Jun
13
Contemplations on a Dissertation Pt 1: A Done Dissertation
June 13, 2007 |
I have been told, on more than one occasion and by multiple persons, that “The best dissertation is a ‘done’ dissertation.” I have discovered that this oft repeated saying actually means different things to different people. I have recently had the opportunity to contemplate a couple of these interpretations and have come to the conclusion that it might make sense after all.
- Interpretation #1
This, I suppose is the most literal translation and I first heard it at a time when I didn’t have enough experience to interpret it any other way. I was in the process of narrowing my research topic. It was big and unwieldy and, I suppose, some might have considered it “a bit off the beaten track”. I had big aspirations for my big topic and , when I was hit with the “best done” quote, I was perplexed. I took this to mean that my big aspirations for my big topic were misplaced. After all, couldn’t small aspirations and a small topic accomplish the same thing?
In this interpretation the dissertation is seen as a rite of passage, a ticket to ride, something to be valued for its extrinsic properties. The content mattered only to the point that it contributed to getting the dissertation done.
- Interpretation #2
Having just sent the first three chapters (my dissertation proposal) to my committee, I am beginning to appreciate that there is, at least, one other interpretation of the “best done” quote. I was really reluctant to finish those chapters because I knew that, once I did, it would be out of my hands. I understand that this is the point of the whole thing but I can’t help but thinking that there are ideas that I might be able to express more clearly, transitions that might be made smoother, and any number of other delaying tactics I might employ in order to delay “the day of judgment”.
This is a very different situation from the first one. I worked with my big topic until it became manageable. It has led to something that I find to be interesting, relevant, and original. These intrinsic qualities were not essential to the first interpretation. But, now that I’ve managed to imbue my dissertation with these essential (to me), intrinsic qualities, it is time to deal with the practicalities the extrinsic variables represent. Here the “best done” quote is simply saying that it’s time to “let go”.
I mean, I can work on this thing forever, but if a dissertation never emerges from the confines of my hard drive, there won’t be an actual artifact about which to consider the essence of ‘doneness’. So from this perspective, and at this point in the process, I’m thinking that, not only is the “best” dissertation a done dissertation”, the “only” dissertation is a done dissertation.
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