The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation

by Laura Hyatt, Carol M. Roberts

Reach the summit of the dissertation mountain.


In many ways, the journey of completing a dissertation is like climbing a mountain. It requires planning, research, teamwork, and perseverance. In this fourth edition of their best-selling book, authors Laura Hyatt and Carol Roberts address the challenges that students will face as they journey to the peak of their academic career and complete their dissertation.


Completing a dissertation is a transformative and fulfilling life experience. It requires knowledge, tenacity, and preparation for the inevitable uncertainties that will arise along the way. It also necessitates strategies and techniques for dealing with the unanticipated events that many dissertation writers face, such as procrastination, writer’s block, and the uncertainty of how to conduct a literature review or approach a methods section. This newly revised edition addresses those elements and also



Indispensable information for organizing and writing a dissertation
Recommendations for identifying and writing research methods
Expanded coverage of research ethics
Insightful reflections from students who have effectively written and defended their dissertations

From preparing for the climb to enjoying the view from the summit, this book will assist you to successfully complete The Dissertation Journey.

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 17, 2023

Reviews

[Jennifer]

“Climbing the dissertation mountain safely and successfully requires inner essentials such as commitment, perseverance, stamina, a positive mental attitude, courage, and a spirit of adventure. Commitment is the promise you make to yourself to complete the dissertation regardless of the obstacles you face along the way. Perseverance means staying the course even when you don’t want to. Stamina requires the ability to sustain long hours of work while juggling work and family obligations and still achieving your goal. A positive mental attitude makes the difference between experiencing misery or joy along the path. Courage overcomes fear and self-doubt. A spirit of adventure means a willingness to explore your own limits and view the dissertation journey as a quest filled with new learnings and discoveries.” But “tomorrow is not a day of the week!” Laura Hyatt and Carol Roberts’ The Dissertation Journey provides doctoral candidates with the tools they need to get started and be counted among the 40% to 50% of doctoral students that complete their degrees and successfully summit the mountain peak!

[Dani]

I’m thankful to have found this clear and simple guide to writing a dissertation. I like how they break down each section and provide the necessary equipment and training needed to reach the top of the mountain (or, in other words, lots of tips and guidance on how to tackle each part of the dissertation).

[Jessica Adkisson]

Quick, recommend read

While I'm reading this for class, I'm grateful for the assignment in this course. This was an engaging read and broke down the dissertation process in a way that is informative and encouraging. I will likely make this a quick refresher read each year along my journey.

[Carrie]

Perfectly simple dissertation guidance

This book was assigned for an Applied Inquiry course to support writing a draft of Chapter 1 and will be a useful reference as I write the chapters of my dissertation.

[Alexandra Wieczorek]

Heavy on the mountain metaphor, but very useful nonetheless. I especially appreciated the checklists.

[Jeannie]

A concise and useful guide to how to go about the whole dissertation-writing process. Would recommend!

[Amanda Young]

If you’re going to write one, read this!