Walden University

Dissertation Premise

Dissertation Premise Page iii

Contents The Premise ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1

Completing the Premise ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1

Your Supervisory Committee ………………………………………………………………………………………… 1

My Doctoral Research (MyDR)……………………………………………………………………………………… 2

An Annotated Outline ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Sample Quantitative Premise ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 5

Sample Qualitative Premise ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 9

The Litmus Test ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 13

Dissertation Premise Page 1

The Premise

The Dissertation Premise document is used in two ways:

• To identify a preliminary topic (problem) for your dissertation. This topic should be the product of an initial investigation on your part but will be subject to change and

refinement and will inform the development of your prospectus.

• To help assign the faculty members who will guide your development of the Dissertation Prospectus. This process varies across different programs, so please follow

the guidance in your program of study.

Completing the Premise

The Dissertation Premise consists of four parts: title, problem statement, approach for the

study, and references. An annotated outline is included in this guide and should be used to create

your premise document. You will also find a sample premise herein to serve as a model for your

work, and a preformatted template is available on the Writing Center’s Doctoral Capstone Form

and Style website.

Your primary goal for the premise is to narrow your dissertation topic such that you have

provided a general sense of the direction of your research by identifying an initial problem to

study. At this point, you do not need to know everything about the research project, especially

the details of your methodology. Many of those specific decisions are made during the proposal

development phase of your dissertation, although some consideration of how you will execute

your study is appropriate from the beginning.

All documents related to your dissertation, including the premise, should follow the guidelines in

the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and

should be saved in either a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file format. When completed, please follow the

submission guidelines for your program. You may also want to review the Litmus Test for a

Doctoral-Level Research Problem, which has been provided at the end of this guide and is

available on the Center for Research Quality site.

Every doctoral student’s journey is a little different at Walden, so it is difficult to say exactly

when to start the Dissertation Premise. Some students have an idea for a possible topic when

they enroll, but many others begin seeing gaps in the existing research and strategies for

addressing them as they complete their coursework and research training. Be sure to check your

program of study and follow the guidance in your courses and from your program leaders.

Your Supervisory Committee

Students can find more information about the committee formation process on the Capstone

Committee Process page of the Center for Research Quality website.

Dissertation Premise Page 2

My Doctoral Research (MyDR)

As you are working on your Dissertation Premise, you should also begin familiarizing yourself

with the My Doctoral Research (MyDR) system and other resources on the Center for Research

Quality website. The MyDR system was designed to assist you and your committee in navigating

your doctoral research journey, from the very beginning through the final approval. The various

landing pages in MyDR will track your progress and will serve as a central location for resources

to support that progress. The MyDR system is used to establish a process flow tool in which you

exchange and store faculty evaluations and feedback on your work as you progress along that

journey.

Students are entered into the MyDR system when both committee chair and second member have

been approved and assigned by your academic program. Please be aware that your Dissertation

Prospectus will be the first document that you submit for approval in MyDR, and a specific

guide for creating a prospectus can also be found on the Forms page.

Dissertation Premise Page 3

An Annotated Outline

The Premise document includes a title page (page 1) followed by pages containing the required

elements in the premise. Please use the Premise template on the Writing Center website.

Title Page

The recommended title length is 12 words or fewer to include the topic, the variables and

relationship between them, and the most critical keywords. Double-space the title if over one line

of type and center it under the word “Premise.” Please note that your dissertation title will likely

change as the project evolves, so allow yourself the flexibility to adapt your title, as necessary.

Include your name, your program of study (and specialization, if applicable), and Banner

ID number—double-spaced and centered under the title.

Title

Start with “Premise” and a colon, and then include the title as it appears on the title page.

Double-space if over one line of type and center it at the top of the page.

Problem Statement

Provide a one- to two-paragraph statement that is the result of a review of research

findings and current practice and that contains the following information:

1. A logical argument for the need to address an identified gap in the research literature that has relevance to the discipline and area of practice. Keep in mind that a gap in the

research is not, in and of itself, a reason to conduct research. Make sure to clarify the

problem that led you to the gap. The situation being experienced in a societal population

or discipline is described within the problem statement.

2. Preliminary evidence that provides justification that this problem is meaningful to the discipline or professional field. Provide at least five key citations that highlight the

relevance and currency of the problem. These references need not all be from peer-

reviewed journals but should be from reputable sources, such as national agency

databases or scholarly books, and should ideally be from the past 5 years.

