No Doctorate for me!

He just has a way, doesn't he? That paper looked like a throw away, and somehow he got it published. Read the thing, will take you all of five minutes. I have to bust my gut to get anything published. But then again, I'm not the Amazing Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. McGee.

 

Then maybe Ann is on to something. In my opinion, There are just too many filler courses before the real research and dissertation courses. Why do the equivalent of a master program in a variety of subject areas before "what matters" the research and dissertation courses? All these filler courses just put the cost of perusing a doctorate out of the reach of people like myself and Ann. These courses have nothing to do with the inherent difficulties of perusing a phd - there are nothing challenging in those add-on courses per se.
Dr. McGee may have also been on to something many years ago with his research because no one so far has questioned the efficacy of the research. I know all about the small book / big book dissertation or whatever it is called. Anyway, I do not think jumping directly into the dissertation is a good idea, but I have seen balance programs where there are two to three research courses before the dissertation phase.

 

One who claims that "I know all about the small book / big book difference..." would likely not need to employ "...or whatever it is called."

I've done two taught doctorates. In one (Union), I designed the curriculum. In the other (Leicester), the school did. In both cases, the curriculum was invaluable in teeing up the research. In both cases, I was able to be at the cutting edge of the scholarship and theory in each field (nontraditional higher education and human resource development, respectively). Doctoral-level courses are not merely a repeat of a master's degree. Only someone who hasn't done a doctorate would think so. Typically, the master's covers the practice in one's field. But doctoral courses are designed to bring you through all the theoretical and scholarly work in your field so you can find your place among it. Dissertation-only programs require this of doctoral candidates, too, but it is done independently and is demonstrated in a larger dissertation.

That said, doctoral programs come in many stripes. YMMV.

 

No one knows everything that was a flip comment by me. However, I do have a doctorate that I do not use. Every once in a while I pull it out.
Also, I drop out of a another doctorate because those filler courses were a waste of my time. The three doctoral courses I did before I dropped the program was basically a rehash of the graduate and the undergraduate courses I did. The drop doctorate would have been in same field as my undergraduate and graduate degrees. The completed doctorate was in another field so the filler were okay.
Anyway, the next time I tackle a doctorate, I will definitely employ your expertise.