The Easiest Online Doctorates - Is that so?

So, this website lists what it calls the 30 easiest online doctoral programs. Much of what it lists as criteria for consideration is not necessarily easy in the context of rigor. However, I was drawn to this line "Easy dissertation process; often completed entirely through the online distance learning format."

I don't know any easy dissertation processes, but I also don't know about every school. However, since Liberty is listed on the website, I can say the dissertation process isn't easy. However, I like the structure compared to other schools. For example, I was among the first three to start the dissertation process in the Helms School of Government. All three of us were in the CJ program. While two more students have graduated from the CJ program since I became the first graduate, the two people I started with are still working on their dissertations. So, the dissertation process is certainly not easy!

https://www.onlineschoolscenter.com/easiest-online-doctorate/

 

This is second-hand since I'm not a PhD student or candidate but I understand that Walden and Capella both use highly templated processes for you to proceed through the dissertation. So for the lit review, you're given a specific number of references to find minimum, the years in which to find them, a pre-formatted Word document in which to put them on with columns for each of the data points they want you to collect, and similar. I'm not sure if this is the same at other schools/programs but I can see how that appears "easier" to an outsider versus the stumbling-around-in-the-dark method.

 

You raised a valid point. I found Walden's process to be very streamlined. Even with that process, many languish in an ABD status for years. At Liberty, there is a qual, quant, and applied research template. I can speak on the qual template. It is divided into five chapters along with front matters and end matters. Each section tells you what should be covered. It is written in paragraph format. There is also a rubric broken down by chapters. So, it's an excellent way to ensure you cover all the points because you will have to check off each box and submit it with your draft. Your chair will also place a checkmark if you have covered it or recommend revision if you did not.

 

Dissertations are not done "online."

All dissertations are by distance, even if one is an on-campus student.

I wonder if this is true. If so, it would be disappointing. There should be no minimum and no maximum. The point of a literature review is to build the case as to why this dissertation adds to the scholarship of the field of study by describing the gap it fills. This, obviously, would vary greatly from dissertation to dissertation.

I would hope at that stage one is quite familiar with the major works and thoughts in one's field of study and would no longer be in the dark.

This seems reasonable. In the pre-internet days, information about what goes into a dissertation and how it is to be arranged and formatted was hard to find. Back in those days, I used two extremely valuable books, How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation by David Sternberg and Successful Dissertations and Theses by David Madsen. But now, students are flooded with guidance.

Someday I might write a book called Don't Use Grounded Theory as a Research Methodology in Your Doctoral Thesis or you Might Not Ever Finish. I did, but it was brutal.

 

It doesn't seem far-fetched. Liberty also requires at least 30 pages for the lit review (no minimum references). However, I disagree with this for a similar reason you do. My chair also wasn't happy with it but had to follow the guidelines.

That guidance also includes dissertation coaches. I can't seem to wrap my head around this burgeoning resource. My chair did a good job guiding me. He allowed me to figure things out on my own because he didn't believe in spoon-feeding me at that stage of the game. I guess that's what the coaches do!

 

Ugh. That encourages puffery. In a British thesis, you're constantly challenged to be economical with words and length. Word counts are maximums, not minimums, for example.

As an ICF-certified Professional Certified Coach, I have to disagree. Coaches are guides who partner with their clients to help them meet THEIR goals. No spoon-feeding, which is more like what teachers, mentors, and advisors do. Coaches ask questions. We try to get the client to look at matters from different perspectives. We drive towards root causes, help clients identify their goals, and provide support along the way towards them.

I've coached two grad students while being on neither's doctoral committee. I wasn't a subject-matter expert for either one, and really didn't get that into their research. I helped guide one to graduation and one who did not. The one who did not simply would not commit to the process (dissertation process, not coaching) and fought it the whole way. No matter how much I tried to get her to (a) set formative and terminal objectives and (b) examine what was blocking her, she just didn't budge. You can't help everyone.

No spoon-feeding.

 

That may be your approach but not necessarily the approach of dissertation coaches. I once used a coach when working on my concept paper (immediately before the dissertation). She didn't guide me, she told me what to do. I ended up deviating from her suggestions when I started the actual dissertation. So, my experience was different and everyone else's may also differ from mine.

