Dissertation Format Research Articles

Analysis of nursing doctoral dissertation formats over a decade: A comparative research between traditional and publication format at a university

Analysis of nursing doctoral dissertation formats over a decade: A comparative research between traditional and publication format at a university

The Analysis of Writing Format and Abstract Structure of Dissertation Written by Ph.D Students of State Universities, Surabaya

As one of the most important part in one research, an abstract should be written as well as possible to make the readers be capable of comprehending and assessing whether its quality is good or not. Based on Koopman (1997: 1) and Owen D Williamson (2007: 3) that one of the criteria of good abstract is that it should have the complete abstract structure, that is Introduction, Objective or Aim, Methodology, Findings/Results and Conclusion written within 5 (five) paragraphs. In fact, not all abstract written by Ph.D students have those 5 (five) aspects and format. Referring to the problem stated above, this research is aimed at finding and describing some variations of writing format and abstract structure written by Ph.D students of State Universities in Surabaya. Meanwhile, the methodology employed in this research was descriptive qualitative. The data were taken from 15 dissertation abstracts written by Ph.D Students: 8 abstracts taken from the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Planning/FTSP-ITS and the 7 others were from Medical Science of Airlangga University Surabaya. The data collected were the writing format dealing with the number of paragraphs of each abstract and its abstract structure. Furthermore, having been analyzed and discussed, among those 15 abstract texts, it was found that the writing format and its variations of abstract structure of dissertation was: [a] in accordance with the number of paragraphs: 6 texts (40%) written in 3 paragraphs, 4 texts (26,66%) written in 5 paragraphs, 3 abstracts (20%) written in 4 paragraphs, 2 texts (13,33%) written in 1 paragraph; [b] Meanwhile in accordance with the number of abstract structures: most of the abstracts: 9 abstract texts (60%) were not completed with ‘conclusion‘, 5 texts (33,33%) with no ‘objective‘, only 4 texts (26,66%) were completed with 5 abstract structure, 4 texts (26,66%) were not supported with the 2 abstract structure: ‘objective and conclusion‘ and 1 text (6,66%) did not have an ‘introduction‘. Finally, it was found that there were several variations dealing with the writing format of dissertation abstracts both in line with the number of paragraphs and and its abstract stucture. You should leave 8 mm of space above the abstract and 10 mm after the abstract. The heading Abstract should be typed in bold 9-point Arial. The body of the abstract should be typed in normal 9-point Times in a single paragraph, immediately following the heading. The text should be set to 1 line spacing. The abstract should be centred across the page, indented 17 mm from the left and right page margins and justified. It should not normally exceed 200 words.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars program: The scholar experience

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars program used multi-pronged approach to support nurses completing accelerated PhD programs. The purpose of this manuscript was to describe scholars' experiences completing PhDs, their dissertation characteristics, program leadership development sessions, scholar perceptions of program components. Of 201 scholars, 157 (78%) completed quantitative exit surveys, providing: satisfaction with doctoral programs and FNS curricula, types of dissertation data used, dissertation formats. Interviews held with five scholars to capture representative themes. Scholars utilized primary and secondary data for dissertations; 53% primarily used secondary data. The majority (68%) used manuscript dissertation formats. Approximately 64% completely agreed program curricula helped prepare them for professional transitions, to work collaboratively, lead confidently. Proportion of FNS graduates (42%) pursuing postdoctoral positions exceeded national trends. Despite stresses posed by accelerated PhD programs, scholars are well-situated to advance nursing science. Findings suggest secondary data analyses work well for accelerated programs. Scholar program experiences were positive.

Nurses as bridge builders: Advancing nursing through the diffusion of knowledge.

