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Cut down on the unnecessary details and focused on the ethical question(s). Also updated the title appropriately.
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tonysdg
tonysdg
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Am I a Cheat if Can I Do Thishire someone to write code for my dissertation (if I've designed the algorithm)?

I am not sure whether this is the correct forum for this question, so feel free to give me the boot if it is not.

I returned to finish my dissertation after a long absence in the "real world" and getting (quickly) over some of my old habits as a former grad student. When I returned, I essentially discovered the same professors who had become (1) highly critical and (2) older, which were both reasonable things to expect when I showed at the door for the ostensible purpose of earning in-state extra grad credit for a horizontal lane change (while always keeping my qual exams in the rearview).

Low and behold, four years later, and, barringBarring any extremely unfortunate disaster, I am five weeks away from a final defense and a Ph.D from a university that basically laughed me off the premises the first time I approached them with the question.

That does come with an extra cautious feel, however:

(1) My major advisor retired in a hurry, faster than anyone currently working in the Department had seen anyone retire (less than 2 mos. notice)

(2) Nonetheless, my advisor decided to remain and take over my cause, balancing whatever personal aspect he now has to take care of with running up once a week to yell at me. demean me for two hours in his office, then grumble a barely audible "good job" as I slump my way sad-headed home for the weekend.

(3) At this point, we are in the re-write stage ("of my unforgivably horrible and weak thesis") but it is expected to work and be ready for my final defense on April 14in a month.

(4) To the exact point: prior Prior to the thesis, hemy advisor REALLY wants me to program the algorithm I give as part of my dissertation. This would not have been at all troublesome for me - at east ten years ago me ported into the present body. Though I have the algorithm pseudocoded, I have no idea anymore about basic commands, data structures, counters, declaring local and global variables, and just general grammar and structure for what he REALLY wants me to program on (though I don't HAVE to): Mathematica.

Worse, every time I try to get a dry, discrete checklist of what he wants for the program, it varies, often leading him to talk about ill about computer scientists and lament about how traditional languages just don't do the job PASCAL used to do (dead serious). Hence, the last piece of progress required of me by his say so - a piece not really contributing to my original work and that could represent time better spent revising my writing and preparing for my final defense instead of learning how to print "LEOOH WHIORLD" on MATHEMATICA - is setting up, after two years of back-cracking dissertation work, to be what ultimately "does me in."

Now to the question of ethics. When (or even if) I get standards for this program he wants to see, would it be unethical of me to hire a tutor to help me code the program, or even hire a programmer to help me write the program, even given that I pseudocode the program myself? Skipping the hours and hours of manual searching to learn how to read in files (and files with gigantic matrices at that) and how to look up code corresponding to pseudocode, keep up with counters etc. really seems like a good investment for me, but my moral bells are a ringing on this one, even if I pseudocode the project myself.

Am I a Cheat if I Do This?

I am not sure whether this is the correct forum for this question, so feel free to give me the boot if it is not.

I returned to finish my dissertation after a long absence in the "real world" and getting (quickly) over some of my old habits as a former grad student. When I returned, I essentially discovered the same professors who had become (1) highly critical and (2) older, which were both reasonable things to expect when I showed at the door for the ostensible purpose of earning in-state extra grad credit for a horizontal lane change (while always keeping my qual exams in the rearview).

Low and behold, four years later, and, barring any extremely unfortunate disaster, I am five weeks away from a final defense and a Ph.D from a university that basically laughed me off the premises the first time I approached them with the question.

That does come with an extra cautious feel, however:

(1) My major advisor retired in a hurry, faster than anyone currently working in the Department had seen anyone retire (less than 2 mos. notice)

(2) Nonetheless, my advisor decided to remain and take over my cause, balancing whatever personal aspect he now has to take care of with running up once a week to yell at me. demean me for two hours in his office, then grumble a barely audible "good job" as I slump my way sad-headed home for the weekend.

(3) At this point, we are in the re-write stage ("of my unforgivably horrible and weak thesis") but it is expected to work and be ready for my final defense on April 14.

(4) To the exact point: prior to the thesis, he REALLY wants me to program the algorithm I give as part of my dissertation. This would not have been at all troublesome for me - at east ten years ago me ported into the present body. Though I have the algorithm pseudocoded, I have no idea anymore about basic commands, data structures, counters, declaring local and global variables, and just general grammar and structure for what he REALLY wants me to program on (though I don't HAVE to): Mathematica.

Worse, every time I try to get a dry, discrete checklist of what he wants for the program, it varies, often leading him to talk about ill about computer scientists and lament about how traditional languages just don't do the job PASCAL used to do (dead serious). Hence, the last piece of progress required of me by his say so - a piece not really contributing to my original work and that could represent time better spent revising my writing and preparing for my final defense instead of learning how to print "LEOOH WHIORLD" on MATHEMATICA - is setting up, after two years of back-cracking dissertation work, to be what ultimately "does me in."

