Accepting feedback gracefully

An inevitable part of working on your dissertation is getting criticism. This can be very difficult for some students- they feel defensive and resentful. PLEASE, take a step back from this and think about it – a faculty member has taken a great deal of time to read and critique your paper. They do not like saying negative things any more than you like to receive them. However, it is the faculty's job to help you learn to write, and that is what they are doing when they give you feedback. It does not matter if a hundred other people think you are a marvelous writer- accept that this person does not, and see how you can fix it. 

How to approach the feedback? I suggest quickly reading through the feedback and if you find you are feeling defensive, close it and think about it for a while- resist the impulse to immediately write back. Remind yourself that they are trying to help you learn to write professionally, and that they want you to get done. Then when you feel that you are ready (hopefully no more than a day!), begin the revisions, take each comment one at a time, think about it and revise. If you find you are not sure what the faculty means with a comment. Carefully write out an email of inquiry- here is an example: 

Dr. X,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments and suggestions! I find that I do have a question about comment LE5, in which you state: "I don’t know what you mean here." Could you clarify please, do you mean that the sentence itself is not clear or do you mean that the word "finaglosity" is not clear in this context? 

Thank you again for your help,

Jane Student 

Always be polite, and thank them for their help. You will find that you get much further with being kind than you ever will with being defensive. 

Next time I will talk about what to do if you find a previous study is very similar to the one you want to do.  Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu