Dissertation Planning

Most dissertation writers have a topic in mind, and they have at least a vague notion of the type of empirical study then want to do. Turning those very preliminary thoughts into a scholarly concept, and formulating an acceptable proposal, however, requires more than coming up with a topic.

The absolute key to dissertation writing is RESEARCH. There is no shortcut, and no substitute for research. Identifying and retrieving the scholarly sources on your topic must be the first step in the dissertation process. But that isn't enough. The next step is the time-consuming one......but if you skip it, I guarantee that you will never get any further. You must read all of the sources you have retrieved, critically and analytically. You must organize them into two categories: theoretical literature and empirical literature. Within those two major categories you must create sub-categories which reflect the variables in your study and the questions/hypotheses you have formulated. You must then draft your Review of Literature, which will become the core of your dissertation as Chapter II.

If there is one single "hint" we can give you on moving your dissertation forward it is this: do your Review of Literature first!

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