(See below for an important update!)
The day after tomorrow, Friday morning, February 19, at 9:30a.m., Pacific time, I will appear (virtually) before my dissertation committee to “defend” my work. While Holly is looking forward to this (and having the dissertation finished), I’m just a bit nervous as a lot rides on this meeting.
What is this all about? As the capstone project for the doctorate program I’m in, students are required to write a dissertation that has been thoroughly researched, that uniquely contributes to the body of extant scholarly literature, and that addresses an aspect of their work. I have been working on mine for well over three years, and nearly exclusively (and exhaustively) for the past eleven months. Not a day has gone by when I have not invested in it: thinking, researching, transcribing, coding, organizing, writing, editing, re-writing, etc. That 276 page document has been submitted to my committee, and on Friday morning, I must defend my work.
What does that look like? First, I will give a PPT presentation on some of the key aspects of my dissertation. This includes:
- What piqued my interest in the topic
- The purpose of my study
- Data collection procedures and details
- Data analysis procedures and details
- Findings from my study
- Implications and applications of my study
Each of these are strictly time-limited, so I need to keep things moving.
Then, for the rest of the two hours, committee members can ask me any questions they desire related to the study. After answering their questions to the best of my ability, the committee will confer and decide my outcome. Honestly, it is a bit nerve-racking, but I’m trying to prepare well, and praying God grants me the wisdom I need to respond well to all questions and critiques. Changes and revisions will always be required, but after all that, the work goes to a formatter, then it gets published online, and I move toward graduation in May.
As you might guess, this has been a consuming process, and my prayer is that God will use the thousands of hours I’ve invested in this dissertation and doctorate to build His kingdom and improve Western-developed trainings for majority world pastors. May He be glorified.
If you happen to read this entry before Friday morning, I appreciate your prayers for all aspects of that meeting.
Walking in God’s grace, Eric
UPDATE:
Thank you for your prayers. My dissertation defense last Friday went much better than I expected and even hoped for. The committee was very pleased with my presentation, and more importantly, with my dissertation. Of course, there are always changes to make, but in their words, “the changes are miniscule as compared with most dissertations.” So I spent the weekend working to correct all points they mentioned, and as of now, it is out of my hands, with the formatter, and then it goes to others, eventually to be published on the academic website “ProQuest” where all dissertations and theses are laid to rest. 😉
I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have that enormous project completed! Eleven months of focused work every day, most of the day, oftentimes from early morning till late night, before that a year and a half of global research, and before that over a year of work on the dissertation proposal … all finished. So I graduate in May.
My biggest prayer request through this whole process has been that God would use all my efforts and this capstone project and my doctorate to advance His kingdom globally and improve training for majority world pastors through ReachGlobal and many other organizations. To Him be all glory! Eric
