Mission Control – writing a Harvard thesis

I’ve been deep in thesis work for the past three months. Don’t let anyone kid you into believing the proposal phase is quick and easy. Technically, you have to have 75% of the thesis work done when you hand in the proposal! The Social Sciences thesis advisor says there are two kinds of gross mistakes: being all-inclusive by studying too broadly and being too narrow by focusing in too much. I say at some point you have to say…”good enough”.

Some stats:

– I’ve done 35 lit reviews (mostly articles but some books too),

– conducted 10 background interviews (with soldiers, civil/DOS staff, and private security contractors),

– written up 2 drafts of the proposal,

– rediscovered 1 big set of primary source material to mine, and

– wrestled with an 8 page (much-too large) bibliography.

It’s easy to drill down during the hard, solitary work of the thesis research and, in doing so, lose sight of your research question. You’ll be reading one thing, it takes you to another, you write up some notes, you follow a footnote…the next thing you know, when you come up for air, you’ve been pursuing an issue that’s not quite on target. Good to keep in mind this happens all the time to anyone working (alone or in a group) on a big project. Hence, I urge you to write out your research question and put it up, along with your hypotheses, in front of you in your workspace. Then, when you go down the next rabbit hole, you won’t be under so long.

As an extrovert who much prefers working with people and being out and about, I can say that the solitary nature of this work is an obstacle unto itself. To cope, I offer a few suggestions for anyone, not just extroverts, in the thesis pipeline:

– take a step back, leave the books and computer behind for a whole weekend. You can’t refresh if you don’t walk away. Have a meal with others who also have a lot on their plate. You all need a break!

– get physical. I’ve taken up ice-skating again (started when I was three). My local college has a great indoor rink, open year-round. Nothing clears the mind, gets you out of your head and into the physical world like speeding around a huge piece of ice. I’d downhill ski but I like my knees too much. When I’m on the ice, I’m a skater, not a master’s candidate – nice change of identity. Helps to be good at the sport, nice ego boost.

– read something completely different. This past weekend I went out and bought ten magazines on various subjects I love but haven’t read for over a year because I’ve been reading only ’serious poli. sci.’ stuff for WAY too long. Deprivation is no way to go through life.

– grab some friends and go to the movies (I liked Charlie Wilson’s War and Gone, Baby, Gone).

– keep your sense of humor (a sanity saver) by watching something very funny regularly. Thank god for Stewart and Colbert. Lewis Black has a new show, has potential.

– listen to music. My favorites: jazz, rock. and classical. Eric in the Evening. WCRB. XM Satellite. WGBH. WODS.