In 2001, the Institute of Medicine concluded that the American healthcare system failed in translating new knowledge into practice and applying for new technological advances. The Institute of Medicine suggested that knowledge dissemination in healthcare systems may never reach clinicians or patients because the available tools and incentives do not promote rapid dissemination efforts that improve clinical outcomes. This article describes a practical strategy that can bring the benefits of medical science and technology to all healthcare systems in the US and abroad. This involves building the capacity of thousands of new nurse doctors to use social network analysis and work as bridge builders in healthcare systems. Nurses have been working in research on evidence-based practice since the time of Florence Nightingale. Since then, there have been many challenges that have limited progress in disseminating nursing knowledge from research to practice. One limitation has been the underutilization of social network analysis, an inter-disciplinary approach used to leverage social structures and the linkages between "actors." The article includes a literature review of social network analysis in healthcare and dissertation formats used in nursing programs. Literature review and analysis. Although the use of social network analysis in healthcare dates back to 1957, research has found that reference to social network analysis was rare in the nursing literature and that there was poor knowledge diffusion about social network analysis in the nursing profession. This represents an untapped potential to improve the dissemination of new knowledge in nursing. The use of social network analysis can help nurses advance care delivery, create more efficient healthcare facilities, and improve clinical outcomes. Nurse bridges represent ideal users of social network analysis because nurses enjoy a high level of interaction with patients, families, hospital personnel, and providers. To successfully build nursing's capacity as bridge builders, the nursing profession will need to change the traditional dissertation format to a publication format, build a new curriculum for nurses who will work as bridges in healthcare, and create a national academic-practice campaign focused on the diffusion of new knowledge in nursing.

Alternative dissertation formats in education-based doctorates

ABSTRACT The doctorate and doctoral writing remain popular areas of inquiry and discussion, and yet very little research has empirically investigated the trends in dissertation types and how these trends might indicate broader changes in dissertation writing practices. This article builds on our recent work that investigated the macrostructures and research designs of 1,373 education-based PhD dissertations from five major Canadian research universities. In this current article, we more deeply explore the emergence in popularity of two ‘alternative’ or non-traditional dissertation macrostructures in education fields: the manuscript-style dissertation and the topic-based PhD dissertation. We highlight the popularity of these two dissertation types as evidence of shifting notions of what doctoral research and dissertations can (and do) look like in contemporary PhD programs. We focus specifically on these two dissertation macrostructures that were prevalent in our analysis, yet which are scarcely addressed in education-based dissertation resources. We provide a deeper reflection on the popularity of these dissertation models from our large-scale study, the ways these types of dissertations are organized at the global (macrostructural) level, and the chosen research designs, number of chapters, word counts, and authorship status (as either single-authored, partially co-authored, or mostly co-authored texts).

Dissemination of PhD Dissertation Research by Dissertation Format: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

The study purpose was to compare dissemination of PhD dissertation research by dissertation format: traditional (five-chapter document providing a complete and systematic account of the PhD research) versus an alternate (substudy [document containing three smaller studies but not written as stand-alone manuscripts] or publication [document containing three or more related manuscripts intended for submission or published in a peer-reviewed journal]) format. A retrospective study of all PhD dissertations (1999-2019) from one research intensive school of nursing. Following identification of graduates via the school's PhD database, we searched ProQuest and PubMed databases for the dissertation and first authored peer-reviewed publications of each graduate to determine dissertation format, study design, timing and number of dissertation research publications, and inclusion of dissertation sponsor in authorship. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Of 113 graduates, 80 (70.8%) employed a traditional format, with the remaining graduates structuring dissertations using an alternate (substudy [n = 12], publication [n = 21]) format. Of those using the traditional format, 33 graduates (41.3%) never published dissertation research findings in a peer-reviewed journal. For those who published their dissertation research in a peer-reviewed journal, time to first publication was 1.4 ± 2.1 years (median 1.6 years) following degree conferral. In contrast, all graduates who utilized alternate formats published one or more components of their dissertation research with shorter time to first published manuscript (-0.6 ± 1.1 years; median -0.5 years; p < .001). Number of peer-reviewed publications was higher for those who utilized an alternate format compared to the traditional format (2.9 ± 1.5 [median 3.0] vs. 1.8 ± 1.1 [median 1.0], p = .001). Acknowledgment of the sponsor's contribution via publication authorship was higher for those using an alternate format compared to the traditional format (100% vs. 70.2%). Number and timeliness of peer-reviewed publications stemming from dissertation research was higher for PhD graduates who utilized an alternate dissertation format. Alternate dissertation formats should be encouraged by PhD programs as one means to improve dissemination of PhD nursing research. Dissemination of PhD research through peer-reviewed publications promotes the continued development of nursing science to inform nursing practice and advances the career trajectory of PhD graduates.

How long does it take a registrar to complete the compulsory research project enabling specialist registration?

