THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Updated from the Polytechnic DTech Handbook (rev. October 2022)

A doctoral dissertation in technology is a significant piece of original research, a formal written description of that research, and an oral defense of the research. Typically, the dissertation contributes new knowledge to the discipline against the backdrop of what others have contributed to the topic as well (via the literature review).

To pursue the development of a dissertation, students must first develop a dissertation proposal and secure its approval by their final examination committee. A formal meeting of the student’s graduate committee is required to evaluate the proposal and the Polytechnic Graduate Studies Office is to be provided a copy of the approved proposal and the Polytechnic Form 2, Acceptance of Graduate Proposal (see Appendix J). Proposals are developed pursuant to student enrollment in one (1) to three hours (3) of TECH 64000. Subsequent enrollment in TECH 64000 for the additional required credits is contingent upon filing of the approved proposal.

NOTE: The primary difference between a thesis and a dissertation is scope, that is, size and breadth of the project.

Key Points about the Dissertation

A dissertation typically addresses a theory or knowledge gap. Often it does so by testing or evaluating or by developing and validating a concept or methodology.

Dissertations require documentation of the significance of the problem or gap in knowledge they address (i.e., they make a contribution to the discipline).

All dissertations result in a clearly identifiable new knowledge of significance (requires documentation of originality).

Generally, dissertations involve the use of one or more of the accepted research paradigms and established research techniques. They may be quantitative or qualitative in nature. They may involve historical or philosophical, scientific or technological perspectives. They may be experimental or developmental in methodology. Other forms/paradigms of research scholarship may also be employed, if approved by the committee.

The dissertation format must follow the Purdue Graduate School Thesis Guidelines as detailed in the DTECH Handbook. The format used is APA citation format.

Dissertations demonstrate a high level of reasoning, effective written communication, and are documented in a form that permits replication.

Dissertations are filed in Purdue’s library (via the E-pubs section). Dissertation containing intellectual property are marked as confidential and not made publicly available.

Dissertations are filed with the University and the ProQuest Repository. Dissertations containing intellectual property are marked as confidential and not made publicly available.

DISSERTATION PROCEDURES

The culminating demonstration of successful performance in the student’s doctoral program is the design, execution, and documentation of the dissertation, and its defense. Any form of research deemed acceptable and appropriate to the doctoral committee may be used to satisfy this requirement. No part of this handbook is intended to signal a preference for quantitative or qualitative research or for research from a particular paradigm. Nevertheless, quality research cannot be rushed. Given this, it is encouraged that doctoral students and their advisors (termed major professor/chair) begin work on the research project as early as possible.

Often, for students employing a three-year timeline, the fourth semester of study is appropriately used to define the research topic and generate the proposal (once the preliminary examination has been successfully passed). The gradual use of TECH 69000 (independent research credits) is one way to encourage such progress, although the bulk of the dissertation credits (TECH 64000) should be taken only after the student has completed the preliminary examination and has an approved dissertation proposal.

Procedurally a candidate must:

Enroll in TECH 64000 to successfully defend the dissertation research proposal.

Defend the proposal before the candidate’s doctoral committee (comprised of at least four members).

Obtain appropriate approvals (if applicable) to conduct research (CITI, IRB, HIPAA, FERPA, etc.).

If approved, the candidate may then conduct the dissertation research, enrolling in Tech 64000 each semester until completion and final defense.

Upon completion of the dissertation, the major professor reviews the dissertation and runs it through ithenticate to check for plagiarism and citation issues.

Major professor submits a copy of the ithenticate report, the original dissertation draft and reports the ithenticate score to the Polytechnic Thesis Advisor (Associate Dean for Graduate Programs) for approval of the format.

Candidate submits the dissertation draft to the Thesis Office for format review prior to the defense.

Candidate defends dissertation in the presence of their doctoral committee.

Upon successful final dissertation defense, candidate completes Form 9 to electronically deposit the dissertation with the university, college, and with their committee.

