A Concise Guide to Writing a Thesis or Dissertation: Educational Research and Beyond

A Concise Guide to Writing a Thesis or Dissertation provides clear, succinct, and intentional guidelines about organizing and writing a thesis or dissertation. Part I provides an overview for writing a thesis or dissertation. It describes the big picture of planning and formatting a research study, from identifying a topic to focusing on writing quality. Part II describes the framework and substance of a research study. It models the pattern generally found in a formal, five-chapter research study.

Each chapter of a thesis or dissertation has a specific purpose, and this book focuses on each in an easy-to-follow structure. Chapter One reviews the headings and contents expected in the introduction of a study. Chapter Two provides advice for writing a literature review. Chapter Three discusses what to include when describing the methodology. These first three chapters form the proposal section of a study. Two additional chapters present results (Chapter Four) and provide discussion and conclusions (Chapter Five).

Appendices offer resources for instructors and students, including a rubric for evaluating writing, exercises to strengthen skills in APA format, sample purpose statements, a research planning organizer, and a guide for scholarly writing. The book is designed overall to be a practical guide and resource for students for their thesis or dissertation process.

Note to readers: Due to publishing limitations, some of the titles within the book do not accurately conform with APA format. For precise APA format, please see the APA manual (2010, pp. 62-63), or refer to Table 1.1, (p. 8) or Table D.1 (p. 107) in this book.

Halyna M. Kornuta provides leadership in faculty professional development, curriculum development, assessment, aligning curriculum with assessment, accreditation and program review. She has been a teacher and an elementary school principal in Canada and Germany, served as vice-president of academic affairs and accreditation liaison officer, and is currently Provost at Reiss-Davis Graduate Center.

Ron W. Germaine has worked in higher education with practicing teachers to guide the design and effect of interventions intended to strengthen their students’ learning. He is currently Professor Emeritus, Sanford College of Education, National University, La Jolla, California.