The Education Dissertation

Dan W. Butin is the founding dean of the school of education at Merrimack College. He is the editor and author of over fifty books, articles, and book chapters, including the books Teaching Social Foundations of Education and Service-Learning and Social Justice Education. Dr. Butin's research focuses on issues of educator preparation and policy and community engagement. Dr. Butin has been the assistant dean of the school of education at Cambridge College and a faculty member at Gettysburg College. Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Butin taught middle school, in an adult GED program, and was the chief financial officer of Teacher For America. More about Dr. Butin's teaching and scholarship can be found at http://danbutin.org/.

List of Figures Preface Who Should Read This Book and Why Key Features and How to Use Them Acknowledgments About the Author Dedication 1. A Guide for Practitioner Scholars Questioning the Doctorate Seeing the Doctoral Process Through Doctoral Students' Eyes This Book as Guidelines and Guardrails Strategies for Success 2. A Road Map From Start to Finish The Big Picture: An Outline of the Process The Dissertation Timeline Your Own Timeline and Benchmarks Embracing Technology: The Table of Contents and Reference List Structuring Your Life as a Doctoral Student 3. Focusing Your Research Articulating a Topic in "Academic Speak" Narrowing the Topic Your First Success at Focusing: Creating a Title and Research Question A Final Thought: Focusing Your Research at a Cocktail Party 4. Structuring Your Research Choosing a Theoretical Framework Doing a Literature Review Understanding Research Methodology Choosing a Research Method Empirical Methodologies Linking Research Purpose to Research Method 5. Conducting Your Research Linking Research Methods to Research Tools Institutional Review Board (IRB) Some Final Thoughts Before "ABD-Land" 6. Putting It All Together: Completing Your Dissertation The Dissertation as a "Machine" Reverse Engineering Your Dissertation What Are the Remaining Key Issues? 7. Defending and Moving On The Dissertation Defense Publish Your Findings Apply Your Research: Impacting K-12 Education Teach the Next Generation: Teaching in Higher Education The Beginning of Your Journey as a Practitioner Scholar Key Resources by Topic References Index

"The book is rich with ideas and strategies for thinking about every phase of the dissertation and for undertaking each phase once it has been carefully thought out." -- Daniel L. Duke, Professor of Educational Leadership "The author does an excellent job of taking a serious, technical, overwhelming topic and making it fun and interesting to read." -- Tammy J. Graham, Assistant Professor of Education "With each turn of the page I found myself nodding 'exactly!' Whether as a class text assigned by faculty or as a self-study resource used by students, this book will resonate with readers." -- Doug Leigh, Associate Professor of Education