Understanding the Doctoral Candidate, or, It's Not Just Me

This morning, as I was busy putting together a poster demonstrating the results of a fun little study I did on factorial validity and invariance(yawn), I started to think about something FUN to write. I have an idea for a book about PhD candidates and the dissertation process.

So I did some googling to find out if anything like it had been done before and I came across a citation for the dissertation, "Understanding the ABD (all but dissertation) doctoral candidate: A phenomenological approach" by Manuel G. Ramos Jr. Here's an excerpt:

"The findings of this research suggest that the phenomenon of the ABD doctoral candidate can best be described as a phenomenon which results in leaving the individual experiencing feelings, emotions, or in a state of: isolation; doubting one's own ability; at a loss (how to approach the dissertation); guilt; frustration; embarrassment; powerlessness; vulnerability; fear; and insecurity."

Well, I can certainly relate.

I think all of these creative ideas I have about fun writing projects stem from the powerlessness and frustration I feel when I reflect on my dissertation. The diss is represents the last and biggest project for which the writer is still just a helpless peon (aka student). As such, it blows. As much autonomy as we have, we still aren't entirely in charge. And we all know that academics LOVE being pushed around.

More on the book idea later.