DISSERTATION MANUAL - Liberty University

1 1 CENTER FOR COUNSELING & FAMIL Y STUDIES DISSERTATION MANUAL The Center for Couns eling and Family Studies Liberty Uni versity 1971 Uni versi ty Blvd. Lynchburg, Virgini a 24 502 Academic Year 2013-2014 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS FROM THE PHD PROGRAM .. 4 INTRODUCTION TO THE DISSERTATION MANUAL .. 5 Purpose of the DISSERTATION Manu al .. 5 The Authority of thi s DISSERTATION MANUAL .. 6 OVERVIEW O F THE DISSERTATION .. 7 Background of the DISSERTATION .. 7 Histor y of the DISSERTATION .. 9 DISSERTATION : GENERAL INFORMATION.

2 11 Planning and Budgeting for the Dissert ation .. 11 The Use of Assistance i n the DISSERTATION Process .. 12 DISSERTATION : WRITING STANDARDS .. 14 Dissert ation Writing Style .. 1 4 Dissert ation Writing For m .. 15 Academic Hon esty .. 20 DISSERTATION .. 22 Overview of the DISSERTATION Process .. 22 Step 1: Select a .. 23 Step 2: Obtain a Dissertatio n Committe e .. 23 Step 3: Pass the Candidacy .. 25 Step 4: Form a DISSERTATION .. 25 Step 5: Compl ete the Proposal .. 26 Step 6: Defend the Propo sal .. 27 Step 7: Obt ain Approv al by the Int ernal Review .. 28 Step 8: Conduct t he .. 30 Step 9: Compl ete F inal Cha pt ers.

3 30 Step 10: Submit t he Entire Dissertatio n for Final .. 30 Step 11: Defend the Dissert ation ..31 Step 12: Obt ain a Prof essional Editor to Review t he DISSERTATION for Form and ..35 Step 13: S ubmit t he Final D ..35 3 COMPONENTS OF THE COMPLETED .. 38 Preliminary Pages .. 38 Text .. 40 .. 40 Appendixes .. 40 APPENDIXES .. 41 A Overview of the DISSERTATION For .. 42 B R ecommended Books f or Dissert ation Preparation .. 6 1 C Petition for Establishi ng a DISSERTATION Committee .. 6 3 D Petition for an Outside/Peer Committee .. 6 4 E Dissert ation Defense Meeting Announcement For mat.

4 65 F. Liberty Uni versity Thesis/ DISSERTATION .. 66 Liberty University From the PhD Program Directors Dear Doctor al Candidate: Congratul ations on reaching thi s final stage of your doctoral journey. You began thi s j our ney several years ago and step after step have compl eted all of your coursewor k, Qualifying Examination, Practicum and Int ernship. Now you face the capston e of the Doctor of Phi losophy Program, t he DISSERTATION . Even befor e student s arrive at t he landmark DISSERTATION stage, they have many questions about the DISSERTATION and the pr ocess by whi ch the y compl ete one. To address t he ov erarching issues, t he Cent er f or Couns eli ng and Family S tudies (CCFS) has developed thi s DISSERTATION gui de.

5 We hope that thi s document will assist you on the last l eg of your academic j ourney. As f aculty, we l ook for ward to wor king with students on their r esearch and di ssertation. Often student s are pu rsui ng faculty research int erests or addressing topics of i mportance to them. Our prayer is that you will s ee thi s proj ect thr ough to compl etion so that your final document will be one t hat y ou, your DISSERTATION committee, and Liberty Uni versity can be pr oud to say that i t r epr esents t he best w e have t o offer. May God bless you with all y ou need to flourish abu ndantly as you conduct y our research and write your dissert ation. Our prayers are with you!

6 Dr. Gary Sibc y Dr. Lisa Sosin 4 5 Liberty University Introduction to the Dissertati on MANUAL Purpose of this Dissertati on MANUAL The purpose of thi s document i s t o assist doctoral s tudents in compl eting their DISSERTATION at L iberty Uni versi ty. The best a cademic traditi on and professional practic e require the Uni versity to preserve and s ha re doctoral dissert ation wor k with other s cholars. Because the compl eted DISSERTATION is a publication of Liberty Uni versity, t he U ni versity and Center for Counseling and F amily Studies (CCFS) must maint ain high standards con cerni ng the for m and appearance of dissert ations, and requi re t hat any student s wor k meet t hose standards.

7 This guide sets f orth those standards and prov ides a set of directives for doctoral students as they walk thr oug h the DISSERTATION process. This gui de is also int ended t o serve as an aid t o faculty involved in chairing student dissertations. I t prov ides an overview of the DISSERTATION process and descri bes in broa d terms t he rol es and respons ibilities of t he student, committee chairperson, and ot her committee members. Mor eover, t hi s gui de pr ov ide s pertine nt infor mation about the content and style of t he DISSERTATION document s and describes the processes for do cument approv al and f inal publication of the dissert ation. Doctoral s tudent s should refer to the gui de and follow its direction as they pl an f or and pr epare their DISSERTATION and whenever submitting materials t o their committee.

8 The committee chairperson is r espo ns ibl e t o the Uni versi ty for the structur e, content, and final s ubmission of the document f or publication and has the ultimate authority in the committee on these matte rs. This gui de is int ended t o support s tudent s and 5 6 faculty at Liberty University thr ough the essential p rocesses of writing and defendi ng t he student s dissert ation. The Authority of this Disser tation MANUAL Thi s versi on of the DISSERTATION guide sup ersedes all pr evious editions of the DISSERTATION MANUAL . Students who are i n the process of writing their final chapters, however, may continue under the former guidelines.

9 6 7 Liberty University Overview of the Dissertati on Background to the DISSERTATION The DISSERTATION is t he culminating activity of a doctor al s tudent s degree and represents t he stud ent s origi nal contri bution to the prof essional literatur e. It prov ides an opportunity to focus on a s ingl e, carefully defined area of int erest w ithin t he s tudent s field of study. The DISSERTATION is a scholarly document i nt ended t o demonstrate t he research competence of the aut hor and to produce greater underst anding of cultural, s ocial, psychological, physical or spiritual p henomena.

10 The DISSERTATION is t o be written in the for mal l anguage and style of the author s di scipl ine or field of study, and present s t he results of a compr ehensive, logical, and ethi cal i nv estigation. The dissert ation is an extension of published research that invol ves the acquisition, analysis, and int erpretation of new data. It i s based upon the assumption that t he re exists one or mor e of these elements: A n int ernal reality that can be sampl ed, observed, measured, and analyzed. A n int ernal phenomenolog ical r eality that can be described in suffi cient detail by the person experiencing it. A s ocial or or gani zational reality that can be derived by examination of its structur e or communicated through its partic ipants reports.