How Does the Dissertation Process Work?

Often when graduate students think of their dissertation, they imagine a finished product: a thick, leather-bound manuscript signifying the culmination of their education. While a great (and motivating!) visual, it doesn’t tell the whole story about what it means to write a dissertation. Before embarking on this journey, it is helpful to conceptualize it as a dissertation process, rather than a final document. 

One misconception that many graduate students have about the dissertation process is that it’s something they’ve done before, like an amplified seminar paper or journal article. In reality, a dissertation is a whole different animal from anything that you’ve yet attempted, even a master’s thesis. Before you get started, it’s a good idea to peruse recently-defended dissertations written by doctoral students in your department to get an idea of the basic framework and what is expected by your university. Then, the real work can begin!

These are a few frequently asked questions about the dissertation process:

• Where does the dissertation process begin?
• What are the steps of the dissertation process?
• How long does the dissertation process take?
• What is the hardest part of the dissertation process? 

Where Do I Start? 

There is no doubt that the dissertation process is an intimidating journey, but you’ve got to start somewhere. The good news is, in some ways you’ve been preparing to write your dissertation for a very long time. A doctoral dissertation truly is the apex of your graduate education, and by the time you reach the starting line, you’re well-trained to run the race. While it’s a marathon rather than a sprint, being cleared by your department to start your dissertation means that you’re ready. 

Start by getting all of the pieces–and people–that you’ll need in place. This means choosing a faculty member from your department to be your dissertation advisor, a decision that you’ll want to make carefully. Once that is formalized, schedule a kick-off meeting to talk about your idea for your dissertation, and make sure that it is feasible. Your advisor will be well-versed in the potential challenges you could face and will help steer you in the right direction. 

There are also practical considerations. For the sciences, lab times and spaces may need to be scheduled well in advance. IRB approval may be needed before research can commence, and that means paperwork–sometimes lots of it. For the arts and humanities, grant funding may need to be sought, as well as stipends for research trips. At this point, it’s also a good idea to get friendly with a research librarian at your university–they are an incredible resource. 

What Are the Steps of the Dissertation Process? 

Once you’ve met with your dissertation advisor and agreed on a plan, you have a green light to get started. While dissertations do vary by discipline, the process itself tends to follow conventions. The basic framework is distilled in the structure of the dissertation, which is broken down into dissertation chapters. The first three dissertation chapters make up the dissertation proposal, which is the first major milestone in the dissertation process. 

The chapters of your dissertation proposal, which you’ll have to defend during a dissertation proposal defense with your dissertation committee, usually represents about half of your dissertation. In these chapters, you’ll write the introduction to your study, the literature review, and the research methods section, which outlines how you propose to complete your research. Once the dissertation proposal is approved, you’ll continue your dissertation project by completing your results and conclusions sections for the dissertation defense. 

How Long Does the Dissertation Process Take? 

This is a great question, and the answer varies wildly. Most programs allot at least three semesters (fall, spring, and summer) for researching and writing a dissertation. A year to eighteen months is a good amount of time to plan for, more if there are extenuating circumstances (working, caregiving, time off, etc.). Many programs also have a hard time-out date for students to complete and defend their dissertations (usually six years). 

Another factor that determines how long the dissertation process takes is the amount of time you spend getting started. A lot depends on determining the exact locus of your topic and research question and how long it takes for it to take shape. Initially, the research question is often a nebulous glimmer of an idea that evolves and becomes more refined during a deep dive into the existing body of relevant literature. 

This period of research can be extensive. While you may spend days or weeks researching a seminar paper, this stage of the dissertation process should be thought about in terms of months or semesters. Yes, it’s a lengthy process, but it is during this phase that you really start to become an expert on your topic. Take your time–you have a lot to learn, and developing this expertise now will serve you well not only while writing your dissertation, but also in your career. 

What is the Hardest Part of the Dissertation Process?

Writing a dissertation is hard work. There’s no way around it. It is probably the most demanding, rigorous intellectual exercise any of us will ever do, and most of it is done alone. It’s an intense learning process that not only molds you into an expert on your topic, but also into an academic whose perspective is shaped by theory and philosophy. There’s a lot of reading, a lot of writing, and also a bit of self-doubt. It’s a wholly transformative process, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. 

Make no mistake: the dissertation process is difficult and fraught with challenges, but it can also be one of the most satisfying, enriching experiences that you’ll ever have. I vividly remember the struggles that I had when writing my dissertation: lack of sleep, a huge learning curve, fearing that I was getting it all wrong. But engaging in the dissertation process and getting the opportunity to do unlimited research on a topic that I truly loved was such a gift. After spending years learning theory and reading the work of other scholars, getting a chance to plant my own flag in the body of knowledge and declare a tiny piece of intellectual real estate my own was extraordinary.