Psychology Advanced research

Learner Defines Broad Area of Research Interest and Potential Topic Areas

During the first year, learners identify a broad area of research within which they want to do their dissertation study. This broad area of focus should be related to the emphasis area in which the learner is enrolled. During the first year, learners research this broad area to identify potential topic areas for their dissertation based on needs or gaps defined in the literature. A dissertation topic must emerge from a gap or tension in the empirical research literature, not from a personal experience or an attempt to solve personal problem. Additionally, the dissertation research study must be narrow enough in scope to address/solve a researchable academic problem and not a major social issue. During every course in the first year of the program, learners must gather empirical research articles related to the broad topic area they intend to focus on for their dissertation. These articles are used in the first residency course to define a preliminary dissertation topic and develop a preliminary draft of the 10 Strategic Points.

Within the first few classes of the Ed.D., D.B.A., and Ph.D. degree programs, learners develop a compare and contrast matrix to summarize and analyze research in their broad research area with the intent to identify potential research topics for future research.Psychology Advanced research

Note: Lit Assist Research Software is a literature review tool, which is based on the Compare/Contrast Matrix and is designed specifically for GCU doctoral Learners to help review, organize, and compare/contrast/ synthesize the research literature. Consider using this resource to help with the literature review process in pre-dissertation phases of the program.

Note: The research topic for a dissertation must be defined as a need by the literature. It cannot be based on a personal agenda. Learners must use the current empirical research literature to identify and justify the need for a study. Potential research topics are typically described at the end of an empirical article as well as in the last chapter of a published dissertation.

In the Ed.D. and D.B.A. programs, learners attend their first residency program (RSD 851) and develop an initial draft of their 10 Strategic Points. This document is based on a preliminary review of literature done during the first year in the program and empirical articles related to their broad topic area that learners bring to Year 1 Residency. PhD learners who began the program in May 2015 or later are required to attend residency.Psychology Advanced research

Note: Ph.D. learners who began their program prior to May 2015 have the option to attend residency. Learners should consult their DSSA for registration information and requirements. For the Ph.D. program, learners who do not attend optional Year 1 Residency, they begin to draft of their 10 Strategic Points in PSY 815, the second research course in the psychology program.

·       Outline/Preliminary Draft of Literature Review (Dissertation Proposal Chapter 2)

During the second year, learners continue to develop/update a working draft of their 10 Strategic Points for their potential dissertation research topic.  Learners also develop an outline/preliminary draft of their Literature Review, which helps to further refine their 10 Strategic Points.

During the second year core and emphasis courses, the learners continue to refine the working draft of their 10 Strategic Points for their potential dissertation research topic. They also continue to refine and expand the working draft of their Literature Review during the core and emphasis courses.

Note: Quality of sources for Literature Review -Chapter 2. The references used to justify the research must be current, with the majority from peer-reviewed research articles. Dissertations (three to five maximum), and books (five to 10 maximum) as evidence for the research are not considered peer reviewed, and therefore, should be cited with discretion. Websites, dictionaries, secondary sources, and publications without dates (n.d.) are not allowed. Finally, studies must be accurately cited. The learner is responsible for the quality of sources and accurately citing the results of studies. Misreporting and misinterpretation of research is a serious ethical violation.

During the second year, when attending residency, learners focus on further refining and aligning their 10 Strategic Points, developed in Residency 1 on which they get feedback from the various residency faculty and staff, as well as, from their peers. During Residency 2, the focus is on expanding the justification for the selected design, as well as, selecting the instruments for the research, developing a detailed data collection plan, and defining the data analysis approach.Psychology Advanced research

When attending residency during the second year, the learners expand the methodology and design, as well as, data collection and data analysis sections of their 10 Strategic Points document. They provide a current version of their 10 Strategic Points document as a pre-course assignment. During residency, learners revise the 10 Strategic Points document to ensure the 10 strategic points are aligned.  Learners also develop a specific and detailed plan for collecting and analyzing their data, including identifying the various instruments, as well as, sources of data they will use in their study.

