Utilizing Feedback in the Dissertation Process

Question
It is essential that you remember to utilize the feedback that you receive from your Chair. The more you pay attention to and address the suggestions you receive, the more intuitive this process will become. Stay focused. Remember to set aside time each week to work (do not wait until the night before work is due). The dissertation is something that requires much more attention than a weekly assignment. 
Dropbox Assignment(s): In Week 3 Dropbox, submit a draft of Chapter 1 that now includes your problem statement and a section discussing the significance of your research to practice and the community of scholars.  Remember to add this section to your dissertation template. If you are already beyond this point, submit your revised draft of Chapter 1. Refer to your timeline and check off your accomplishments.

Answer
1. Importance of Utilizing Feedback
When approaching the task and responsibility of creating a high quality dissertation, receiving continuous feedback from those who have been through the process at the same level is invaluable. The greater the depth and extent of feedback can only result in a greater final product. It is becoming more and more evident that the form of feedback from the tutors in this scenario is insufficient due to the lack of experience of the supervisor in the topic area, with many only being a year or two ahead of the student in their career learning the same principles. Therefore, alternate methods of feedback are becoming more popular such as online forums and posting work for peer review, with students who find experienced professionals in the given area willing to provide feedback in their own time. This method involves much less stress and hassle compared to arranging meetings with supervisors, and it allows the student to consider a wider variety of suggestions and criticisms from people not involved in the dissertation process at their university. These outsiders are more likely to point out the flaws in logic in the work as they will not have the available knowledge to understand what the student is trying to get at if it is unclear. This feedback could be considered even more important than that from the supervisor, but in the case of all feedback, the more sources consulted, the greater the variety of suggestions. This process could take quite a long time, but it can be much less stressful and produce a better result working using only intuition and suggestions. Without the intuition to consider other people’s opinions is folly. This is especially true in the scenario where a student has to change topic far into the dissertation. If intuition told them the original idea was not good, then it is likely that this was the case, but no feedback was received to confirm this and a waste of time and effort ensued.
1.1. Addressing Suggestions from the Chair
These steps will increase the chance of the feedback being a positive experience for the student and will lead to a stronger dissertation.
A. Understand the feedback B. Organize a time to further understand the feedback and discuss possible alternatives C. Be appreciative of the Chair’s involvement and consideration of the student D. Make a decision whether or not this is a suggestion that aligns with the goals of the dissertation E. Keep open communication with the Chair about the suggestion and its outcomes F. Consider the best approach to implement the suggestion.
When a student submits a dissertation to a committee, and ultimately the Chair of the committee, he or she will receive feedback. Invariably, the Chair will present suggestions that the student will have to address. Many times these suggestions will alter the course of the dissertation. Addressing the feedback can be a difficult and frustrating process. The relationship with the Chair is important to the student’s success so it is critical to handle the suggestions in the most effective manner. Steps the student can take to handle the feedback that will foster a positive relationship with the Chair and result in the best possible outcome are as follows:
1.2. Enhancing the Intuitive Process
A parallel notion exists in the contrasting of two modes of thought, automatic and controlled cognitive processes. Automatic processes are those which are fast, intuitive, and non-conscious, while controlled processes are those which are deliberate, analytical, and reasoned. While much research and writing of the dissertation will involve controlled processing as the student seeks to develop the best possible document, automatic processing is nonetheless involved in many of the activities and products of the research. Automatic processing is important in reading, comprehension, idea generation, drawing inferences, and many other aspects of the research process. Moreover, research activities will often be driven by intuitive hunches about what might be interesting or important to look at; automatic cognitive processing can be an area of research to the degree that some intuitive hunches about a topic seem to cost too many cognitive resources. Stepkin and Greene (2005) suggest that utilizing feedback from colleagues can be the best way to share research findings at an informal level. Coming to understand how colleagues are understanding the topic can give an indication of the readability of one’s work or if it might need to be rewritten; it represents automatic processing. Given that automatic processing can take forms in a wide range of research activities, it is reasonable to assume that the quality of these activities can be enhanced by feedback in the same ways that the quality of the dissertation document itself might be improved. Feedback can be specifically utilized as a means of enhancing automatic or intuitive processing through asking for reactions to ideas and work in progress, as Green (2005) experienced with his own advisor who often called him to discuss new ideas. Feedback can also serve a reminding function about research directions that resulted from automatic hunches; in receiving feedback about the dissertation document itself, the student may gain insight on forgotten ideas or be reminded why a certain study was undertaken and not another. Dilmac (2009) has suggested that utilizing automatic and controlled cognitive processes is important for the dissertation student who often alternates between writing and reading over his own work.
A primary argument in favor of utilizing feedback from the chair and committee in the dissertation process is that doing so represents a concrete means of enhancing the intuitive process of research and writing. It has been pointed out by numerous authors that research itself is, or should be, an intuitive process relying on a sense of discovery and a search for understanding (Thornberg, 2012). Butkin and Green (2005) describe the role of intuition in research as a movement from seeing patterns to making inferences to the development of (or contemplation of) models or theories. Sidebar comments, queries, and suggestions from colleagues during research activities suggest that they also view the research process as a continuous interplay between hunches and hypotheses and that responding to feedback can often shake loose new and important hunches or directions in the research. Boone (2011) reflects a similar sentiment from his experience as an academic consultant, that the best ideas about research tend to emerge in conversation and by stepping back from the specifics of the study.
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2. Staying Focused in the Dissertation Journey
2.1. Setting Aside Time for Weekly Work
2.2. Avoiding Last-Minute Approaches
3. The Dissertation vs Weekly Assignments
3.1. Understanding the Difference in Attention Required
4. Dropbox Assignment(s) in Week 3
4.1. Submitting a Draft of Chapter 1
4.1.1. Including the Problem Statement
4.1.2. Discussing the Significance of Research
4.2. Adding the Section to the Dissertation Template
4.3. Submitting a Revised Draft if Already Beyond Chapter 1
5. Referring to the Timeline and Accomplishments
5.1. Checking Off Completed Tasks