TECH 64000 DTech Thesis Research Enrollment

Students are required to enroll in TECH 64000 beginning with the semester in which they develop and defend their dissertation proposal, continuing through their active dissertation research, and through the semester in which they complete and successfully defend their dissertation before the final examination committee.

NOTE: At least three academic semesters devoted to research and writing must elapse between the preliminary and final dissertation defense. During each of these three sessions, the student will remain enrolled in TECH 64000.

Grades for TECH 64000 Dissertation Research

TECH 64000 DTech Thesis Research is graded according to the following scale:

S (satisfactory) – used where the student has met or exceeded requirements.

U (Unsatisfactory) – used where the student has not met requirements and has not invested appropriate amounts of effort.

Incomplete – used where the student has invested appropriate amounts of satisfactory effort, but the dissertation is not yet finished.

NOTE: Graduate students who receive an incomplete in a course will have up to one year to complete the course. If that is not done, the Registrar automatically enters a failing grade.

Dissertation Proposal Defense

The dissertation proposal includes the first three chapters of the research to be conducted. Once the student has completed developing the dissertation proposal, it is submitted to the chair of the student’s graduate committee for review. The student then works with the committee chair to schedule a meeting of the doctoral committee for defense and approval of the proposal. Proposal defenses may take one to two hours.

Typically, the student gives a 20-30-minute presentation (usually accompanied by Power Point slides and handouts), answering committee member questions either during or at the end of the presentation.

NOTE: The proposal defense must be scheduled two (2) weeks in advance of the date of the proposal defense. The proposal should be provided to the committee two (2) weeks in advance of the date of the proposal defense.

APA Formatting Requirements for Dissertations

Theses and dissertations in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute follow the university guidelines for formatting. The most recent thesis template is titled Purdue Thesis Template-Two. Generally, the formatting is aligned with the APA citation format. Dissertation templates are available online at: http://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/research/thesis/templates.html

Most students use the Microsoft Word templates as the basis for formatting their dissertation proposals and final documentation. The templates include styles for heading elements, tables, figures, captions, et cetera. It is recommended that students use the templates for formatting their proposals and final documents. Please note that:

The University template will not automatically format all elements as needed within the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. Specific elements such as: figure captions, table captions, table verticals, table of contents, and list of tables and figures will require some manual adjustments to get them to format correctly.

The Graduate School at Purdue typically hosts workshops on the use of the thesis templates each semester. Consult the Graduate School web site for the dates and times of these workshops.

Preparing the Dissertation Proposal

Although the bulk of the student’s work towards meeting this requirement typically occurs after passing of the preliminary examination, the student may submit their research proposal when it is deemed appropriate by their doctoral advisor and graduate committee chair. Students generally work with their major professor in developing the dissertation research proposal and then meet with other committee members, as needed. Major professors approve a proposal draft prior to it being circulated to other members of the student’s committee.

The faculty’s expectation for a doctoral-level research proposal is that it is of sufficient detail to enable careful assessment of the project’s significance, its locus within the literature, and the validity and reliability of the proposed methodology and instrumentation. This is done via drafting the first three chapters of the dissertation. It is expected that the graduate student will be the primary person conducting the study, under the direction of the major professor/advisor.

Proposals must be succinct and direct. Clear, jargon-free prose that establishes the need for the study and a proposed method of solution are required—nothing more (or less). While Polytechnic faculty have not established specific proposal length requirements, a proposal should be sufficiently detailed to enable the graduate committee to render effective judgment and share appropriate advice on how to proceed. Typically, dissertation proposals are 30-60 pages (including figures, tables, but not counting references or appendices) to communicate essential detail.

Beyond content, there are two important factors in the writing of any professional paper, be it a proposal or a final report. One factor is format; the other is style. Format is the physical layout of a paper. Rules for indention, type face, line length, etc., are considered format issues. Style requirements are created to facilitate clear communication. Globally, style indicates the manner of expression and the sequence in which material is organized. At a micro level, style concerns formality, person, tense, spelling, and abbreviation standards. Both format and style are important, and both have their place. Most publication manuals include both style and format guidelines.

