Customer Reviews

How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was my "bible" during grad school; it was my "mentor" as I fought to complete my dissertation. As I've counseled graduate students over the years, many have found this book helpful. I wholeheartedly recommend it, despite some of my comments below. Sternberg spent years working as a dissertation counselor, and he knows what he's talking about. Here are some features that I found particularly helpful:
1. This book *is* about survival. Of course, Sternberg could spend more space discussing formatting and other gritty details. This book is more concerned about cutting to the chase -- how to get a Ph.D. in the minimum amount of time, with the minimum amount of damage and the maximum amount of personal and professional growth.
2. It communicates very effectively to us that the process is typically lonely, dangerous, and costly. The process frequently ends badly. Sternberg focuses on practical solutions that carry us through.
3. He anticipates many barriers to completing a dissertation, and provides valuable advice for getting past them. For instance, he discusses issues such as (a) difficult members of the committee, (b) sexual harassment, (c) difficulties staying motivated, and (d) effective (and ineffective) ways to get support from friends, faculty members, and professional counselors. His advice isn't always politically correct (e.g., tolerating sexual harassment), but it reflects the voice of a strongly opinionated, experienced mentor who is aware of worst case scenarios and ways to survive them. In my own case, he was dead on, in various ways. I needed to stay focused on completing my work while tolerating and minimizing the damaging effects of my committee-member-from-hell. I needed to make sure my work was "good enough" while dispensing with the "magnum opus" myth.

I didn't take all of Sternberg's advice. He generally seemed to recommend weeding people out of one's life who were not particularly understanding or supporting of the dissertation focus. He seemed to recommend maintaining a constant focus on getting the work done--just keep working. In my own case, I moved forward when I budgeted plenty of time and psychological energy away from the dissertation. When I conquered workaholic tendencies, the time I actually spent working was much more productive. If I allowed myself time with friends and family who weren't particularly concerned in my dissertation, it was quite energizing. In other words, this is akin to "incubation effects" that one reads about in introductory psychology classes. (e.g., Crick and Watson took plenty of time off to play while discovering the DNA double helix...)

If you feel that your dissertation effort is on the skids despite all your work, I might suggest finding a good dissertation coach (or therapist). Several years ago, I heard a presentation by a dissertation coach in the San Diego area who seemed to be on target. Her site on the web was something like "dissertationdoctor.com" or some such... I'm sure there are others out there.

I wish that Sternberg would publish a new, updated edition of this book, especially now that there are newer competitors on the market.

Final note: If you are shopping for a book on this topic, then get this one. Lots of people have found it to be very helpful; some haven't. For [the money], or so, it is worth the gamble.

Sternberg's book performs two important functions for the ABD: providing basic (but sensible) advice on rearranging one's personal life to accommodate the dissertation writing activity, and soothing the panic of the dissertation myths which he insightfully identifies and disarms. I had been trying to write my dissertation at my office (I'm a college lecturer); naturally I met with the difficulties of a remote and distracted work environment. Sternberg's suggestion of creating a separate dissertation office at home (and keeping a log to monitor how much work one is really doing there) turned out to be a boon. Secondly is his suggestion of an on-going, revised, expansive "prospectus", as a mini-dissertation. This gives the candidate a concrete picture of the end product. Lastly, his suggestion of the "dissertation file" was a life saver. I had been drowning in inspirational scraps of paper, and was easily distracted by "new and cool" things that I hit upon (my dissertation is in "cultural studies," a field full of inspirational cul-de-sacs); his suggestion of having a file even for these things did much to both defuse the power of these sparks of enthusiasm, as well as allow me to focus and expand in the areas which are clearly important. The demythologizing of the dissertation myths is fairly reassuring, and shows that Sternberg (who apparently runs a dissertation completion consultation service) has a lot of experience with these anxieties. There is, however, little here for the www generation, and almost no mention of use of personal computers, but that is not the focus of the book. It doesn't tell you how to research and compose your proposals and the like; it's about adjusting your life to complete the task. Also, most of the advice on the "politics" of the the committee is wasted on many European ABDs as the committee is often not assembled until the work is already submitted and accepted by the university. Sternberg's book gave me ! a feeling that I was "riding my dissertation" instead of it riding me, which, as any ABD can tell you, is an especially intense nightmare.

