DISSERTATION DEVELOPMENT – Choosing your Dissertation context Class, One of

 

DISSERTATION DEVELOPMENT – Choosing your Dissertation context

Class,

One of the most difficult choices that a student will make is the context for their dissertation topic. Most students have no idea what they would like to research, while a handful is absolutely sure. What if I told you both are totally normal? What if I told you that even those students who think they have a clear and defined topic right now will likely not end up using that topic at all? In reality, none of you have read even close to enough articles to have a clearly defined topic. Rather at this point, we are talking about contexts for your topic. Through extensive reading, you will then narrow down to your topic.

The important thing at this point is to keep an open mind regarding your dissertation. There are a few hard and fast “rules” that you should be aware of (this list is only a few)–

Your topic MUST relate to you field of study. Meaning for all of you there must be a leadership component in your topic.

Your topic MUST be grounded in the literature. It is not enough to have a passion about a topic. Passion is great but this is a dissertation and thus there must be research to support the topic.

Your topic MUST have been identified through an identifiable gap in prior literature. You cannot use a topic that has been never researched before.

Your topic must contribute to the area of study.

With this in mind, how does one go about finding a context?

Have an interest or passion in a particular area you want to begin to focus on for you research.

Read, read, and then read some more. Consider that you are expected to become the expert in your area. To that end, it would be expected that you will have read between 150-200 articles related to your topic. Will you use every single article? NO, but in order to be an expert, you have to the background knowledge. Research changes quickly and you need to use the most current research. I think that we can all agree that research from 1984 is outdated, as is research from 2010.

Ensure you read the seminal works as well. While the bulk of your resources will need to come from the last 3-5 years that does not mean the seminal works are not important or that you will not use any of the seminal works. In simplest terms, seminal works are those of central importance to a research topic, often because they have a major breakthrough, insight, or synthesis of ideas.

Your context will start out very broad and narrow through your reading. You will have to take time outside of the normal class assignments for reading in preparation for your dissertation. That extra research time is not built into your program until much later and if you wait until those classes to start researching your topic, you will be behind!

My suggestion is to read 1-2 articles per week that relate specifically towards the context of your possible topic (this will also help you slowly develop the assignment that is due in Module 8). Again, at this point, NO ONE expects that you will have a clearly defined topic. However, the more literature you read that relates to your topic, the more you will be able to narrow down your topic.

What is one thing that you can commit to doing this week that can build time for the reading required towards your possible topic? (Remember, in order to receive participation credit, posts must meet the requirement of 150+ words).

REPLY
 

Share This Post

Email
WhatsApp
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Reddit

Order a Similar Paper and get 15% Discount on your First Order

Related Questions

Volume II Reflection: As we finish up volume 2 and

  Volume II Reflection:  As we finish up volume 2 and modules 5-8, please walk through each module and reflect on your strengths, areas for additional learning, any challenges you faced, how you overcame them, or your steps you plan to take to master these concepts. Each volume builds upon

ABC Corporation’s Network Description

Your assignment is to complete a wireless network design for a small company. You will place a number of network elements on the diagram and label them appropriately. A network diagram is important to communicate the design features of a network between network administrators, system administrators and cyber-security analysts. It

Due Date: 11:59 pm EST Sunday of Unit 7 Points:

 Due Date: 11:59 pm EST Sunday of Unit 7 Points: 10 Overview: Now that we are beginning the final stage of the social media marketing plan (SMMP), Cherie would like you to create a brief contingency strategy. This should be based on three macro-environmental factors that may potentially impact the

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of diagnosing and classifying psychological

  Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of diagnosing and classifying psychological disorders. Include in your evaluation responses to the following prompts: Evaluate the advantages of diagnosis and classification in mental health settings. Be specific and provide examples where appropriate. Evaluate the disadvantages of diagnosis and classification in mental health settings.

Due to the dynamic nature of health sector, Evidence Based

Due to the dynamic nature of health sector, Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is really helpful in improving the quality of services given to the patients. EBP has been shown to reduce healthcare costs, improve population’s health, patient’s experience and work life of healthcare providers (Sikka et al., 2015). This ultimately

Now that you’ve learned about mitotic and meiotic cell division,

  Now that you’ve learned about mitotic and meiotic cell division, you understand that the process of mitosis results in cells that are identical to the parent cell whereas in meiosis, the daughter cells that are produced are genetically different from the parent cell. Meiosis introduces variation into populations of

The purpose here is to enhance your ability to write

The purpose here is to enhance your ability to write a comparison/contrast : one of the most common types of analytics in academic writing.  Task Write a comparison/contrast draft that (1) sets two or more subjects side by side, (2) shows your audience how they are similar and/or dissimilar, and

Watch the video below about the Aboriginal dreamtime (dreaming) of

 Watch the video below about the Aboriginal dreamtime (dreaming) of Australia.  What is the dreamtime?  Is it the same across Aboriginal tribes?  What is the importance of the songs?  What is the connection of the songs to the Physical Geography of Australia. Make sure to write at least 3-4 sentences

Music and Extra-Musical Forces

Music and Extra-Musical Forces—The Baroque saw some of the first works of program music (instrumental music depicting an extramusical idea, character, place, or story) and most famously a series of four concertos by Vivaldi called the Four Seasons. Chapter 4 discussed the first movement of the Spring Concerto. For this

Globalization: To what extent can science or technology solve the most

For your Summative Written Assignment 1, you will write a 1,500-word essay (+/- 5%). The summative essay is worth 20% of your overall mark for the AECT module. Your essay should be a critical response to one the following question from the perspective of your main discipline of study: 1.

MDC Patient with Generalized Anxiety Disorder SOAP Note Nursing Assignment Help

Submit 1 Mini-SOAP note on a patient that you saw in clinic this week. Demographic Data  Patient initial (one initial only), age, and gender must be Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPPA) compliant.  Subjective  Chief Complaint (CC)  History of Present Illness (HPI)?(symptoms) in paragraph format  Past Medical History (PMH):?Current problem-focused

You are developing your own human services agency for clients

You are developing your own human services agency for clients reentering the community after incarceration. You must determine an effective case management model and present it to your stakeholders.  Write a 700-word proposal for your human services agency that describes the best case management model for your population.  For your

The yellow wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

– Title (the yellow wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman ) Introduction : 1- Provides necessary background material to establish significance of the analysis. Avoids vague, generalized statements. 2- References author (full name), title of story, and subject matter before mentioning anything specific from the story. 3- Contains a strongly worded,

Discussion 7.1 What do you think would constitute an effective

  Discussion 7.1 What do you think would constitute an effective alternative dispute resolution system? What benefits would you expect from such a system? If you were asked to rule on a discharge case, what facts would you analyze in deciding whether to uphold or reverse the employers action? Discussion

To prepare for this discussion, you researched various teams within

  To prepare for this discussion, you researched various teams within a health care facility in your community and the communication methods used. Suggest the major reasons why a well-integrated communication process is important for the performance of any organization and the major reasons why such a process is particularly important