If learners are planning to do a qualitative study, they use the Qualitative Research Data Collection Guide, which provides a step-by-step process to clearly define their data collection and data analysis approach. If learners will be doing quantitative research, they use the Quantitative Research Data Collection Guide to clearly define their variables, data collection instruments and sources, and data analysis approach. These guides are available on the DC Network in the residency materials and on the Research/Dissertation page.

·       Draft of Literature Review (Dissertation Proposal Chapter 2)

·       Draft of Prospectus

During the second year residency and in research courses, learners use the most current working draft of their 10 Strategic Points and Literature Review, to develop an initial draft of their Research Prospectus.

Dissertation Chair Assigned as Instructor for First Dissertation Course

·       Dissertation Chair Assigned

When learners enroll in their first dissertation course (RES 885 or RES 871 for Ed.D. and D.B.A. programs or PSY 825 for Ph.D. program), their instructor for the course is also their assigned dissertation chair. This faculty member will be the instructor for all subsequent dissertation courses (and any continuation courses) and will serve as the committee chair helping to guide the learner through the dissertation process.Psychology Advanced research

A dissertation committee includes the chair, methodologist, and content expert, who work collaboratively with the learner to provide coaching and feedback as the learner completes his/her Dissertation. In this process, each person plays a number of roles. These roles for the learner and chair are described in the documents containing the Learner Dispositions, Chair Dispositions Learner Expectations, and Chair Expectations. It is important for the doctoral learner and dissertation chair to establish a clear understanding of the expectations of working together, how each will communicate with the other, and how they will establish a timeline for completion of milestone steps. Additionally, it is important that the learner model the doctoral dispositions that exemplify a practicing scholar and researcher. A dialogue between the chair and the learner, using this document, should occur during the first dissertation class, with a focus on setting clear expectations on how the learner and chair will work together and with the dissertation committee to establish a win-win relationship.

The Research Prospectus is the first major deliverable to be completed and approved in the first dissertation course. The learner will have developed an updated version of his/her 10 Strategic Points document during the residencies and also developed a first draft of the Research Prospectus in various research classes during Year 2 of their program.  The Research Prospectus builds directly from the elements in The 10 Strategic Points. Both documents should be directly aligned to each other and the 10 Strategic Points is included in Appendix A of the Research Prospectus. Click on this link to see how the 10 Strategic Points build to the Prospectus and how the Prospectus builds to the Proposal.

Note:  The learner should continuously update the 10 Strategic Points document as the Research Prospectus and Proposals are developed and refined.Psychology Advanced research

The chair should review the Prospectus with the learner early in the first dissertation course to ensure the 10 Strategic Points and Prospectus elements are clear and aligned, and the research is doable and can be completed in a reasonable period of time. The Research Prospectus is intended as a 7 to 10 page document to articulate the foundation or “blueprint” for the proposed research study. Learners will note the Prospectus Template is substantially longer than 7-10 pages because criteria tables and explanations are embedded in the template to provide specific guidance on the required elements for each section and the template has appendices for the 10 Strategic Points, and a methodology table, etc.  Ultimately, the final document will be greater than 7-10 pages due to all of the extra supportive material. When the criteria tables and other feedback comments are removed, the body of the Prospectus should be approximately 7-10 pages in length.Psychology Advanced research

It is important to ensure the criteria identified for each section are clearly and thoroughly met as listed in the criteria table embedded within each section of the Prospectus. The chair will use the criterion to evaluate the quality of the Prospectus, and to approve the proposed study design. Once the chair has approved the Research Prospectus, the chair submits this document to the learner’s assigned methodologist for review and approval. Psychology Advanced research

Note: The prospectus is a “teaching” designed tool to help learners establish the foundational elements of their research. The chair and methodologist will focus their review and feedback on alignment of the key elements in the prospectus and will summarize changes that learners must address in detail in the final proposal.  As a result, the chair and methodologist will likely review the prospectus on average, two to three times, focusing on alignment and viability of the study. CDS recommends the learner move to the proposal after two to three prospectus reviews. However, additional reviews may be needed at the discretion of your chair and/or methodologist.Psychology Advanced research