 

Some thoughts from a welcome letter I got from the program chair when I started my Ed.D. at a certain school.

"Fast forward to your dissertation/capstone experience. The committee/instructor sends your proposal back with the feedback, “The methodology does not align with the problem.” It is not the responsibility of faculty to inform you of needed changes, only that the current document does not meet the standards and rigor of research expectations. Faculty will guide you to finding your answers, as opposed to giving you the answer."

"The journey toward expertise requires more than processing content to complete an assignment, so the points can be posted. The journey towards expertise is forged in frustration when the data does not fit. The journey towards expertise is tempered when the methodology changes as no one responds to the survey. The journey towards expertise is rethinking and redoing until an unexpected conclusion emerges after hours and hours of thoughtful consideration. The journey towards expertise is sometimes measured in “blood, sweat, and tears.” If you expect something different, you will be disappointed."

 

Here is my most recent peer-reviewed publication (Safety & Emergency Services Journal):
https://csesjournal.columbiasouthern.edu/2021/09/28/exploring-the-dangers-of-youth-confinement-in-the-united-states/
(Submitted September 14th; revised September 23rd).

I have another peer-reviewed article that has been accepted for publication in Youth Justice (submitted in February; revised in July; accepted in September). It is now undergoing copyediting. It will likely be in December's volume. However, they practice OnlineFirst, so it will mostly be online before December. I will share the link once it is published.

 

"Easiest"? I think it is better to describe them as "Convenient."

 

The list lumps dissertation required and professional non-dissertation doctorates together and tries to make an article. As if there is a significant population trying to decide if they want a DBA or DNP based on which is “easier”…

 

I dropped out of a 10K once. Maybe I'll get my DNF.

 

It's not "my" approach. Coaching is a profession, governed by a professional association (the International Coaching Federation), a set of competencies, and certification requirements that include training, knowledge, and experience. (Not to mention a code of ethics.)

I don't know who these dissertation coaches are. Coaching is not regulated by law; anyone call call themselves a coach. I'm making a distinction around what actual coaches do.

Then she wasn't coaching you.

 

Just to be clear, these are two different degrees. The former is a professional degree. The latter is a first professional degree. Huge difference.

 

Sorry, Rich. Being naive, I am confused indeed. What is that, "a professional degree" and "a first professional degree?"

 

First professional degrees are required to practice in a certain field, e.g., M.D., J.D., PharmD, DDS, and so on. Professional doctorates include DBA, Ed.D., DNP, and so on. The DNP is not recognized as a first professional degree by any state. No state requires a DNP to become a nurse practitioner. As of August 2021, a master's degree in nursing is required in most states. There have been recommendations to adopt the DNP as the required degree for nurse practitioners beginning in 2025 (one group recommended 2030). Currently, the DNP is a professional doctorate for nurses.

 

Those are two different things. The DNP isn't required (yet) because master's-trained NPs (like my wife) can still be licensed. But the DNP can be considered a first professional degree because it can be used as the entry-level degree to go into nursing practice. A lot of NPs enter with the DNP instead of the MS in Nursing Practice. (In fact, you can skip the master's and go from the BSN to the DNP.)

The profession as a whole is moving in that direction, but as you note, it isn't there yet.

Whether or not if can be considered a professional doctorate is debatable since it does not result in a dissertation. But it often DOES result in a doctoral project, so that might do it. I think the degree functions as both, which is a bit of a problem.

As with many such things involving advanced nursing practice, things are a little blurry.

 

Thanks to both of you for elaborating on the first professional degree.

 

Wow, so many ways to get to practice medicine. MD/DO/DPM/DDS/NP/PA...not like law.

 

While nurse practitioners, physicians, and PAs can be generalists, there are so many professions in healthcare because occupations have been created to focus on one body part. Dentists, podiatrists, optometrists, audiologists, etc. are very limited in scope.

A few states have tried giving limited practice rights to paralegals and legal technicians. Washington is sunsetting its limited license legal technician program because few people applied. In the meantime, the UK has created three more categories of legal professionals under the Cilex model.