I've been prepping my dissertation prospectus for my Sociology PhD at the University of Hawaii over the summer. Got to have it done by the second week of Fall term classes so I can gain the coveted "All But Dissertation", or ABD status.
With ABD status, I can register for the all-important SOC 800 course, which counts as full time registration status but only costs the equivalent to one credit hour, roughly $500 as a in-state resident. Compare that to about $6,000 for a full load of 8 credit hours. Now, when a graduate student is "ABD" they are generally in the field doing dissertation research and need to pay for those expenses. Without ABD status, trying to do your field work and paying an additional $6000 a semester to your university to retain your full-time student status- even though you are elsewhere- is, well, kind of a hardship.
That's why getting ABD status is so important. Lower overhead expenses in the field. And to get ABD, I need to defend my dissertation proposal in first two weeks of upcoming fall term at UH. I guess a graduate student really doesn't have summers free. Should have learned that in the last six years.
In any case, I have my comps material as theoretical reference, a fairly clear thesis (more on that later), good research location planned, and a general idea (such as here, here, and here) on how to write a prospectus. But its not just the proposal for the dissertation itself, I also have to formulate consent forms and provide my qualitative interview guides to address the concerns of properly protecting human subjects.
Despite all the guides I have on the process, I feel like I'm missing something but can't quite figure out what.
Maybe it's my brain....
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Updated 8-13-09
PS: to those thesis writing services trying to spam comments to this post and get their sites linked to my post, don't bother---
Your sites are an insult to those of us who work so very hard to learn our craft and become professionals. Besides, its kinda, what's the word, oh yeah, unethical to buy a prewritten thesis or dissertation. It's also amazingly stupid to expect your graduate committee to green light a thesis found from the bottom of a box of crackerjacks. They know your writing style, warts and all. If you aren't expelled immediately from your graduate program, you will have lied your way into an academic career. Way to start your pursuit of the acquisition of knowledge for the betterment of mankind.
~M. Dziesinski