When a learner enrolls in his/her first dissertation course, a methodologist is assigned to the dissertation committee. Once the chair has approved the Prospectus, he/she will submit the Research Prospectus to the learner’s methodologist for review and approval. The methodologist provides additional guidance on research methodology and design selection, as well as, alignment with the research problem statement, research questions, hypotheses or phenomena, data collection approach, and data analysis. Note: The Prospectus is intended to be a “teaching” tool; therefore, the chair and methodologist will focus on alignment of the key elements and will provide feedback for changes that will need to be addressed in detail in the final Proposal.Psychology Advanced research

The learner is expected to develop the expertise in the methodology and design needed to select and/or develop data collection instruments/approaches, as well as, to complete the data analysis for his/her study. Development of this expertise could occur through reading books from research courses, researching and reading articles, using research websites, taking free online statistics courses, viewing YouTube videos by experts, and using tools on the DC Network. The learner may elect to find an external statistician to help with his/her data analysis.Psychology Advanced research

CDS has established writing expectations and resources for the dissertation. CDS expects that learners’ writing will have clear argumentation, a well-structured, comprehensible discussion, and contain synthesized research.  Learners receive feedback on these aspects of scholarly writing at the various levels of review. However, it is each learner’s sole responsibility to make certain that the final dissertation complies with APA format as specified by GCU templates and APA 6.0 Ed. Manual. Additionally, it is each learner’s responsibility to ensure that correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting, and scholarly writing are present by the final draft of the dissertation. This level of writing should start early and continue through the dissertation process in order to avoid delays.

During the first dissertation course, it is the learner’s responsibility to find a content expert and to inform their Dissertation Student Services Advisor (DSSA) and their chair so that the GCU D-10 can be initiated by the DSSA. This D-10 form is used to receive approval from CDS for a learner’s dissertation committee.Psychology Advanced research

A learner may select the content expert from a list of instructors located in DC Network, may solicit interest from an instructor s/he has had in past courses, and/or may invite an external expert, who holds a doctoral degree from an accredited university, to serve in this role. Guidelines for Finding a Content expert are located on the DC Network on the Research/Dissertation Resource Page.

If a learner identifies a GCU faculty member not on the list and/or an external expert who holds a doctoral degree, s/he will need to let his/her chair and DSSA know, so that the process to contract this person can be completed through their DSSA. External content experts must be approved by the College of Doctoral Studies (CDS). The learner should send the resume for the external content expert to their DSSA to get them approved and to their chair so that the chair can contact them once the D-10 form is completed.Psychology Advanced research

Once the D-10 form is signed by all committee members, a Learner Dissertation Page (LDP) will set be up on the DC Network for the learner and committee members. The LDP is a private, virtual workspace for community and learners to collaborate as the learner progresses through the dissertation process. The LDP provides a convenient place for all members of the learner’s dissertation committee to easily communicate, plan, and share documents. The LDP is set up so that initial postings in the email forum are forwarded automatically to the learner’s and committee members’ email. The learner and committee members can then reply to the messages from their regular email.  In the LDP, learners should communicate progress, plans and load updated artifacts.   Learners should use this feature to communicate with their chair and committee members so that all important communications are logged into the LDP.  Please note if issues arise within the committee and communication and activity within the LDP is not evident, this may impact the learner’s progression

A short preview video of the LDP features (located in the DC Network) is posted below:

https://dc.gcu.edu/documents/videos/dcnews/disgroupspacepreviewv1mp4.

Note:  The requirement for the creation of the Learner Dissertation Page (LDP) is the completion of the D-10 form that signifies the formation of the dissertation committee.

