GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR DISSERTATION

PHILIP ADU, PH.D.

METHODOLOGY EXPERT

NATIONAL CENTER FOR ACADEMIC & DISSERTATION EXCELLENCE (NCADE)

THE CHICAGO SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

OUTLINE

• Before you start

• Narrowing down the focus of your study

• Research process

• Problem

• Purpose

• Question

• Data

• Maintaining consistency

BEFORE YOU START

1. Choose a topic

2. Have an interest in the topic

3. Know what is expected of you as a researcher

and dissertating student

4. Familiarize yourself with the dissertation template

5. Develop a timeline for your dissertation work

NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS OF YOUR STUDY

Things to do:1. Coming up with questions related to your topic

2. Looking for answers

3. Connecting the dots (making a logical

connections among ideas)

NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS OF YOUR STUDYCOMING UP WITH QUESTIONS RELATED TO YOUR TOPIC

Example: ‘Mental Health Stigma’

This word cloud was created using an online software called wordle (http://www.wordle.net/create)

NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS OF YOUR STUDYCOMING UP WITH QUESTIONS RELATED TO YOUR TOPICExample: ‘Mental Health Stigma’

(Craig, 2009)

NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS OF YOUR STUDYLOOKING FOR ANSWERS

Sources

1. Informal conversation with faculty, experts, practitioners,

colleagues, and/or experts in your field

2. Peer reviewed articles (Identifying peer reviewed articles)

3. Books

4. Government reports

5. Newspaper articles

6. Origination(s) yearly reports

7. Online articles/documents

8. Social media trends about the topic

9. Reflections and personal experiences

10. Other relevant sources (Craig, 2009)

NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS OF YOUR STUDYLOOKING FOR ANSWERS

(PURPOSE)

1. Narrow down the focus

2. Connect your topic to existing studies

3. Justify the focus of your study

4. Better understand the topic

5. Identify a gap

6. Decide on appropriate research method

(Craig, 2009)

NARROWING DOWN THE FOCUS OF YOUR STUDYCONNECTING THE DOTS

(MAKING SENSE OF THE INFORMATION BY ASKING: WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?)

Concept Mapping Tools:

• https://bubbl.us/

• http://cmap.ihmc.us/

• https://coggle.it/

1. Concept Mapping

– connecting ideas2. Reflections

– documenting your thoughts

RESEARCH PROCESS

• What do you plan to do in your study?

• What is the question you plan to answer?

• What do you plan to address?

• Why do you think it is necessary to address this problem?

• What kind of data do you plan to collect?

• What is the source of the data

Data Problem

PurposeQuestion

RESEARCH PROCESS

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Describing the specific problem you want to address in

your study

1. Relating it to a real life situation (i.e. practical

perspective)

2. Describing what has been done in the existing studies

and the gap identified (i.e. research perspective)

3. Stating specific problem you plan to address the

study

(Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011)

IDENTIFYING A GAP IN THE LITERATURE(CRITICALLY REVIEWING LITERATURE)

1. Confusion spotting Competing explanations

2. Neglect spotting Overlooked area

Un-researched area

Lack of empirical support

3. Application spotting Extending existing literature

Complementing existing literature

4. Methodological flaw spotting Unsuitable research method/approach

Erroneous data analysis

(Sandberg & Alvesson, 2010)

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Example: Article – “Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness”

“Many people with serious mental illness are

challenged doubly. On one hand, they struggle with

the symptoms and disabilities that result from the

disease. On the other, they are challenged by the

stereotypes and prejudice that result from

misconceptions about mental illness. As a result of

both, people with mental illness are robbed of the

opportunities that define a quality life: good jobs,

safe housing, satisfactory health care, and

affiliation with a diverse group of people.

Although research has gone far to understand the

impact of the disease, it has only recently begun to

explain stigma in mental illness. Much work yet

needs to be done to fully understand the breadth

and scope of prejudice against people with mental

illness.” (Corrigan & Watson, 2002, p.16)

Practical

Problem

Research

Problem

(GAP)

Dealing with:

• Mental illness

• Stereotypes and prejudice

Resulting to:

• Poor quality of life

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Describing what you want to do/conduct in the study

The purpose statement should contain:

• Research method/approach

• Central phenomenon

• Specific participants

• Specific research location(s)

Structure

The purpose of this [research method] is to

[determine, describe, explain, understand,

explore, conceptualize, assess] the [state the

specific phenomenon you want to study] among

[specific participants] in the [specific research

location(s)] (Creswell, 2009)

Example

The purpose of this phenomenological

study is to explore the experience of

stigma among students dealing with

mental illness in medical schools in the

US.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Research question: It is the

question to be addressed using

the data you plan to collect.

(Saldana, 2013; Trochim, 2006)

RESEARCH QUESTION

Functions:

• Drives the study

• Informs research approach

• Informs data collection and analysis

process

Example

1. What is it like to be a student

with mental illness in a medical

school in the US?

2. How do medical students dealing

with mental illness experience

sigma?

DATA

DATA

Example

1. What is it like to be a student with mental illness in a

medical school in the US?

2. How do medical students dealing with mental illness

experience sigma?

Kind of data

Qualitative data (though interviews)

Source of data

Medical students dealing with mental illness

Research approach

Phenomenological approach

(Craig, 2009)

RESEARCH PROCESS – RECAP(ENSURING CONSISTENCY)

• What do you plan to do in your study?

• What is the question you plan to answer?

• What do you plan to address?

• Why do you think it is necessary to address this problem?

• What kind of data do you plan to collect?

• What is the source of the data

Data Problem

PurposeQuestion

REFERENCES

Corrigan, P. W., & Watson, A. C. (2002). Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness. World

Psychiatry, 1(1), 16–20. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1489832/

Craig, D. V. (2009). Action research essentials. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Creswell, J. W. , & Plano Clark, V. L.. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oak, CA: SAGE

Publications, Inc.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oak, CA:

SAGE Publications, Inc.

Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage

Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, M. (2011). Ways of constructing research questions: Gap-spotting or problematization?

Organization, 18(23), 23-44. doi:10.1177/1350508410372151

Trochim, W. M. (2006, October 20). Types of questions. Retrieved from Research methods knowledge base website:

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.php