Professional doctorates

Originally posted by Scott Henley
A doctoral degree by nature should be research-oriented with minimal (if any) coursework. It should develop new ideas and push the limits of human knowledge. There are so many doctoral programs these days that focus so heavily on coursework that they lose sight of the purpose of a doctorate: research.

That is certainly one model, often found in programs outside the US. Most US programs will require arount 60 units past the masters--a combination of coursework and dissertation units. You are correct that doctoral programs vary considerably as to the level and types of research expereinces required for the degree.

You know what a three to five-year part-time program with lots of coursework credits, examinations and a 50,000 word thesis is called? A master's.

You know what a program like this is called when one already has a masters? A doctorate. Seriously, a typical APA formatted thesis/dissertation page in courier font would have approximately 200 words. A 50,000 word thesis would be about 250 pages--far more than is required by nearly all masters programs in the U.S.

It does not matter what the doctorate is called: Ph.D., D.B.A., Eng.D., Psy.D., etc., as long as it holds to the philosophy of research, independent thought, academic supervision and new knowledge.

I agree with you. Of course, first professional doctorates, such as M.D., J.D., D.D.S., etc., have a different emphasis.

There are lots of DL doctoral programs out there that could hardly even be regarded as master's-level programs.

That is quite an accusation. Since your post rightly focuses on research, can you provide any research findings to support your statement?

 

Re: DR/PhD

The person who told you this was not quite informed, since as JamesK points out, the PhD is a doctorate. There are plenty of faculty at both K-12 and college/university level with doctorates other than PhDs (e.g. EdD, DBA, PsyD, DA, DMA, ThD, SJD). There are also many faculty with first professional doctorates (e.g. JD, MD).

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Professional doctorates

This is excellent, Ted! I never thought of that one.