Each year ASGS surveys its members to determine what types of problems they're experiencing with their theses, and to update our member profile. This questionnaire appeared in the September 1993 issue of Dissertation News. Here are the results (N = 100). Note: on many items, respondents selected multiple options, so percentages often do not add up to 100.
At what stage are you in your dissertation?Copyright 1994, Association for Support of Graduate Students. Unauthorized reproduction of survey results is forbidden by federal copyright laws.
Starting 8% Proposal 11% Dissertation 21% Finished 60% Why are you getting a doctorate? Career enhancement 75% Personal satisfaction 67% Entry to faculty position 20% Other 3% What size is your institution? Small 20% Large 80% What is your field? Education 73% Psychology 19% Professional/Humanities 8% Are you-- Male 42% Female 58% Is your age-- Under 30 1% 31-40 36% 41-50 53% 51+ 9% Are you a US citizen? No 3% Yes 97% Member of an ethnic minority? No 69% Yes 31% Do you live with a significant other? No 24% Yes 76% Live with dependent children? No 47% Yes 53% Are you employed full-time? No 17% Yes 83% Is your timeline for completion reasonable
in light of your other obligations? Yes 92% No 8% Are you on schedule? No 32% Yes 68% How many hours per week do you work on the dissertation? 10 or less 35% 11-20 41% 21-40 24% How do you make time to work on it? Manage time 47% Minimize family/social/personal time 38% Mornings/evenings/weekends 36% Time off work 24% Have you done any of the following while
working on your doctorate/dissertation-- Change/start a job 58% Move your residence 49% Get seriously ill 22% Get divorced 15% Have a child 10% Get married 9% Have an accident 5% Military duty 2% Other trauma 24% Do you have a dissertation buddy or support group? No 52% Yes 48% If you do, how does it help you most? Motivation 56% Problem solving 31% Hands-on help 14% How are you financing your dissertation? Scholarship/fellowship/grant 17% Loan 17% Personal funds 76% Other 13% What did your dissertation cost? $21,000-65,000 36% $11,000-20,000 32% $10,000 or less 32% Which editorial style are you using? APA 19% Turabian 81% What were your major problems related to the dissertation? A big problem = 3.00 A problem = 2.00 No problem = 1.00 Dissertation vs family obligations 2.45 Keeping healthy/fit 2.43 Finding time for the dissertation 2.33 Dissertation vs job obligations 2.29 Dissertation vs social demands 2.26 Writing the results section 2.15 What were your major problems related to the dissertation? Knowing how to get started 2.13 Analyzing/interpreting data 2.13 Knowing when to stop reading literature 2.09 Preparing final manuscript for the dean 2.09 Writing the proposal 2.07 Selecting a topic 2.05 Writing the literature review 2.03 Designing your study 2.00 Staying motivated for your dissertation 2.00 Organizing literature review 1.97 Keeping your deadlines/timeline 1.97 Scoring/coding data 1.91 Reporting data 1.91 Financing your dissertation/doctorate 1.90 Finding/developing an instrument 1.87 Feeling supported/motivated 1.85 Gathering info for the literature review1.84 Collecting data 1.84 Writing the method section 1.80 Learning editorial format/style 1.80 Proofreading 1.73 Using computer for networking 1.71 Meeting with other committee members 1.65 Using computer for word processing 1.65 Defending at your oral exam 1.64 Selecting/working with programmer 1.63 Meeting with your advisor 1.62 Incorporating the committee suggestions 1.62 Writing acceptable English 1.62 Getting your study published 1.60 Selecting an advisor 1.59 Getting help/feedback from your advisor 1.57 Getting help/feedback from committee 1.57 Interpreting advisor/committee feedback 1.55 Selecting committee members 1.54 Securing permission to do the study 1.53 Finding subjects 1.53 Dealing with committee politics 1.53 Using computer for database organizing 1.52 Selecting/working with format editor 1.46 Using computer for statistical analysis 1.42 Dealing with departmental policies 1.35 Feeling your study is valuable 1.29 Selecting/working with typist 1.26 Being proud of your dissertation 1.26 Have you selected your advisor? Yes 100% If you have, how important were these issues in your selection? Very important = 3.00 Slightly important = 2.00 Not important = 1.00 Advisor seemed compatible with you 2.95 Advisor was willing to advise you 2.89 Advisor was available to advise you 2.65 Advisor's ability to lead committee 2.62 Advisor had similar research interests 2.30 Former advisees' experiences w/ advisor 2.22 Your need for mentoring 2.11 Advisor was expert on your topic 1.79 Your need for funding 1.26 How many professors in your dept? Less than 10 24% More than 10 76% Median = 11 How many were available to you? Less than 10 26% More than 10 74% Median = 7 Have you selected your topic? No 5% Yes 95% If so, what weight did you give these issues in making
