Student Handbook: Dissertation
Each Ed.D. candidate must complete a dissertation. The primary purpose of the dissertation is to generate knowledge that contributes to the understanding of educational leadership practices, policies, reforms, or improvements. The dissertation is to be a significant scholarly work. It is normally expected to include a comprehensive review of the literature, a carefully chosen and appropriate methodology for addressing the research question, analysis of qualitative and/or quantitative data, interpretation of the findings, and discussion of the implications for practice and further research. Variants of this model may be appropriate, but only with the approval of a dissertation advisor.
The dissertation serves an integrative role in a student’s education, requiring the candidate to incorporate ideas and skills from various parts of the program. Additionally, the dissertation allows students to demonstrate that they can put together an original research project, moving from a research question to an in-depth response to that question. Success in completing the dissertation demonstrates a student’s ability to be an independent educational leader.
Students will choose their own dissertation topics in consultation with a dissertation advisor. It is permissible and may indeed be desirable for a student to choose a topic that is directly relevant to his or her work setting.
Dissertation Committee and Chair (Advisor)
Each doctoral candidate will have at least a three person dissertation committee. A fourth member may be added if the student and dissertation chair believe a benefit is achieved from the additional expertise. The chair of the committee (also known as the dissertation advisor) plays the most significant role in guiding the dissertation, and it is expected that the chair will be the first committee member chosen. The chair must be a member of the Ed.D. core faculty. The chair and dissertation candidate will collaborate on choosing additional members. Such additional members may come from the core faculty or the affiliated faculty. With the approval of the program director, a tenured or tenure-track faculty member from another CSU campus or another institution of post-secondary education may be included on the dissertation committee. Such a person must possess special expertise relevant to the candidate’s dissertation research. Additionally, at least one member is ordinarily an expert in educational practice or policy from California’s P-12 school or community colleges/post-secondary education.
The choice of a dissertation advisor is a mutual one, reflecting considerations of interest, expertise, time availability, access, and a comfortable working relationship. While this is not the norm, it is possible to change one’s dissertation chair by mutual consent, but only if for some reason circumstances change and another advisor would be more appropriate.
While the dissertation chair will generally exercise primary guidance over dissertation preparation, all committee members must approve the final document. It is expected that the candidate will make revisions to draft portions of the dissertation in accordance with input from the chair and other members.
Dissertation Proposal
Early in the dissertation writing process, candidates must produce a prospectus that summarizes the research question, the approach taken in answering the question, the data and methods used, and the importance of the topic to educational policy and/or leadership at the K-12 and community college levels. In essence, the proposal is a work plan. It sets forth tasks to be completed, the reasons for identification of these tasks, and the anticipated results. Most proposals include a scope of work, a list of activities, a time line for completion, and if necessary a budget. These elements indicate how the student plans to proceed. The work plan allows faculty to judge the investigation’s importance, feasibility, efficiency, and likely success.
In some cases, dissertation advisors ask for a proposal that amounts to a partial dissertation draft. That is, the proposal would include the first three chapters covering an Introduction to the topic and statement of the problem, review of the literature, and description of method. Keep in mind that specific advisors have their own preference in structuring the dissertation proposal, and that the proposal requirements may also depend on the nature of the topic. However, the conventional approach is often to request “mini versions” of the opening three chapters.
Dissertation Defense
At the end of the dissertation process, each candidate prepares an oral defense of the dissertation before his/her committee. The candidate will respond to questions from the committee regarding research goals, theory, literature, methods, findings, implications, and other topics. Following the defense the committee may vote to approve the dissertation and recommend conferral degree (such a decision must be by unanimous vote). The committee may also request major or minor changes, in which case the final vote on approval will be delayed until the changes are completed. Finally, the committee may vote to reject the dissertation. However, rejection is expected to be a very rare occurrence. The dissertation defense will only be scheduled if the advisor is confident that the dissertation is capable of gaining approval.