Phd Tips: An Overview of the Dissertation Process – Part 1

Introduction

Recently, when reading Lucretia Yaghjian’s book, Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers, I ran across a preliminary road map that she uses when teaching about the craft of theological research (See pp. 86-110).

I found her comments on the subject very instructive and, most importantly, she provides an excellent high level overview of the entire dissertation writing project (she calls it “writing theological research,” but it describes the PhD process quite accurately, if I say so myself!)

I will use her nomenclature below.

A High Level Overview of the Dissertation Process

1. Writing theological research begins with an inquiry

This is something that I’ve covered in my post on finding a dissertation topic (Asking the Right Question); Your inquiry is the starting point for any PhD.

Some pretend dissertation topic questions would be:  1) How does the term “aliens” function within the narrative of 1 Peter? 2) What is Mark’s portrait of leadership compared to the prevailing Greco-Roman context? 3) What is the rhetorical purpose of James’ speech to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15?

Finding a topic is not like finding a needle in a haystack.  It’s essentially following your academic curiosity until it leads you to a question that you are now compelled to answer.

2. Writing theological research presupposes a methodology or research perspective

How are you going to approach the question you are now proposing?  If you are studying Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25, will you be using rhetorical criticism (how do Jesus’ words work to persuade an audience?) or literary criticism (how does this speech fit into Matthew’s overall eschatological scheme?).

The approaches to a research inquiry are vast, and once again, should flow out of your academic interests.

3. Writing theological research creates a search for sources

Tracking down sources (both primary and secondary) requires lots of patience, hunting down, reviewing and assessing the viability of particular materials for your specific research project.

This is a skill that should continue to develop within your PhD dissertation project. The quality of your dissertation will depend on whether the above task was adequately completed.

4. Writing theological research builds on a scholarly conversation

This is anther big piece of a well crafted PhD research project.

You must be able to dialogue with important past and present scholars who have written on your particular topic.

This implies that you are able to discern who those scholars are, that you can represent their views clearly, that you are comprehensive in your review of your topic and that you can articulate your topic within the flow of the ongoing conversation.

5. Writing theological research creates and claims a research space

The whole concept of originality is wrapped up in the above statement.

Essentially, you are seeking to narrow the focus of your inquiry and to make a research claim which has hitherto not been made.  It need not be grandiose, super creative or even that interesting to other people.

The important thing is that you now make a declaration which asserts a particular hypothesis.  (This is what you will argue in your dissertation…)

• The source of Luke’s Miletus Speech is Ezekiel 33 and 34.
• Philippians uses the rhetoric of consolation as a unifying concept for the epistle.

Recall that our first point dealt with a research inquiry.

The above statements could have begun with the following questions:

• What (if any) is the source or tradition for the Miletus Speech (Acts 20:17-38)?
• How is rhetoric used in the Letter to the Philippians?

Once you have a theological or academic inquiry, your research of the sources and literature will raise new questions and will force you to reformulate your ideas.  Once you find a gap in the research, you are then able to make a research claim that can lead into a possible dissertation.

Conclusion

Yaghjian continues with five additional points, which I will take up in my next post.  For now, I commend her advice to you on the craft of theological research.

Happy investigating!

P.S. Check out a complete review of Yaghjian‘s Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers.