A Concise Guide to Writing a Thesis or Dissertation: Educational Research and Beyond / Edition 2

by Halyna M. Kornuta, Ron W. Germaine

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367174583
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/13/2019
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	134
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.81(h) x (d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations

Preface

Part I: The Big Picture

Part II: Framework and Substance of Chapters

Chapter One. Introduction

Chapter Two. Review of the Literature

Chapter Three. Methodology

Chapter Four. Findings and Analysis

Chapter Five. Summary, Discussion of Findings and Conclusions, and Recommendations

References

Appendix A. Rubric for Evaluating Writing

Appendix B. APA Skill Building Exercises

Appendix C. Examples of Purpose Statements

Appendix D. Research Planning Organizer

Appendix E. Guide for Scholarly Writing

Appendix F. Guide for Oral Presentations

Index