Why dissertations fail

But, it requires focused learning directed toward an eventual thesis. The price of all this "enlightenment" was an extra year on my Ph.

Expect perfection Perfectionism is a tragic affliction in academia, since it tends to hit the brightest the hardest. Perfection cannot be attained. It is approached in the limit. So do eternal students with a drive to learn instead of research. Unfortunately, it is also a sieve that weeds out the unproductive. The trick is getting the timing right. Treat Ph. And, a jealous hobby. Reading through all of the related work takes biblical levels of devotion. The end brings an ecclesiastical robe and a clerical hood.

Ignore the committee Some Ph. Committee members, however, rarely forget the advice they give. He ignored that warning. He was lucky: it added only one more semester to his Ph.

Aim too low Some students look at the weakest student to get a Ph. This attitude guarantees that no professorship will be waiting for them. And, it all but promises failure. Aiming low leaves no room for uncertainty. And, research is always uncertain. Aim too high A Ph. It is. But, it is not the final undertaking. It's the start of a scientific career.

At best a handful of chemists remember what Einstein's Ph. He still got a Ph. Impact is something students should aim for over a lifetime of research. Once you know how to shoot, you can keep shooting until you hit it. Plus, with a Ph. It does not matter at all what you get your Ph. All that matters is that you get one. It's the training that counts--not the topic.

And they often believe, wrongly, that this document is proof that they have incorporated the requisite changes and that they should be awarded a Ph. In fact, the committee may feel that the changes do not go far enough or that they reveal further misunderstandings or deficiencies. Here are some real observations by dissertation committees:.

In short, students who fail their Ph. Some revised theses end up worse than the original submission. Students must incorporate changes in the way that the committee members had in mind. If what is required is unclear, students can usually seek clarification through their supervisors. In the nine years I have spent helping Ph. They are signs of a poor Ph. Once students are satisfied that the answer to each question is yes, they should ask their supervisors the same questions.

Daniel Sokol is the founder of Alpha Academic Appeals , a former academic and a practicing barrister in London. We have retired comments and introduced Letters to the Editor. Letters may be sent to [email protected].

Read the Letters to the Editor ». About Contact Subscribe. Career Advice. How to Avoid Failing Your Ph. By Daniel Sokol. September 10, It is very hard to understand a good part of the thesis. The only thing that has improved is the attempt to provide a little more analysis of the experimental data. Is it coherent and well structured? Does the thesis look good and read well? If a resubmission, have I made the changes that the examination committee had in mind? Read more by Daniel Sokol.

Here is what you will need to include in your paper: The dissertation Abstract. This is basically a very short summary of your entire dissertation. A scholar will read it to find out if your paper can help him with his work or if your paper is going to be of interest. The dissertation Introduction. The introduction is around two pages long and its main goal is to give your reader an idea of what you will be discussing in your paper. You can also briefly describe the methods you will be using and even present a bit of information about your findings and conclusions.

The Dissertation Methods and Discussion. This part is different from dissertation to dissertation. You will need to provide extensive information about the methods you have used to gather the data and the results of your research. Also, you will need to carefully discuss each result and critically analyze it. You can use an empirical or non-empirical route in this section. The Dissertation Conclusions. The conclusion should be viewed as the deduction part of your paper. Think long and hard about what you can deduce from your findings.

Make assumptions and suppositions. This section is very important because it shows the committee that you have understood the subject and managed to answer the research questions.

The Dissertation References. The references section is the part where you include all the materials you have used to write the paper. Any journals, articles, interviews, etc. Also, every time you cite anything in your text, you should create a reference entry. Length and Quality of Content What happens if you fail college?

Here are a few hints to get you started: The length of a dissertation can vary from to pages in length. The content needs to contain original research and a critical analysis of the findings. What Can Go Wrong? Here are some of the reasons why you can fail your dissertation: You focus on your grades in grad school.

Remember that nobody cares about your grades in grad school. Instead of working on your dissertation every chance you get, you are more worried about low grades.

You procrastinate. If you are like most grad students, you like to procrastinate. You think you have more than enough time to research and write the dissertation.

You ignore the committee and its recommendations. In most cases, you will be asked to change some things during the oral presentation of your dissertation. Failure to implement these changes is a sure way to fail the PhD. This is also a sure way to fail your dissertation.

Remember, the committee expects to see these pieces. And they will really read them. This means that you should not, under any circumstance, rush them just to get them done. Not having a clear structure in mind is very risky. Also, not thinking critically is definitely going to hurt your score. Simply analyzing other works is not enough to get a passing score. You need to be able to think critically and come up with original ideas that are supported by well-researched data. A dissertation must present original data that you have uncovered yourself.

Not editing and proofreading your work can result in a failure. Poorly written content makes reading the dissertation difficult and can irritate the committee or at least the chair of the committee. This is enough to get you a low score. Waiting for your supervisor to tell you what to do is not an option. You are expected to take charge of your paper and do the necessary research yourself. You should not expect the supervisor to tell you what to do.