Strategies to Successfully Complete Your Dissertation or Master s Thesis Dissertation Coach and Owner of The Dissertation Coach 773.878.6412 amcoach@sbcglobal.net http://www.thedissertationcoach.com
PART I The Mindset Difference Psychological research 1 indicates that human beings have two fundamental mindsets or beliefs about their capacities and qualities. These mindsets have a fundamental impact on achievement, motivation, and life satisfaction. Mindset #1 The Fixed Mindset Believing that your qualities and capacities such as intelligence, creativity, and personality are fixed or finite. Believing that who you are is quantifiable and unchangeable. For example, if you have a fixed mindset about intelligence, you believe your intellectual capacity is measurable and unchangeable. Mindset #2 The Growth Mindset Believing that your qualities and capacities can be cultivated through your own efforts. In this mindset, you believe that while people differ in their aptitudes, interests, talents, and temperaments, everyone can change and grow through effort, persistence, and by seeking the input and guidance of others. For example if you have a growth mindset about intelligence, you believe your intelligence is malleable, your potential is unknown, and that you can actually grow your competence through effort and application. A growth mindset does not mean anyone can be anything. But it does mean that a person s true potential is unknown. Your mindset can have a significant impact on you motivation, achievement, and life satisfaction. You can have a fixed mindset about certain areas of your life and a growth mindset about other areas. You can cultivate a growth mindset (no matter your age or your past history) and consequently improve your ability to meet important life goals. 1 I highly recommend reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck to further your understanding of the growth and fixed mindsets
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset The Fixed Mindset Leads To A focus on performance over learning Being driven to prove yourself, your intelligence, personality, etc. and your superiority to others Seeking external validation of your capacities and abilities Pulling back, losing interest, or lowering effort when faced with setbacks or challenges Avoiding feedback or input Thriving only when success is safely within your grasp and difficulty coping with failure Feeling diminished when other people succeed Feeling smart, capable, and worthy when performance is good Expecting ability to show up on its own before any learning takes place (believing effort is for those who are deficient) Success is about being more gifted than others The Growth Mindset Leads To. A focus on learning over performance Being driven to learn, grow, and develop Being more concerned with learning than the evaluation or opinion of others Strategizing and remaining focused and interested when something becomes challenging Seeking feedback as a means for growth Thriving in the face of challenges and even purposively seeking challenges Feeling excited about human potential when other people succeed Feeling smart, capable, and worthy when you are learning and stretching yourself Knowing ability is a product of learning (believing effort is how you become more competent and capable) Success is about effort and persistence
4 How to Develop A Growth Mindset 1. Maintain awareness of the two mindsets. Recognize when you have a fixed vs. a growth mindset in different areas of your life. Look for examples of the two mindsets in our world. 2. Actively cultivate a growth mindset. Find ways to develop and maintain a love of learning. Learn to enjoy the process of growth and discovery. Keep choosing to believe that effort and persistence are more important than performance in the short-run (and are the pathway to better performance in the long run). Research shows that effort and persistence do lead to greater learning, intelligence, artistic ability, personality change, etc. 3. Let go of judging your performance so harshly. Criticizing your self for being not smart enough, too angry, too needy, or not creative enough for example, does not promote change or help you meet your goals. Actually being compassionate, nonjudgmental, and maintaining a growth mindset increases the odds you will be able to change. Fixed mindset: I am not smart enough. I should be smarter. Growth mindset: It is true that I have strengths and weaknesses and that like everyone else I am human. When I label myself as not smart enough, I am ignoring the complex nature of intelligence and failing to acknowledge that which I do well. In reality, believing that I am not smart enough is one of the biggest reasons that I procrastinate and see intellectual roadblocks as failures on my part rather than as opportunities to push myself, ask for support, learn new skills, and develop new capacities. 4. Praise effort (both your own and that of others) in addition to performance. A great deal of psychological research shows that praising only performance fosters the fixed mindset while praising effort fosters a growth mindset. 5. Give constructive, growth-promoting feedback (to yourself and others). Give feedback that is constructive, honest and that helps people see where effort (not intelligence, personality, creativity, etc. is falling short). Constructive feedback means giving feedback in a way that helps you or someone else do a better job, fix something, or build competencies or capacities. Focus on behavior not character. 6. Compete less. Competing with others keeps you stuck in the fixed mindset and the mode of proving yourself. Competition reinforces the message that you need to be better than someone else. Why would you need to be better than someone else? Because deep down you feel inadequate or worry whether or not you have enough intelligence, creativity, or other qualities you value.
