Working on my Concept Paper and feeling dumb!

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Randell1234, May 26, 2009.

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  1. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I have seen quite a few threads that comment about getting a PhD just because (and I was one of them a while ago). Now that I am past the initial research classes and starting on the Concept Paper all I can say is - ARE YOU INSANE? :eek:

    My class starts on June 1st and I am getting a jump on it. I am starting to write the Literature Review and my head is spinning. I am starting to think that I no idea what the heck I am doing! I just spent an hour and a half to produce one damn page and I don't even know if it is any good!

    It is a matter of, "if I would have known then what I know now...." Anyway, from those of you who made the mistake of going for a PhD and finishing it because you had too much into it to quit - how on earth did you do it? Help me...please.
     
  2. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    A dissertation leads to the next dimension...

    The dissertation is where the rubber meets the road. The dissertation is vastly different from coursework that leads up to it. Many people (not you) incorrectly assume that simply because they can do the coursework that leads up to a dissertation, that it automatically qualifies them to complete the dissertation, but that is simply not true, as is evidenced by the attrition rate in dissertation programs. The dissertation process is vastly different then what anyone can speculate. Get ready to enter the next dimension. How do you spell grueling? :( :eek:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 26, 2009
  3. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    >>

    Randell- I don't know what I don't know, but I know that I don't know about PhDs. In any event, you are not dumb, and I'm cheering for you!
     
  4. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    All of the classes from the Comps on have been very different but right now I am trying to get the lit review done ahead of time and I feel like poking my eyes out! By the way, that for the encouraging words...wait you did not have any ! :eek: :eek:
     
  5. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Thanks for the kind works...hey me again this what I would have expected you to say! :cool::rolleyes::p
     
  6. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    I've been through all those emotions Randell. The dissertation is a slow process. I was trying to do it the last couple of years while working 60-80 hour weeks. I finally realized if I was going to finish, I would have to quit my job. So, I did just that, and my goal is to complete it this summer. With your job and online teaching, organization is going to be the key.

    If you are producing a page per an hour and a half, you are actually doing pretty good. In little over a month, you could finish 200 pages. A page an hour is what I'm striving for.

    There are two books that really helped me get focused and organized. One was "Playing the Game: The Streetsmart Guide to Graduate School" by Fredrick Frank and Karl Stein, and the other was "Complete Your Dissertation or Thesis in Two Semesters or Less" by Evelyn Ogden Ogden.

    Also, check out economist David Romer's Advice for writing the dissertation at http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/teaching_folder/Romers_rules.html .

    At this stage, don't worry about your dissertation being "any good." It won't. You will most likely have to do some changes after your committee reviews it. Right now, the best dissertation, is a done dissertation!
     
  7. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Thanks for the advice and comments. The downside is that 1.5 hours was a rare thing! I will target 1-2 pages a day and get it done by the end of the year (I hope).
     
  8. bad92lx

    bad92lx New Member

    Randell

    Do not give up. The hardest part is the lit review. Everything else is a walk in the park. I am writing my proposal and have a rock solid methodology but my Lit Review is killing me. So I understand. So I took a new appoarch. Write a minimum 1 page per day and ironically its been working I end up with 2 or 3 pages and am more relaxed and focused since.

    Just my thoughts, but don't give up you are too close.
     
  9. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Coursework v. Dissertation

    LOL

    Any garden variety monkey can do the coursework that leads up to a dissertation, but not all monkeys can do a dissertation. :eek:
     
  10. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Well, I hope I am a special monkey!
     
  11. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    We're all just hamsters in the wheel...

    In the big picture, we're all just hamsters in the wheel going round and round. :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 26, 2009
  12. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator


    I would respond to that comment but I have to go for a run on the trendmill :rolleyes:
     
  13. Go_Fishy

    Go_Fishy New Member

    Listen now, and listen carefully: Everyone goes through this again and again. Feeling completely stupid, unprepared, and alone is a perfectly normal experience for any PhD student.

    There is no such thing as a research process running smoothly from design to publication. There are no constantly happy distance students sitting cross-legged on their hip couch with their laptops, sipping lattes. There is no one writing a lit review fully knowing they are doing.

    But best of all: There is no professor who expects any of that. Talk to your advisor, let some steam off, and then go back and persist.

    A friend of mine, who is a psychiatrist in a hospital in Switzerland, once said that med school is 1% intelligence and 99% persistence. I guess the same is true for a PhD...;)
     
  14. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    That's a very accurate assessment of the dissertation process.
     
  15. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Oh...now you are going to be nice? Well it is too late buddy-boy. If I had feelings, they would have been hurt!:rolleyes:
     
  16. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Randell,

    Just show up and kick ass! You can do it! Just visualize being Dr. Randell. :)

    I will tell you a story from long ago. You may wonder about the relevance. Years ago after intense Kenpo training, the day came for my day long black belt test. After hours of doing forms, standing in horse stances for hours, breaking boards and bricks, dynamic tension drills and the recitation of the history of Chinese Kenpo, the make or break event would be last. The true test. If I was able to stand after 15 minutes of full contact, bare knuckle fighting with four brutal Kenpo experts flown in from the Palamas in Hawaii, I would finally receive my black belt. Well, let me tell you. I took the beating of my life. My left eyes was swollen shut, and when the swelling went down, the white of my eye was red with blood for a couple of months. My right rib was broken. But I kept fighting back. After what seemed like and eternity, it was over and I was still standing. You face a similar difficult situation, but you know in your heart that if you want something bad enough you can do anything in life.

    So I say this to you like I would one of my students. Stand up straight and tall, stick your chest out and DO IT! You have what it takes my friend.

    Abner
     
  17. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Damn, it's not that bad. Thanks for the story!
     
  18. StevenKing

    StevenKing Active Member

    Hmmmm...

    I have to say this thread is starting to light the fires of "I'm not ready" already. I consider myself of average intelligence...but this undertaking seems a little daunting. EdD or PhD is my next step (I think) and I'm not sure anyone who works, especially as an educator, would have any life during this process.
     
  19. David H

    David H Member

    Randall, someone mentioned your advisor --- By far this is the most important person in the dissertation process. I was blessed with a great one that spoke to me in terms I could understand.

    I have since spoken to a candidate at another school and helped her focus a bit. It's not easy, but you can do it.

    As for me, I am hoping to defend in the next few weeks -- Graduation in August (keep your fingers crossed).

    If you want to talk directly about what helped me, send me a PM.

    David
     
  20. NGC6205

    NGC6205 New Member

    I am still a long way from a doctoral dissertation, so about the best I can do is wish you good luck. Have you read other doctoral dissertations to use as a benchmark for your own work? If you haven't, Dr. Jim Mirabella has a couple dozen dissertations where he was the mentor or chairperson for the candidate.

    http://www.drjimmirabella.com/dissertations/
     

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