Developing a dissertation research problem: A guide for doctoral students in human resource development and adult education

Abstract

University of Illinois, *Adapted by the author and printed with publisher permission. Adapted from: Jacobs, R. L. (2011). Developing a research problem and purpose statement. In Tonette S. Rocco & Tim Hatcher (Eds.), The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. pp. 125-141. Corresponding Author: Ronald L. Jacobs, University of Illinois E-mail: rljacobs@illinois.edu For most doctoral students, the dissertation represents the most gratifying, and perhaps the most challenging, phase of their academic programs. Until this point, students have focused mostly on the scholarly works of others. Now they have the opportunity through their dissertation to focus exclusively on which topic interests them the most. A review of the many doctoral programs in human resource development and adult education suggests that they vary widely in terms of their expectations for the dissertation. Some doctoral programs explicitly seek to prepare future researchers or academics, leading to the expectation that their students’ dissertations will advance some theoretical model and likely use a sophisticated data-analysis technique as well. Other doctoral programs with a different focus might seek to prepare scholar-practitioners, leading to a different expectation for the purpose of the dissertation. These studies might examine some aspect of professional practice or a topical organizational issue, without a particular emphasis on building theory as an outcome.