Dissertation

The PhD dissertation is a book-length written project undertaken by you as the candidate. It serves two purposes:

1. Expand the knowledge of the field.
2. Demonstrate that you are capable of original and meaningful research.

You should be working toward the selection of a dissertation topic from the moment of matriculation in the program, if not before. By the end of the first year in the program, you should have a good sense of the direction your research will take.

The TCR PhD has two options for the dissertation: The monograph dissertation and the multi-paper dissertation. 

Monograph Dissertation

Most monograph dissertations contain 5-6 chapters, though the structure of the dissertation should be planned with the guidance and approval of your dissertation committee, beginning with the dissertation proposal. It is common for the final structure of the monograph dissertation to diverge somewhat from the plan in the dissertation proposal, and that is fine as long as the final structure of the dissertation is approved by the committee. You should work directly with your dissertation director (i.e., dissertation committee chair) first and coordinate with your chair about involving the full committee in any changes to the structure of the dissertation. Dissertations, including monograph dissertations, have a 50,000-word minimum, not including the reference list(s), front matter, or back matter.

A common structure for a monograph dissertation is as follows:

• Introduction: The main purpose of the introduction is to persuade the reader of the project’s importance: Why does this dissertation project matter? This chapter sets up the exigence for the dissertation project. You should situate yourself as a scholar in relation to the topic, and, if you wish, you may choose to share a personal connection to the topic in this chapter as well. Often this chapter is where the initial connection between the dissertation project and the broader field of technical communication and rhetoric (TCR) is made.
• Literature Review: The main purpose of the literature review is to contextualize the dissertation project: What previous work laid the foundation on which your project is built or which your project dismantles? Sometimes the literature review comprises one lengthy chapter; sometimes the literature review naturally breaks into two or even three shorter chapters. For example, one chapter may situate the dissertation chapter within the scholarship of technical and professional communication, another chapter may introduce theoretical concepts or frameworks that are key to the dissertation project, and a third chapter may present topic-specific literature outside the field of TCR which is critical to understanding the project.
• Methods: The main purpose of the methods is to explain exactly what you did: How did you design and complete the dissertation project? If methods comprise a standalone chapter, it is often a shorter chapter. Sometimes methods and theoretical framework are both presented in a single chapter.
• Findings: The main purpose of the findings is to present what you found (for empirical projects: patterns of data) and relate what you found to your research question: What did you learn that answers your research question(s)? Findings may be presented in more than one chapter if they are too long for a single chapter. One common structure for presenting findings of a single-method dissertation project is to present findings by research question. For example, if you have one major research question and two sub-questions, you may choose to briefly address the major question at the beginning of the first findings chapter and then address sub-question 1 at length. In the second findings chapter, you could address sub-question 2 at length and tie back to the major research question at the end.

NOTE: In a multi-method dissertation project, it is common to present method A and the findings of method A together in a chapter and method B and the findings of method B in the next chapter.

• Conclusions: The main purpose of the conclusion is to interpret the findings in relation to the research question(s) and broader field: What are the implications of the findings, and what’s next? This chapter should answer the “so what” question: so you found the patterns of data presented in previous chapters. So what? What are the implications for practice? Teaching? Research? What should change? What should be preserved? What is unclear? What questions were raised by this study? What’s next for your own research agenda? Be sure to revisit the research questions: Remind readers why the research questions matter and what light your project shed on those questions.
• Application: The main purpose of the application is to present clear, actionable recommendations: What best practices did your project uncover? Some students choose to create a standalone chapter for use by practitioners which shares research-based recommendations in an actionable way that is understandable to people for whom their research questions are relevant. This “chapter” is often in a different format and modality than the other chapters (e.g., a website), allowing it to be optimally accessible and usable for the intended (non-academic) audience.

Multi-Paper Dissertation

The multi-paper dissertation is made up of article-style papers targeted for journal publication and includes a contextualizing introduction and conclusion. The guidelines below for the multi-paper dissertation should be considered a minimum. In other words, the dissertation committee is the ultimate authority on any given specific dissertation, but these are the minimum requirements.