Proposals are always written in future tense. Thus, statements that refer to procedures should be stated as, "This proposed study will collect data using . . ." or "Results of this study will be used to . . .." Similarly, Purdue Polytechnic Institute standards recommend that the proposal be written in third person. However, depending on the type of work being executed, first person writing may be acceptable. For example, most quantitative research uses third person. Most qualitative research uses first person. Students should consult with their graduate chair.

Dissertation Proposal Contents

The following sections provide an overview of the major parts of a dissertation proposal. The doctoral student must use the official Purdue University Thesis Template for the dissertation proposal and the final dissertation.

Dissertation Cover Page

The dissertation cover page is established based upon the University formatting guidelines. The thesis template (if macros are turned on) will allow the user to select the appropriate elements from a drop-down list. Students should fill in the title (in all caps), type (Dissertation), name, and graduate month and year of the dissertation cover page.

Once the dissertation proposal is approved, the dissertation proposal is filed with the Office of Graduate Studies in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute following the proposal defense meeting. This original document then becomes the contract for the dissertation.

The structure of a dissertation includes Cover Page, Preface pages, Chapters 1-5, References, Appendices, Vita. For example,

Purdue University Thesis Cover Page

Preface Pages

The Preface pages contain the following information:

Dedicated to (you complete this statement)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

(thank your committee and those who helped with the dissertation research )

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

GLOSSARY AND LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Definitions must be included in a proposal whenever it is necessary to inform the reader of the unique way in which the terms are to be used in the proposed research. For example, if learning is to be defined as "a change in behavior", both the entering and terminal behaviors must be defined. But, when terms are used in standard ways, it is not necessary to include the definitions.

An important issue to remember related to definitions is that each definition should have an associated citation. The students use (and definition) of terms should be based upon the academic or industrial literature. As such, because definitions usually use the words of others, most definitions are typically directly quoted source material. When this is the case, the citation should include source, date as well as page number where the material occurs.

Definition lists usually also include acronyms and abbreviations. Be sure to spell out all acronyms or abbreviations not only in the definitions list, but also in the first instance of their use in the body text of the proposal. The sample paragraph below is an example of what you should NOT do:

What would happen if the president of the BBB requested the assistance of the FTC in order to convince the DOC that it should investigate the effect of WSJ interference with NAFTA signatories regarding concerns about the impact of UL standards on GATT?

The preceding statement demonstrates the inappropriate and excessive use of acronyms (as well as one that is overly long and cumbersome). If acronyms are used to reduce volume or repetition in a proposal, convention requires the term to be spelled out in full the first time it is used and then followed by the acronym in parentheses. Thereafter, the acronym may be used in lieu of the full term. Even when spelled out on first use, abbreviations or acronyms should appear in the definition list.

NOTE: The thesis template provides a section for the definitions and acronyms in the front of the template (before the abstract on the Glossary and List of Abbreviations page).

ABSTRACT

The student must prepare a one (maximum) page abstract that succinctly describes the proposed problem to be addressed, purpose for the study, the significance of the proposed study, an overview of the proposed methods to be employed and of the anticipated deliverables. Typically, this section is less than 400 words. Each major heading and chapter start at the top of a new page.

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

The form of the introduction will vary with the nature of the proposed research; however, this is usually a paragraph or two which usually does not have a heading (the title of the chapter serves as the heading). Appropriate introductions are brief and designed to establish the need for a study. There is no "right way" to write an introduction. There are, however, several possible ways to craft an introduction that will accomplish its intended goal. One common method is to identify the problem in a global way (without specifics). This approach creates an overall frame of reference that makes it much easier for the reader to focus on the more detailed portions of the proposal.

Statement of the Problem

There is no section of a proposal that gives beginning proposal writers more challenge than the "Statement of the Problem" section. Too often early drafts present either a restatement of the introduction, a detailed description of the methods to be used, or a suggested solution. None of these are appropriate statements of the problem. A problem is something that is wrong. Therefore, the statement of the problem is merely a brief description of what is wrong, written in specific enough terms that the reader can see the problem and not simply a problem space. One test of the quality of a problem statement is always, "Could the problem be recognized if the statement were being read for the first time?"

