Writing a Proposal for Your Dissertation: Guidelines and Examples

The encouraging book that has guided thousands of students step by step through crafting a strong dissertation proposal is now in a thoroughly revised second edition. It includes new guidance for developing methodology-specific problem statements, an expanded discussion of the literature review, coverage of the four-chapter dissertation model, and more. Terrell demonstrates how to write each chapter of the proposal, including the problem statement, purpose statement, and research questions and hypotheses; literature review; and detailed plans for data collection and analysis. "Let's Start Writing" exercises serve as building blocks for drafting a complete proposal. Other user-friendly features include case-study examples from diverse disciplines, “Do You Understand?” checklists, and end-of-chapter practice tests with answers. Appendices present an exemplary proposal written three ways to demonstrate quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, and discuss how to structure a four-chapter dissertation.

New to This Edition
*Introduction offering a concise overview of the entire proposal-writing process and the doctoral experience.
*Additional help with tailoring problem and purpose statements for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies.
*Expanded discussion of the review of literature, including a criterion for judging the quality of primary versus secondary sources.
*Many new examples from different disciplines, such as studies of depression treatments, approaches to reducing offender recidivism, health effects of irradiated crops, strength training in college football, and remote teaching and learning during COVID-19.
*Focus on the five-chapter model is broadened to include specific guidance for four-chapter dissertations.
*Broader, more detailed reference list and glossary.

ISBN-13: 9781462550234

Media Type: Paperback(Second Edition)

Publisher: Guilford Publications Inc.

Publication Date: 10-31-2022

Pages: 320

Product Dimensions: 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.67(d)

Steven R. Terrell, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at Nova Southeastern University. He has taught quantitative and qualitative research methods since the 1980s and is the author of over 150 journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and presentations. Dr. Terrell is a member of the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association, and served as Chair of the American Educational Research Association’s Online Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group. He is on the editorial boards of several national and international journals and was recently named a Fellow and Distinguished Scholar of the International Institute for Applied Knowledge Management. He is currently serving as part-time faculty in the School of Computing at Middle Georgia State University.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Developing the Problem Statement for Your Dissertation Proposal

Introduction

From the outset, did you notice something in the title of this book that may be different from those of other books you may have read about writing a doctoral dissertation? In case you didn't, unlike many other authors, I want to focus solely on writing the dissertation proposal, the first part of the dissertation that sets the stage for the research to be conducted, and ultimately the final dissertation report. In general, the proposal usually consists of stating a research problem and purpose, asking research questions, stating hypotheses (i.e., ideas or explanations you will test), reviewing the literature about the problem area, and creating a very detailed plan, called the research method, which will be the guideline for your study.

Let me say, however, right from the outset, that this isn't a research methodology book per se. Obviously, talking about different research designs and methodologies is part of the process, but my primary focus is helping you to write a good proposal. While I do go into some detail about such things as statistical tests, instrument development, different research designs, and so on, it's all within the scope and context of getting a good start on your dissertation. In cases where you need more detail about a specific topic, I've supplied great references in each chapter. You'll find that outstanding authors such as Earl Babbie, Kathy Charmaz, John Creswell, Lorraine Gay, Sharlene Hesse-Biber, Clark Moustakas, Robert Stake, Robert Yin, and many others will provide you with all of the information you will need.

My reasoning for focusing solely on the dissertation proposal is this: I don't want to discourage you but, surprisingly, only about half of the students entering a doctoral program in the United States ultimately graduate. The reasons are many: they might run out of money, their personal life intervenes, they have academic problems, and so on. In my 20 years of experience working with doctoral students, however, I've found that the biggest hurdle to graduation is writing the dissertation proposal, and more specifically being able to identify or focus on a problem area to investigate. Most of my students are academically capable of writing a dissertation or they wouldn't be in a doctoral program in the first place; they just need something to help them understand the process and get them started.

That's my goal in this book: to help you understand what it takes to get started and write your proposal. In doing so, I've included a lot of material that I think you'll find very useful. There are chapters dedicated to very specific parts of the dissertation, the problem statement and the review of literature, for example, and separate chapters focusing on quantitative data (i.e., numeric), qualitative data (i.e., text-based), and mixed methods (i.e., where both quantitative and qualitative data are collected) research. There are review questions throughout, definitions of many of the terms you'll encounter in your research, an extensive reference list, and examples of everything we discuss. Finally, at the end of the book you'll see examples of a quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods proposal based on the true story of a toxic waste recycling plant in a small southern town.

In short, I've given you a good set of tools with which to work. Before we talk in more detail about a dissertation, however, let's talk about how we get to the point where we actually need to write one.