The 2011 Health Professions Council of South Africa mandate requires a research component in the form of an MMed degree to permit specialist registration. Registrars consider that the time required to complete an MMed interferes with clinical training, service delivery obligations, and study and exam time. Net research time to completion is difficult to establish because MMed research activity is often intermittent, starting and finishing anywhere within the 4-year clinical training period. Conversely, gross dissertation completion time (DCT) is easily calculated by subtracting the ethics approval date from the dissertation submission date. To use gross DCT as a proxy to assess the time needed by registrars to finish the required research project. Additionally, the effect of four variables, namely dissertation format, clinical discipline, university research resources and the introduction of the 2011 ruling on gross DCT, was determined. The sample was 213 MMed dissertations, downloaded from the public domain. The dissertation submission date was subtracted from the ethics approval date to give the gross DCT in months. Descriptive analysis and χ2 testing were used to determine the effects of the four variables on gross DCT, with significance set at p&lt;0.05. A 12-month proposal preparation time was added to the gross DCT to fully reflect the MMed research timeline. Sampled dissertations were from 2005 to 2017 and all eight MMed training universities were represented, as were 23 clinical disciplines. The mean (standard deviation) gross DCT was 31.0 (19.6) months, with a wide completion range of 0.2 - 109 months. When 12 months' proposal preparation time was added, gross mean research completion time rose to 43 months (31 + 12 = 43). A mere 41% of dissertations were sufficiently concluded to free up the final year for exam preparation. Gross DCT was not significantly affected by the 2011 requirement, university resources or clinical discipline. Dissertation format (publication ready v. monograph) significantly decreased gross DCT (p=0.01). Large standard deviations and a wide range of finishing times detract from the positive findings that most dissertations were completed within the 4-year clinical training time period. Publication-ready dissertations significantly shortened MMed completion time. Unique study and work commitments and lack of research experience challenge speedy MMed completion. Existing research and supervisory supportive structures should be remodelled to better suit the research needs of the andragogic specialist registrar.

Write-up and dissemination of undergraduate and postgraduate research at the University of Rwanda: a cross-sectional study.

IntroductionResearch is essential in all areas of health development. However, medical students and residents frequently lack the time and training on performing research. This is especially prevalent in resource-limited settings. We aimed to compare the word counts of undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations with published projects in Rwanda, and to identify the proportion of postgraduate pediatric research projects that have been published since 2012.MethodsRetrospective, cross-sectional study of undergraduate and postgraduate research dissertations at the University of Rwanda. Dissertations were then compared to randomly selected published papers of Rwandan research. Each IMRaD (Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion) section word count was compared using Student's t-test.Results19/190 (10%) undergraduate dissertations and 22/41 (54%) postgraduate dissertations, were available in electronic format for word-count analysis. The mean total word count for postgraduate dissertations (5163 words) was significantly longer (p<0.001) than the randomly selected peer-reviewed journal articles (2959 words). Each section of the IMRaD structure of postgraduate dissertations was significantly longer than those of the control group. Undergraduates used a similar number of words to published papers, but used significantly more tables and figures. Of the 41 postgraduate dissertations, only four (10%), were published in peer-reviewed journals.ConclusionThis is the first study to assess the writing style of Rwandan medical students and pediatric postgraduate residents. A simple step to increase dissemination of research findings would be for institutions to modify academic regulations so that students write-up in manuscript form rather than dissertation format.

A National Survey Examining Manuscript Dissertation Formats Among Nursing PhD Programs in the United States

Among research-focused nursing doctoral (PhD) programs in the United States, the traditional dissertation format has recently given way to a series of publication-ready manuscripts, often bookended by introduction and conclusion chapters. To help programs make decisions about the use of these formats, this study undertook a national survey of programs offering PhDs in nursing. The purpose of this study was to explore the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional format versus manuscript option for dissertations among nursing PhD programs in the United States. Cross-sectional census survey of U.S. nursing PhD programs. A web-based survey was administered to all U.S. nursing PhD programs. Respondents indicated formats offered, factors contributing to decisions of which formats to offer, and lessons learned. Descriptive statistics and inductive content analyses were used for analysis. Of 121 eligible institutions, 79 provided eligible responses (66.7%). The majority (59%) offered both formats; 11% offered the manuscript option only, and 24% offered the traditional format only. Faculty support (or lack thereof) contributed to adoption (or not) of the manuscript option. Respondents' approaches to the manuscript option (e.g., number of papers) and advice are summarized. Manuscript option dissertations are commonly offered and provide benefits to students and faculty; however, thoughtful implementation is critical. Programs need to agree upon clear expectations and have graduate school support (e.g., formatting). Faculty need mentorship in advising manuscript option students who choose to use this format, and the time and support. Finally, students need additional writing skills that could be provided through coursework or via individual work with mentors. As nursing education continues to expand further into doctoral research, programs must examine dissertation formats in order to both prepare future nurse scholars and disseminate nursing research that is critical to improving nursing education, patient care, and clinical practice.

