Dissertation Solutions

Bradley N. Axelrod,PhD, is the director of neuropsychological and psychological assessment services at the John D. Dingell Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has published extensively in the area of psychometric analysis of neuropsychological and psychological test measures. He provides clinical training to psychology interns, and also provides research support to graduate students while serving on dozens of master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation committees.James Windell, MA, has been a court psychologist in the Oakland County Circuit Court’s Family Division in Oakland County, Michigan, where he provides group therapy for delinquents and divorced co-parents with high conflicts. He is the author or co-author of fifteen books on parenting, medicine, and high-conflict divorce.

Dissertation Solutions gives the broad strokes and fine points of how the dissertation actually works, on stage and behind the scenes, by using student accounts of dissertation successes, tragedies, and sagas. For those students who are stuck, fear getting delayed, or need to obsess about the dissertation constructively while anticipating it or procrastinating on it, this is a must read. Dissertation Solutions is a very practical guide that will tell students some of what you already know and some of what you don’t want to hear, it will help you hear it, and help you navigate the real-world messiness of the dissertation process. There’s something for every student. Give it a read for its ability to motivate you, provide useful information, and convey wisdom.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: BackgroundChapter One. It Isn't Simply HazingChapter Two. The Dissertation ProcessPart II: Before, During, and After the DissertationChapter Three. Don't Fear StartingChapter Four. Get it Out of the Box -- Work on it Early and OftenChapter Five. Work AheadChapter Six. Back it UpPart III: Selecting Your Topic or Research StudyChapter Seven. Use Coursework StrategicallyChapter Eight. Read Journals and Attend Conferences AggressivelyChapter Nine. Investigating Faculty Members’ ResearchChapter Ten. Save the Nobel Prize for LaterChapter Eleven. Pitfalls of Concurrent and Absentee Data CollectionChapter Twelve. Pitfalls of Archival Data CollectionChapter Thirteen. Maximizing FlexibilityChapter Fourteen. Locale and Availability of Data CollectionChapter Fifteen. The Financial Pain of ResearchPart IV: Selecting Your Committee Chapter Sixteen. Selecting Your AdvisorChapter Seventeen. Selecting Other Committee Members (Part I)…Choose Who You KnowChapter Eighteen. Selecting Other Committee Members (Part II)…Know Who You ChoosePart V: Preparing to Begin Chapter Nineteen. Marriages Are For People, Not Work ProductsChapter Twenty. The Runaround and Getting your Ducks in a RowChapter Twenty-One. The Human Investigating Committee and the Institutional Review BoardHurdlePart VI: The Project: Ins and Outs of the ProcessChapter Twenty-Two. Managing AnxietyChapter Twenty-Three. Managing IndifferenceChapter Twenty-Four. Managing LunacyPart VII: Approaching the DefenseChapter Twenty-Five. No Surprises -- Certainly Not During the Proposal or Defense MeetingsChapter Twenty-Six. Preparing for the DefenseChapter Twenty-Seven. You Know More Than You Believe You KnowChapter Twenty-Eight. The Ruler Lady Part VIII: Publishing Chapter Twenty-Nine. AuthorshipChapter Thirty. Finding a JournalChapter Thirty-One. The Reviewers Said What? Chapter Thirty-Two. Editors and Reviewers are People, TooPart IX: CollaboratingChapter Thirty-Three. Making a TeamChapter Thirty-Four. Who is Doing What on the Project?Part X: Wrapping It UpChapter Thirty-Five. Congratulations! You Did It! Now, Where do You Go from Here? AppendicesAppendix A. Recommended ResourcesAppendix B. References