5 Strategies to Successfully Complete Your Dissertation or Master s Thesis 1. Develop and maintain a healthy relationship to your dissertation or master s thesis a. Be aware of and manage negative beliefs that contribute to feelings of inadequacy & procrastination. 1. Graduate students often have negative thoughts such as, I am not smart enough, I don t have what it takes to do a dissertation, I am a fraud, The faculty made a mistake accepting me into this program, I am lazy, or other thoughts about being inadequate in some way. Negative thoughts lead to a poor relationship to your dissertation and fuel procrastination. 2. Remember that it is a normal part of being a graduate student to feel inadequate at times. All human beings have negative thoughts about themselves. Doing a dissertation is, by definition, a very challenging intellectual task that will elicit feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. 3. Learn to challenge negative thoughts. Ask yourself if they are really true? What evidence is there that they are not true? Learn to stop taking your negative thoughts so seriously. Just because you have a negative thought about yourself does not mean it is true! b. Create structure to break down your dissertation into small, specific pieces. It is important to find a way to stop relating to your dissertation as one, large entity (because that leads to feeling overwhelmed and inadequate). Use the timeline and action list structure (see attached handouts) as one possible way to alter your relationship to your dissertation. 1. A timeline consists of breaking down your dissertation into major milestones over time. A milestone is a large chunk of your dissertation (e.g., a chapter, writing a section of your literature review, completing data collection, establishing a dissertation committee, obtaining IRB approval). See the attached examples of dissertation milestones. In any given week or month, you are working towards a set of milestones instead of working on your DISSERTATION as one, large entity. Make sure that your timeline is realistic. It can be challenging but it must also be realistic. 2. If possible, share your timeline with your advisor to get his or her support and feedback on whether it is realistic. 3. If you get off track from your timeline, REVISE IT! A timeline that is not based in reality will undermine you and contribute to avoidance and procrastination. Most people need to revise their timeline many times throughout the process of doing a dissertation. 4. Once you ve created a timeline, the next step is to make an action list each week where you break your milestones down into small, specific actions. An action should have a clear, specific beginning and an end. 5. An action such as read about social support theories is not a specific action. It is vague and open-ended. But read Jones & Smith (1999) article on social support is a clear, specific action with a beginning and an end. 6. If at any time, you get off track from your action list, REVISE IT!
6 2. Create accountability a. Have someone else hold you accountable for what you say you are going to do. This strategy can have a significant impact on the progress you make. 1. Ask a peer or friend (preferably not your spouse or significant other) to hold you accountable for what you say you are going to do. It is much easier to keep your word and do the actions on your action list if you ve made a commitment to another person. 2. Recognize that there may be times during the dissertation process when you need more accountability than others. 3. Maintain weekly contact with someone else who is willing to hold you accountable for making progress. 3. Elicit the support you need from others a. Social support 1. Doing a dissertation is challenging and at times stressful. Having emotional support from friends and family can help you cope more effectively. Don t be afraid to ask for the support you need. b. Instrumental support 1. Ask for the intellectual support you need from your advisor, other faculty/chairpersons, peers, and colleagues. Many graduate students believe that they must do their dissertation alone and that asking for help is a sign of weakness. Yet, talking through the inevitable intellectual roadblocks in the dissertation process can help you maintain momentum, overcome roadblocks, and do better quality work. Don t be afraid of looking stupid. You aren t asking someone else to do your dissertation for you. Rather, you are asking for the support you need to do your best intellectual work. 2. There are times during the dissertation process where you may need extra help with household chores, childcare, or other aspects of daily life. Ask for the help you need from friends and significant others. 4. Engage in a regular practice of self-care a. Self-care is extremely important when you are in graduate school. You need and deserve to engage in pleasurable activities to restore yourself and sustain motivation. Give yourself permission to do things that you enjoy and find pleasurable. Self-care does not have to be elaborate and take a lot of time. Simple activities like taking a short walk, listening to music you enjoy, or even doing deep breathing are all acts of self-care. b. Avoid falling into the trap of telling yourself that you ll take good care of yourself once you finish your dissertation. Stop putting your life on hold. c. The more that you use the timeline and action plan structure, the easier it will be to develop the ability to set aside time to take care of yourself.
