Carol M. Roberts - The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation

SECOND EDITION

The
DISSERTATION
Journey

A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to
Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation

CAROL M. ROBERTS

Copyright 2010 by Carol M. Roberts

All rights reserved. When forms and sample documents are included, their use is authorized only by educators, local school sites, and/or noncommercial or nonprofit entities that have purchased the book. Except for that usage, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Roberts, Carol M.
The dissertation journey: a practical and comprehensive guide to planning, writing, and defending your dissertation / Carol M. Roberts. 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4129-7798-2 (pbk.)
1. Doctor of education degreeHandbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Dissertations, AcademicHandbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Report writingHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.

LB1742.R63 2010
808.066378dc22 2010020319

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

10 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Foreword
Kenneth R. Stevenson

W hen I completed reading The Dissertation Journey by Carol Roberts, my first reaction was, Where was this book 20 years ago when I started directing dissertations? My second reaction was, Heck, where was this book even before then when I wrote my own dissertation? My third reaction was, Every doctoral student in our department needs to read this book. And my fourth reaction was, So does every faculty member.

Dr. Robertss book provides insight into every aspect of developing and writing a dissertation. From selecting a topic, to choosing a committee, to deciding what research approach to use, to the actual writing and defense of the dissertation, Dr. Roberts provides clear and comprehensive directions for any student faced with the challenge of writing a dissertation. I particularly appreciate how she methodically takes students through each chapter that will comprise the dissertation, not only providing an overview of what each should contain but also offering helpful suggestions and checklists to reinforce what constitutes a good dissertation.

A really appealing component of The Dissertation Journey is the information provided to doctoral students on how to use technology to support development of a dissertation. Not only does Dr. Roberts offer good suggestions on how to use the computer in writing a dissertation, she provides a listing of electronic and Internet sources students can use to access research materials and articles.

Furthermore, the section that Dr. Roberts provides on the ethics of writing a dissertation is a must read for any doctoral student. She reminds the reader of copyright laws, clearly defines plagiarism and how to avoid it, and highlights the importance of understanding and observing the rules governing research on human subjects.

Finally, Dr. Roberts provides a great concluding section that focuses on students responsibilities once the dissertation is done and they have graduated. She not only encourages them to share their research findings broadly but also challenges the students to use their experience to mentor others undertaking the rigors of a doctoral degree.

Returning to my initial comments, I found The Dissertation Journey to be a wonderfully useful tool to assist both doctoral students and graduate faculty through the dissertation development process. The work is very clearly written and addresses every aspect of dissertation writing. It is so good that I plan to have all of my doctoral students purchase and read the work. It will save them, as well as me, a lot of lost time, gnashing of teeth, and heartache.

Dr. Roberts is to be congratulated for adding this important work to the field. There is no doubt that, if doctoral students and their advisors will use this composition as a guide in developing dissertations, the quality of research in higher education across the country will be immensely enhanced.

Kenneth R. Stevenson

Professor, Department of
Educational Leadership and Policies
University of South Carolina

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to write a second edition of my book, The Dissertation Journey: A Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Writing, and Defending Your Dissertation. This updated and expanded edition includes not only new information that is vital to navigating the dissertation process, it also includes an expansion of previous topics for greater clarity and utility.

New features added to this second edition include the following:

1. A new chapter titled What Are the Ethical Considerations in Research? In this chapter, I discuss the central ethical issues involved in conducting research relative to human rights, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, respect for the research site, writing, and disseminating the research.
2. New information about the process, importance, and purpose of developing a theoretical or conceptual framework. It includes responses to questions such as, What is a conceptual or theoretical framework? How does a conceptual framework differ from a theoretical framework? Why do you need a conceptual or theoretical framework? and How do you find a conceptual or theoretical framework? Also provided are examples from dissertations for greater understanding.
3. A completely revised and updated chapter titled Using the Internet and Technology to Conduct Research. Since more and more researchers use the Internet and technology for all phases of dissertation writing, I incorporated in this second edition new web-based technologies. New information about search engines, evaluating websites, and social networking on the web is also included.
4. A completely revised and expanded chapter on reviewing the literature. I expanded the steps in conducting a literature review from four to eight and added considerably more detail to the process. An updated list of secondary sources and style manuals widely used in the social sciences is incorporated.