The Doctoral Program

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The Dissertation

The dissertation is the most substantial scholarly work completed as part of the doctoral program. It is a culminating experience, rather than one big evaluation piece that occurs at the end of your program. The dissertation, within this context, is an extension of work during the program. The dissertation is practice-based dealing with issues faced by educational organizations. It should have relevance to the doctoral candidate’s professional setting. The dissertation belongs first to the doctoral candidate. The role of the dissertation chair and other dissertation committee members is to assist the doctoral candidate in the completion of the research and writing of an excellent dissertation. The stages of dissertation completion process are intended to assist doctoral candidates, not become barriers to impede progress. The dissertation chair and committee members serve as coaches to help doctoral candidates through the process.

Over many years, a style for dissertation has developed. The dissertation is a report on the results of a scholarly study. The dissertation is usually completed in five chapters. In Chapter One an introduction to the study and rationale for the study are provided. Chapter Two contains a literature review showing how the study relates to previous research and scholarly thought. In Chapter Three the design of the research is detailed. In Chapter Four the author describes the results of the research. In Chapter Five the author discusses the significance of the research findings. This five-chapter format is often adapted for a particular study. Six and even seven chapter dissertations have been approved. The steps in creating a dissertation are briefly described below.

Roles of Chair, Committee Members, and Doctoral Candidate
The doctoral candidate, dissertation committee chair, and dissertation committee members are responsible for creating the dissertation and assuring that it is of doctoral quality. Doctoral candidates plan and conduct the research and write the proposal and dissertation. Primary responsibility for assisting the doctoral candidate belongs to the dissertation chair. Committee members provide additional assistance as needed and participate in approval of the dissertation proposal and the completed dissertation. Sufficient time needs to be permitted for chair and committee review of proposal and dissertation drafts. Doctoral candidates should expect that it may take up to two weeks to receive a response. Normally the proposal and dissertation require multiple drafts. Sometimes doctoral committees will require doctoral candidates to use the assistance of an editor to assure the written quality of the dissertation. This determination is made on a case-by-case basis.

Expenses of Dissertation
In addition to tuition, doctoral candidates may incur the following expenses:

• Costs related to conducting the dissertation research, e.g. postage for questionnaire mailing
• Costs for editing the dissertation (varies)
• Cost for APA editing of dissertation (varies)
• Cost for binding of dissertation (currently $15 per copy)
• Cost of including dissertation in ProQuest database (currently $55)

Proposal
The first step is to write a dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal is a description of the research to be conducted. The purpose of the proposal is to reach agreement between the doctoral candidates, the dissertation committee, and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) about the research to be conducted. The dissertation committee must approve the proposal first and then the IRB. Once the proposal is approved, no major changes are permitted in the research design without the approval of the dissertation committee and the IRB.

The proposal usually consists of three chapters and additional information required by the IRB. The three chapters parallel the first three chapters of the dissertation (introduction, literature review, research design). The proposal does not need to be the completed first three chapters of the dissertation, but should have all the components of those three chapters. For example, if the literature review is not completed, it should be complete enough to inform the research and allow the committee to understand what the completed literature review will contain. A statement of additional topics to be included in the finished literature review is required.

The proposal should comply with the formatting rules for the dissertation. All drafts of the proposal should be accompanied by a title page that lists the title, doctoral candidate’s name, names of committee members, and date of the draft. A running head on all pages of the proposal should include the doctoral candidate’s name and date of draft. When the proposal is completed the running head should be removed from the approved proposal.

Procedures
The proposal is created by the doctoral candidate with the assistance of the dissertation chair and dissertation committee. The proposal may incorporate work done for other doctoral courses. When the chair and committee are satisfied that the proposal is ready, an oral defense is scheduled. After the oral defense, the proposal is submitted to the IRB. Only after the oral proposal defense has been passed and the IRB approval secured can any data be collected. Subsequently, the data is collected, analyzed, and remaining chapters of the dissertation written with the assistance of the dissertation chair and the dissertation committee. When the committee agrees with the chair that the dissertation is ready, an oral defense of the dissertation is scheduled. After the oral defense, any additional changes required by the committee must be made and approved by the chair. Then the dissertation is submitted to an editor to double-check for proper APA format. After all changes are made, the dissertation is submitted to the Aurora University library for binding and to ProQuest for to make the dissertation available on-line. Additional details of these procedures are provided below.

