February 11, 2007

Progress! Last week I met with my dissertation chair to go over my latest research results, and I am very close to being done with this portion of the dissertation saga. I need to make one more good two to three week push on the statistical modeling, and then I can return to the writing portion. I have a skeletal manuscript at this point (what I used for my proposal defense), and basically need to add two more chapters: results and discussion. Then beef up the current literature review and methodology chapters, and it's done! Ha ha! Not as easy as it sounds, but definitely doable in a 5-6 month time frame. Probably sooner if I applied myself, but isn't that just the way it always is with everything. I like to apply myself just enough so I get it done but don't lose my mind in the process; plus it's nice to just sit around or do errands in the middle of the week and bask in the last few months of freedom and the simple gift of having so many hours in the week that are mine. I think the only casualty after this is all done will be my social skills - writing a dissertation means I spend an awful lot of time alone (no offense to Okazaki Fragment, Stella Bean, Pepe, and Frankie).