Education Dissertations

The Doctoral Dissertation: Comparing and Contrasting Articles

Understanding the necessity of the doctoral dissertation is one of the most important aspects of being a graduate student. Thus, it is essential for the doctoral student to read, research, and understand the dissertation process. The article written by Nancy Coppola (2005) titled "Writing the Qualitative Dissertation" and the article by David Boote and Penny Beile (2005) called "Scholars Before Researchers: On the Centrality of the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Preparation" both help to highlight the doctoral dissertation's significance. Both articles discuss the concept of the dissertation process, providing valuable advice to doctoral students. However, the approach and focus of each article is different. Coppola focuses on reviewing one book in particular, Understanding by Doing by Judith Melroy, and discusses several important and helpful concepts for doctoral students discussed within the book. On the other hand, Boote and Beile analyze the importance of the literature review for doctoral students, especially those in education, offering tips for the graduate student about this particular section of the dissertation, and where to further find information. Therefore, both articles are helpful for the graduate student, although the articles offer different advice about the dissertation.

Coppola's article analyzes Melroy's book, which primarily focuses on peer advice from doctoral students, for doctoral students. For example, Melroy states: "The doctoral students who are the research components give advice both traditional and quirky" (2005, p. 217). Various students within the book express themselves and their own search for developing their voice and style. Each student gives very different advice, as would be expected for a writing project that requires an individual to discover his or her own personal voice. As Coppola states, "Correspondents write about struggling to find their voice in writing" (2005, p. 217). Overall, it is important that the book shares such a wide variety of personal experiences, because the hope would be that the doctoral student reading this book would relate to one or two of these experiences, and be able to progress on his or her own project.

Like Coppola's article, Boote and Beile's (2005) article also discusses elements of the dissertation helpful for the doctoral student. However, unlike Coppola, Boote and Beile do not focus on a book; instead, they focus on one of the most important parts of the dissertation: the literature review. According to Boote and Beile: "A sophisticated literature review is the foundation and inspiration for substantial, useful research" (2005, p. 3). Following this assertion is an argument of the literature review's