• The body chapters should be article-style papers targeted for journal publication.
  • The minimum number of middle chapters is three, but four or five chapters are likely to be needed to meet the word-count requirement.
  • At least one middle chapter must be a single-authored paper. If an article is co-authored by two PhD students, each may use the article in their dissertation, with the approval of both dissertation chairs and the co-author. Email permission is fine, but the student must receive that approval before the dissertation is submitted to the committee.
  • Acceptable venues must be academic, peer-reviewed venues; each publication venue must be approved by the dissertation committee. Note the policy for proceedings:
    • Proceedings may be included as chapters but have additional requirements. If a student wants a proceedings publication to be approved for the dissertation, they must have two faculty review and provide feedback on the paper, and then the student must make revisions in response to that feedback; all of this should happen before the article is accepted for publication. The two faculty should be on the student’s dissertation committee; if the proceedings paper is submitted before the committee is formed, any two TCR faculty may provide the feedback.
  • Status and dissertation revision: Any chapter that has been accepted for publication is considered “preapproved” by the committee, which means the committee cannot require revisions to that particular chapter. In other words, the committee might offer comments and suggestions regarding that article-chapter, but they cannot require revisions. Note above that proceedings do require pre-approval.
• At minimum, the intro chapter should:
  • Describe the student’s contribution to each paper/chapter, including which sections were written by the student, as well as any intellectual contributions that may not be apparent in the writing, such as developing community partnerships, translating research materials, or other contributions.
  • Be written with the expectation and understanding that the dissertation is made public upon graduation. Consider how the student’s contributions and those of others are represented.
  • Be single authored.
• At minimum, the conclusion should
  • Include broader questions the student will continue to pursue after graduation;
  • Address the student’s future research after dissertation in terms of two-year plans and five-year plans;
  • Be single authored.
• Specifications
  • 50,000 word minimum for the intro chapter, middle chapters, and conclusion chapter; 50,000 words does not include the reference list(s), front matter, or back matter

Dissertation Timeline

First Year

During your first year, you should take the opportunity to meet with the members of USU’s cadre of professors to get a sense of which of them might be most compatible with your research aspirations. As you are considering your options, you should keep in mind that your research topic needs to be somewhat compatible with at least one of the faculty’s. If not, you may have to adjust your topic. The idea is that the advisor you select will mentor you as you advance your research ideas. If none of the faculty is familiar with or interested in your topic, there is no one to mentor you.

Second and Subsequent Years

During your second year, you should select a dissertation advisor and begin thinking about your research topic (you are strongly encouraged to do this before the end of the third semester).

Often, you will be able to advance your research in the courses you take over the next few years. Your advisor can help you select these courses and help you advance your research in them. Work in these classes can often be adapted to conference papers and journal articles, giving you the opportunity to see what others, in the profession, think about your ideas and giving you the opportunity to integrate their suggestions.

After you complete your coursework, you will do a research internship worth 6 credit hours. Students often use this internship as an opportunity to examine the problem they will address in the dissertation.

The formal dissertation proposal is your opportunity to refine the problem to be researched and design the research methods. It is also the Supervisory Committee's opportunity to review and evaluate your research plans and advise you about the value and feasibility of the proposed project.

The Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal is required to be between 11-12 double-spaced pages in length, not including references, with 1" margins and 12 pt font. In it, you must:

• Define the scope of the research
• Convince the Supervisory Committee that your research project will produce knowledge valuable to the field
• Demonstrate that the research methods are valid and appropriate to the question at issue

A Supervisory Committee's signature to the Application to Candidacy Form, signals that the dissertation proposal has been approved and attests that you are ready to conduct independent dissertation research (though completion of the requirement is not guaranteed).

Because the choice of a topic and research design is so critical to your success, Committees will rigorously review these proposals and may require multiple revisions.

In general, the proposal will consist of the following components (which may be tailored somewhat for each project):

• Statement of the question at issue (problem): What problem or question have you identified as the focus of your research? Provide a brief overview of the theoretical and methodological frameworks within which you intend to work. You will explicate these in more detail later.
• Literature review: The literature review accomplishes several things:
  • It helps provide a context in which to locate your project, showing the existence of a scholarly conversation in which you are about to participate.
  • It provides evidence that the subject is important enough to your field to have generated discussion.
  • It establishes your authority to enter the conversation, showing that you are knowledgeable about the discussion and would be a credible participant.
  • It allows you to formulate an argument for the exigency and value of the project you are about to undertake. In addition to showing that your topic has generated scholarly debate, you need to shape your review to show that your topic represents a gap in current knowledge, an area that has been inadequately or incompletely researched, and/or an area that warrants a revisit because new theoretical perspectives or research tools might provide new knowledge.
• Procedures: This section of your proposal explains how you will go about your research.
  • What methods of gathering data will you use, and why?
  • What methods will you use to analyze the data and why?
  • Contextualize your collection and analysis methods in the theoretical assumptions and approaches that guide your research.