Research Questions

Once the statement of the problem is generated the research question and hypotheses follow. The research question is a testable statement of the problem, the guiding mission for the research. For example, maybe the statement of the problem acknowledges that a new method of learning is needed within a particular class. The research question would then be phrased, “What is the effect of learning technique X on scores in class Y?” This statement would be used to generate hypotheses that could then be tested statistically.

Another example might be that a new algorithm is needed to solve a problem on in some computer domain. The research question might be, “Can an algorithm be developed to solve computer security in educational environments?” In this example, rather than statistics being used, the student might create the algorithm, test it, to see if it works or does not work under certain conditions.

A final example might be that company X needs to solve a workflow issue in a manufacturing process. The research question might be, “Can software X be used to make the workflow in company ABC more efficient and effective?” In this example, maybe the student will implement the software and then report on the effect related to efficiency and effectiveness.

All research should have a defined research question that is derived from the statement of the problem. Such a question should also be testable.

Significance of the Study

Once the problem has been stated, the significance of the problem (study) must be established. The significance section should be drafted in a manner that removes any question of the importance of the proposed study. This is the part of the proposal in which the proposed project can be tied to the student's overall plan of study and career goals. Generally, this section should "sell" the project as being worthy of doing in the business/industry and/or academic/disciplinary context. Often students will also deal with how or why this is important beyond the confines of Purdue. What contribution will be made to industry, academia or the world at large as a result? One of the effective methods of strengthening this section is to highlight key citations from credible sources that indicate that the problem is real and that things would be better if it were solved.

Statement of the Purpose/Scope

Once the problem and its significance have been stated, the purpose of the project must be described. Here is where the student indicates what they propose to do about the problem, that is, what part of it they wish to address and what the deliverables of their work will be. Often this section will also be used to define and limit (generally) the scope of the project. Typically, the nouns and verbs that are a part of the statement of the problem or research question will be clarified and bounded. Later in the proposal, the assumptions, limitations and delimitations provide further insight related to the scope and outline specific details related to scope limitation.

Assumptions

Every study requires some assumptions; they will vary with the type of problem.

Typically, assumptions are things that could affect the results of the research, but are beyond the researcher’s control. For example, one assumption could be that all members of the group being studied know Windows-based operating systems. Another assumption may be that employees will be willing to participate in the training exercise being proposed. Assumptions, of course, must be established as part of the proposal writing stage and they must be approved by the major professor and committee.

Limitations

Limitations are descriptions of potential weaknesses of a study. If the student knows about these at the time of generating the proposal, they are advised to reveal them explicitly in advance. Often, however, in addition to any weaknesses known in advance of conducting a project, some invariably arise during the course of conducting the research. When this occurs, these new limitations are to be added to the limitations section of the final project report and they must be considered when discussing the conclusions.

NOTE: The approved proposal is the contract for the study. If the proposal were ambiguous about its limits, the student could be required to gather further information to fill in missing gaps. It is very important to outline limitations in the proposal as they often assist in making sure committee expectations and student expectations match.

Delimitations

Delimitations are restrictions in the scope of a project, that is, specific statements about things that you will NOT address. There are always constraining factors in a study. This is particularly true of projects in which time, money, and other resources are limited to those that the individual student can bring to the study. A delimitation is a factor that will narrow the scope of the study being proposed. This is a factor that is known about before the study is performed. For example, one delimitation may be that time does not allow a follow-up after the initial treatment or evaluation. Will the study be limited to a single facility of Corporation X, or will it be conducted at multiple sites? Clearly, a multiple-site study is more generalizable than a study at a single location. However, students must strike appropriate balance between generalizability and resource limits.

NOTE: Delimitations are distinctly different from limitations. A limitation is a potential weakness in a study. A delimitation is a specific, conscious limit in scope. Limits affect inference; delimits affect breadth of study.

Summary

Each chapter concludes with a paragraph or two summarizing the information presented in that chapter.

