Your CIOS file request: COMGRADS hotline item

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Received:  by CIOS Mailer; Saturday 12 Jun 1999 20:35:01
Date:          Sat, 12 Jun 99 20:22 -0400
To: "Multiple recipients of COMGRADS" 
From: tsf2  at email.psu.edu
Subject:       more on dissertation writing

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Folks,

I got this information through another listserv. I hope this helps some of you.

Cheers,
Todd


>The posting below are from an excellent web site: 
>[http://nexus6.cs.ucla.edu/~huijuan/IMPORTforANDREW/mainPage.html], 
>containing an informative artilcle by Marie desJardins at SRI International 
>(marie@erg.sri.com) The article, "How to Be a Good Graduate Student," has 
>the following subheadings: 
> 
>1. Introduction 
>2. Before You Start 
>3. Doing Research 
>1. The Daily Grind 
>2. Staying Motivated 
>3. Getting to the Thesis 
>1. Finding an Advisor 
>2. Finding a Thesis Topic 
>3. Writing the Thesis 
>4. Getting Feedback 
>5. Getting Financial Support 
>4. Advice for Advisors 
>1. Interacting With Students 
>5. Becoming Part of the Research Community 
>1. Attending Conferences 
>2. Publishing Papers 
>3. Networking 
>6. All Work and No Play... 
>7. Issues for Women 
>8. Conclusions 
>9. Bibliography 
> 
>Regards 
> 
>Rick Reis 
>Reis@cdr.stanford.edu 
>UP NEXT: Getting Feedback on Your Research 
> 
> -------------------- 513 words -------------------- 
> 
> TIPS ON WRITING YOUR THESIS/DISSERTATION 
> 
>Marie desJardins 
> 
>Graduate students often think that the thesis happens in two distinct 
>phases: doing the research, and writing the dissertation. This may be the 
>case for some students, but more often, these phases overlap and interact 
>with one another. Sometimes it's difficult to formalize an idea well enough 
>to test and prove it until you've written it up; the results of your tests 
>often require you to make changes that mean that you have to go back and 
>rewrite parts of the thesis; and the process of developing and testing your 
>ideas is almost never complete (there's always more that you *could* do) so 
>that many graduate students end up ``doing research'' right up until the 
>day or two before the thesis is turned in. 
> 
>The divide-and-conquer approach works as well for writing as it does for 
>research. A problem that many graduate students face is that their only 
>goal seems to be ``finish the thesis.'' It is essential that you break this 
>down into manageable stages, both in terms of doing the research and when 
>writing the thesis. Tasks that you can finish in a week, a day, or even as 
>little as half an hour are much more realistic goals. Try to come up with a 
>range of tasks, both in terms of duration and difficulty. That way, on days 
>when you feel energetic and enthusiastic, you can sink your teeth into a 
>solid problem, but on days when you're run-down and unmotivated, you can at 
>least accomplish and few small tasks and get them off your queue. 
> 
>It also helps to start writing at a coarse granularity and successively 
>refine your thesis. Don't sit down and try to start writing the entire 
>thesis from beginning to end. First jot down notes on what you want to 
>cover; then organize these into an outline (which will probably change as 
>you progress in your research and writing). Start drafting sections, 
>beginning with those you're most confident about. Don't feel obligated to 
>write it perfectly the first time: if you can't get a paragraph or phrase 
>right, just write *something* (a rough cut, a note to yourself, a list of 
>bulleted points) and move on. You can always come back to the hard parts 
>later; the important thing is to make steady progress. 
> 
>When writing a thesis, or any technical paper, realize that your audience 
>is almost guaranteed to be less familiar with your subject than you are. 
>Explain your motivations, goals, and methodology clearly. Be repetitive 
>without being boring, by presenting your ideas at several levels of 
>abstraction, and by using examples to convey the ideas in a different way. 
> 
>Having a ``writing buddy'' is a good idea. If they're working on their 
>thesis at the same time, so much the better, but the most important thing 
>is that they be willing to give you feedback on rough drafts, meet 
>regularly to chart your progress and give you psychological support, and 
>preferably that they be familiar enough with your field to understand and 
>review your writing.

Todd S. Frobish
Doctoral Candidate

Department of Speech Communication
The Pennsylvania State University
234 Sparks Building
University Park, PA 16803

Http://www.personal.psu.edu/tsf2/

__________________________________________________________
"Morals can hide no secret and whoever is silent with the lips, tattles with
the finger tips -- betrayal oozing from every pore"  
- Freud

"By all means marry.  If you get a good wife, you'll be happy.  If you get a
bad one, you'll become a philosopher...and that is a good thing for any man.
- Socrates 
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Folks,



I got this information through another listserv. I hope this helps some
of you.