Now to the question of ethics. When (or even if) I get standards for this program he wants to see, would it be unethical of me to hire a tutor to help me code the program, or even hire a programmer to help me write the program, even given that I pseudocode the program myself? Skipping the hours and hours of manual searching to learn how to read in files (and files with gigantic matrices at that) and how to look up code corresponding to pseudocode, keep up with counters etc. really seems like a good investment for me, but my moral bells are a ringing on this one, even if I pseudocode the project myself.

Can I hire someone to write code for my dissertation (if I've designed the algorithm)?

Barring any extremely unfortunate disaster, I am five weeks away from a final defense and a Ph.D.

At this point, we are in the re-write stage ("of my unforgivably horrible and weak thesis") but it is expected to work and be ready for my final defense in a month.

Prior to the thesis, my advisor REALLY wants me to program the algorithm I give as part of my dissertation. Though I have the algorithm pseudocoded, I have no idea anymore about basic commands, data structures, counters, declaring local and global variables, and just general grammar and structure for what he REALLY wants me to program on (though I don't HAVE to): Mathematica.

Worse, every time I try to get a dry, discrete checklist of what he wants for the program, it varies, often leading him to talk about ill about computer scientists and lament about how traditional languages just don't do the job PASCAL used to do (dead serious). Hence, the last piece of progress required of me by his say so - a piece not really contributing to my original work and that could represent time better spent revising my writing and preparing for my final defense instead of learning how to print "LEOOH WHIORLD" on MATHEMATICA - is setting up, after two years of back-cracking dissertation work, to be what ultimately "does me in."

When (or even if) I get standards for this program he wants to see, would it be unethical of me to hire a tutor to help me code the program, or even hire a programmer to help me write the program, even given that I pseudocode the program myself? Skipping the hours and hours of manual searching to learn how to read in files (and files with gigantic matrices at that) and how to look up code corresponding to pseudocode, keep up with counters etc. really seems like a good investment for me, but my moral bells are a ringing on this one, even if I pseudocode the project myself.

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Thomas Rasberry
Thomas Rasberry
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Am I a Cheat if I Do This?

I am not sure whether this is the correct forum for this question, so feel free to give me the boot if it is not.

I returned to finish my dissertation after a long absence in the "real world" and getting (quickly) over some of my old habits as a former grad student. When I returned, I essentially discovered the same professors who had become (1) highly critical and (2) older, which were both reasonable things to expect when I showed at the door for the ostensible purpose of earning in-state extra grad credit for a horizontal lane change (while always keeping my qual exams in the rearview).

Low and behold, four years later, and, barring any extremely unfortunate disaster, I am five weeks away from a final defense and a Ph.D from a university that basically laughed me off the premises the first time I approached them with the question.

That does come with an extra cautious feel, however:

(1) My major advisor retired in a hurry, faster than anyone currently working in the Department had seen anyone retire (less than 2 mos. notice)

(2) Nonetheless, my advisor decided to remain and take over my cause, balancing whatever personal aspect he now has to take care of with running up once a week to yell at me. demean me for two hours in his office, then grumble a barely audible "good job" as I slump my way sad-headed home for the weekend.

(3) At this point, we are in the re-write stage ("of my unforgivably horrible and weak thesis") but it is expected to work and be ready for my final defense on April 14.

(4) To the exact point: prior to the thesis, he REALLY wants me to program the algorithm I give as part of my dissertation. This would not have been at all troublesome for me - at east ten years ago me ported into the present body. Though I have the algorithm pseudocoded, I have no idea anymore about basic commands, data structures, counters, declaring local and global variables, and just general grammar and structure for what he REALLY wants me to program on (though I don't HAVE to): Mathematica.

Worse, every time I try to get a dry, discrete checklist of what he wants for the program, it varies, often leading him to talk about ill about computer scientists and lament about how traditional languages just don't do the job PASCAL used to do (dead serious). Hence, the last piece of progress required of me by his say so - a piece not really contributing to my original work and that could represent time better spent revising my writing and preparing for my final defense instead of learning how to print "LEOOH WHIORLD" on MATHEMATICA - is setting up, after two years of back-cracking dissertation work, to be what ultimately "does me in."

Now to the question of ethics. When (or even if) I get standards for this program he wants to see, would it be unethical of me to hire a tutor to help me code the program, or even hire a programmer to help me write the program, even given that I pseudocode the program myself? Skipping the hours and hours of manual searching to learn how to read in files (and files with gigantic matrices at that) and how to look up code corresponding to pseudocode, keep up with counters etc. really seems like a good investment for me, but my moral bells are a ringing on this one, even if I pseudocode the project myself.