Oral Defense of Proposal
The oral defense of the proposal is scheduled when the dissertation chair and committee agree that the proposal is ready. The oral defense of the proposal is attended only by the doctoral candidate and the dissertation committee. At the defense, the doctoral candidate presents an overview of the proposed dissertation. It is useful if a PowerPoint presentation is made. The committee may require additional changes to the proposal which the doctoral candidate must make before it is approved. Another defense may be scheduled if the changes are substantial, or approval of less significant changes can be delegated by the committee to the chair. When the proposal is approved, the committee members sign an approval form which is placed in the doctoral candidate’s file.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)
The approved proposal is submitted to the IRB for review of the treatment of subjects. The IRB’s task to is assure that subjects understand the research project and their involvement in the project. The IRB meets monthly and normally requires receipt of the proposal two weeks before its next meeting. The proposal must comply with all the requirements of the IRB, which are stated separately in IRB documents. The proposal must be accompanied by the IRB cover sheet, the doctoral candidate’s vitae, a timeline for completion of the research, any permission letters required for research to be conducted in a school district, and copies of consent forms that subjects must sign before participating in the study. Doctoral candidates are encouraged to follow the IRB guidelines very carefully to avoid delay in approval of dissertation proposals. Only after IRB approval can research begin.

Timeline
Due to intense effort and involvement of the candidate and committee as dissertations are completed, careful scheduling is crucial. The following timeline is intended to provide general guidance for those seeking to complete the doctorate degree in 3 years. The first 2 years focus on course work with some attention to the dissertation; the remaining time is devoted to the dissertation. Each dissertation will have its own unique features that may alter this timeline; a fixed timeline cannot be created that will address every dissertation. Therefore, it is critical that you identify a general dissertation topic early and form and involve your dissertation committee chair and committee members as soon as practical.

AUGUST GRADUATION (36 MONTHS)

• Fall Year 1 Consider dissertation interests, questions and data collection (discussed in EDU 7110/8110)
• Spring Year 1 Research dissertation topic (literature review part of EDU (7010/8010)
• Summer Year 1 Continue refining dissertation topic and literature research
• Fall Year 2 Create research design (assignment in EDU 7100/8100 and EDU (7190/8190) Select dissertation committee chair and, perhaps, members
• Spring Year 2 Proposal written and approved
• Summer Year 2 Gather data, continue literature review, or other appropriate tasks as defined by dissertation committee
• Fall Year 3 Gather data, continue literature review, or other appropriate tasks as defined by dissertation committee
• Spring Year 3 Analyze data or other appropriate tasks as defined by dissertation committee
• Summer Year 3 Complete dissertation and defend
• August Year 3 Graduation

Format
The format for the dissertation is described below. An electronic template containing the formatting is available on Moodle. Use of the template will reduce the cost and time needed for final APA editing of dissertation.

1. Number of copies: Candidates must submit an original and a minimum of two copies of the dissertation to the Dissertation Committee Chairperson prior to defense.
2. Form and condition of original manuscript: The original manuscript must be printed on 8 ½” x 11” white, unlined paper that is 24 pound and has 25 percent cotton content. Printing must appear on only one side of each sheet. The original manuscript must be accurately proofread. Computers or word processors are recommended for writing dissertations.
3. Type Styles: Any legible 12-point font will be acceptable, but styles with serifs are recommended because they normally have greater legibility. Originals should be printed on a laser or full letter-quality printer. Do not use running headers or footers, and use boldface sparingly.
   • Margins: Original manuscripts and copies must have these uniform margins:
   • Left margins must be 1 ½” throughout, including footnotes, appendices, charts, graphs, tables, etc.
   • Right margins must be 1” throughout.
   • Top Margins: First pages of all chapters must have a 1½” margin at the top. All other pages must have a 1” margin at the top.
   • Bottom margins must be 1” throughout.
   • Spacing: The text of the dissertation must be double-spaced. Footnotes or endnotes must be single-spaced.
   • Pagination: Use lowercase Roman numerals to number your introductory pages (title page, acknowledgements, dedication, etc.) with the title page bearing no number but included in the sequence. A Table of Contents is required, and on it should be listed all preliminary pages, chapter headings, bibliography, and appendices (if any). Arabic numerals are to be used to number the remaining pages of the text, including appendices. Page numbers must be centered at the top of the page.
   • Endnotes: Should be placed at the end of each chapter. Please consult with your dissertation director about preferences. Endnotes should begin on a separate page at the end of the chapter and be single-spaced, with a double space between each note. Notes should follow the guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA) Stylebook, Fifth Edition.
   • References: A list of references must be appended to the dissertation. It must list (alphabetically by author) all references that are consulted within the dissertation and must follow APA style guidelines except the references should be single spaced, with a double space between each note. It may include works used in preparation of the dissertation that are not directly cited in the dissertation.
   • Copyright: If your dissertation is to be copyrighted, indicate so as follows: © Copyright [date]. Copyrighting your dissertation is optional, so consult with your Dissertation Director. ProQuest can copyright your dissertation if you request that service.
4. Condition of copies: The College of Education requires that you assume full responsibility for the correctness of content and form of all copies of your dissertation. All copies must be clear and legible. Copies must be from high-quality photocopiers and must not have smudges, streaks, or smears; carbon paper copies are not acceptable. All pages must be present and in proper order before submitting copies of the dissertation to the Committee.
5. Title Page: The title page of the original manuscript of the dissertation must contain the title of the dissertation, author, date, and copyright statement (if copyrighted).
6. Dissertation Acceptance Page: This page must contain the ink signatures of your committee members after the dissertation has been defended.
7. Abstract: When the original manuscript is submitted, an abstract must also be submitted consisting of not more than 350 words. The abstract is placed after the acceptance page.
8. Model Pages: See the model pages for the Title Page, Dissertation Acceptance Page, and Abstract in the appendix of this handbook.

