Professional Dissertation

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, but may vary across the clinical and school psychology programs. Students in the School Psychology program complete dissertations within the following categories: 1) Quantitative research study 2) Meta-analyses, 3) Qualitative research study, 4) Systematic case study, and 5) Program Evaluation and Needs Assessment.  Along with these five types, students in the Clinical Psychology program may complete dissertations within the additional categories: 1) Program Design, 2) Review of the literature, 3) Theoretical paper, and 4) Alternative approach.

GSAPP students have complete dissertations that 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.

GSAPP students have also completed dissertations that 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 dissertation 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 examinations.