Finish Your Dissertation

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If you haven't finished your dissertation before applying to predoctoral internships, at least complete as much as possible before actually beginning your internship.

Why should I finish my dissertation before internship?

First, you'll enjoy your internship more and will be able to focus on it without the burden of the dissertation. Second, even at the most relaxed internship, there's plenty of work to do. Despite any dissertation seminar, advising, time, or support provided by the internship, it's hard to complete such a large project in addition to the 40+ hours a week required by the site. You may be away from your school and advisor, and even if you're not it may be harder to get appointments with your committee members. Finally, if you finish your dissertation, you may be eligible to graduate at the end of your internship.

Why would that matter?

In some states, once you've met all of your school's criteria, you can begin to accrue postdoctoral hours. In other states, your degree must actually be conferred. ("State" here is the state where you are seeking licensure, not the state in which your program resides.) This is an important consideration if you are entering into a postdoc that requires you to have graduated, offers only a certain number of hours, or pays a lower stipend to ABDs. In either case, you can't get credit for postdoctoral hours until your state licensing board approves you. You can speed up the licensing process if you're done with your dissertation before internship ends.

What are my resources?

You're probably familiar with these library resources, but I'll mention them anyway: Dissertation Abstracts International, PsychInfo, and ERIC are available at most university libraries. Your internship may give you access to a library, or you may be able to arrange use or borrowing privileges through your own school's library. ProQuest provides limited, free dissertation searches. There are other medical and social sciences data bases available; don't forget to ask about social work, family therapy, or nursing, and other databases potentially useful to you as well.

I can't say enough good things about Dissertation Abstracts International online or on CD-ROM. I found the five dissertations related to my topic that I'd found in the hard copy of DAI up in the stacks, and also found another using a keyword search. DAI online at the library took under two minutes, whereas the hard copy search took about six hours.

I'm not good at motivating myself.

All the more reason to finish before beginning internship. If you find yourself alone and unmotivated, consider starting a dissertation and thesis support group with other trainees at your site. You can also look for online resources for dissertation support.

PSYCGRAD is a website and listserve for current psychology graduate students. It is sponsored and operated by APA. I've seen notices for dissertation awards and prizes on this list.

ecoach is a website offering a dissertation support newsletter.

In addition, there are many books on the dissertation process. Powell's Books, a large independent bookstore, is a nice alternative to monster bookmarts. Use their search engine with keywords such as "dissertation," "qualitative," "research" or similar terms.

Here are some books I found helpful when I was writing my dissertation (during my internship, which is how I know that it can be an uphill battle):

John D. Cone, Sharon L. Foster (Contributor
Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish: Psychology and Related Fields
(1993) American Psychological Assn; ISBN 1557981949

Lawrence F. Locke, Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, Stephen J. Silverman
Proposals That Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals
(1997) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0803950675

Kjell Erik Rudestam, Rae R. Newton
Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process
(1992) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0803945639

David Sternberg
How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation
(1981) St. Martin's Press; ISBN 0312396066

I also used these books in my dissertation. Guess whether it was qualitative or quantitative:

Jerome Bruner
Acts of Meaning (Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures)
(1992) Harvard Univ Pr; ISBN 0674003616

Amanda Coffey, Paul Atkinson
Making Sense of Qualitative Data: Complimentary Research Strategies
(1996) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0803970536

John W. Creswell
Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions
(1997) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0761901442

Norman K. Denzin
Interpretive Interactionism (Applied Social Research Methods, Vol. 16)
(1989) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0803930038

David A. Erlandson, Edward L. Harris
Doing Naturalistic Inquiry: A Guide to Methods
(1993) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0803949383

Danny L. Jorgensen
Participant Observation: A Methododology for Human Studies (Applied Social Research Methods, Vol. 15)
(1989) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0803928777

Ruthellen Josselson (Editor)
Ethics and Process in the Narrative Study of Lives (The Narrative Study of Lives, Vol. 4)
(1996) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0761902376

Elliot G. Mishler
Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative
(1991) Harvard Univ Pr; ISBN 0674764617

Donald E. Polkinghorne
Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences (Suny Series in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences)
(1988) State Univ of New York Pr; ISBN 0887066232

Gretchen B. Rossman, Sharon F. Rallis
Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research
(1998) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0761903534

Irving Seidman
Interviewing As Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences (2nd edition) (1998) Teachers College Pr; ISBN 080773697X

Renata Tesch
Qualitative Research: Analysis Types and Software Tools
(1990) Falmer Pr; ISBN 1850006091

Harry F. Wolcott
Writing Up Qualitative Research (Qualitative Research Methods, Vol 20)
(1990) Sage Pubns; ISBN 0803937938

I also found these books helpful:

Donald T. Campbell, Julian C. Stanley
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research
(1966) Houghton Mifflin College; ISBN 0395307872

John L. Phillips
How to Think About Statistics
6th edition (1999) W H Freeman & Co; ISBN 0716736543

Dissertation Poll

(This is a web-based poll. If it doesn't load, please try again later.)

Please send me your comments, suggestions, and other dissertation resources. I'll review them for possible inclusion on this site. Thanks!

Shoshana D. Kerewsky, Psy.D.

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Last revised: February 03, 2000.

Disclaimer

This information is accurate to the best of my knowledge, but you should check with the sources of information listed for confirmation, updates, and complete descriptions. This page is provided as an extension of my opinions only and does not represent any point of view other than my own. I assume no liability for your actions based on this information either as an individual or as a practice under my own name, or as a representative of any institution, agency or program.