3. Assure that the problem is framed within and primarily focused on the discipline (program of study).

Note:

A social problem involves an issue that affects a specific population/discipline. It is the issue

that students see “on the ground” so to speak. The social problem is often what prompts students

to think about a topic of interest drives their dissertation topic. Usually such a topic is one that

students identify with, sometimes having personally experienced some aspect of the problem as

it exists in the world. All too often, students want to solve a specific social, organizational,

clinical, or practical problem rather than explore a research problem.

A research problem is a focused topic of concern, a condition to be improved upon, or troubling

question that is supported in scholarly literature or theory that you study to understand in more

detail, and that can lead to recommendations for resolutions. It is the research problem that

drives the rest of the dissertation: the purpose, the research questions, and the methodology. It is

the research problem that is identified in the Problem Statement of the prospectus.

Dissertation Premise Page 4

Approach for the Study

Identify a possible research approach that is appropriate for the tentative topic identified

in the problem statement, along with any initial thoughts on methodology:

• Quantitative, including your quantitative design

• Qualitative, including your qualitative approach

• Mixed methods, primarily quantitative

• Mixed methods, primarily qualitative

• Other: Specify

References

On a new page, list your references formatted in the correct style (sixth edition of the

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, modeled at the end of this

guide) for all citations within the Dissertation Premise.

Dissertation Premise Page 5

Sample Quantitative Premise

1

Premise

Differences in the Quality of Problem Statements Written Throughout the Capstone

Process

Alpha B. Gamma

General Studies program – General specialization

A00000000

[Per Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

formatting, include page numbers at the top right corner of each page.]

2

Premise: Differences in the Quality of Problem Statements Written Throughout the

Capstone Process

Problem Statement

Conducting a supervised independent research project is a unique feature of

completing a doctoral degree (Lovitts, 2008; Luse, Mennecke, & Townsend, 2012). In

their book on doctoral education, Walker, Golde, Jones, Conklin-Bueschel, and

Hutchings (2009) highlighted the need to develop more “pedagogies of research” (p.

151) to support teaching graduate students to be scholars. Although much is known

about how research training works in traditional doctoral programs, emerging research

suggests that the online environment offers some unique challenges and opportunities

for doctoral students (Baltes, Hoffman-Kipp, Lynn, & Weltzer-Ward, 2010; Kumar,

Johnson, & Hardemon, 2013). Of the many aspects of a research project, development

of the problem statement is arguably a key step because it sets the context for the entire

dissertation (Alvesson & Sandberg, 2013; Luse, Mennecke, & Townsend, 2012). Many

students are ultimately successful in defining the central argument for a dissertation, but

little research has been conducted on how that process happens in a distributed, online

environment. This research will fill this gap in understanding by focusing specifically on

the development of problem statements by students in online doctoral programs

throughout the capstone process. This information should help academic programs and

members of supervisory committees to support the success of online doctoral

candidates.

Approach for the Study

This study will use a quantitative approach. It may involve objective ratings of

student work products across time.

References Alvesson, M., & Sandberg, J. (2013) Constructing research questions: Doing interesting

research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

Baltes, B., Hoffman-Kipp, P., Lynn, L., & Weltzer-Ward, L. (2010). Students’ research

self-efficacy during online doctoral research courses. Contemporary Issues in

Education Research, 3, 51–58.

Kumar, S., Johnson, M., & Hardemon, T. (2013). Dissertations at a distance: Students’

perceptions of online mentoring in a doctoral program. The Journal of Distance

Education, 27, 1–12.

Lovitts, B. (2008). The transition to independent research: Who makes it, who doesn’t,

and why. Journal of Higher Education, 79, 296–325.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jhe.0.0006

Luse, A., Mennecke, B., & Townsend, A. (2012). Selecting a research topic: A

framework for doctoral students. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 7,

143–152.

Walker, G. E., Golde, C. M., Jones, L., Conklin-Bueschel, A., & Hutchings, P. (2009).

The formation of scholars: Rethinking doctoral education for the twenty-first

century. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Dissertation Premise Page 9

Sample Qualitative Premise

1

Premise

How Online Doctoral Students Develop a Dissertation Problem Statement

Alpha B. Gamma

General Studies program – General specialization

A00000000

[Per Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

formatting, include page numbers at the top right corner of each page.]

