| Becker, Howard S. (with a chapter by Pamela
Richards). Writing for Social
Scientists: How to Start
and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. 1986.
Students in any discipline will find Becker's advice
helpful. Sample chapter titles: "Persona and Authority,"
"Learning to Write as a Professional," "Getting It
out the Door," and "Terrorized by the Literature."
Bolker, Joan. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen
Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting,
Revising, and Finishing
Your Doctoral Thesis. 1998.
By a co-founder of the Harvard Writing Center, now
a clinical psychologist who specializes in helping dissertators.
In her words, "This book is a collection of successful field-tested
strategies for writing a dissertation; it's also a guide to conducting
an experiment, with you as your own subject, your work habits as
the data, and a writing method that fits you well as the goal."
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph
M. Williams. The Craft of
Research.
Thorough and sophisticated treatment of the research
process: moving from a topic to a research problem, building a convincing
argument, drafting, and revising. Also includes a helpful chapter
on "Communicating Evidence Visually."
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DeBakey, Lois and Selma. "The Art of Persuasion:
Logic and Language in Proposal
Writing," Grants
Magazine, I (March, 1978), 43-59.
The focus is on writing; the content is useful, detailed, and timely
despite the early date of publication.
*Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Research Proposal:
Guidelines for Funding
and Dissertations in the Social and
Behavioral Sciences. 3rd ed., 1988.
The emphasis is on grant proposals, with a section on dissertation
proposals; much of the material applies to any proposal. Useful
"Checklist for Critiquing Proposals" (pp. 146-153) and
"Writing Tips" (pp. 183-185).
Locke, Lawrence F., Waneen Wyrick Spirdoso, and
Stephen J. Silverman. Proposals
That Work: A Guide
for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals. 4th
ed.,
2000.
A useful general guide for students writing proposals.
Annotated bibliography; annotated samples of experimental, qualitative,
quasi-experimental, and grant proposals.
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Meloy, Judith M. Writing the Qualitative Dissertation:
Understanding by Doing. 1994.
Based on a study of dissertations and on data collected
from faculty and students. Shares their comments and offers questions
to consider at various stages of the process in brief chapters that
include "Selecting and Working with a Committee," "Preparing
and Defending the Proposal," and "Connecting Focus, Literature,
and Ownership."
Przeworski, Adam, and Frank Salomon.
"The Art of Writing Proposals." New York:
Social Science Research
Council, 1995. 25 Feb. 2002<http://weber.ucsd.edu/~proeder/Proposals.pdf>
Ries, Joanne B., and Carl G. Leukefeld. Applying
for Research Funding: Getting
Started and Getting
Funded. 1995.
Three of the seven sections in this comprehensive guide concern
writing a proposal: "What and When to Write: Rules of the Game,"
"How to Write: Unique Moves," and "Checking for Infractions:
Preparing for the Audience."
Rudestam, Kjell Erik, and Rae R. Newton. Surviving
Your Dissertation: A
Comprehensive Guide
to Content and Process. 1992.
Treats the dissertation process from finding a topic
to the oral defense. Chapter on results gives detailed information
on presenting statistical information in tables and graphs. Section
on process, subtitled "What You Need to Know to Make the Dissertation
Easier," includes practical advice on managing time and dealing
with writing anxiety, including "Twelve Tricks to Keep You
Going When You Write."
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