Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation : Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

by Fred C. Lunenburg

• ISBN13: 9781412942249
• ISBN10: 1412942241
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-21
• Publisher: Corwin Pr

Summary

This comprehensive manual offers direction for every step of the thesis or dissertation process, from choosing an appropriate topic to adapting the finished work for publication.

Table of Contents

Getting Started
Selecting a Suitable Topic	p. 2
Sources of Topics	p. 3
Criteria for Topic Selection	p. 10
Summary	p. 15
Selecting a Chair and Committee	p. 16
Criteria to Consider in Selecting a Chair	p. 17
Composition and Role of the Committee	p. 20
Research Prospective Committee Members	p. 21
The Desirable Student	p. 23
Summary	p. 25
What You Need to Know
Quantitative Research Designs	p. 28
Descriptive Research Design	p. 30
Correlational Research Design	p. 35
Causal-Comparative Research Design	p. 45
Quasi-Experimental Research Design	p. 49
Experimental Research Design	p. 54
Theory Development	p. 59
Summary	p. 61
Basic Statistics	p. 62
Descriptive Statistics	p. 63
Inferential Statistics	p. 67
Summary	p. 87
Qualitative Research Designs	p. 88
Phenomenological Research Design	p. 89
Case Study Research Design	p. 96
Ethnographic Research Design	p. 99
Grounded Theory Research Design	p. 102
Mixed Methods Research Design	p. 106
Summary	p. 109
The Dissertation Chapters
Writing the Introduction Chapter	p. 112
Background of the Study	p. 113
Statement of the Problem	p. 114
Purpose of the Study	p. 116
Significance of the Study	p. 117
Definition of Terms	p. 118
Theoretical Framework	p. 122
Models	p. 123
Research Questions (or Hypotheses)	p. 126
Limitations	p. 133
Delimitations	p. 134
Assumptions	p. 135
Organization of the Study	p. 135
Summary	p. 136
Writing the Literature Review Chapter	p. 137
Searching the Literature	p. 138
Writing the Literature Review	p. 142
Synthesizing the Literature	p. 154
Summary	p. 164
Writing the Methodology Chapter	p. 165
Introduction	p. 166
Selection of Participants	p. 167
Instrumentation	p. 180
Data Collection	p. 194
Data Analysis	p. 200
Summary	p. 204
Conclusion	p. 204
Writing the Results Chapter	p. 206
Introduction	p. 209
Descriptive Statistics	p. 210
Testing the Research Questions (or Hypotheses)	p. 213
Additional Analyses	p. 222
Summary	p. 223
Conclusion	p. 224
Writing the Discussion Chapter	p. 225
Introduction	p. 226
Summary of the Study	p. 226
Discussion of the Findings	p. 228
Guidelines to Structure Your Discussion Section	p. 229
Implications for Practice	p. 236
Recommendations for Further Research	p. 238
Conclusions	p. 240
Summary	p. 242
The Defense and Afterward
The Proposal and Final Oral Defense	p. 244
Prepare a Well-Written Document	p. 245
Know the Format	p. 245
Prepare Your Presentation	p. 246
Practice Your Presentation	p. 248
Anticipate Questions	p. 248
Final Oral Defense	p. 249
Tips for Avoiding Common Mistakes	p. 251
Summary	p. 253
Presenting and Publishing Your Dissertation	p. 254
Presentations	p. 254
Job Interview	p. 261
Academic Journals	p. 262
Books	p. 266
Chapters in Books	p. 269
Popular Press	p. 269
Internet Publishing	p. 269
Desktop Publishing	p. 270
Planning the Writing Process	p. 270
Summary	p. 272
Initial Letter Soliciting Participation	p. 273
First Follow-Up Letter	p. 274
Second Follow-Up Letter	p. 275
Dissertation Proposal Outline (Correlational)	p. 276
Dissertation Proposal Outline (Analysis of Variance and Regression)	p. 280
Dissertation Proposal Outline (Multivariate Analysis of Variance)	p. 284
Dissertation Proposal Outline (Qualitative)	p. 288
Qualitative Research Critique	p. 293
Agreement: Guidelines for Chairing a Dissertation	p. 295
Checklist for Dissertation Quality	p. 299
References	p. 305
Index	p. 321
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