Third doctoral commandment: The dissertation is an iterative process
by Constance Davis | August 12, 2009
Nearly every day I speak with learners who are frustrated that they have to keep writing and rewriting – and sometimes rewriting even more – before their mentors will approve a chapter.
These same learners become even more frustrated after the committee looks at those same chapters and demands even more rewriting. The school-level review may require still more rewrites before the chapters will be approved.
Why so many rewrites? Ah, where do I begin? Let me list just some of the reasons:
First, the dissertation will be published and available for anyone to read. The dissertation certainly has the learner’s name on it, but it also includes the names of the mentor and committee members. They want it to be quality work.
Second, we all can improve our writing. Even those who win Pulitzer or Nobel or other writing awards need editors for their work. An email that you dash off to a friend might not get even a second glance before you send it. An email to a colleague might get only a quick read after you write it. A job application letter should get several more reads before you send it off. But this is a dissertation. The writing itself needs to be at a scholarly level and it needs to clearly show the importance of the research you have done.
Third, more eyes on your work will mean that it is more likely errors and omissions might be found. As you write and rewrite, you probably start to become so familiar with your topic that you think you have explained an important concept. But that could be all in your head. Your mentor could also become so familiar with the work that s/he might also not see what is missing. So when committee members get to take a look, they are looking with fresh eyes and might be able to spot those omissions. And if the learners let a chapter “marinate” for a few days before rereading it, most likely they will find mistakes, too. Or at least sentences that can be improved.
Fourth, we are all human. We make mistakes every day in our writing. Maybe we write horribly convoluted sentences that no one can understand. Or we write when we are too tired so that what seemed perfectly brilliant at the time might actually be totally incomprehensible. We might not always reach perfectly brilliant, but we certainly do not want incomprehensible.