Re-thinking the dissertation and doctoral supervision / Reflexiones sobre la tesis doctoral y su supervisión

The doctoral dissertation is the final obstacle for most apprentice scholars. This paper considers the place and purpose of the dissertation and argues that it no longer provides an adequate preparation for the types of work that PhD graduates will do within and outside the academy. The common dissertation format — book length, single-authored, print-based — is at odds with a world where knowledge is made collaboratively and disseminated digitally. Moreover, the effort required to produce a dissertation keeps students from writing the many other genres of academic discourse, and reduces the opportunities that supervisors have to mentor new scholars. The paper finishes by offering a number of alternatives to the traditional dissertation and examines the barriers to implementing those alternatives.

BOOK REVIEW. ORAL TRADITION OF PATU MBOJO

This book explains in details an oral tradition of a society in West Nusa Tenggara. The oral tradition belongs to the culture of Bima ethnic society. This book is a Ph.D. dissertation, which was written by the late Ahmad Badrun from the Faculty of Cultural and Knowledge, Universitas Indonesia. This book is worth reading by academicians (both university students and lecturers), especially for those who are doing their research on oral tradition. This book follows the Ph. D dissertation format and consists of nine chapters as follows: (1) Chapter I is the Introduction, (2) Chapter II is the Theoretical Framework, (3) Chapter III is the Research Method, and (4) Chapters IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII are he result and discussion which are adjusted to the formulated problems or questions and have already been mentioned in Chapter I, (5) Chapter IX is the Conclusion. Therefore, this book can be used as an example for writing and doing any kind of research.

Benefits, challenges, and perceptions of the multiple article dissertation format in instructional technology

&lt;p class="AbstractText"&gt;This study used survey data to investigate the benefits, challenges, perceptions, and current practices of the multiple article dissertation format in instructional technology. Online surveys were sent to current students, alumni, faculty, and department representatives of instructional technology programs, and data were analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods. The surveys found that alumni who completed multiple article format dissertations received more citations for their dissertations than those who completed traditional dissertations, showing that the multiple article format can increase the likelihood of impact. Additionally, respondents reported that multiple article dissertation formats facilitate authenticity and collaboration and prepare students for a career in academia. However, some participants perceived the multiple article format to be less rigorous than traditional dissertations, with ambiguous requirements and expectations of quality. More research is needed in order to understand current practices for multiple article dissertation formats in instructional technology.&lt;/p&gt;

Dissertations in CACREP-Accredited Counseling Doctoral Programs: An Initial Investigation

Faculty in 38 CACREP-accredited doctoral programs in the US described their dissertation products over the last three years, composition of their dissertation committees, and their satisfaction ratings with dissertation products and processes. Results indicated traditional dissertation formats were predominant. Over half (54%) of completed dissertations were quantitative and 40% were qualitative. Committees typically included two or three counselor educators and at least one outside faculty member. Faculty were modestly satisfied with dissertations, citing the need for more rigor and consistency of standards. Higher satisfaction was related to committee composition as well as the use of a variety of research methods.

A Study on the Quality of Abstract Translation of Dissertation from Indonesian into English

