Each candidate for the doctorate pursues, under faculty direction,
an original investigation of a problem pertinent to professional
psychological practice or knowledge and presents the results of this
investigation in a dissertation. The proposed topic--the problem
addressed and the strategy for dealing with it--must be shown to be
professionally relevant, i.e., the potential contribution of the
dissertation to improved understanding or constructive change in
current practice must be explicitly established.
Many topics
are suitable as dissertation projects. Among these are systematic
analyses of community needs for professional services; systematic
descriptions of services available to meet those needs; case studies of
individuals, groups, or organizations in a framework that includes
thorough scholarly exploration of the issues the case represents;
studies of the technical properties of assessment procedures; studies
of the processes of assessment or intervention; and studies of
specified client populations.
Also suitable are conceptual
analyses of theoretical, metatheoretical, methodological, or
axiological issues in the assumptive foundations of practice; the
design, implementation, and evaluation of programs likely to improve
professional services; and experimental or quasi-experimental studies
of the outcomes of alternative approaches to intervention.
Strategies of inquiry and modes of presentation will vary to suit the
topics chosen. In all cases, however, a thorough evaluation of
pertinent theoretical and empirical literature is required, and the
inquiry must be conducted in the most rigorous and disciplined way that
the subject matter and practical circumstances allow. The report must
define clearly the scope as well as the limits of the inquiry.
Presentation must be conceptually coherent, consistent with known
empirical facts, articulated with prior literature on the topic,
linguistically clear, and rhetorically persuasive.
The
professional dissertation is assigned 9 credits. The "size" is to be an
approximation of the time and effort demands of three core courses (9
credits). As a benchmark, the quality of each dissertation must be
sufficiently high to merit publication in an appropriate outlet. The
dissertation requirement reflects the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology's understanding that
high-quality scholarship is an integral part of professional
psychology.
Students may begin the dissertation at any point
in the program, but cannot proceed to the oral defense of the
dissertation until they have successfully completed the comprehensive examination and oral specialty.
