DPSY 998 - Introduction to the Dissertation

3 Credit(s)

This course provides an overview of the dissertation process and the skills required for scholarly research and writing. The course aims to provide students with the skills needed to effectively draft a focused, well-written, and orally defensible dissertation proposal, which is the end product of the course. In the first half of the semester, students work with an instructor and a group of peers to discuss students’ ideas for dissertation projects. As the course progresses, the student is expected to develop a proposal that includes a research question, a review of relevant background literature, methods to be employed, references, and an outline of dissertation chapters. The second half of the course is spent with the dissertation chair refining the proposal. The course consummates in the approval of the dissertation proposal by the chair and members of the student’s dissertation committee.