Overview

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Dissertation Types

EDP students may submit their dissertation in one of 2 forms:

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Students and dissertation Chairs are required to communicate with their committee about which format will be used, and clarify expectations regarding the format chosen. After the proposal defense, changing from one format to the other requires the consent of the full dissertation committee.

Dissertation Proposal and Proposal Meeting

Students complete their dissertation proposal under the supervision of their dissertation supervisor.  Generally, the dissertation proposal consists of the first three chapters of the dissertation: Introduction, Literature Review, and Method. 

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An excellent source for the dissertation process is Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish, by Cone and Foster (1996), available at www.apa.org. This book guide students through selecting a topic, choosing committee members, writing a proposal, and making it though the dissertation defense. 

Use of Human Subjects and the Institutional Review Board

With approval from your committee at the dissertation proposal meeting, you are ready to carry through with original data collection and analyses for your dissertation. It is expected that you will continue to do so under the close supervision of your dissertation supervisor.  Under most circumstances, students are not allowed to begin original data collection in connection with their dissertation until they have conducted a successful dissertation proposal meeting.

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