Theses and Dissertations: A Guide to Planning, Research, and Writing

by Dale L. Brubaker, R. Murray Thomas

Overview

This book guides students through the process of planning, researching, and writing the final version of theses and dissertations. Five major stages of the process are illustrated with multiple examples from the social and behavioral sciences, humanities, and such allied fields as education, social work, and business administration. The first stage, Preparing the Way, describes problems and alternative solutions in working with faculty advisors and in searching the professional literature. Stage 2 explains how to find good research topics and define them clearly for presentation to faculty advisors.

Stage 3 describes problems often encountered in data collection and suggests solutions for those problems. At Stage 4, students learn ways of organizing and interpreting information, including classification schemes, verbal and statistical summaries, and methods of deriving meaning from data. The final stage, Presenting the Finished Product, offers guidelines for thesis and dissertation writing and for publishing the results in such media as books, journal articles, and popular periodicals. Stage 5 also includes a chapter about how students can mount a convincing defense of their work during a faculty committee's final oral examination session.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897897464
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/30/2000
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.81(d)
Lexile:	1450L (what's this?)

About the Author

R. Murray Thomas is professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dale L. Brubaker is Professor, Educational Leadership and Cultural Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Table of Contents

Preface
The Nature of Theses and Dissertations
Preparing the Way
Sources of Guidance
Searching the Literature
Choosing and Defining Research Topics
Sources and Types of Research Problems
Building and Adapting Theories
Stating the Problem and Its Rationale
Collecting Information
Types of Research Methods and Sources of Information
Data Collection Techniques and Instruments
Things That Go Wrong
Organizing Information
Classification Patterns
Summarizing Information Verbally, Numerically, and Graphically
Interpreting the Results
Modes of Interpretation
Presenting the Finished Product
Writing the Final Version
Mounting a Persuasive Defense
Reaching a Wider Audience
Appendix: Outline of a Dissertation Proposal
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

..students in the social and behavioral sciences-and in such allied fields as education, social work, and business are likely the ones for whom this volume will be most useful. The writing style throughout is intentionally conversational, as is the authors were talking directly with students…The book includes a current, extensive bibliography and subject index.” —College Student Journal

From the Publisher