Hello Guys! I am starting an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership (Conflict Resolution Track) and I'm trying to think of possible dissertation topics. This is what I have so far: Effective Organizational Leadership in Policing: Examining the Key Qualities of a Police Chief. How can a police leader manage diversity in his police department? How does the organizational culture affect the leadership in a police department? How has the consent decree affected the leadership in the New Orleans Police Department? Please provide constructive feedback and/or suggestions. Thank you.
These are for you to ponder, not to answer here: How do these questions tie back to the scholarship in your academic discipline? What gap to they fill? Will you use an existing framework to measure changes to "leadership" or "organizational culture" or other terms you're using? If so, which ones? (For example, when I decided to research the Chief Learning Officer, I had a heckuva time defining what a CLO is and is not. I did it, but in a very unconventional way.) If not, how will you define it, and how will you measure the change created by the independent variable? Finally, there's no way to judge whether or not these are good topics from the simple question. It will require you to think out and write up what these questions mean....in detail. They could be good topics. They could be terrible topics.
Good luck on your journey. It took me ten years to find something that I want to write about. Passion of the topic's area may be more important than a good topic. Anyway, you may be the first here to have an MBA from Don Brosco. How was it? From what university are doing your PHD?
This is a good opportunity for me to ask a question I've pondered in the past (if I might be allowed a slight hijack). Don't we sometimes put the pony behind the cart when talking about dissertations or even Masters theses? I have never understood doing a graduate degree for sake of acquiring the degree itself. Isn't success more likely if the student goes into a program with a pretty clear idea of what specific questions s/he is interested in exploring and if so, doesn't the area of interest suggest the research topics and therefore the dissertation or thesis topic? As a corollary, should a student even be in graduate school unless the purpose is to pursue particular research interests? Obviously there are exceptions. "Professional" degrees such as the J.D are necessary to enter or advance in one or another profession. (And I admit I'm not convinced that a J.D. is really a "graduate" degree.")
Hi Nosborne, thanks for dropping in. You've asked a good question and I think that this is the reason that some doctoral programs require you to submit a research proposal as a part of your admissions application package. They want you to have a solid research interest before you even start. As for the question posed by the op, I find #3 to be the most interesting to me.
Well.... I'm on both sides of this issue. On the one hand, I think a lot of doctoral students get waylaid when the go from what they're used to (courses) to what they're not (research). And yes, it would help to have some idea of not only one's topic, but the dissertation process itself. But.... Have a plan, but write it in pencil. It is reasonable to expect that one's topic may change--several times even--as one progresses towards the dissertation phase, and even during the proposal phase. Mine changed twice in my PhD and three times in my DSocSci. And I was pretty driven both times. (I'd read How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation years before I even finished my master's.) So.... Yes, have an idea of what your topic will be and what it means to do doctoral research. Then be ready to change it.
Thank you. The MBA from Don Bosco was pretty good, it was very affordable and the student support staff was phenomenal. The coursework was very good, it was mostly proctored exams versus assignment papers. It was a 1 year general management program and it was evaluated by the Educational Credential Evaluators as being the U.S. equivalent from a regionally accredited institution. I will be pursuing my Ed.D. at the Abilene Christian University (ACU). I got accepted to American College of Education (Ed.D.), Grand Canyon (Ed.D), Argosy (DBA), Walden (PhD) and Northcentral (PhD) but I declined them all. I applied for application sake, I had no intentions of attending any of them except ACU. I can't deal with the for-profit bad reputation.
You are already a success. You will do fine in your Ed.D. From my experience, you have to be passionate in the area of your research. I am a phd dropout, and one of my biggest issues was not having passion in the area of my many research's topics.
Thank you. I will do my best, I am rookie police officer. I was a 4 year police in my home country before moving to the U.S. I hope to one day become a chief. By the way, do you plan on finishing your PhD?
You are definitely on your to be a high ranking police officer. As an immigrants, highly educated, you may be in a unique position to do some great things for the marginalized. I am an NCU phd dropout. However I recently found an area that I feel passionate about so I am working on a proposal. I am at the tail-end of my career so it will be something I will be doing in retirement.
Thanks, I really hope so. I'm glad to hear that you've found a new area which you're passionate about. Earning your PhD will be a great personal accomplishment. How far were you in your PhD before you decided to take a break?
