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As we think about the dissertation

process, we want to think about, first of

all, the steps that are in the process.

There are actually six steps through the

process that you’ll be completing one by

one, and you’ll be working with your

dissertation chair from the very first

step of the process all the way through

to the end of the sixth step. And so

let’s just take a couple of minutes here

to talk about these steps and to talk

about the work that’s done in each of

those steps. And so, for Step 1, what

we’re talking about is the proposal step.

And in this step, what you’re going to be

doing is, you’re going to be proposing

what it is that you plan to study. What

is your dissertation, your study, going to

be about? And the way that you do that is

you write it up in the first three

chapters of the dissertation. Chapter 1

is the introduction chapter. Chapter 2 is

the literature review chapter and then

chapter 3 is the methods chapter. And so

you’ll be working with your chair to

perfect that to ensure that you have a good

clear idea of the study that you’re going

to be doing and that you are

communicating it well through the

writing in the first three chapters of

your dissertation. Once your dissertation

chair is satisfied that you do have a

good handle on that and that you’ve

written it up well, then that chair will

move you into step two of the process,

which is to defend the proposal. In the

proposal defense, what you’re going to be

doing is presenting the information that

you have in those first three chapters

and telling them what it is that you plan

to do. And your committee is going to

have some questions for you. They’re

going to have some suggestions for you.

They’re going to ensure that you were

truly ready to move into actually doing

the study. And so you’ll take some time.

You’ll work together during this hour

that you have for presenting this

information. It’s 15 minutes for a

presentation. And then the rest of the

time is spent with the committee asking

you questions and giving you suggestions

to make sure that you’re ready. Once

they are satisfied that you have a good

handle on what it is that you plan to do.

Then you will move into the third step.

But let me say that your dissertation

chair is going to make sure that you are

ready for the defense step before you get

to it. And so you can be assured that

you’ll have a good handle on what’s going

on even though they may still have some

suggestions and some questions for you

during that defense. But once you get

done with the second step of defending

the proposal and the committee is

satisfied with that, then they will move

you into step 3, which is the

Institutional Review Board or the IRB.

With this process, there’s an application

that you fill out online. There’s some

documents that you’re going to need to

submit to them to show them what it is

that you’re planning to do. Their focus

is on making sure that you reduce the

amount of harm that could possibly come

to your participants of your study. And

so, they’re going to make sure that In

your recruiting materials that you are

clearly telling what the study is all

about, that you’re giving your

participants the ability to give

informed consent, that you’re going to

protect their identities, and you’re

going to protect the data that they

provide to you. And so on, to make sure

that you’re doing your study in the most

ethical way possible. Once the IRB is

satisfied that you are indeed doing that,

then you will be able to move into step

number 4, which is to actually conduct

the study. And conducting the study now

is where you actually get to become a

researcher and start doing the work of a

researcher. You’re going to collect the

data. You’re going to analyze the data.

Of course, you’ve got to recruit your

participants and so on because what

you’re going to be doing is, you are going

to be creating this unique research that

has not yet been done. And so you’re

going to go through, you’re going to take

that time to recruit your participants.

You’re going to collect the data in the

methods that you’ve set up from

your proposal. You’re going to analyze

that data. And once you have a good

handle on that, you’ll move into step

number five, which is to report your

findings. And what you’re going to do

with this is, you’re going to report your

findings in chapters 4 and 5 of

your dissertation. Chapter 4 is the

findings chapter. And so, basically, here

you’re just going to be reporting what

you found as you collected your data. And

then chapter 5 is the conclusions chapter.

And in this, you’re going to be really

giving an idea of what the data means

that you collected. And again for

chapters 4 and chapter 5, you’re going to

be following the template that’s provided

in the dissertation handbook. Working with

your chair to make sure that you have

reported the information clearly and

completely. And once your dissertation

chair is satisfied that you have done

that, then you will move into the sixth

and final step, which is the final

defense. Now, it’s going to be very much

like the proposal defense except now what

you’re going to be doing is, you’re going

to be presenting to your committee the

information that you found and the

conclusions that you came to from doing

your study. And so, basically, primarily

what you’ll be doing is reporting the

information that you have already written

up in chapters 4 and 5 of your

dissertation. And once your committee is

satisfied that, yes, you have done a good

study, you’ve collected the data, you’ve

analyzed it well, and you’ve presented

the information in a way that makes

sense, then they will approve your

dissertation. And you will officially be

a doctor at that point. Now, there’s

still some hoops you have to jump

through for the University to complete

graduation. But, essentially, at that

point, you are done. And you are

officially a Doctor of Education.