This is some excellent advice for how to complete a dissertation from my friend, Michael Manove, at BU. Some of the names/people are specific to BU, but the general ideas are useful for all econ students. Not only are the suggestions insightful, but he's pretty hilarious!
My favorite lines:
Michelangelo wrote: “Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Likewise, after years of coursework, after reading the newspapers, after listening to professors, preachers and politicians, you have a good idea for a dissertation topic somewhere inside your brain.
If you plan to write an empirical thesis, and most of you should, you will need data. The most important thing you need to know about data is that the word “data” is plural. If you accidentally say “this data” instead of “these data” you won’t sound like the pompous scholar that you want to be.
The main ingredients for success in a PhD program are self-confidence, self-discipline and ambition. Intelligence has little to do with the process.
No comments:
Post a Comment