JIU EdD K-12 Leadership Contents of a Dissertation

Prepared by Cynthia Pancer and C. Richard Smith May 2009

Introduction
A dissertation tells the story of your research project. First and foremost, you are writing this dissertation document for others to read. The structure of the dissertation document is meant to display information in a manner that is logical and understandable to the reader; it must be written with the reader in mind. Since the research project is done in a logical sequence, the dissertation document tends to follow that same logical sequence. So, the dissertation document has a flow; logical steps in the process of completing the research. There is no one universal structure as each dissertation is a unique work. However, standards for dissertations have been established by custom. There is no prescribed outline from JIU, so flexibility is allowed. However, there are specific elements that need to be addressed (see outline below). It is the purpose of a dissertation document to display both the sequential development of the dissertation and the outcomes of each step. Since each chapter of a dissertation is written to include a complete explanation of the study being conducted, there is some redundancy in the dissertation elements. Use the outline below as a guideline for the essential elements. It is the considered judgment of the researcher/dissertation author as to which elements to include in the document, as long as the final report addresses all necessary elements. In the outline below, the suggested topics are not necessarily the headings used for each section.

Dissertation Outline Elements

Title page Acknowledgments page Abstract (keyword list) Table of contents Table of figures Chapter 1: Introduction to the Problem Background Need/purpose for the study Research question or problem Hypotheses Assumptions Definition of terms Chapter 2: Literature Review Historical evidence Prior research Research design and instrumentation Chapter 3: Methodology Research Design Selection of variables, independent and dependent Instrumentation, including validity and reliability Population selection and sampling method Quantitative/statistical procedures Chapter 4: Findings Sample population Methodology Instrumentation Results Chapter 5: Conclusion, Discussion & Implications Summary Conclusions Implications Recommendations Bibliography Appendix

Explanations of Elements
Title page Title, author, school, location, requirements statement, committee signatures Acknowledgments page This is your statement of appreciation for support and assistance to those who helped you with your research project. Abstract (keyword list) The abstract often is not included in the dissertation document, but as an addendum. The Abstract is a short summary of the relevant points of the dissertation in 300-400 words or less. Because your abstract is used in literary searches it includes a list of key search terms. Table of contents This is a list of headings and sub-headings with page numbers. Table of figures This is a list of graphic displays, illustrations and tables included in the body of the work with page numbers. Introduction to the Problem The introduction section provides a brief overview of the research project. This section should be complete enough to give the reader an indication of why the study was done and its importance, the question or problem it will address and the hypotheses it will test. Background This section explains the context within which the research project was formed. It is an explanation of how you came upon the question or problem. You should explain how the research question or problem arose, and give some historical perspective on why the issue is important to be researched. Need/purpose for the study You explain why the project is important to the researcher, institution and/or field of study. This section should clearly connect the background of the study with the intent of the study. Some of this information may come from the Literature Review. Research question or problem Here you pose the question or problem that is the focus of the study. This should be a clear explanation of the nature of the question or problem that will be studied. You should clearly explain why the question or problem is important, referring back to the need/purpose for the study. Assumptions You state the basic tenets, principles or facts that underlie or form the question or problem. Much of this information comes from the historical perspective that forms the reason for conducting the study, and from the literature review. These are matters that affect the research over which you have little or no control and that you will just accept as conditions or facts.

Hypotheses A hypothesis is a statement of cause and effect that connects the independent variable with the dependent variable. In some research, particularly where the researcher does not manipulate the independent variable (a descriptive study), the causal connection may tend to be somewhat obscure. It is important to clarify for the reader the causal connection(s) of the hypotheses in this section. The connection of the hypotheses with the research question or problem should be absolutely clear. Definition of terms It is necessary to define terms used in the dissertation document that are not clearly defined in common usage. It is not necessary to define all terms used, particularly those that are in common usage. You can assume that the reader of the document has some basic knowledge of relevant terms. Literature Review A summary of the literature has no set format because each literature review is unique to the research project. However, there are some basic tenets of literature review. First, and foremost, you must remember that someone is going to read it, so it must make sense. In order to make it sensible, the literature review should follow the same logical sequence as the research project itself. It should start with the context for the study and end with what other researchers have discovered. Second, and perhaps just as important, this is a review of the relevant literature, not a data dump. Each synopsis of a relevant piece of literature should pertain to the topic under discussion and be important enough to the subject to be included. Interesting but unimportant information is just distraction. When in doubt, leave it out. Third, in categorizing the literature in your review think of the chapters in a book, logically ordered on some basis and titled with clearly identifiable titles (dont be cute). Methodology The methodology section is critical to establishing the fidelity of your research. Here is where many research projects fail, because there is some fatal flaw in the research design which casts doubts about its believability. This section must clearly establish the foundations of how the research project was conducted. Research Design This is an overview of the research project methodology. It will be expanded and defined by later sections. There are many research designs, but they tend to break down into categories; Qualitative, Pure Experimental, Quasiexperimental, Non-experimental Quantitative, and Historical. It would be well in this section to explain which general design approach was used and why. Then, describe the design in clear terms. You will describe the research instrument(s) later, so they need not be described in detail in this section. Variablesindependent, dependent and control In this section the three types of variables are discussed. The independent and dependent variables exist in almost all forms of research designs. It should be clear how the variables relate to the hypotheses, and particularly how the dependent variable relates to the independent variable. There is an issue in any research of having reasonable control over extraneous (confounding) variables. If there are such variables involved in