Cheers,

Todd





>The posting below are from an excellent web site: 

>[http://nexus6.cs.ucla.edu/~huijuan/IMPORTforANDREW/mainPage.html],


>containing an informative artilcle by Marie desJardins at SRI
International 

>(marie@erg.sri.com) The article, "How to Be a Good Graduate
Student," has 

>the following subheadings: 

> 

>1. Introduction 

>2. Before You Start 

>3. Doing Research 

>1. The Daily Grind 

>2. Staying Motivated 

>3. Getting to the Thesis 

>1. Finding an Advisor 

>2. Finding a Thesis Topic 

>3. Writing the Thesis 

>4. Getting Feedback 

>5. Getting Financial Support 

>4. Advice for Advisors 

>1. Interacting With Students 

>5. Becoming Part of the Research Community 

>1. Attending Conferences 

>2. Publishing Papers 

>3. Networking 

>6. All Work and No Play... 

>7. Issues for Women 

>8. Conclusions 

>9. Bibliography 

> 

>Regards 

> 

>Rick Reis 

>Reis@cdr.stanford.edu 

>UP NEXT: Getting Feedback on Your Research 

> 

> -------------------- 513 words -------------------- 

> 

> TIPS ON WRITING YOUR THESIS/DISSERTATION 

> 

>Marie desJardins 

> 

>Graduate students often think that the thesis happens in two distinct


>phases: doing the research, and writing the dissertation. This may be
the 

>case for some students, but more often, these phases overlap and
interact 

>with one another. Sometimes it's difficult to formalize an idea well
enough 

>to test and prove it until you've written it up; the results of your
tests 

>often require you to make changes that mean that you have to go back
and 

>rewrite parts of the thesis; and the process of developing and
testing your 

>ideas is almost never complete (there's always more that you *could*
do) so 

>that many graduate students end up ``doing research'' right up until
the 

>day or two before the thesis is turned in. 

> 

>The divide-and-conquer approach works as well for writing as it does
for 

>research. A problem that many graduate students face is that their
only 

>goal seems to be ``finish the thesis.'' It is essential that you
break this 

>down into manageable stages, both in terms of doing the research and
when 

>writing the thesis. Tasks that you can finish in a week, a day, or
even as 

>little as half an hour are much more realistic goals. Try to come up
with a 

>range of tasks, both in terms of duration and difficulty. That way,
on days 

>when you feel energetic and enthusiastic, you can sink your teeth
into a 

>solid problem, but on days when you're run-down and unmotivated, you
can at 

>least accomplish and few small tasks and get them off your queue.


> 

>It also helps to start writing at a coarse granularity and
successively 

>refine your thesis. Don't sit down and try to start writing the
entire 

>thesis from beginning to end. First jot down notes on what you want
to 

>cover; then organize these into an outline (which will probably
change as 

>you progress in your research and writing). Start drafting sections,


>beginning with those you're most confident about. Don't feel
obligated to 

>write it perfectly the first time: if you can't get a paragraph or
phrase 

>right, just write *something* (a rough cut, a note to yourself, a
list of 

>bulleted points) and move on. You can always come back to the hard
parts 

>later; the important thing is to make steady progress. 

> 

>When writing a thesis, or any technical paper, realize that your
audience 

>is almost guaranteed to be less familiar with your subject than you
are. 

>Explain your motivations, goals, and methodology clearly. Be
repetitive 

>without being boring, by presenting your ideas at several levels of


>abstraction, and by using examples to convey the ideas in a different
way. 

> 

>Having a ``writing buddy'' is a good idea. If they're working on
their 

>thesis at the same time, so much the better, but the most important
thing 

>is that they be willing to give you feedback on rough drafts, meet


>regularly to chart your progress and give you psychological support,
and 

>preferably that they be familiar enough with your field to understand
and 

>review your writing.



Todd S. Frobish
Doctoral Candidate


Department of Speech Communication
The Pennsylvania State University
234 Sparks Building
University Park, PA 16803


Http://www.personal.psu.edu/tsf2/


__________________________________________________________
"Morals can hide no secret and whoever is silent with the lips,
tattles with the finger tips -- betrayal oozing from every
pore"  
- Freud


"By all means marry.  If you get a good wife, you'll be
happy.  If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher...and that
is a good thing for any man.
- Socrates 


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