is one of the important parts in one research due to the fact that it is a kind of short condensed text to represent the whole text. As one research that consists of some aspects such as introduction, objective, methodology, result / discussion, and conclusion, so that an abstract should cover those five aspects. However, in fact many abstracts do not have those five completely. Therefore, an abstract that should be written in 5 separated paragraphs, it is sometimes written in 4, 3, 2, or even 1 paragraph. This might cause the coherence of the text is not good. Besides, in this globalization era, abstract is usually written in two languages, Indonesian and English. Moreover, most of the translators in Indonesia do not focuss on one kind of text but all kinds. As what many experts of translation and linguistics often say that the work of translation is not such an easy job to do. This might cause the result of translation especially related to accuracy, acceptability, and readability is not as good as what it is expected. In line with the background of study above, this research was aimed at investigating the writing format of dissertation abstract, abstract structure and its coherence of text used both in source text and target one. Besides, it was intended to analyze and describe about the result quality of the abstract translation of dissertation in accordance with its accuracy. Meanwhile, the research methodology used was descriptive qualitative, with a strategy of embedded case study. The research data were 15 (fifteen) texts of dissertation abstract consisting of 7 (seven) texts of medical science, and engineering of the 8 (eight) others written in Indonesian and their translation in English. The data collected were the number of paragraphs, abstract structure, cohesion, and coherence of text. To obtain the required data, the researcher made some questionnaire and did interviewing to some raters. Those requested to assess the quality of translation were some experts in translation and linguistics. The range of score was 3 for : ‘good’, 2 : ‘not so good’, and 1: for ‘bad’. The result of their assessment was used as an instrument to analyze the data and made a conclusion. Having discussed and analyzed the data, it was found that: 1) The writing format in accordance with (a) the number of paragraphs: 2 texts or (13,33%) consisted of 1 (one) paragraph, 6 texts or (40%) had 3 paragraphs, 3 texts or (20%) consisted of 4 (four) paragraphs, and 4 (four) texts or 26,66% had 5 (five) paragraphs; (b) The number of abstract structure: 1 (one) text (6,66%) missed ‘introduction’, 4 (four) texts or (26,66%) did not have ‘objectives’, 6 (six) texts or (40%) did not have ‘conclusion’, and only 4 (four) texts or 26,66% had complete abstract structure: introduction, objective, methods, results / discussion, and conclusion; 2) The average score of the whole text structure of abstract dissertation and its coherence of text was as follows: The source text was ‘2,15’ and catagorized as good (C), meanwhile the target one declined into ‘1,77’ and categorized as fair (D); 3). Based on the final result, it was found that the average score of accuracy was ‘1,97’. This could be interpreted that the accuracy level of translation text of dissertation abstract written by PhD students was ‘Less Accurate / Fair (D)’. Based on the data analysis and discussion, it could be concluded that there were some variations of writing format of dissertation abstract. Some abstracts were written in 5 paragraphs, 4, 3, and even 1 paragraph. Meanwhile, according to the number of abstract structure, some abstracts were not provided with introduction, objective, or conclusion. Therefore, in general the quality of abstract structure and its coherence of text was not so good, and the result of its translation of the target text was worse than that of the source text. Furthermore, the average score of accuracy of the target text was lower than that of the abstract structure and categorized as ‘less accurate’ or fair (D).

One Essay On Dissertation Formats In Economics

Dissertations in economics have changed dramatically over the past forty years, from primarily treatise-length books to sets of essays on related topics. We document trends in essay-style dissertations across several metrics, using data on dissertation format, PhD program characteristics, demographics, job market outcomes, and early career research productivity for two large samples of US PhDs graduating in 1996-1997 or 2001-2002. Students at higher ranked PhD programs, citizens outside the United States, and microeconomics students have been at the forefront of this trend. Economics PhD graduates who take jobs as academics are more likely to have written essay-style dissertations, while those who take government jobs are more likely to have written a treatise. Finally, most of the evidence suggests that essay-style dissertations enhance economists' early career research productivity.

Meneket Rivkah: A Manual of Wisdom and Piety for Jewish Women by Rivkah bat Meir (review)