After finishing my comps I wanted a book that would address the last hurdle toward my PhD. I spent a couple of hours in the library thumbing through "how-to-write-a-dissertation" books and finding nothing more than uninteresting collisions of the MLA Manual of Style and Williams' Style (an excellent book BTW). Then I found How to Complete and Survive a Dissertation -- the only reason I pulled it off the shelf was the word "survive" in the title. I believe this book will help me not only survive the diss but also complete it in a timely fashion - Thus far, after a mere week in my possession, it has explained the reason I have become invisible in my department! I knew I needed my own copy. Yes, it is depressing -- but it is better to know what you are up against than to stick your head in the sand and ignore the problems. Yes, it is dated in parts -- you don't need to read the sections on using a computer -- still, even though the statistics are from the late 1970s, they are no less telling about the plight of many an ABD over the last 30 years. Lastly, I would also recommend this book to the significant other of the ABD. It clarifies the process and the pitfalls. It is, as promised, a survival guide surpassing all the deadly "how-to" books.

We're taught that info more than 10 years old usually isn't apprpriate for a dissertation. However, this is a MUST READ for all who intend to complete the dissertation process. It is guaranteed to save you time and heart ache (not to mention many of the frustrations that are a natural part of the dissertation process). In fact if read BEFORE you even start your Review of Literature you will find that manyfrustrations that are usually presumed to be "natural" can also be avoided or at least limited in their scope and severity. If you are already well into the process read it any way. It is still going to save you time and hassles.

Do. Not. Be. Fooled. into the "truth and beauty" of the academic world ideals-- finishing and going from ABD to PhD is HARD. The ABD student doesn't need encouragement as much as warnings, in my opinion. I very nearly didn't finish for a variety of reasons, mostly work-related, but thankfully I successfully defended in December 2005. There are some other books that are better for the nitty-gritty of writing the dissertation (Authoring the PhD by Patrick Dunleavy comes to mind) but this book is a classic in terms of the many pitfalls facing the ABD student, many of which you really need to know BEFORE you are ABD.


The one piece of advice in this book that is worth the whole book itself is the warning to limit your committee to those who want you to succeed. I faced just such a choice at a certain period and thankfully I decided NOT to ask a person whose scholarship interested me but whom I did not trust to be on my committee. BOY, was I right! The fullness of time and the things he did to other people in the department, showed me the truth of that warning.

Not to be missed.

I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because of the amount you can skip about things like "Whether or not to use a computer."

This book is fabulous though, and having received my PhD a week ago, I can say it was immensely helpful - especially when my advisor turned into a monster as if from nowhere.

You will read almost all you need to know about the types of advisors, finding and working with committee members, and (perhaps most importantly) the dissertation myths and anxieties that paralyze us all from time to time.

I have read several of these "How to write a dissertation" guides, and this was the one I came back to again and again.

Kev and Laurel, you must read this book. It has helped me to feel human in the midst of such anxiety. I thought I was the only one who had the feelings I was experiencing. I love the part when the author states that the proposal approval is a victory for the ABD, and that the proverbial "second wind" can accompany this part of the process. How to pick an advisor was especially right on target also: I laughed out loud. Though the date is 1981, for the most part, the general themes in this book are dead on to what we are going through as ABD's. I love this book. Gotta get back to the proposal. Ciao.

Even though this book was published in 1981, it still has great relevance to the dissertation writer. Specifically, it adresses the demons that face the writer and the politics of dissertation writing that no one ever tells you about when you begin the process. The insight about selecting an advisor, a committee and a topic is very valuable. The section on post-dissertation let down and moving forward is also useful. This book helps the dissertation writer understand that it can be done. Sometimes in this process, that is all you will need.

The author wrote this in the 80's when the future of academia was looking a little bleak so I can forgive him some of his pessimism, but the book is rather dreary and has the principal effect of scaring away those considering a doctoral program (which is perhaps a good thing). The book has three critical flaws: it's 100 pages too long, it's dated (especially the material on computers and sexual harassment), and the author has the annoying belief that social science dissertations are the only "full" dissertations. By suggesting that his own field of Sociology is the most difficult field of study, the author alienates many potential readers and loses any claim of impartial observation. All of the useful gems of advice are covered in a shorter and more optimistic book written by Evelyn Hunt Ogden on the same subject. Read that one instead.

Sternberg's book is, at times, dated, however he does tap into the hard-to-explain feelings of anxiety facing the ABD. This text has been a sort of therapy for me as I complete my course work and ready myself for the lonely adventure of data collecting, analyzing and writing. Chapter 7 provides meaningful guidelines for organizing your own dissertation-support group.