As you construct your research methodology, be aware that any research involving human beings must receive approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). You must have your committee approve your dissertation proposal before submitting to the IRB; however, if you already received IRB approval for a previous project that later you decide to use in your dissertation, you must submit an amendment (rather than creating a new protocol) to that original IRB exemption/approval after your dissertation proposal is approved.

• Outline: Provides a tentative outline of your dissertation, with chapter headings and a few lines of explanation under each. Add forecasts and transitions to help explain the rationale for your organization. Your readers will want to know why you have divided it this way and why you have chosen this sequence for the sections.
• Timetable: Presents a schedule that you plan to follow for completing the research and writing the dissertation. Bearing in mind the deadlines published by the School of Graduate Studies and your own plans for graduation, identify a tentative defense date and work backwards from that.
• Completion: You should plan to complete your proposal as soon after passing the Comprehensive Exam as you are able, but no later than one semester after completion.
  • Work with your major professor to develop your proposal, consulting with him/her about essential literature to read, about focusing your topic effectively, about selecting research and analysis methods, and about a feasible timetable.
  • You should also meet with other members of the Supervisory Committee, especially those who have specialized knowledge in areas important to your work.

The Dissertation

You will meet with your Supervisory Committee as a whole once each Spring semester for a formal review of progress on the dissertation. You will also meet informally with the major professor on a fairly regular basis and with other Committee members as necessary.

You must consult the Utah State University Thesis/Dissertation requirements for style rules and relevant forms.

You and your major professor will decide when the manuscript is ready to submit to the Supervisory Committee for final review prior to the oral defense. The oral defense consists of a 90-minute public discussion of your research. All members of the Supervisory Committee must be present. The Supervisory Committee must unanimously approve the dissertation.

According to University regulations, you have 8 years from matriculation to finish the PhD degree.

Timetable for the Dissertation Proposal and Dissertation

1. Before the end of your third semester in the program, invite an eligible faculty member to serve as your major professor, and consult with him/her to form the Supervisory Committee.
2. Meet with the Supervisory Committee (now replacing the Director of Graduate Studies and the Exams Committee as advisors) in the Spring semester of each year after the first to discuss the direction of your research, possible methods and essential literature.
3. Begin reading for the literature review, refining your research question as you do.
4. After passing the Comprehensive Exam, write your dissertation proposal.
5. Submit a request for approval of your research to the Human Subjects Board, if using human subjects.
6. Schedule the proposal review with your Supervisory Committee.
7. Submit copies of the proposal to the Supervisory Committee at least two weeks before the scheduled Review.
8. Meet with the Supervisory Committee to discuss approval of the proposal. The Committee may require extensive revision of the proposal.
9. When the proposal is approved, submit the Application for Candidacy for Doctoral Degree Form to the School of Graduate Studies. (Research using human subjects must have been approved by the IRB before the School of Graduate Studies will approve the Application for Candidacy. No human subject research may be implemented before approval.)
10. Begin collecting data for the dissertation.
11. Write the dissertation.
12. Submit chapters as they are completed to your major professor. He/she may require revision, and will determine when the chapters are ready for circulation to other Committee members.
13. With the major professor, determine when the completed, revised manuscript is ready for final review by the Committee.
14. Schedule the oral defense of the dissertation at least 7 weeks before the anticipated degree-completion date. He/she will submit the completed dissertation to the Committee at least one month before the defense. Each committee member must read and approve the dissertation before signing the Appointment for Examination form. Signed by all Supervisory Committee members, this form affirms that the members believe the dissertation is ready for defense (see the General Catalog). You will circulate the Appointment for Examination Form to the Supervisory Committee and submit it to the School of Graduate Studies a minimum of 10 working days prior to the oral defense (see the General Catalog).
15. After scheduling the oral defense, receive several forms for completion of the degree process (see the General Catalog).

The Oral Defense

The Supervisory Committee records the results of the defense and any additional requirements on the Record of Examination Completion form and submits it to the Graduate School Office.

You submit the dissertation to the thesis coordinator for final review of format, style and mechanics. You must revise in compliance with the thesis coordinator's requirements before the thesis coordinator will submit the dissertation to the graduate dean for approval.

The Dean of the School of Graduate Studies gives final approval to the dissertation, and has the authority to require further review.

All graduation forms must be completed, fees paid, and forms submitted to the School of Graduate Studies before a degree can be closed out.