Reviewed by: Meneket Rivkah: A Manual of Wisdom and Piety for Jewish Women by Rivkah bat Meir Jerold C. Frakes Meneket Rivkah: A Manual of Wisdom and Piety for Jewish Women by Rivkah bat Meir, by Frauke von Rohden. Translation of Meneket Rivkah by Samuel Spinner. Translation of Introduction and Commentary by Maurice Tszorf. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2009. 360 pp. $45.00. Little is known of Rivke bas Meir Tiktiner, who most probably lived in Prague in the late sixteenth century, probably the daughter of a learned father who was herself better educated than most Ashkenazic girls and women of the period. Two texts are attributed to her, the Meynekes Rivko (1609) and the Simkhes Touro Lid (1650), both published in Prague and both edited in this volume. While the former text (the primary focus of the volume) is by no means the earliest extant text written by a Jewish woman, nor the earliest example of the genre of a musar book (ethico-moral conduct guide) for women, or even the first book by a Jewish woman that demonstrates advanced knowledge of the Jewish textual tradition, it is nonetheless one of the most fascinating and culturally significant Jewish texts of the early seventeenth century, of signal importance for the fields of Jewish, Yiddish, gender, and religious studies. This volume began as a dissertation at the Universität Duisburg and still bears some marks of that genre. While that dissertation was originally written in German about the Middle Yiddish text, this English volume has been [End Page 171] prepared by two translators: Germanist/Yiddishist Samuel Spinner's translation of the Middle Yiddish text forms the essential kernel of the volume and is exemplary, hewing close to the original in style and tone, while remaining insistently idiomatic in English; it is a model of scholarly translation in its clarity, precision, and cultural transparency. The translation of von Rohden's dissertation per se (i.e., introduction and notes), on the other hand, was produced by a non-native speaker of English from a commercial translation bureau (Maurice Tszorf ) and is consistently unidiomatic and frequently ungrammatical, which several times per page quite effectively obscures the sense. In the "review of scholarship" mandated by the dissertation format, von Rohden surveys what little has been published over the centuries about the author, making a strong case for a lack of appropriate scholarly attention to both the author and the genre in which she wrote, unfortunately also exaggerating that case, which leads her to castigate even scholars active during the period when the text was, as she acknowledges, considered lost (p. xiii); likewise she ignores the edition (with apparatus) of a sizable excerpt of Meynekes Rivko and the whole Simkhes Touro Lid in Early Yiddish Texts (Oxford, 2004). The volume includes an introduction (pp. 1–71), the Middle Yiddish text (pp. 211–280) and its English translation (with extensive explanatory notes, pp. 79–204), a bibliography (pp. 287–295), citation notes (here called "scriptural index," although it also includes Talmud, "Medieval Literature" and "Early Modern Literature," pp. 297–302), a Hebrew-alphabet Yiddish subject index (pp. 303–307), a general subject index (pp. 309–315), textual notes (pp. 205–207), two facsimile pages (pp. 72, 208), and a photograph of Rivke bas Meir's gravestone (p. 282). Von Rohden's Middle Yiddish text is relatively accurate: I find only four errors in her transcription of the two facsimile pages included; for some reason, however, she omits all vowel pointing in the text (of which there is much). As the page numbers indicate, readers who expect that the edited text and translation will be on facing pages, with explanatory notes, textual notes, and citation notes distributed on the page beneath the texts, so that the reader has a section of the text and its full apparatus in view at any given opening of the volume, as has long been standard and has recently even become technologically simple and convenient to produce, will be sorely disappointed with this volume, which fragments the whole, separating the translation from the Yiddish text, and printing the explanatory notes beneath and keyed to the translation, although they are most relevant to the...

Justicia y gobierno: La Audiencia de Puerto Rico (1831–1861)