the research and there were actions to control the impact of these variables it should be covered in this section. If the variables could not be controlled, this will have to be discussed in the Findings section. Instrumentation, including validity and reliability The measurement instrument(s) used in the study need to be described in some detail. The explanation should include the appropriate nature of the instrument(s) in the design. If the instrument(s) were used in prior studies, or these are standard measurement instruments, this needs to be explained. If the instrument is designed just for this project, then there needs to be an explanation of how the instrument(s) was tested for validity and reliability. Population selection and sampling method Since most research designs involve a study of human subjects, the characteristics of the subject population needs to be described. If the entire population is not used in the design, but there is a sampling of members, then the sampling technique needs to be described. Data collection A description of how the data was collected using the research instrument(s) should be described. If the design is for a qualitative or historical project and there is no instrumentation, then the methods for gathering relevant information may be described, particularly if they involved unusual strategies. Quantitative/statistical procedures A quantitative study produces numbers that are manipulated to illustrate relationships between variables. The method of mathematic manipulation should be described. Where statistical tests are used to show the relative strength of causal relationships, the choice of a level of statistical significance should be explained. Findings The findings (analysis of results) section explains not only the results of the study, but reports on how the design actually functioned in application. So, this section contains information on both the study and the results of the study. Sample population If there is a study population, this section describes how well the study population fit the desired characteristics of the total population. Methodology In this section you discuss how well the planned research design was followed in the study and if there were any problems with its use. Instrumentation In this section you discuss how well the research instruments worked and if there were any issues that affected validity or reliability. Results This is a summary of the results of the study. It can contain tables, graphs and illustrations as necessary. It is not a display of the results themselves, which can be included in the Appendix. And, it is not a discussion of the meaning or importance of the results. It is simply a compilation and summary

of the outcomes of the research project; the evaluations and judgments are contained in the Discussion section. Conclusion, Discussion & Implications Finally, you get to discuss the meaning of what has been revealed in the research project. You have previously discussed: what was going to be researched and why, what relevant research and information is in the literature, how the research was going to be done, how the research was actually done, and what was found and recorded from the research. Now, you can discuss what all that means. Summary This is the section that wraps up the factual information of the study. It draws together the purpose of the study, connects that with the hypotheses, and what is known from prior literature. Then, it connects the research design and instrumentation with the hypotheses. Finally, it relates the findings to the implementation of the research design and connects the findings to the hypotheses. The only thing left to discuss is what all of this means, which is discussed in the Conclusions section. Conclusions This is the end of your research story. The Conclusions section is where you conclude how the research project filled the original purpose for the study that was included in the Introduction. Because many readers will first look at the Introduction and then flip back to the Conclusions section, you need to tie the conclusions logically to the introduction. The conclusions section should answer the research question or problem found in the Introduction. Implications In the Need/Purpose section of the Introduction you explained why this study is important to someone. In this section you complete that idea by relating the outcomes of the study back to the need/purpose. Generally, implications are related to how the results can be used by researchers or practitioners, or contribute to the field of knowledge. Be specific in suggesting how you see the results being used by yourself and others. Recommendations Recommendations generally deal with ideas for further research on the same topic. This is your recommendation to fellow professionals as to what you see as the next steps in the development of additional knowledge about this question or problem. Bibliography The Bibliography contains all the literature references cited in the dissertation document, alphabetically by authors last name, in APA style. Appendix The Appendix contains all the lists, data, charts, etc. cited in the dissertation in sequential order by order of appearance in the document.

Sources
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Lovitts, B. E. (2005). How to grade a dissertation. Academe, 91(6). Retrieved May 6, 2009, http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2005/ND/Feat/lovi.htm Northwestern University, The Graduate School. (n.d.) Dissertation formatting guidelines. Retrieved May 2, 2009, http://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/docs/guidelines_for_students.pdf Rudestam, K.E. & Newton, R.R. (2007). Surviving your dissertation: A comprehensive guide to content and process (3rd ed.). Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications. Southeast Missouri State University, Department of English. (n.d). Guidelines for format and content of the dissertation. Retrieved May 5, 2009, http://www.semo.edu/education/images/EduLead_DissertGuide_2007.pdf University of Colorado Denver, The Graduate School. (2008). Guidelines for preparing masters theses and doctoral dissertations. Retrieved May 5, 2009, http://thunder1.cudenver.edu/clas/advising/grad/documents/ThesisGuide.pdf