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The new graduate student must select a graduate committee, plan course work, find an original research topic, and design a research plan that ultimately leads to a defensible thesis or series of publishable research articles. Whether a graduate student plans a research career or not, he or she typically must complete an original, independent, analytical study, even though few beginning students know how or where to begin. A little help would be good, right? This process-oriented manual holds the fundamentals students in the sciences need to trek the graduate school path--it is their "backpack." Open it and see what it can do for you.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Foreword vii PREFACE ix
Chapter 1 The Beginning 1
First, You Need Advisors-and They Need Students 4
Next, You Need a Research Topic and a Strategy 13
Some Personal and Practical Points 17
Major Hurdles: Preliminary Exams and Final Defense 32
Chapter 2 On Definitions and Dualities 37
What Is a Thesis and What Is Research? 39
A Brief History of Scientific Research Philosophy 41
Definition Dualities: Thought Tools for Research and Problem Solving 48
Definition Dualities: First Principles 49
Definition Dualities: Design 67
Definition Dualities: Outcome 75
A Triad: The Testable, the Trusted, and the True 81
Chapter 3 Research Planning 91
The Research Plan Explained 97
Research Grant Proposals 125
Chapter 4 Reading and Writing 129
Reading and Evaluating Scientific Reports 131
Hints for Scientific Writing 134
Free Writing 141
Preparing a Literature Review 143
Writing for Scientific Publication 154
Chapter 5 Keeping Track of Things 159
The Research Notebook 160
Your Personal Diary 163
Free-Writing Notebook 163
Chapter 6 Presenting Your Work and Yourself 165
Oral Presentations 167
Poster Presentations 178
Résumés or Curricula Vitae and Cover Letters 180
Chapter 7 When It's All Over 185
References 189
Index 193
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Ronald Taskey is a soil scientist at Cal State Polytechincal College.
