The dissertation proposal
- 1. A Primer OnA Primer On YourYour DissertationDissertation ProposalProposal Fayetteville State UniversityFayetteville State University School of EducationSchool of Education Department of Educational LeadershipDepartment of Educational Leadership Joseph F. Johnson, ProfessorJoseph F. Johnson, Professor
- 2. 2 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • The purpose of the proposal is to convince your committee that there is a tractable research question which is worth pursuing. • An equally important purpose is to convince the committee that you are in a position to do a good job pursuing the research question.
- 3. 3 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • The proposal should demonstrate that you: – have defined and delimited an interesting research question; – can explain the importance of the question to someone not intimately familiar with it; – can formulate testable hypotheses; and – have a detail plan for testing the most promising hypotheses.
- 4. 4 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • You do not have to read everything that was ever written about anything that might conceivably be relevant to a full understanding of the subject you are interested in addressing before you write the proposal. • However, you are expected to “chase the paper”“chase the paper” and be familiar with the material that is germane to your subject.
- 5. 5 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • The proposal should contain a review of the literature in the context of what is known and can be documented about the research question. • There should be a discussion of the lasting contributions and shortcomings of previous research.
- 6. 6 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • Do not attempt to define the research question; explain it’s importance; formulate hypotheses; nor write a detailed plan beforebefore you write the proposal. It will be obvious that you are trying to get ahead of yourself and can result in extending the completion of a quality study.
- 7. 7 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • Do not write the dissertation beforebefore you write the proposal or prospectus. If you do , you will be treating your hypotheses like conclusions, and your proposal will read like a defense of those propositions. This is the role of a dissertation defense scheduled after testing, writing, reviewing, revising, retesting and rewriting. This will be obvious and will impede the successful completion of the research study.
- 8. 8 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • Again, do not get ahead of yourself. • Any attempt to write the dissertation and dissertation proposal as if they are the same can result in prolonging the process and/or failure at this point.
- 9. 9 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • A dissertation proposal is supposed to describe what you propose to do. • A dissertation proposal is supposed to discuss why you propose to do it. • A dissertation proposal is supposed to explain how you propose to do it.
- 10. 10 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • Your dissertation proposal should answer the following questions: – What problem are you going to pursue? – Why is it a problem? – Why is it important to address? – Where are you going to look for answers? – Why are you going there?
- 11. 11 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • Postscript 1Postscript 1: It is not enough to say what you believe to be true. You need to be clear and explicit about what you elevate to writing; how you make presumptions and cite appropriate authorities. • Postscript 2Postscript 2: Always focus on proposing and completing a quality, defensible dissertation, not graduation. The latter is merely a well-deserved by-product of the former.
- 12. 12 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • Postscript 3Postscript 3: It is always helpful to think of the proposal in relations to the first three chapters of the completed study. The proposal must be written in the future tense, outlining what you are proposing to do the future. • Postscript 4Postscript 4: The final dissertation is always written in the past tense in which Chapter I will have only minor changes.
- 13. 13 A Primer On Your DissertationA Primer On Your Dissertation ProposalProposal • Postscript 5Postscript 5: Chapter II will change to include additional citations to reflect unexpected results from the data analysis. • Postscript 6Postscript 6: If well-designed, Chapter III in the final form should be similar to the proposal. Except for tense and minor changes, it should reflect exactly what happened (not what was predicted to happen).
- 14. A Primer OnA Primer On YourYour DissertationDissertation ProposalProposal Fayetteville State UniversityFayetteville State University School of EducationSchool of Education Department of Educational LeadershipDepartment of Educational Leadership Joseph F. Johnson, ProfessorJoseph F. Johnson, Professor