Research Prospectus and 10 Strategic Points Documents Reviewed by the Chair and Committee Methodologist

(iterative process with Learner, Chair and Methodologist)

Learner Obtains Preliminary Verbal Agreement for Site Authorization to Conduct Research with the Sample Population in the Targeted Organization

·       Research Prospectus

·       Prospectus Checklist

·       Preliminary Verbal Agreement for Site Authorization to Conduct Research

·       Working Draft of Chapter 2

The first goal in in dissertation course (RES 871/RES 885 or PSY 825 depending on the program of study) is for the learner to complete the research prospectus. First, the chair will review this document to ensure it meets the criteria on the Prospectus Checklist. Next, the chair submits the documents to the methodologist for review. The methodologist will return any suggestions back to the chair. The chair will cover the recommendations received from the methodologist with the learner to ensure that revisions are completed.  The chair will return the revised Research Prospectus to the methodologist for final review. The revision process with the methodologist and learner will be iterative in nature and may require, on average, 2 to 3 rounds of review. However, additional reviews may be needed at the discretion of the chair and/or methodologist.

Note: It is important to remember that developing the foundational elements of a dissertation (10 Strategic Point) and framework (Research Prospectus) will likely require, on average, two to three submissions/review cycles with the committee.  These documents are not traditional “course papers,” but rather serve as the blueprint for the dissertation research, in which significant feedback will be given at multiple levels of review. The expectation is the learner will address all the indicated criteria in the prospectus checklist at a score of 2 or higher and submit documents that meet GCU doctoral writing expectations.  Neither the chair, nor the methodologist will edit for writing issues, but will point out major errors to address.

Once the methodologist has confirmed that the research prospectus meets the criteria on the Prospectus Checklist, and is an aligned, doable study, the chair will have the learner begin to develop the Proposal.

During Year 3, it is critical that learners continuously work on some aspect of their Dissertation.  While waiting for the Research Prospectus to be reviewed or approved by his/her chair or methodologist, the learner should work on completing Chapter 2 of his/her Dissertation Proposal, the Literature Review. The learner should have developed a preliminary draft of Chapter 2 in his/her literature review course (Ed.D. and D.B.A .– RES 861 and Ph.D. in PSY 840). Following the literature review course, during Year 2, the learner should have continued working to develop a complete draft. A complete draft of Chapter 2 must be a minimum of 30 pages in length and will include a minimum of 50-100 empirical articles with 75%-85% from the past 5 years.  Please note the 30-page requirement is a minimum requirement, and it is expected that a Chapter 2 Literature Review is exhaustive and demonstrates the learner’s understanding and expertise in their selected research topic.  Most literature review chapters will greatly exceed the 30-page minimum requirement.

The learner will need to gain the preliminary verbal permission of the organization or organizations, in which s/he intends to conduct research, if applicable. Many organizations have detailed processes to obtain this permission and some do not support research based on organizational policies. As such, the learner should get his/her proposed research population/organization’s agreement to allow the research to be conducted in the organization while developing the Prospectus. This permission is important to obtain while developing the Prospectus since many organizations do not support research. This preliminary verbal or written permission should come from the person within the organization who has the formal authority to approve the research. Within a school system, this permission is typically obtained from the superintendent’s office. Within a business, this permission is typically obtained from officers such as the head of public relations, the head of human resources and/or the head of the legal department.

There are other ways to obtain data for the dissertation other than using the organization within which the researcher works.  Professional associations, as well as, community groups may agree to support the research and let learners distribute instruments through their organization or website.  In addition, more research is being done through social media groups. It is important to identify options for collecting the data in case the selected organization contact will not support the research.

The learner may want to visit the IRB Resource Page to review the site authorization process. Specifics are included in the guide. It is suggested the learner get the final written permission to do research in the organization during this class or at the latest during the first dissertation class, since there are organizations who will not give permission to do research. If the organization does not sign a site approval letter, the learner will need to find another organization or other sources of data or revise the Research Prospectus and/or Dissertation Proposal. Written permission must be included in the appendices of the proposal in order to get IRB approval.

If the learner is doing research using only publicly available documents, which may not require permission to use, a signed site authorization letter or form is not required. However, the learner should note only publicly available information will be included in the study. It is important to review the databases holding publicly available resources since some cities/organizations do require obtaining formal permission to use information from the database for research.