The Audiencia was an appellate high court established after 1511 by the Spanish monarchs in their American territories, where it became a powerful and influential institution. It had from three to six oidores (judges) whose main duty was to oversee all legal cases brought to them by minor courts or local officials. However, these Audiencias also had administrative and legislative powers whenever a viceroy, a captain general, or governor was absent from the territory or when these officials came in conflict with the crown. These officials, advised by counsel, presided over the Audiencias in their territories.Eighteen Audiencias were created in the Americas over 300 years. The last one was decreed for Puerto Rico in 1831 by King Ferdinand VII. Gerardo Carlo Altieri postulates that its creation was forced by the island’s increasing population and growing wealth and was due to Spain’s fear of losing Puerto Rico. Before 1831, all Puerto Rican legal problems and cases had been sent to be resolved by the Audiencias of Santo Domingo, Puerto Principe, Cuba, and Caracas.The Audiencia’s importance has been brilliantly studied in the general institutional histories of Charles Gibson, Clarence Henry Haring, and J. M. Ots y Capdequí. Other authors such as Alfonso García Gallo, Mark A. Burkholder and D. S. Chandler, J. H. Parry, Pilar Arregui Zamorano, Juan Matienzo, Feliciano Barrios Pintado, and Tomás Polanco Alcántara have written on specific Audiencias, and various other authors have written articles on those created in their countries. The themes researched are diverse: from the art of the Royal Audiencia at Quito to the government of the Audiencia in New Galicia or New Granada. It is accepted that the jurisdiction of each of the Audiencias in the continental lands served to delimit the territorial boundaries of the new independent countries of Spanish America. The Audiencia as the foremost legal institution in the New World has not been studied in the richness of its legal activities since the foundation of the first one.This useful book, originally created as Carlo’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Seville, presents ample research on the Audiencia of Puerto Rico. An introduction, nine chapters, conclusions, a comparative chronology, and a most valuable bibliography fill its 493 pages. It is a notable contribution to Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Latin American legal and institutional history.Carlo analyses the importance that the Audiencia had for Puerto Rico and how it became more modernized and more localized than its older sisters in Spanish America. He examines the role of the captain general of the island and his relation to the court. He also studies how the new acuerdo (agreement) decreed by the crown in 1832 gave the presidency of the Audiencia to an official called regente, an act that impinged on the captain general’s power.Carlo discusses the new bureaucracy of oidores — judges brought to Puerto Rico from the lost Audiencias — and the numerous new officials and judges (alcaldes mayores) who were part of the new legal network in the island. He includes cases and decisions of the court on such issues as municipal relations, taxes, commerce, military cases, servitude, and slavery. Carlo uses excellent documentary evidence from major archives in Puerto Rico and Spain, which is supported by fine secondary material. This book helps the reader see the manifold actions carried out by the Puerto Rican Audiencia during its first 30 years, when a body of decisions and legal interpretations were made solely for the island. Law has been given scant attention in the study of colonial Latin America, and this work contributes to that knowledge.This valuable work, however, needed to lose its dissertation format and explain in a good glossary many legal terms taken from royal decrees and Spanish courts of previous centuries. It is a book readable mainly by legal historians of Spanish America but not by the general public. The writing is repetitive and confusing in many places (pp. 175–76) in the author’s effort to cover as many aspects as possible of the Audiencia’s activities. There are also long discussions on topics not specifically related to the Audiencia in an effort to bring out the “origins” of the cases seen or decisions by the court.Nonetheless, with his treatise, Gerardo Carlo Altieri opens anew a path for legal and institutional research of Spanish America’s colonial history and of Puerto Rico’s Spanish history.

Innovative options for the doctoral dissertation in nursing

The doctoral dissertation is the capstone event of doctoral study. While developing their dissertations, graduate students discover the cutting edge of the discipline, learn the intricacies of the research process, and engage in scientific dialogue with experts in the field. Traditional dissertation formats are confined to the Dissertation Abstracts International and are not easily accessed by clinicians, administrators, and researchers who are most in need of the information. Consequently, the number of universities offering options to the traditional dissertation format is growing. This article describes and compares 2 formats: the traditional dissertation and the publication option. The benefits and challenges of each format to doctoral students and faculty are discussed. The discussion reflects changing trends in the nursing profession as an academic discipline.

Restructuring a Master's degree dissertation as a Patchwork Text

This paper describes the introduction of the Patchwork Text format into the dissertation on a Master's degree in Social Work. The rationale for rethinking the conventional dissertation is discussed and the ‘patches’ making up the revised dissertation format are detailed. The paper draws upon the completed dissertations of two students on the programme to illustrate how the characteristics of the Patchwork Text have provided a very different learning experience for the students involved; and in doing so offers a preliminary evaluation of the Patchwork Text as an alternative mode of supervising and assessing dissertation students.

Meeting the Needs of New Statistical Researchers

In 1988, the President's Council of the IMS created the New Researcher's Committee (NRC) to determine the needs of new researchers (NRs) and means by which the IMS can help meet those needs. The NRC submitted its report to the 1991 IMS Council during the 1990 summer meetings. This paper summarizes the report and material from a guide for NRs being prepared by the NRC. The NRC soon realized that a number of factors work in concert to influence the research environment. These include the opportunities for publication and speaking at professional meetings, funding, the work environment, interactions with colleagues and the social and political climate. As well, NRs can help promote their own research careers if they are aware of the opportunities that exist. Finally, the first few working years can be greatly influenced by the degree to which the graduate program prepared the NR for all aspects of a statistical career. This report covers the role of the IMS in its peer review and publication policies and its sponsorship of professional meetings. It also discusses the role of the IMS as an advocate for NRs in the political process, including funding, policies regarding dissertation format and family policy in the workplace. Means are suggested by which NRs can help themselves, both as graduate students and early in their professional careers. The role of the IMS membership in creating a positive work environment, providing mentoring and inviting the participation of NRs in a variety of statistical activities is emphasized. The report concludes by presenting the action items submitted to the IMS Council, and the results, to date, arising from these items.