Hello, I've heard it already quite a few times: the DBA is supposed to be more practical and the Ph.D. in business is more theoretical. My question: In the real world, will schools permit you to do a DBA in a theoretical topic(I mean a topic that would be normally expected of a Ph.D. student)? Thanks, Dennis
I don't know...you can't have practice without theory though... I might do one or the other after I get the MBA done - learning is addictive and actually fun now that I am married with kids, don't guzzle beer and pass out at frat parties like I might have done for four years in the 80's. I just don't know which would serve me better. I guess it's really a matter of what I - or anyone else - wants to study. I can't imagine I will need anymore than an MBA in my field - most of the senior managers don't even have one, and my company is the biggest of in the industry. So any other learning will be entirely for my own enjoyment.
In the real world, there doesn't seem to be much difference between a PhD and a DBA at Northcentral University www.ncu.edu . If memory serves me, Andy Borchers assures me that the DBA at Nova Southeastern University www.nova.edu is every bit as demanding and rigorous as the PhD in Business Administration.
Yes, often. How often? I don't know. Some schools make a distinction (applied vs. theoretical, whatever), others do not. It would be prudent for any potential doctoral student to discuss his/her research goals with the propsective school(s) ahead of time.
It is hard to make much of a generalization on DBA and PhD programs. Most schools issue one or the other, with the PhD becomming the more common label. In my experience at NSU, dissertations required a formal test of a theory, much as PhD dissertations typically involve. Regards - Andy
While it's true the the usual way of discerning between DBA and PhD is the theoretical vs practical label, in my DBA studies and my own dissertation, I found the line pretty blurred. You are building your own research off previous works, taking it beyond current work, or using it to explain other avenues. One of the dissertations I used in my research was from a then PhD candidate. While there were theoretical underpinnings in her work, much of it was applied. Based on her work, and of course the work of of others (both theoretical and more applications based), I developed a model to explain the relationships between various factors, identified variables to help describe those factors, and developed a method to quantitatively measure those variables. When I first started out my research, (we won't go into the little issue of having to find a whole committee in 24 hours....) the main concern my committee had was, "How the heck are you going to model and measure such a concept?" I was able to identify the theoretical underpinnings of my research and why the analysis methods I proposed were appropriate, and believe me, one of my committee members was adamant I document all that (and I thank her heartily for her stance). I chose a DBA over a PhD because while I like theory, I also like seeing it come to life in the real world. While I enjoy teaching, I am not an academic, and do not see myself on a tenure track (though my career has had several strange twists over the years). I explain the difference between a DBA and a PhD as, "A DBA is a professional doctorate similar to a MD, DDS, or a Psych D. The difference is that it does not have an internship or clinical phase." Of course, everyone kept asking me how the PhD was coming along. The folks in my office tell newcomers I have a PhD. Even my better half keeps telling people I have a PhD. So, for the real world, there is little difference. If it's a concern to you, you can always discuss the idea of a more theoretical dissertation topic with any of the schools you are considering. You may find they are receptive to the idea.
lol.........Okay so it is not just my experience. It does not matter how many times I hve told my wife that my doctorate is a DMin in Counseling, she still refers to it as a PhD. Similarly, when I had to give my academic qualifications to a professional organization, when I told the guy I had a doctorate and it was a DMin, he said "Oh...well I am putting down PhD". PS Congrats (belated) on finishing your doctorate! North
My experience is in a D.P.A. program rather than a D.B.A. program... but I don't think that it should really make too much of a difference for this discussion... Most, if not all doctoral degrees are based on theory. The professional degrees (D.B.A., D.P.A., Ed.D., Psy.D., etc.) all traditionally emphasize the practical application of theory... the primary difference in many (if not all) of these programs is more based on the use of research within the discipline... It's mostly a difference in emphasis between praxis vs. research. (Of course there are those doctoral programs that cross over the curriculum and blur the traditional distinction between the doctoral degrees.) Personally, I would run - not walk - from a professional doctoral degree program that does not emphasize theory... For that matter it is hard for me to conceptualize a doctoral curriculum without theory... So to answer your question, yes, any decent professional doctoral program (D.B.A.) should be very happy with a theoretical dissertation topic.
You might be allowed, but why you would want to do this for a DBA? A DBA dissertation normally focus on the application of theory but not the creation of new theory while the PhD dissertation normally requires the creation of new theory.
I believe that the majority of D.P.A., D.B.A. and Ed.D. dissertations are probably what is classified as "case studies." Within the case study more than likely there is a requirement by the dissertation committee to link the dissertation to some theory within the discipline. All dissertations are usually expected to be "original research" within the discipline... and the Ph.D. dissertation is usually more quantitative... and the D.B.A. and D.P.A. are usually more qualitative... so either you're coming up with a new theory, or you are applying an old theory in a new way... either way the process is painful as you proceed through the rite of passage called the dissertation process...