Chapter 2. Review of Literature

The review of literature serves several important functions. First, it is a method to indicate that the problem is more universal than the specific proposal. Second, it serves as a justification for the proposed study in that others have addressed related problems.

Third, it positions the work in the field giving context to what has and has not been done and where this project/thesis is positioned therein. Fourth, it identifies possible methods for the conduct of the study by identifying possible data collection strategies, statistical procedures, or sources of other procedural information. Organization of the chapter might include:

Search Process

Literature Review Categories

(categories the student uses to organize and present the literature reviewed for the study – subheadings will vary)

Contribution of the Study

Summary

There are three primary justifications for additional investigation of a problem. One justification is that there are plausible alternative hypotheses to conclusions reported in existing studies. That is, there may be another possible variable that is influencing the results of existing studies. The second reason for proposing a new study is to determine if the reported study can be duplicated (replicated) in a new environment. A third reason for conducting a study accounts for the introduction of new data or procedures that have become available. In this case, the review of literature serves to demonstrate that no examples of the use of new techniques could be found.

For the purposes of a proposal, the review of literature should focus on key studies. These cannot be determined without extensive review of the literature prior to the preparation of the proposal. The review must be sufficiently extensive to ensure that all sides of an issue have been researched and that a balanced evaluation of the problem area has been accomplished. Only the most germane or seminal studies should be included.

Committee members will typically ask discipline- and literature-based questions regarding the problem, significance, purpose and procedure sections. While it is imperative that the proposal’s literature review be summarized, it is equally important that extensive literature review be done before undertaking the writing of the proposal. It is infinitely easier to do a thorough research review prior to the writing of the proposal for another reason: the more the problem is studied, the more possible solutions will be discovered.

It should be noted that reviewing of the literature does not cease after a proposal is accepted. Typically, effective researchers/developers continue to review the most pertinent literature throughout their conduct of the study. Subsequently, all appropriate literature will be integrated into the final report/thesis, so the time and effort will not be lost. The review should generally concentrate on the current literature. For example, if the student is interested in a "Hawthorne effect" study, reference to the original work is only appropriate in a historical context. Failure to review the current literature can fatally flaw the proposal. A study that has recently been conducted may inadvertently be proposed.

Chapter 3. Methodology

All procedures to be used in the proposed study should be defined. Whenever possible, the proposed procedure should be justified by reference to other published studies that were used and recommend the steps defined. Most dissertations can be classified along multiple dimensions as to the type of research being done, such as:

Quantitative, Qualitative, or Mixed Methods

Experimental, Quasi-Experimental

Meta-Analysis, Document Analysis, Trend Analysis

Historical, Comparative, etc.

Chapter 3 can be organized in different ways, according to the type of research undertaken the preference of the committee. This is a typical listing of subheadings for Chapter 3.

Research Design

Sample and Sampling Method

Data Collection Process

Research Timeline

Data Analysis

Summary

Chapter 4. Presentation of the Data

Chapter 4 of the dissertation provides a presentation of the data. Typically, each table and figure used is explained in paragraphs preceding and following them. Chapter 4 does not include conclusions; it simply presents the facts of what the data say with Tables and Figures to illustrate the data in a manageable format. In quantitative research, this may be elaboration on the results of statistical tests, or the results of tests of an apparatus or new device. In qualitative research, this chapter typically presents the narratives from interviews, raw documents or other artifacts discovered. Interpretation of what the data mean, that is, conclusions made from the data are typically reserved for Chapter 5 of the dissertation. Organization of the chapter might include:

Variable Subheadings

(categories the student uses to organize and present the data – subheadings will vary)

Summary

Chapter 5. Conclusions, Discussion, and Recommendations

Chapter 5 of the dissertation focuses on the conclusions that can be drawn from the data, as well as discussion (where the conclusions are typically tied back or compared to the literature in the field and the existing findings in the field). At the end of this chapter are recommendations. Usually this is a discussion of parts of the dissertation that could be expanded to form entire studies in their own right. Recommendations may also include things the researcher might have done differently in the current study. Typically, Chapter 5 includes the following sections:

Conclusion

The research questions are presented and briefly answered in this section. The major conclusions or findings revealed by the study are presented in this section.

