Dissertation: Getting Started

Congratulations! You're ready to start working on your dissertation! Feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to start is pretty much how everyone feels at first.

1. Determine a topic. You might already have a general idea or a broad starting goal. That's ok for now.
2. Literature -  Once you have a topic, start to get a feel for what literature has been written already on this topic. The resources in the box to the right might help. Remember, at this stage, you're just looking for ideas:
   • What sparks your interest? Why? (There might be different aspects that interest you - don't worry about how to make connections yet - you're just getting a feel for things right now)
   • What are most of the articles focusing on? What are the trends? Where are the gaps?
   • What isn't interesting to you? Why not?
3. Get support! Talk to people:
   • Faculty members - your seminar teacher and those you might want to serve on your committee
     • The process
     • Your topic
   • Librarians
     • Finding resources (books, articles, etc.)
     • Your topic (get a feel for what others in this specific field have done)
   • Center for Learning and Teaching
     • Structuring thoughts and concepts coherently
4. Once you have a feel for your topic, start your literature review. Luckily you already probably have some resources from Step 2.

For more help, check out the Sage Research Methods database below.

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Resources

Tutorials