the selection? A lot of weight = 3.00 Some weight = 2.00 No weight = 1.00 Your personal interest 2.88 Expediency 2.16 Your advisor's interest 1.89 Access to available data from advisor 1.38 Availability of funding from advisor 1.08 How much help did your advisor give you in selecting
your topic? Advisor selected topic 3% Advisor refined it after you selected 39% None--you chose on your own 62% How much time did you have to select your topic? Had ample time 82% Felt pressured 18% Regarding interest in your topic-- NONE A LITTLE A LOT What interest do you have now? -- 15% 85% What interest when you selected it? 3% 15% 82% How much interest do you think you should have? -- 5% 95% How did you generate your topic? Based on longstanding personal interest 60% Based on a job-related problem 43% In discussion with colleagues, boss, etc33% In discussion with advisor/committee 26% Based on previous research you've done 22% Replicated a study 12% From literature in the field 10% How expert in your topic are your advisor and/or other
committee members? My advisor and committee are experts 7% My advisor is an expert 20% A committee member is an expert 33% No one is an expert 40% How interested in your topic are your advisor and/or other
committee members? My advisor and committee are interested 55% My advisor is interested 23% A committee member is interested 22% No one is interested 0% How often do you contact your advisor (by phone, fax, etc,
but not in person)
about your dissertation? Several times a month 41% Monthly 33% Several times a year 26% Weekly or more often 0% How often do you meet your advisor to discuss your dissertation? Several times a year 55% Monthly 26% Several times a month 18% How difficult is it to contact your advisor? Not at all difficult 50% Sometimes difficult 33% Usually difficult 18% How much time do you have in meetings? 1 hour or less 44% 30 mins or less 39% More than 1 hour 17% Do you get the advice you need? Usually 87% Usually not 13% What would you like your advisor to provide that she/he doesn't? Better advice 37% More guidance 30% More time or availability 30% Better interpersonal qualities 11% What do you particularly like about your advisor? Advisor is supportive 44% Advisor gives good advice 41% Advisor has good interpersonal qualities36% Advisor is easy to work with 21% Advisor is available 20% Advisor is interested 12% What do you particularly dislike about your advisor? Advisor is unavailable 40% Advisor is difficult to work with 33% Advisor has poor interpersonal qualities13% Advisor gives bad advice 5% Advisor is disinterested in the study 9% If you had the choice again, would you select the same advisor? No 19% Yes 81% What do you like about your other committee members? They give good advice 60% They're easy to work with 29% They're supportive 27% They have good interpersonal qualities 16% They're interested in the study 20% They're available 2% What do you particularly dislike about your other committee members? They're not available 40% They're difficult to work with 25% They give bad advice 20% They have poor interpersonal qualities 15% They're unsupportive 5% They're disinterested in the study 5% Do your committee and advisor work effectively as a team? Yes 91% No 9% Are all your committee members from your department? No 74% Yes 26% What specialist(s) outside the committee helped you with the dissertation? Statistician 64% Programmer 37% Typist/word processor 22% Librarian 17% Other 6% None 4% Did you have any problem with this/these specialist(s)? No 89% Yes 11% If you worked with non-committee members, who recommended this(these)
specialist(s)? Advisor 52% Other student 30% Department secretary 7% Committee member 5% Other source 5% What changes would you like to see in the dissertation process? Better advising 34% More structure 29% More courses 17% Support groups 10% Lower cost 7% Better resources 2% Less paperwork 2% What is (was) your biggest problem in working on the dissertation? Finding time 41% My advisor/committee 30% Data analysis 18% Lack of structure 17% Selecting a topic 14% Preparing the manuscript 14% Research design/data collection 13% Literature review 10% Writing the proposal 9% Staying motivated 9% Lack of resources 8% Rigor of scholarly work 4% Cost 1%
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