James, E. A, & Stater, T. (2014) Writing your doctoral
dissertation or thesis faster: A proven map to
success. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage Publishing..
Appropriate for:
All 3 Phases of Doctoral work
Quotes from the book…
Main Attributes and
Concepts:
1. Doctoral students can
use a map through the
entire thesis design
and writing process.
2. It is helpful to segment
thesis work into three
phases: design,
writing the prospectus
or proposal and then
from data analysis
through final writing.
3. It is also helpful to
consider award
winning theses and
what makes them
great, so these are
used as exemplars
throughout.
4. People learn
differently, therefore
material is presented
in a visually interesting
manner. It is broken
up by pictures that
exemplify concepts,
with- lots of activities
for kinesthetic
students and is
chunked in simple,
skim-able pages for
the auditory person.
5.
“Your advisor needs to have enough communication with you to
know you are not off track; on the other hand, they will get tired if
they are asked to read your material too often. This is a
challenging part of the relationship. Remember, they are not there
to tell you what to do. You manage your own process with their
advice.” Page 14.
“When analyzing the difference between award-winning
dissertations and others that earned graduation, this idea of a
golden thread becomes more obvious. Award-winning dissertations
float above the more mundane peers because the authors develop
a unique voice that is specific to the person writing and make it
obvious how every section relates to the topic of their research
without falling into redundancy, all while maintaining a level of
readability and pace that keeps the reader moving through what
are sometimes long and arduous documents. We will try to
demonstrate these golden threads with exam-ples as we discuss
the structure of putting together the various chapters in Part II and
Part III.” Page 96-97.
What we like about it most – why it is useful
Of course we are biased, because we wrote this book,
but we did so after extensive research into other books
available that supposedly helped dissertation writers.
What we found was that few if any covered the entire
process, doing as good a job on the end game of
writing up the final thesis as they did with explaining
design. We believe it to be the most useful book in the
market in the sense of a “day to day” guide– helping
you every step of the process from beginning to end.
All the chapters, each idea is presented where it
belongs on the mapped journey from beginning to end.
This prevents someone working their way through
tedious new material (on say methodology) before they
need to. On the other hand it introduces some critical
ideas such as organization of the final document early
enough in the process that you are protected from
going too far only to have to backtrack.
The book’s co-author, Tracesea Slater does not have a
PhD and is not familiar with the process. Throughout
she keeps the ideas grounded in “how do I do this?”
and “What do you mean?” “Why is that important?”
Of course different readers will pick it up at a variety of stages of their own personal
PhD or doctorate journey. Those later in the process need only read through the
map to ensure they have all the preliminary concepts on which the stage they are in
is built.
Doctoral work is similar and yet different, depending on where you are in the world.
This book is written for “both sides of the pond” and has sections that address the
similarities and differences in each. It includes practical suggestions on the human
as well as scientific writing part of the process as it includes comments on how to
manage your committee, where else to go for help, etc.
What it doesn’t do
It doesn’t go into:
 Great detail on types of methodology and where to use each.
 Go into topical detail.
 Does not use “work in progress” as examples.
From the back of the Book
A doctoral dissertation is arguably the most important journey you will embark upon
in your professional career, so you’ll want Writing your Doctorial Dissertation or
Thesis Faster: A Proven Map to Success at your fingertips! This practical guide
walks you through each step of the process: determining your research topic,
choosing appropriate methods, turning a hypothesis into a study, completing a
literature review, writing and defending the proposal, collecting and analyzing data,
writing up your study, and ultimately defending your dissertation. Building on years of
experience with doctoral students, the authors provide a comprehensive, yet easyto-use tool that encourages reflection; includes student stories, hints, and writing
tips; and provides end-of chapter checklists and ideas for incorporating social media
About the author(s)
Dr. E. Alana James received her EdD in educational leadership from Teachers
College in 2005. Since then she has helped over 30 doctoral candidates in either
educational leadership or business move through the process on to graduation.
Working primarily as supervisor for a number of online for profit universities, but also
sometimes in the role of committee member, she identified the key places and
challenges that created extra stress and, unfortunately, sometimes breakdown. This
book and her work developing DoctoralNet.com is in reaction to those difficulties and
will, with adoption, increase graduation rates for those working towards a PhD or
other type of doctoral degree. You can follow DoctoralNet on Twitter, Facebook, or
Google +.
Dr. James also specializes in action research and has used that transformative
process throughout the development of the techniques and strategies outlined
herein. Information about her other books can be found on the website for SAGE
Publishing.
A believer in the doctoral process as a rite of passage that releases the greatest
potential in life, she reinvented her own life to move half way around the world from
where she began. Living in Ireland with her partner, their two dogs and a cat she
authors nonfiction work on health and wellness on her personal website at
ealanajames.com where you can connect with her as a writer, a consultant or
speaker.
Tracesea Slater, MA, is the director of strategy at DoctoralNet.com where she works
with Dr. James to raise graduation rates by assisting doctoral students to finish their
dissertations. Tracesea’s main areas of research interest are education,
disadvantaged populations, and youth development. Her research experience
includes work as the manager of research and evaluation at a nonprofit serving
homeless youth in Denver, Colorado. She also has done research and program
evaluation in the fields of education and health care at a social research company.
Tracesea’s academic experience includes
work as a sociology instructor at the University of Colorado and Colorado Technical
University.