The Doctoral Experience

Doctoral students are the most capable, academically successful, and carefully chosen students in higher education; because of that, admission into a doctoral program is a feat unto itself. Upon acceptance, many doctoral students spend the first 2 or 3 years taking coursework in their area of interest. These courses help students become subject-matter experts, as well as prepare them for conducting research in their area of interest. Once finished with their courses, many universities require students to take comprehensive exams covering the broad gamut of their area of expertise. Upon successfully completing these exams, students are then allowed to begin writing their dissertation — the major research paper that shows the world they are a proficient producer of academic research.

The first step, for most students, is finding a dissertation supervisor, or chair, to work with. When students have asked me to potentially supervise their work, it's been my experience that, right after they've finished their coursework and their comprehensive exams, they are really excited and motivated to get started writing their dissertation. Many of these students are successful but, as I said, many never finish. I've talked to quite a few of these ex-students over the years and many told me, "I just couldn't complete my dissertation." In most instances I tell them, "The reason you didn't finish your dissertation is because you never really started!" Before I explain what I mean, let me start with three disclaimers:

1. Different universities may have different formats or sections to be included in a dissertation. A very common model is to include five chapters:

• Chapter 1: Introduction

• Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

• Chapter 3: Methodology

• Chapter 4: Results

• Chapter 5: Conclusions

The first three of these chapters taken together is called the Proposal and must be approved before a student conducts his or her research. Once his or her research has been completed, students write Chapters 4 and 5 to explain their results and the conclusions they were able to make. The five chapters taken together are the Dissertation Report.

2. Different types of studies may require different components in the dissertation proposal. We'll talk later in the book about quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research designs; the proposal for each of these different types of studies may vary somewhat. Our goal here is to understand, in general terms, how to write a proposal.

3. Some components of a proposal may be specific to a given study. For example, if you have terms that might not be understood by the reader, you might include a "Definitions of Terms" section to explain what you mean. Because we're looking at a generic approach here, we'll discuss those later in the book.

The Problem Is the Problem

Needless to say, after putting in a significant amount of time and getting nowhere, a few students get aggravated when they hear me tell them they've never really started. On far more than one occasion I've heard, "Of course I started. Haven't you seen all of the work I've put into this?" I usually agree they have put in a lot of effort, but then I remind them of something that more than likely they've heard before:

All research starts out by identifying a meaningful problem or opportunity about which we want to gain better knowledge or find a solution. Among others, opportunities for research can come from issues at the workplace or institution, personal experience, literature from their field of study, or a desire to replicate the work of other researchers in an attempt to better understand or explain a phenomenon. By conducting valid research and completing their dissertation, students are contributing to the knowledge base from which future researchers may work.

Knowing that, I then ask students the crucial questions: "What is your problem statement?" and "What is the exact focus of your research?" In many instances they can give me a broad overview of what they want to do, but can't focus it precisely.

The problem they have starting their dissertation proposal is that they can't tell me the problem they want to investigate; in short, the problem is the problem.

In order to get over this barrier I ask them a series of questions:

1. What is the focus of the research? This is the actual problem statement.

2. How was the problem identified and why is it a problem? We call this the background of the problem.

3. What is the benefit of investigating the problem? We call this the significance of the problem.

My experiences with doctoral students are not unique; many experts believe that defining a clear, researchable problem is the most difficult part of any research study. Given that, for the remainder of this chapter, we will focus on answering these questions by learning how to find, develop, and write a good problem statement.

In subsequent chapters, we will see exactly how the problem sets the stage for the rest of the dissertation proposal: a statement of the purpose of the study, research questions, hypotheses, the review of related literature, and the research method for investigating the problem. By understanding this process, you will be well on your way to writing a quality dissertation proposal.

Finding a Good Research Problem

Problems or opportunities for research are all around us. For many students, the real issue isn't finding a problem to investigate, it's narrowing down the many possibilities — things you've studied in your coursework, personal experience, issues at your workplace or institution, or by reading about a topic in which you are interested. Other potential areas for investigation can be found by attending professional conferences, speaking with experts in your field, or by replicating the work of others in an attempt to better understand or apply the results of research they have conducted. We'll look at several examples but, before we do, let's talk briefly about the reading that will be required as part of identification of your problem.

Reading the Literature in Your Field Underlies Everything You Do

As I've pointed out several times up to this point, a formal review of the literature is an essential component of a good dissertation proposal. That leads some students to believe that all of the literature they read as part of their proposal is contained in that section, but nothing could be further from the truth. Every part of a good dissertation is influenced and supported by what you read.

For example, in many instances students identify a potential dissertation problem based on readings in a specific area they are interested in; other students focus on problems suggested by prior researchers in the field. We'll also find that knowledge of the literature in a field is needed to provide the background of a problem for the reader, as well as to convince the reader of the significance of investigating the proposed problem area. The key, at this point in your paper, is that the literature you read and report on focuses on the problem itself. The formal review of the literature, later in the paper, will expand upon that knowledge and provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the problem area, discuss prior research that has been conducted, and provide a basis for a sound research methodology upon which to investigate the problem. While this may sound somewhat confusing, the key lies in reading other proposals and dissertations. It will become readily apparent how writers use the literature to support their problem area and then how it is used to better define, understand, and guide the research itself. In this book, we'll go into greater detail when we get to those sections, but for now let's get back to finding a good research problem.