Oral Defense of Dissertation
Oral defense is an opportunity for the doctoral candidate to explain his/her dissertation research to the university community and engage in a dialogue with the dissertation committee about the research. It is the event at which the dissertation committee formally passes judgment on the dissertation. The dissertation committee may approve the dissertation, approve pending revisions, or reject the dissertation for major revisions. It is most common for the committee to approve pending revisions.
An oral defense is scheduled by the dissertation chair when the dissertation chair and committee agree that the dissertation is ready for oral defense.

The Dissertation Committee Chair opens the oral defense of the dissertation by describing the process of the defense. The candidate presents and defends the dissertation. This presentation should be limited to 20 to 30 minutes and focus primarily on the research design, findings and conclusions/implications. Any professor, dean, or doctoral candidate may attend this presentation. At its conclusion, all guests will be asked to leave the room. The committee and doctoral candidate will discuss the dissertation. At the conclusion of this discussion, the doctoral candidate will be asked to leave the room. The committee will discuss its decision. If revisions are required, the committee will agree at this time what those revisions are. The doctoral candidate and any guests will be asked to return to the room when the decision of the dissertation committee will be announced.
If the dissertation is approved or approved with minor revisions, the dissertation committee members sign and date the acceptance page of the dissertation. Dissertation committee members will provide any required minor revisions to the candidate.

If the dissertation is not approved, the doctoral candidate will work with the dissertation committee to revise dissertation until the dissertation committee can approve the dissertation. Another oral defense will be required.

Post Defense
There are several specific steps that need to be followed after the dissertation defense. These are listed below.

• After the dissertation defense, any revisions required by the committee must be made. The dissertation chair will oversee those changes until the dissertation is appropriately revised.
• The dissertation will next go to an editor to check for APA style. The dissertation chair will forward the dissertation electronically to the Ed.D. Program Secretary. In some cases, the doctoral candidate may be asked to forward the dissertation directly to the Program Secretary.
• The dissertation will be forwarded by the Program Secretary to the APA editor who will make sure it meets APA style.
• When it comes back from the editor, the Program Secretary will return the dissertation to the candidate. Sometimes the editor has questions that only the candidate can answer. If that is the case, the candidate will need to make those corrections and return the dissertation to the Program Secretary.
• If no changes are needed or after the needed changes are made, the candidate should print the dissertation and make sure that nothing has been changed by the editor inappropriately.
• Then the dissertation is printed (or copied) on white paper, 25% cotton content, 24 pound. The candidate makes as many copies as he/she wants bound by the library. An order form from the library needs to be completed. The current cost is $15 per bound copy. You must bind one copy for the library. Normally you also bind a copy for each of your committee members. When your bound copies are ready, the library will notify you.
• Finally, there is a form to complete to put your dissertation into dissertation abstracts, an on-line database of dissertations. The current fee is $55. If the candidate wants ProQuest to copyright the dissertation there is an additional $45 fee. The candidate submits the following items to the Program Secretary:
  • completed application,
  • a copy of the dissertation title page,
  • copy of the dissertation abstract,
  • an electronic copy of the final dissertation (on disk or as an e-mail attachment), and a
  • and a cashier’s check or money order for $55.00 dollars for publishing or $100.00 for publishing and copyrighting made payable to ProQuest.

The Program Secretary will forward the materials to ProQuest.

Updated February 25, 2008