also understand that simply in order to be accepted you have to state a fairly specific area of interest and I also understand that you have (hopefully) chosen a school/advisor who is able to support your general area of interest. To me this all adds up to being able to do a lot of really specific reading and analysis of this reading as a preparation. If, for example, I want to do my dissertation on some aspect of the ethics of David Hume, I can read everything he ever wrote and read extensively in the commentaries on his ethics, all prior to even applying to school. If my dissertation question shifts a bit then this previous work remains quite valuable. Jack
Reading Hume would be great and wonderful. So would reading all the great thinkers. A person can do anything s/he'd like. Enjoy! When I talk about a question changing, I've seen Ph.D. students change to an entirely different knowledge area. This means that lots of work has little direct application to the dissertation. They've learned plenty - but it doesn't get to the graduation objective of "Dr. so-and-so". Minor point: In my US RA experience, you don't select an advisor until well into the program. Barry Foster
I echo this statement emphatically. I entered my doctoral program 90 percent certain of my dissertation topic and 50 percent certain of my specific question. Two years later, after completing all coursework and comps, my dissertation has no bearing whatsoever to my original idea. I would have wasted an untold amount of valuable time and energy if I had actually begun writing a dissertation proposal with lit review and methodology. I was really very certain at the time about my topic. So glad I didn't start writing. Paul C.
