DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS AND LITERATURE REVIEW

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DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS AND LITERATURE REVIEW
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What is a Dissertation Prospectus?

•  Not an a summary of a completed dissertation or
  an introductory chapter, but an attempt to
  describe what is planned before it has been done.
  
• Should provide a preliminary description.
• What topic and area will the dissertation
  explore?
• Why does this topic and area merit such
  exploration?
• Should be between 8 and 20 pages long, with up to
  10 more pages of bibliography, diagrams, figures
  and tables.

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Elements

• Cover Page with Working Title.
• Table of Contents.
• Abstract.
• The Research Problem.
• The Methodology/ Procedures.
• Literature Review.
• Bibliography.
• Timetable.

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Title/Cover Page

• Proposed title.
• Your name.
• Department.
• Names of the supervisory committee with a place
  for their approval signatures.
• Date of submission.

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Abstract

• One page.
• Formulate your project for someone who is not
  immersed in its field.

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Problem/Goals

• What central problem does the dissertation
  address?
• Begin with one sentence statement of the problem-
  your Thesis Statement.
• Some problems will be highly descriptive. Other
  problems are instrumental. Others require
  hypothesis testing.
• Problem can be theoretical, critical, or
  historical should be presented as a question
  which the dissertation will attempt to find
  answers. 

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Literature Review What is it?

• An overview of the subject, issue or theory under
  consideration.
• Conduct a Literature search to find relevant
  materials.
• Evaluate each item you include determine which
  literature makes a significant contribution to
  the understanding of the topic. Tell how this
  topic been treated before.
• Include a brief review of the present state of
  the art with respect to your topic.
• Explain how your approach differs from earlier
  ones Has new evidence appeared (for example, a
  new primary source) since previous treatments?

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Literature Review-Assessing the Sources

• What are the author's credentials?
• Are the author's arguments supported by evidence?
• Is the author's perspective even-handed or
  prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is
  certain pertinent information ignored to prove
  the author's point?
• Which of the author's theses are most/least
  convincing?
• Are the author's arguments and conclusions
  convincing? Does the work ultimately contribute
  in any significant way to an understanding of the
  subject?

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Significance

• Description of how the dissertation will advance
  knowledge in the field.
• How is your dissertation going to change peoples
  ideas, add to the present picture, or revise
  commonly held views? 

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Methodology

• Develop a set of logically related abstract ideas
  that are central to your research problem.
  Principal issue is what you propose to analyze
  and the justification for studying it.
  Presentation of the model must include a
  definition of terms.
• First part of the analysis methods section of the
  prospectus must briefly summarize the research
  problem and related model.
• The data collection and analysis should be linked
  to the problem and the model. The research design
  section must also include
• a. the unit of analysis/observation.b. the
  data collection instruments and/or data
  sources.c. sampling strategy.d. the analytical
  techniques including statistical techniques.

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Timetable/Outline

• Acknowledge pitfalls and limitations of the
  research.
• Suggest alternative strategies.
• The outline can be in narrative form, should be
  as precise as possible, though it may be modified
  in the course of writing the dissertation.
• Developing an outline helps focus writing.
• Outlining a sequence of potential chapters will
  help clarify the argument of the thesis.  A
  finished chapter should be approximately 30-40
  double-spaced pages.  If the major sections of
  your dissertation exceed this length, plan to
  subdivide them.

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References/Bibliography

• The purpose is to identify those works that are
  central for your problem. 
• At this stage of your research, you may list
  reference items that are not included as
  citations in the text of your paper.
• The final dissertation, however, must include
  only reference items that are actually cited in
  the body of the work.
• It can be arranged in a number of ways
  alphabetically, chapter by chapter, thematically,
  or in whatever order best suits your subject
  matter and method.

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Bibliography for this Presentation

• DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS
• http//info.med.yale.edu/eph/phdgraduate/pdf/Guide
  lines_for_Prospectus_and_Dissertation.pdf (Yale
  School of Public Health)
• http//www.arthistory.ucsb.edu/pdfs/writing20_pro
  spectus.pdf (University of California)
• http//www.fas.harvard.edu/rll/graduate/prospectu
  s.html (Harvard)
• http//www.ou.edu/cas/psc/graduate/phdprospectus.h
  tml (University of Oklahoma)
• http//www.uta.edu/history/transatlantic/prospectu
  s.htm (University of Texas)
• LITERATURE REVIEW
• http//depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/lit
  rev.pdf (University of Washington)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature_review
  (Wikipedia)
• http//library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview
  .html (University of California)
• http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature
  _review.html (University of North Carolina at
  Chapel Hill)