Qualitative Dissertation Methodology. Nathan Durdella

      ▼ Figure2.1 Dissertation Rituals in Doctoral Programs

      Current Thinking on the Dissertation: Critiques and Emerging Approaches

      As colleges and universities transitioned from an era of elite to mass higher education and hyper specialization of disciplines, academic values and cultural identities evolved (Becher & Trowler, 2001). For some faculty members at academic institutions, changes to notions of what constitutes dissertation research followed (Becher & Trowler). Indeed, the idea of the conventional model of a dissertation as a culminating experience of dissertation research has been challenged. While the full force of historically and socially reproduced constructions of dissertation research still tend to dominate U.S. graduate programs and larger disciplinary fields, new approaches to dissertations have emerged across a diverse range of institutions (see Figure 2.2).

      Reasons for rethinking traditional dissertations.

      With changes in the academic job market and patterns of institutional hiring and teaching assignment, many scholars argue that there are valid reasons to reexamine the traditional dissertation. While there are “reasons for our investment in the dissertation monograph,” including the demonstration of abilities to conceptualize, design, and execute important studies in the field (Smith, 2010b), the need to examine the shapes of dissertation research in practice has emerged. In fact, Smith (2010b) argues that, beyond time to degree, “ethical reasons” undergird a reexamination of approaches to traditional dissertations, including human and intellectual diversity, digital media and computer technologies, and skills development of faculty (Smith, 2010b) and future employees in nonacademic and academic positions alike.

      Increases time to degree completion and attrition in terminal degree programs.

      Very few doctoral students have not heard the following three letters uttered at one point or another during their tenure in their programs: ABD. The dubious distinction of ABD, or all but dissertated, remains at the forefront of many doctoral students’ minds as they progress through their coursework, beyond their qualifying exams, and into their dissertation research work. When I first heard ABD as a doctoral student, I thought that I would never suffer such a fate—but many of us had heard or read about students who ended up ABD for one reason or another. ABD is not a formal degree option nor can ABD be used as a formal title—although students could conceivably exit, before completing requirements for a doctoral degree, with a master’s degree if they have progressed far enough in the degree program to qualify, file the appropriate paperwork for the degree award, and the university awards a degree in the program of study. And when ABD attaches to students’ status while still in a doctoral program, implications related to time to degree and institutional departure follow. There is ample evidence to be concerned: up to half of students who start as doctoral students do not finish their program requirements and earn a degree. For some doctoral students and faculty advisors, dissertations may explain a large part of these glaring student outcomes—citing dissertation research as the chief delay in time to degree completion (Smith, 2010b) and arguing that women graduate students and pre-tenure faculty face delays in other life outcomes—such as childbearing (Smith, 2010b)—as a result.

      Even as early as the 1950s, the dissertation could be seen as an obstacle to degree completion (Berelson, 1960). In a process where graduate students assume primary roles for designing, executing, and writing their dissertation drafts while coordinating committee hearings, requesting feedback from committee members, navigating institutional policies and submissions deadlines, and—perhaps most importantly—meeting the expectations of the committee chair and faculty advisor, the fact that they spend years on a dissertation research project comes as little surprise. To be sure, the dissertation is likely not the overriding factor in doctoral student decisions to leave their programs of study, and Golde (2000) found that doctoral student attrition can be attributed to weak integration into departmental life and loss of commitment to degree completion. But when a degree can take up to 18 years to earn—10.1 years overall and 18.2 years in education, the longest (Snyder & Dillow, 2015)—close scrutiny of the system tends to beg faculty to explore how to address approaches to shortening programs. In fact, even well-integrated students may experience a “sudden breach” and stop out when other priorities or opportunities emerge and occupy a more important position than graduate study (Golde).

      While doctoral student attrition is a problem explained by multiple factors, the constellation of activities and requirements associated with dissertation research generally slows—and stops, in some cases—students’ degree program progress. Indeed, Patton (2013) explains that dissertation work takes so long because “students are typically required by their advisers to pore over minutiae and learn the ins and outs of preceding scholarly debates before turning to the specific topic of their own work.” Add to this exercise, the fact that the practices and policies in some programs do not offer meaningful direction for dissertation study or only general guidance on dissertation requirements, and there is little wonder why dissertations may block student progress. In English and humanities fields, for example, a lack of explicit information and ambiguous policies on dissertation research in many graduate schools and departments persists (Jaschik, 2012), which may lead to confusion among students. And confusion can be seen directly in the faculty advising relationship as Damrosch (1995) describes how many graduate students receive conflicting feedback. When students experience silence from committee members—coupled with comments that run counter to each other—they can face delays (Jaschik). As they work to limit confusion and address unresolved issues, students may face delays in their dissertation work and ultimately, for some students, elect to leave.

      New technologies and media reshape boundaries in research and writing.

      As academic institutions adjust to emerging and new technologies, changes in how students approach dissertation research and writing have occurred (Barton, 2005). With new interactivity in technology platforms and new media applications in many fields, the possibilities to move outside of what some students and faculty see as an outmoded, outdated “flat” dissertation format are appealing. Indeed, the Council of Graduate Schools (2009, p. 14) argued, “In the future, graduate education must grapple with encouraging new outputs such as three-dimensional models, video footage, and non-linear projects. It is likely that in the future these and other innovative forms of the presentation of research will come to dominate graduate education.”

      Overcoming arguments about the lack of rigor and misapplication of standards for research and writing in the field, an increasing cadre of thought leaders and policy makers, campus leaders and faculty advisors, and graduate students advocate for digitizing and activating, so to speak, the traditional dissertation format through digital applications. And there is increasing evidence that new media (i.e., open access or electronically published) may not translate to fewer opportunities to publish in traditional scholarly publishing (Ramirez, Dalton, McMillan, Read, & Seamans, 2013)—buttressing arguments to allow students to adopt such formats for their dissertation work.

      Disconnects between students from nonacademic/non-research careers and emerging pressures of the current job market.

      With over half of Ph.D. graduates accepting their first job offers from employers outside of the academy, many faculty and administrators argue that this is the time to revisit the traditional dissertation (Patton, 2013). In fact, academic job placement and careers in the academy among students in doctoral programs have been on the decline as colleges and universities employ an increasing percentage of faculty on a part-time basis. With over half of faculty in postsecondary institutions now contingent (“Background Facts on Contingent Faculty,” 2016), many recently graduated Ph.D. students look to career opportunities outside of traditional faculty or academic research positions. And as the range of doctoral programs in U.S. institutions of higher education continues to change, conventional research degrees such as the Ph.D. may offer fewer opportunities for career development and advancement for prospective students. For example, education doctorate (Ed.D.) programs—and similar applied doctoral