A Problem Based on Experience

Let's suppose we're working at a university where the attrition rate from the doctoral program is higher than the historical average of doctoral programs throughout the United States; that's clearly a problem I could investigate:

Our school has an attrition rate greater than 50%.

This type of problem is generally called a practical or applied research problem because it focuses on an issue within an organization. In another applied case, I might focus on a problem in the gym where I work out:

Regardless of the amount of exercise they do, participants in aerobics classes do not lose a significant amount of weight.

Finally, I might focus on a problem that many employers today seem to be wrestling with:

Employees who smoke are less productive than those who do not smoke.

As an aside, you might be reading this and thinking, "How can that be? You've actually increased the amount of time an employee can focus on work due to the elimination of smoking breaks." Interestingly, I've seen just the opposite occur. Our university's campus recently became completely smoke-free. As I was leaving campus recently, I saw several of the people from my building standing in the parking lot of an office complex across the street and, as you might guess, they were smoking. What does that mean for the university? The time spent leaving the office, crossing the road and coming back, could lead to even lower productivity.

Theoretical or Basic Research Problems

We may also investigate theoretical or basic research problems; those that come from conflicts or contradictions in previous findings or a desire to extend the knowledge about a specific problem area. This is a perfect example of using the literature to help demonstrate the background and significance of the problem statement. For example, let's say we have found conflicting research regarding how to support dissertation students in an online environment; we could easily write a problem statement such as:

There is conflicting research on how to support dissertation students in an online environment.

This problem statement implies that multiple studies (i.e., literature focused directly on the problem area) have been conducted about supporting online dissertation students; apparently there is no consensus on the best approach. For example, these studies may have been based on traditional learning theories such as behaviorism and constructivism; our job would be to conduct further studies using the same constructs to help better explain or support prior results. We might actually attempt to replicate one or more of the studies to determine if the results might be different using another population of students or different pedagogical tools based on the same learning theories. We could also attempt to extend the work by investigating a different approach.

In another example, one of my students was interested in using laboratory simulators to teach basic concepts in his undergraduate anatomy and physiology classes. He searched the literature and found that many studies had been conducted, with varying results, in other disciplines; unfortunately, none of them dealt with anatomy and physiology. Because the results of using laboratory simulators might vary from field to field, it led him to state:

There have been no studies investigating the use of laboratory simulators in undergraduate anatomy and physiology classes.

Using Suggestions for Future Research

Whether a student is still taking coursework or starting his or her dissertation I tell the student it's important to become an expert in their field. In order to do so, just as we discussed above, the student must "read, read, read and then read some more"; only by knowing the relevant literature in a field will he or she be comfortable in, or capable of, moving forward. While reading the literature, an area of research may present itself; in other cases, I tell the student to look at the final section of articles interest. In more cases than not, that is where there are sections titled "Suggestions for Future Research," "Articles of Interest," "Future Trends," "Conclusions," or other titles to that effect. In many instances, in that section, the article's author points a doctoral researcher even more in the direction they may want to go.

To make the point, I've just reached to the right of my desk and picked up the first journal I could find; when I open it to a random article, the author has written about exploring the career aspirations of undergraduate students majoring in math.

One of his findings reports that most students feel they are adequately prepared for a job in their field; the author warns, however, that the results are tentative, exploratory, and come from a small sample. He suggests future research that focuses on things such as gender-specific variables and developmental factors that might influence a student to major in math. For someone interested in math education, this article might be a gold mine of inspiration.

(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Writing a Proposal for Your Dissertation"
by .
Copyright © 2016 The Guilford Press.
Excerpted by permission of The Guilford Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

<

Table of Contents

Introduction: Your Dissertation Proposal
1. Developing the Problem Statement for Your Dissertation Proposal
2. Writing Purpose Statements, Research Questions, and Hypotheses
3. Writing the Review of Literature for Your Dissertation Proposal
4. The First Part of Your Dissertation Research Method
5. Quantitative Research Methods
6. Qualitative Research Methods
7. Mixed Methods Research Designs
Epilogue: Have We Accomplished What We Set Out to Do?
Appendix A. Progress Check for Chapter 1 of a Dissertation Proposal: The Introduction
Appendix B. Progress Check for Chapter 2 of a Dissertation Proposal: The Review of Literature
Appendix C. Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Quantitative Dissertation Proposal
Appendix D. Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Qualitative Dissertation Proposal
Appendix E. Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Mixed Methods Dissertation Proposal
Appendix F. Sample Proposal for a Four-Chapter Dissertation
Answers to Review Questions
Glossary
References
Index
About the Author
Show More