7 Example Dissertation Timeline (For a dissertation proposal) By June 26 1. Research questions and measures given to advisor 2. Created very rough outline of literature review (determine main substantive areas to be covered) modify timeline once I determine these areas 3. Set up a meeting my advisor for next week By July 3 1. IRB process and potential committee members discussed with advisor 2. Feedback on research questions received from advisor 3. Created draft of model to be tested 4. Draft of purpose of study written By July 10 1. Obtained articles on maternal depression and childhood/adolescent depression and developmental trajectories of adolescent depression (early in week) 2. Read articles on childhood/adolescent depression 3. Met with Dr. Caldwell (potential committee member) to discuss possibility of having her on my committee 4. Confirmed that Dr. Sutter that he will be on my dissertation committee 5. Revised model and purpose of study and gave to advisor for feeback By July 17 1. Read articles on maternal depression 2. Draft of participant section of method written 3. Draft of measures section of method written 4. Outlined maternal depression and childhood/adolescent depression section 5. Asked Dr. Skolnick to be on my committee 6. Asked Dr. Garner to be on my committee By July 24 1. Section written on relationship between maternal depression & childhood/adolescent depression 2. Committee established (emailed advisor to confirm committee members) 3. Feedback on model and purpose of study received from advisor By July 31 1. Read articles on developmental trajectories of depression in adolescents 2. Reviewed advisor s feedback on model and purpose of study / met with him to discuss his feedback (as needed) By August 7 1. Study purpose and model revised and finalized 2. Meeting set up next week with Dr. Caldwell for statistical assistance to review my ideas for analyses 3. Created a figure to provide a visual of study model
8 By August 14 1. Section written on development of depression in adolescents 2. Read articles on psychology and behavioral control 3. Outlined section on psychology and behavioral control 4. Obtained any articles needed on sexual behavior in adolescence By August 21 1. Written literature review section on parental control and depression 2. Internship letters requesting applications written and mailed By August 28 1. Read the articles I have on sexual behavior in adolescence 2. Outlined section on sexual behavior in adolescence By September 4 1. Section written on development of sexual behavior in adolescence 2. Read about structural equation modeling/regression models to determine what type of analyses are most appropriate for research questions email Dr. Caldwell as needed 3. Ideas for analysis sketched out on paper 4. Outlined section on relationship between depression and sexual risk-taking By September 11 1. Section written on relationship between depression and sexual risk-taking 2. Met with Dr. Caldwell to discuss structural equation modeling/regression models as they relate to my study 3. Full draft of participants, measures and procedure revised and completed 3. Read articles on peer influence and HIV risk/sexual risk-taking 4. Outlined section on peer influence and HIV risk/sexual risk-taking By September 18 1. Outlined section on peer factors and HIV risk 2. Draft of section on peer factors and HIV risk written 3. Integrated all of the sections of the literature review written to date - make sure purpose of study and research questions are written as part of the literature review 4. Meeting held with Advisor to review proposed analyses By September 25 1. Brainstorm ideas for internship essays 2. Talk over internship essay ideas with Alison and Betsy 3. Email Dr. Caldwell with any remaining questions regarding analyses 4. Revised figures as needed 5. Revised literature review and method and sent to advisor for feedback By October 2 1. Proposed analyses section written and sent to advisor 2. Feedback received from advisor on literature review and method sections 3. First draft of internship essays complete given to Alison & Betsy for review
9 4. All requests for letters of recommendation for internship made to faculty/supervisors By October 9 1. Feedback from advisor received on proposed analyses 2. Made inventory of revisions to make on literature review, method, and proposed analyses sections 3. Feedback obtained on internship essays By October 16 1. Internship essays revised 2. Entire proposal revised 3. Submitted proposal to advisor and Dr. Caldwell for review By October 23 1. Feedback received from advisor on proposal 2. References checked and finalized 3. Figures checked and finalized 4. Set proposal defense date & sign out a room for the meeting 5. Read and revised essays again 6. Internship applications complete and sent out for those with 11/1 deadline By October 30 1. Remaining internship applications complete and sent out for 11/15 deadline 2. Feedback received from Dr. Caldwell 3. Made inventory of changes to make to proposal based on feedback from advisor and Dr. Caldwell By November 13 * (two week interval to allow herself time to enter final round of feedback on her proposal) 1. Feedback from advisor and Dr. Caldwell integrated 2. Met advisor (if I need to discuss any issues before submitting proposal to committee) 3. Finalized proposal and sent to all 5 dissertation committee member By November 27 1. Created PowerPoint presentation for proposal defense meeting 2. Met with advisor to discuss proposal meeting 3. Practice presentation for proposal defense By December 4* 1. Proposal defended *In this student s department it is the norm to submit proposals or final defense dissertation paper s to the committee at least two weeks prior to the defense meeting
10 Action Plan to Meet August 21 Milestones Milestone Goals due by August 21 1. Written literature review section on parental control and depression 2. Internship letters requesting applications written and mailed Monday August 15 10am bikram yoga Write generic letter requesting applications from internship sites Read and write summary of the following three articles Petit, Laird, Dodge, Bates et al. (2001) Garber, Robinson & Valentine (1997) Barber, Olsen, & Shagle (1994) Tuesday August 16 Work at University hospital from 8am to 6pm Read & write summary of Conger, Conger & Scaramella (1997) Read & write summary of Baron and MacGillivray (1989) Wednesday August 17 Attend APAGS internship workshop at APA Write rough draft parental control and depression section based on articles read to date Address envelopes for internship letters Thursday August 18 Read & write summary of 4 articles: 1) Forehand and Nousiainen (1993) 2) Cole, Tram, Martin, et al. (2002) 3) Formosa, Gonzales, & Aiken (2000) 4) Herman, Dornbusch, Herron & Herting (1997) 4pm bikram yoga Friday August 19 Attend APA in the 9am to noon Read & write summary of Barber (1996) Read & write summary of Mason, Cauce, Gonzales, Hiraga (1996) Customize internship letters for 15 sites Saturday August 20 Integrate literature read Thursday and Friday into parental control & depression section to complete the entire section Make a list of any points that might still be missing Conduct literature search for any points that need additional literature Customize internship letters for 15 sites Put all internship letters in envelopes, stamp, and mail 4pm bikram yoga Sunday August 21 Attend APA conference in the 9am to 1pm Complete draft of parental control and depression section including any updates from list of points that are missing Revise parental control and depression section one more time Create a new action plan for August 22 to August 28 email plan to Alison