Discussion

In this section, the major findings of the data are discussed with explanations for any issues encountered in the study and other relevant facts that need to be presented. This is the major analysis section of the study.

Recommendations

This section presents recommendations (if any) for future researchers or practitioners, based on the study’s findings.

Implications for Future Research

This section identifies the areas that were not included in this study but which may be valuable areas for continued research on this topic.

Summary

There are different ways to structure chapter 5. Sometimes the writer will take each research question and its associated hypotheses and deal with them in turn (in the conclusions). At other times, other structures can be used. Ultimately, Chapters 4 and 5 should be written as dictated by the research, the student, the chair, and the final examination committee.

NOTE: There are times when a dissertation might have more than five chapters. Depending on the scope or breadth of the study, more chapters may be necessary.

References

The reference list should include only the publications cited in the body of the proposal. All reference citations within the body of the proposal and the reference lit must comply with the standards of the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Appendices

The appendices of a dissertation are used to provide supporting materials to the work. There is no set number of appendices, nor is there a common structure. Related to structure, appendices are usually ordered in the manner in which they are referenced in the body of the material (and, indeed, all appendices should be referenced in the text body that occurs in the chapters). Some examples of items that might be included in the appendix of a dissertation include:

IRB or other approval documents that establish the ability to conduct the research or conduct it in a legal manor.

Tests, surveys, or other instruments used in the study (if not copyrighted).

Examples of code, programs or images used in the study.

Transcripts of interviews, focus groups, or other qualitative data.

Raw quantitative data gathered during the study.

NOTE: With anything included in the dissertation, the writer must ensure that they maintain anonymity (where applicable) and do not violate confidentiality or copyright agreements (for example, most tests are copyrighted).

With all these items, the goal is to provide enough detail in the dissertation that someone else could take the dissertation and replicate it. The dissertation represents the doctoral student’s original research and is the culminating project prior to the awarding of the doctoral degree.

Obtaining Permissions to Conduct Research

To conduct research often requires various types of permission, depending on the type of research being conducted. For example, use of human subjects requires IRB approval. Purdue University’s Office for the Vice President for Research (VPR) provides information on the necessary approvals needed for various types of research (http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/ ). Graduate students are encouraged to discover the type of permissions they might need to obtain by reviewing the materials provided online via the VPR’s web site, discussing it with their graduate advisor/chair, and reviewing the workshops provided by the Graduate School’s Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR).

Preparing the Final Dissertation

The exact structure of a dissertation is subject to committee approval, as long as the resulting document meets the Polytechnic’s requirements. The typical dissertation consists of five chapters with supplementary material, as outlined below:

Purdue University Cover Page

Committee Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Glossary and List of Abbreviations

Abstract

Chapter 1. Introduction

Statement of the Problem

Purpose of the Study

Significance of the Study

Research Question(s)

Assumptions

Limitations

Delimitations

Summary

Chapter 2. Review of the Literature

Subheading

Subheading

Subheading

Summary

Chapter 3. Methodology

The outline of this chapter varies, but typically it includes sections describing:

Research Design

Sample

Procedures, Process, Methods

Data Collection Procedures

Data Analysis Procedures

Summary

Chapter 4. Presentation of the Data

Discussion of data collection process (note any problems)

Description of data conditioning and analyses

Presentation of the data - Charts, graphs, quotes from interviews, etc. with brief introductions or explanation preceding and following each table and figure.

Summary

Chapter 5. Conclusions, Discussions and Recommendations

Conclusions (major findings)

Discussion (addressing each of the research questions)

Conceptual Models (if any)

Recommendations

Implications for future research

Summary

References

Appendices

Appendix A IRB approval

Appendix B Permissions to conduct the study (if any)

Appendix C Consent letters

Appendix D Information emails or other communications

Appendix E Questions (if survey, interview, focus group, etc.)

Appendix F Raw data from respondents/participants (if it does not violate anonymity)

Appendix G Other supporting materials (documents, plans, policies, etc.)

Vita