Hi Everyone, As I work towards the application process (literally, work, as I save up money and wait until the 2015 application periods open up at the SA schools) I am hoping to get a head start on my own reading and research. My question is how a person goes about structuring their studies. I have a general understanding of the dissertation structure (intro/proposal, literature review, methodology, application, conclusion) but is there some further direction the veterans could give me? I am reading - generally - in the area I want to study but wonder if I should be structuring my approach more formally? Any insights you can give in this regard would be appreciated! Thanks!
Great question, and good on you for getting a jump on the process. I would say the best thing you can do right now is keep reading, and log everything you read somehow (these readings may end up in your references later). This can be as simple as keeping hard copies of journal articles and jotting some notes on each one as you read them. There are higher tech ways to do this also. Beyond that, I would just read as many theses as you can get your hands on, especially ones that you suspect are similar to what you would like to produce. There is a repository of UNISA theses here... Electronic Theses and Dissertations and a PDF about structuring a thesis available here... www.unisa.ac.za/contents/courses/postgrad/docs/emasters.pdf Good luck!
My doctorate isn't from an SA school so this is more generalized, but in addition I would suggest that if you begin to actually write your proposal, pay careful attention to the schools guidelines for it. The proposal isn't just a short essay saying "here's what I want to research..." Much of the proposal ends up in the dissertation & the expectations just in the proposal can be pretty heavy.
I've had twice as many reasons to ponder this. These are some of my favorites: Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D.: Robert Peters: 9780374524777: Amazon.com: Books Authoring a PhD Thesis: How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Dissertation: Patrick Dunleavy: 9781403905840: Amazon.com: Books How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences: David R. Krathwohl, Nick L. Smith: 9780815681410: Amazon.com: Books The Portable Dissertation Advisor: Miles T. Bryant: 9780761946960: Amazon.com: Books http://www.amazon.com/How-Complete-Survive-Doctoral-Dissertation/dp/0312396066/ref=sr_1_21?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389456126&sr=1-21&keywords=dissertation Successful Dissertations and Theses: A Guide to Graduate Student Research from Proposal to Completion: David Madsen: 9781555423896: Amazon.com: Books
Thanks for all the insights and links. I plan to go through them and pick up a few of the books! My area of study, I believe, will be Biblical Studies. I am still working through my options as far as schools are concerned. I like SATS but it's a bit pricey and so I am looking at the other schools in SA and, of course, UNISA is always an option. I plan to apply to several of the schools during the next application period and see what doors are open for me. So I have put together a brief outline of study that will hopefully help me regardless of the direction my studies might take... I am brushing up on my Biblical Greek and Hebrew as well as a refresher in theological German. Beyond this, I am getting caught up in several areas: Biblical and exegetical studies, areas of systematic theology as they relate to Biblical theology (the latter is the area I wish to concentrate in). I am also working on a sketch of the history and current trends in Biblical theology. My ultimate goal will be to to apply a Biblical Theological methodology to a passage in the Old Testament. This will, of course, require spending a good deal of time in the history and current interpretive trends of the particular book/section. Right now Leviticus has caught my attention so I am aiming those studies at that particular book (and, more generally, the Pentateuch). Of course, in all of this there is the actual work of exegesis in that particular passage and many others. I will likely save the application of the methodology for the actual research during the dissertation phase. Now, this seems to me to be a solid course of study as it covers the major areas (intro, literature review, methodology, application, etc). Anyone with experience in doctoral level Biblical studies work have any further directions/topics that I should be covering?
One of the sources used by SA schools to aid in the research/writing of theses and dissertations is by Johann Mouton: How to Succeed in Your Master's and Doctoral Studies, Johann Mouton, Book - kalahari.com I used this source to facilitate a research masters and PhD, both from a SA school. Its very informative, leads one through the various stages, offers numerous additional sources.
I would contact Brad Sweet, he is an expert in SA theological studies. Contact him here or at [email protected]
There's a lot of great info in this thread for anyone pursuing a research doctorate, not just at one of the SA schools. I bookmarked it for later reference.