2

Premise: How Online Doctoral Students Develop a Dissertation Problem Statement

Problem Statement

Conducting a supervised independent research project is a unique feature of

completing a doctoral degree (Lovitts, 2008; Luse, Mennecke, & Townsend, 2012). In

their book on doctoral education, Walker, Golde, Jones, Conklin-Bueschel, and

Hutchings (2009) highlighted the need to develop more “pedagogies of research” (p.

151) to support teaching graduate students to be scholars. Although much is known

about how research training works in traditional doctoral programs, emerging research

suggests that the online environment offers some unique challenges and opportunities

for doctoral students (Baltes, Hoffman-Kipp, Lynn, & Weltzer-Ward, 2010; Kumar,

Johnson, & Hardemon, 2013). Of the many aspects of a research project, development

of the problem statement is arguably a key step because it sets the context for the entire

dissertation (Alvesson & Sandberg, 2013; Luse, Mennecke, & Townsend, 2012). Many

students are ultimately successful in defining the central argument for a dissertation, but

little research has been conducted on how that process happens in a distributed, online

environment. This research will fill this gap in understanding by focusing specifically on

the development of problem statements by students in online doctoral programs. This

information should help academic programs and members of supervisory committees to

support the success of online doctoral candidates.

Approach for the Study

This study will use a generic qualitative approach (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). It

may involve interviews with a representative group of doctoral graduates who have

successfully defended their dissertations and whose work was highly ranked by

faculty.

References

Alvesson, M., & Sandberg, J. (2013) Constructing research questions: Doing interesting

research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

Baltes, B., Hoffman-Kipp, P., Lynn, L., & Weltzer-Ward, L. (2010). Students’ research self-

efficacy during online doctoral research courses. Contemporary Issues in Education

Research, 3, 51–58.

Kumar, S., Johnson, M., & Hardemon, T. (2013). Dissertations at a distance: Students’

perceptions of online mentoring in a doctoral program. The Journal of Distance

Education, 27, 1–12.

Lovitts, B. (2008). The transition to independent research: Who makes it, who doesn’t, and

why. Journal of Higher Education, 79, 296–325.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jhe.0.0006ht

Luse, A., Mennecke, B., & Townsend, A. (2012). Selecting a research topic: A framework

for doctoral students. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 7, 143–152.

Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and

implementation (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Walker, G. E., Golde, C. M., Jones, L., Conklin-Bueschel, A., & Hutchings, P. (2009).

The formation of scholars: Rethinking doctoral education for the twenty-first

century. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

The Litmus Test The Litmus Test for a Doctoral-Level Research Problem was designed to guide doctoral students

and faculty in formulating a research problem. The distinguishing characteristic of doctoral-level

research (versus master’s-level research) is that doctoral research must make an original

contribution to the field; however, students may struggle to identify what research will

authentically contribute to their field or discipline. The most critical step for such a contribution

is to first identify a doctoral research problem with the four hallmarks noted here. Identifying a

doctoral-level research problem is necessary, but not sufficient, to produce doctoral-level

capstone.

Hallmarks of the Doctoral Research Problem

In Walden University’s scholar–practitioner model, a research problem shows promise of

contributing meaningfully to the field or discipline only if the answer to all of the following

questions is “Yes.”

1. Justified? Does evidence support that this problem is significant to the professional field? Evidence—

relevant statistics (e.g., expressing an inequality, financial impact, lost efficiency),

documentable discrepancies (e.g., two models that are difficult to reconcile), or other

scholarly facts—must point to the significance and urgency of the problem. The problem

must be an authentic “puzzle” that needs solving, not merely a topic that the researcher finds

interesting.

2. Grounded in the Research Literature? Can the problem be framed to enable the research to either build on or counter previously

published findings on the topic? For most fields, being grounded involves articulating the

problem within the context of a theoretical or conceptual framework. Although many

approaches can ground a study in the scientific literature, the essential requirement is that the

problem is framed such that the new findings will have implications for the previous

findings.

3. Original? Does the problem reflect a meaningful gap in the research literature? Addressing the

problem should result in an original contribution to the field or discipline.

4. Amenable to Scientific Study? Can a scholarly, systematic method of inquiry be applied to address the problem? The

framing of the problem should not reveal bias or present a foregone conclusion. Even if the

researcher has a strong opinion on the expected findings, the researcher must maximize

scholarly objectivity by framing the problem in the context of a systematic inquiry that

permits multiple possible conclusions.

Dissertation Premise Page 13