A quick review of Destination Dissertation

I was recently lent a copy of Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation. This review is based upon a brief skim of the introduction and chapters that most directly appealed to me, given my current progress on my dissertation. I would classify my position has having a rough idea (separating the effects of elections from the effects of democracy), but still working on the finer points of my research question. The value of this book may be less to graduate students further along the process.

The authors of Destination Dissertation provide an interesting metaphor for writing a dissertation: instead of a task to be completed, a dissertation should be viewed as a trip or a journey, something pleasurable. Thankfully, the authors do not stress this metaphor too heavily, but simply use it to bind together the 12 chapters with a few lines returning to the theme at the beginning of each chapter. More valuable than the trip metaphor is the authors’ ability to turn vague goals into concrete steps, specifically 29 of them. While 29, at first blush, may appear to a be a high number of steps, the fact that they can define any dissertation in a finite number of concrete steps I find to be an amazing feat. Also note that these steps are not vague brush strokes, but specific actions to be taken, including checklists and techniques to be used in the writing and researching phases. Even more amazing, at least to this reviewer, is that the authors estimate a typical dissertation could be completed in 6.5 months, assuming a 40 hour work week devoted to the study, an encouraging, if ambitious, goal.

My quick reading of the book focused on three key areas: the literature review step, techniques for writing, and the chapter devoted to common pitfalls. All three of these sections are opinionated. This is both a blessing and a curse. The opinionated writing manifests as concrete, if inflexible, prescriptions. In the literature review section the authors provide a specific way of gathering notes. In the writing section, the authors demand frequent writing and encourage the use of fast-writing techniques, in which little attention is paid to details such as typos and exact citations (substituting comments such as “CITE THIS LATER” or “LOOK UP EXACT NUMBER”). The authors even go so far as to recommend turning of the computer monitor when writing to eliminate one’s ability to get tied up in typos or formatting. This review was written using their recommend fast writing/slow review process, and I found it both enjoyable and effective in putting my ideas to paper.

The downside of the concrete recommendations is inflexibility. In the literature review section the authors provide a detailed and specific method of culling resources and composing the initial review materials. The method looks interesting, and I intend to employ it at least provisionally, but it may not work for all readers. If the solution does not work, then what? The authors have little say if you vary from their positions. Similarly, they define the common pitfalls of dissertation using a series of case studies. If a reader found a story to describe his or her behavior, the recommended solutions may help, but if the authors’ list does not include a reader, there are few other ways of applying the recommendations.

My previous experience with dissteration guides is limited to a single book on conducting a literature review. This book suffered from either overly vague prescriptions or already outdated technology recommendations (“Be sure to use Gopher.”) While I am wary of the inflexibility of the Destination Dissertation approach, I certainly prefer the authors’ clear recommendations to the problems of my previous reading. Even if you do not think the authors’ approach will serve you, at least you know what they are recommending (compared to vague or technologically irrelevant advice). I would certainly recommend Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation on this basis alone.