Page 52 - DISSERTATION AND THESIS HANDBOOK 2017 -2020

Despite all of this, candidates are required to design, implement, and execute
research that is expected to attain a professional standard as part of the skill set
they take with them as they enter the field with advanced training and
expectations.

2. What Then, Makes a Dissertation Acceptable?
The following questions with valid answers provide some guidance in
the development and acceptance of a Dissertation:

a. Does a dissertation have a purpose that can be clearly communicated to the
reader?
When a reader has finished the dissertation, it should be clear why it
was done and what questions(s) it hoped to answer. Ideally, the reader
should have a good sense of this long before the end of the
Dissertation. A good rule of thumb is that the purpose of the
Dissertation should be stated clearly somewhere in the first five pages.

b. Does the reader have to know a specialized vocabulary or be aware of
current jargon to understand the purpose of the dissertation?
Just as the reader should be aware of the purpose of the dissertation
without having to read more than a few pages, so also should the
reader be aware of the purpose without being totally knowledgeable
about the topic. That is, the dissertation writer should be able to convey
the purpose of the dissertation without the excessive use of a
specialized vocabulary or field-specific jargon. A well-written
dissertation should be able to hold the reader‘s attention when it is
picked up and the first few pages read partly because the reader
understands what is being presented without necessarily being
knowledgeable of the field or area itself.

c. Does the Dissertation have a logical and coherent flow?
At the core, the dissertation is a process of communication through
writing, and like all writing, one of the purposes is to tell a story. Like a
good story, a dissertation must have coherence, logical sequencing, pace,
flow, beginnings and endings, and so on.

d. Can previously published work be included in the dissertation?
Previously published work by that author may be included in the
dissertation provided that the work
1. Has not been used to meet the requirements for another degree;
2. Is not coauthored
3. Is logically connected with and integrated into the dissertation; and
4. Does not violate any existing copyright or contractual agreement.

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