Destination Dissertation - 2nd Edition by Sonja K Foss & William Waters (Paperback)

About the Book

In this concrete guide for Ph.D. candidates across disciplines, Foss and Waters approach the process of writing a high-quality dissertation as a vacation from normal routine-one that can be exciting, stimulating, and yes, accomplished in under one year.

Book Synopsis

In this concrete guide for Ph.D. candidates across disciplines, Foss and Waters approach the process of writing a high-quality dissertation as a vacation from normal routine--one that canbe exciting, stimulating, and yes, accomplished in under one year.

Review Quotes

Destination Dissertation is a great addition to any course that seeks to explain the dissertation process to students. Helpful advice and guidance is plentiful and the step-by-step process of completing a dissertation offered by Foss and Waters will help students view the journey as one they can navigate.

Destination Dissertation offers a comprehensive, systematic, and well-tested approach for writing dissertations. Foss and Waters's focus on doability, efficiency, and production of original scholarship will appeal to graduate students at all levels, their advisors, and even faculty members working through their own publication processes. This book also offers unique insight into the process of conceptualizing a dissertation, working with advisors, and becoming a scholar-writer in post-dissertation writing. In short, this book should be required reading for all dissertating students and their advisors!

Destination Dissertation presents an attempt to demystify the process of conducting, writing, and presenting original research, completing dissertations, and making the transition to journal articles. The travel metaphor is creative and one to which all of us, as scholars, can relate. The format is cohesive and the chapters flow according to the process of the dissertation format. The techniques suggested are ones that students in my methods classes have found extremely beneficial.

Regardless of discipline or research approach, Sonja Foss and William Waters have encountered all of the roadblocks and excuses related to completing the dissertation or any other scholarly writing project. Their straightforward methods, cleverly and uniquely packaged in this book, will provide a clear pathway to successfully finishing your work. Stop reading the other 'how-to' books for completing the dissertation. Follow Foss and Waters's guidelines and finish!

The idea of organizing the book as if it were a travelogue presents an innovative perspective from which the dissertation can be managed. Symbolically, the concept of embarking on a trip (with maps!) connotes a kind of pleasantry, rather than the burdensome process of wandering to an imprecise, amorphous destination--the reality for so many doctoral students.... The tone of the book is didactic--but not stuffy in the least: the subject matter is reachable and reflects the expertise of travel guides who know the precise direction in which to lead their charges.

To the rescue comes Sonja K. Foss and William Waters with their outstanding book, Destination Dissertation. This book is a must-have for anyone in graduate school, and for anyone who faces the prospect of writing a research paper or journal article with trepidation. In this book the authors succinctly and efficiently guide you through the entire dissertation process via a step-by-step, easy to follow format. . . . No matter what field you are in, or the type of research you are conducting, you can effectively use Destination Dissertation as a guide to writing your dissertation or thesis. . . . If you are facing the prospect of having to write a dissertation or thesis, get this book!

With relevant, realistic, and easily accessible information, this book covers a wide array of issues pertinent to one of the most important milestones of a graduate education--the creation of a dissertation. It is an outstanding book, and adopting it may only lead to better guidance on my part, and success for my students.

Your dissertation is not a hurdle to jump or a battle to fight; as this handbook makes clear, your dissertation is the first of many destinations on the path of your professional career. Destination Dissertation guides you to the successful completion of your dissertation by framing the process as a stimulating and exciting trip--one that can be completed in fewer than nine months and by following twenty-nine specific steps. Sonja Foss and William Waters--your guides on this trip--explain concrete and efficient processes for completing the parts of the dissertation that tend to cause the most delays: conceptualizing a topic, developing a pre-proposal, writing a literature review, writing a proposal, collecting and analyzing data, and writing the last chapter. This guidebook is crafted for use by students in all disciplines and for both quantitative and qualitative dissertations, and incorporates a wealth of real-life examples from every step of the journey.

About the Author

Sonja K. Foss is professor of communication at the University of Colorado at Denver. She created and is co-director of Scholars' Retreat, designed to provide intensive, focused, and supervised writing time for dissertations, theses, and other writing projects. William Waters is associate professor of English at the University of Houston, Downtown and co-director of Scholars' Retreat.