The Law of the Farm and Your Dissertation

Too often in our undergraduate years we’ve learned to cram for school and tests.  You may have procrastinated all semester, and then pulled all-nighters for the final paper or test.  Cramming is antithetical to the law of the farm.  The Law of the Farm essentially says that to be a farmer, you have to plan, till the land, plant, fertilize, water, and then harvest.  Farmers do not, and cannot cram.  They cannot lie around all spring then hit it hard at the end of the summer.  You cannot cram farming.

Dissertations are like farming. One must follow a sequence of steps: concept papers, proposal meetings, IRB, data collection and analysis, and the final defense. Unexpected circumstances, such as a change of advisors, data collection delays, and IRB revisions, can arise.  There are no short-cuts in this process, and planning is crucial.  I can’t tell you the literally hundreds of students I speak with that need their analysis tomorrow—tomorrow, really?  Sure there are legitimate issues that come up, things took longer than expected, but you know pretty early on that you need an APA editor and a statistician. Why procrastinate?

Need an assistance with your research?

Select a time to speak with an expert using the link below