collinsmom wanted help in writing up a review of related literature for a proposed research project. She's taking a class in research methods; she doesn't actually have to do this project, just set it up for practice. She was also asking questions about methodology and statistics.So I dug out my dissertation to show her how the thing is laid out and written up in a formal study. Later on this evening, I re-read portions of this, the paper that drove me almost completely crazy and took an extra six months or so to finish.*
My verdict: not bad, really. The prose style is such that I wouldn't be embarrassed to show it to others. The methodology holds up, the results are pretty solid. It wasn't great work, but it was good work. Did it add to the sum of human knowledge? Well, it might, if anyone ever bothered to read it. As it is, it's a good piece of work, and I'll continue to claim it.
For the curious, my dissertation was entitled, "An Assessment of Religious Literacy Among Selected Groups of Secondary Students" (Indiana State University 1991).
*My dissertation was the first paper I was ever handed back and told to rewrite. After years of always being more than "good enough," I was flabbergasted: I had no idea how to go about rewriting a paper. In the end, I got it done, but only after a lot of grief.