[Air-L] PhD dissertation format

Tue Jul 5 16:56:25 PDT 2011

I went the even less traditional case-study format -- this format frustrated a number of faculty in the department. Getting the format accepted in addition to the work was tough. Like Dave, with some adaptation my dissertation was later published in book format.  I'm not aware of any other dissertation from the department that became a book. I'm pleased that I took the harder and more productive path that resulted in a greater expansion of our body of knowledge.

That said, your goal is to get out of there.  I've been on a number of hiring committees in several fields and I've never looked at any applicant's dissertation beyond reading the title in their CV.  Your experience may vary. 
Best regards,
Charlie

Charles V. Balch PhD

-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Dave Karpf
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 5:15 PM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-L] PhD dissertation format

This type of dissertation is very common in some social science programs, less-so in others.  I have colleagues in econ and in the more econ-driven subfields of political science for whom this is the norm.  It seems the main distinction is whether you are entering more of a book-driven or article-driven subfield.

I'd dismiss your first concern, that these are peer-reviewed articles, btw.
 Yes, solo peer-reviewed articles can be said to represent an individual's best solo effort.  This is the case because *all* of our work in academia is eventually peer-reviewed.  The process of managing those multiple inputs, engaging with their critiques, and crafting responses to them is fundamental to a "solo" effort.  Or put more plainly, there is no such thing as a truly lone scholar.  We are all participating in a discourse, and one's contribution is shaped passively through the books they read, semi-passively through the questions and methods they select, and actively through the peer reviews and conference discussants we encounter along the way.

(As for traditional dissertations going from A to Z and building a point over time... well, having just recently converted my traditional dissertation into a book manuscript, I'd humbly suggest that it's always a work-in-progress.  What I thought was comprehensive in 2009 felt woefullly inadequate in 2010/11.)

Bottom-line: the article compilation route is a good choice for fields that emphasize articles over books.  The traditional dissertation route is a good choice for fields that emphasize books over articles (or treat them equally).  And in all cases, follow the prevailing norms of whatever departments you hope will one day hire you.

Regards,
Dave

On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 6:10 PM, Darren Purcell <dpurcell at ou.edu> wrote:

> I know of several programs in Geography that were using this model in 
> the 1990s, because my doctoral program interviewed at last two 
> candidates who completed their dissertations this way.
>
>
>
> Darren
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Darren Purcell
>
> Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Adviser Dept. of Geography and 
> Environmental Sustainability University of Oklahoma
>
> SWAAG Secretary : http://www2.geog.okstate.edu/swaag/
>
> Email: dpurcell at ou.edu
> Skype: profpurcell
> (405) 325-9193
> http://ags.ou.edu/~dpurcell/
> http://ou.academia.edu/DarrenPurcell
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 4:16 PM, Knut Lundby <knut.lundby at media.uio.no
> >wrote:
>
> > At the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo, we have through 
> > several years been encouraged to apply this dissertation format 
> > alternative to a monograph.
> > Our PhD-programme is described here:
> > www.hf.uio.no/english/research/doctoral-degree-and-career/
> >
> > Knut Lundby
> > Dept. of Media and Communication
> > University of Oslo, Norway
> >
> >
> >
> > Den 5. juli 2011 kl. 19.20 skrev Mathieu ONeil:
> >
> > > Hi everyone
> > >
> > > I am currently writing a report on a PhD dissertation from a 
> > > European
> > university. The dissertation
> > >       -->consists of a general introduction (50 pages), four 
> > > articles
> > which have
> > > already been published in peer-reviewed journals, and an appendix 
> > > consisting of an additional article.
> > > I have to admit that I am little surprised by what is for me a new 
> > > kind
> > of Dissertation. Whilst the benefits are clear in terms of 
> > publications – when candidates obtain their doctorate they already 
> > have at least four publications in peer-reviewed journals – it 
> > raised some questions in my
> mind
> > regarding the nature of the work.
> > >
> > > First, since it is the final, published version of the 
> > > peer-reviewed
> > articles which is presented these articles have (presumably) been 
> > peer reviewed. That is to say, candidates are not presenting 
> > strictly speaking their own work, with input from a supervisor, but 
> > rather work which may
> have
> > been substantially benefited from a multi-person process of 
> > revision, negotiation, revision, etc. Can these articles  be said to 
> > represent a candidate's best solo effort? I know people could ask 
> > friends and
> contacts
> > for comments but here articles have been for want of a better word 
> > 'professionally' edited and proofread...
> > >
> > > Second, despite the introduction which attempts to pull everything
> > together the papers remain heterogenous articles and may suffer both 
> > from repetition (the same point can appear in one or several 
> > articles as well
> as
> > in the introduction) and from the lack of a clear overall structure. 
> > When you write a traditional Dissertation (say 100,000 words) you 
> > really need
> to
> > go from A to Z, learn to build a point over time and length... Maybe 
> > it
> is a
> > useless skill.
> > >
> > > This is not an isolated phenomenon, I received a published version 
> > > of a
> > really interesting PhD from someone a few months ago who did the 
> > same -
> from
> > a different European country.
> > >
> > > Anyway, I am curious as to how prevalent this practice is, and 
> > > what
> > people think about it – is a PhD like this the same as a traditional one?
> > Does it matter?
> > >
> > > cheers
> > > Mathieu
> > > _______________________________________________
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--
Dave Karpf, PhD

Assistant Professor
Journalism and Media Studies Department
School of Communication and Information
Rutgers University, New Brunswick

www.davidkarpf.com
davekarpf at gmail.com
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