Sunday, March 17, 2013

Good enough?

I've spent most of the weekend trying to grasp the quirks of 4 different poorly-documented programs that only run on Windows/Linux and the literature surrounding them so that I can figure out what of those has been implemented into 3 or 4 different R packages so that I can appropriately finish some analyses. At this point, I'm probably going to have to settle for something imperfect but 'good enough'.

I have 3 chapters that look like chapters. One of those still probably needs a day of work, but I can afford no more than that. I have 16 days to produce the next two chapters before I send my dissertation to my committee. I'm counting on those needing a lot of revision after the defense, but I hope Herb will find them defensible. They just have to be good enough.

7 comments:

African Fieldworker said...

I defend my dissertation in less than 2 weeks. And believe me, I have found errors already. It doesn't have to be perfect (and won't be), it just has to be good enough. It is your first work as a scholar, no more and no less. The best dissertation is a finished one.

Good luck!

Karina said...

Wow that's great! Good for you. Please comment afterwards about how it went!

Unknown said...

Karina,

How difficult are you finding it to write your dissertation? The tone in your blog post implies that you're struggling a bit with the work you have done versus the last two chapters that are coming up.

Mind you, I'm only a college student in his third (of four) years, but I have to write my own dissertation next year to graduate with my Finance degree. If there's any insight you can offer a student like me, please let me know! Also, best of luck on finishing and defending your dissertation.

Nick Hanna
Tulane University Student

Karina said...

Thanks, Nick! I'm just super pressed for time. My advice to you: write early, write often. Writing is hard and takes a long time!

African Fieldworker said...

I will!

really though, don't stress (too much) about it not being perfect; it just has to be done and good enough!

Dr. African Fieldworker said...

updating as promised...I am now Dr. African Fieldworker!

and I know you will rock your defense too!

Karina said...

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations! Send me an email sometime- maybe we should know each other in real life. Now back to my dissertation...