"The Dissertation"

I asked about this over at www.Phinished.com and found it to be quite common in the hard sciences. A number of posters attending B&M schools said their dissertation consisted of three articles (some unpublished) with an introduction and conclusion attached.

Roscoe

 

Most excellent Roscoe. I'm sure you'll glide through this last step.

 

Thanks, Kizmet!

Roscoe

 

This is a move to move towards published works for the Doctorate. I was doing one of these with Charles Sturt University before I fell ill. I had three works published in peer reviewed journals with one to go. I then had to prepare a linking document of between 5-10 thousand words that synthesised the work. The papers have to be thematic.

I discontinued my enrollment while I was ill, and I then prepared another paper which was accepted for publication. Unfortunately, while I was ill, the university suspended its program. Re-enrollment was not possible. I was, however, awarded a Masters with Honours for the work done.

The advantages of this system, the work can be reduced to bitsized chunks. It goes through a peer review system that validates the work. If the degree is not finished, then you have the publications to show for the effort. I also think that the work is more likely to be read than a full blown thesis, unless you have found a new thing of great importance. I was most unlikely to find a topic like that.

I now have had five articles accepted by peer reviewed journals. Four have been published. I might add the peer reviewed process is not an easy route. Four articles meant a minimum of eight reviewers, the equivalent of eight examiners in addition to those who examine the final work.

The offset is that it may pretty hard to fail the finished product, if all the articles constituting it have been peer reviewed and accepted. This might be a more acceptable system for those, perhaps, who are using a lesser known or an unaccredited university. Conference papers also count as published papers if they have been peer reviewed. They probably have the ultimate transparency of educational process.

I take my hat off to those doing the traditional dissertation. It must be incredibly hard yards to constantly keep your nose to the grindstone. Congratulations to those that do and succeed.

 

Perhaps it may read better if "move to move towards" actually read "move towards". That's my other problem with writing articles, all the bloody editing!

 

I'm really interested in this thread because I just started considering going for a PhD after getting a masters. I actually already have a topic in mind for a dissertation and it's something that I'm very excited about. Looking at the different PhD programs, I noticed that Northcentral requires 24 credits toward the dissertation while Liberty only requires 6. Are the dissertation requirements significantly different between universities? Or are the requirements the same but Northcentral helps you through the process more?

 

The dissertation animal is pretty standard across the board. There are differences of course. But the number of credits applied to doing the dissertation doesn't correlate to the difficulty of doing it, nor the standards applied. Just two unrelated variables. (It can be as few credits as zero, which should not be taken as no standard at all.)

 

Newbie Needs Advice please, Phd Programs Online

Hello Everyone,

Here is a little background information on me. I'm 24, I graduated from Indiana State University with my undergrad B.S. in Criminology in 3 years (combined with full loads in the summer at IUPUI in Indianapolis) and went on towards a M.S. in Criminal Justice through the distance education at University of Cincinnati and recently graduated this past March 08'. My experience includes working as a correctional officer at a work release facility, crime scene investigator, deputy clerk, and several internships for law firms. I was head chair of fundraising committee on my fraternity as well as in the Student Government Association. I have been wanting all along through my graduate degree to go on for a PhD in Criminal Justice/Criminology. I am currently teaching a class for Itt Technical Institute's online program in criminal justice.

Here comes the question....

Would it be advisable to complete an online Phd degree in Pubic Safety through Capella if I wanted to teach in the classroom, online, or work for a company conducting private research such as RAND corporation? I have maintained a 3.6GPA and have done well on my GRE.

Would someone please give me a list of options? The soonest I can get accepted into mainstream colleges would be Fall 2009 and I wanted to start earlier.

Someone please highlight if this would be suitable for me.

Thanks!

-Robert

 

Question for NCU PhD students/graduates:
If the first RSH course is a 5 on a scale of 1-10, what would you rate the next two RSH course and the DIS course?