The 10 Strategic Points for the Prospectus, Proposal, and Dissertation
Introduction
Don't use plagiarized sources. Get Your Custom Essay on
Strategic Points for the Prospectus
Just from $9/Page
In the Prospectus, Proposal and Dissertation there are ten key or strategic points that need to be clear, simple, correct, and aligned to ensure the research is doable, valuable, and credible. These points, which provide a guide or vision for the research, are present in almost any research. They are defined within this 10 Strategic Points document.
The 10 Strategic Points
The 10 strategy points emerge from researching literature on a topic, which is based on, or aligned with, the defined need in the literature as well as the learner’s personal passion, future career purpose, and degree area. The 10 Strategic Points document includes the following ten key or strategic points that define the research focus and approach:
1. Topic – Provides a broad research topic area/title.
i. The College of Doctoral Studies recognizes the diversity of learners in our programs and the varied interests in research topics for their dissertations in the Social Sciences.
ii. Dissertation topics must, at a minimum, be aligned to General Psychology in the Ph.D. program, Leadership in the Ed.D. Organizational Leadership program, Adult Instruction in the Ed.D. Teaching and Learning program, Management in the DBA program, and Counseling Practice, Counselor Education, Clinical Supervision or Advocacy/Leadership within the Counseling field in the Counselor Education Ph.D. program.
iii. If there are questions regarding appropriate alignment of a dissertation topic to the program, the respective program chair will be the final authority for approval decisions.
iv. Specifically, although the College prefers a learner’s topic align with the program emphasis, this alignment is not “required.” The College will remain flexible on the learner’s dissertation topic if it aligns with the degree program in which the learner is enrolled. The Ph.D. program in General Psychology does not support clinically based research.
2. Literature review – Lists primary points for four sections in the Literature Review: (a) Background of the problem/gap and the need for the study based on citations from the literature; (b) Theoretical foundations (models and theories to be foundation for study); (c) Review of literature topics with key theme for each one; (d) Summary.
3. Problem statement – Describes the problem to address through the study based on defined needs or gaps from the literature.
4. Sample and location – Identifies sample, needed sample size, and location (study phenomena with small numbers and variables/groups with large numbers).
5. Research questions – Provides research questions to collect data to address the problem statement.
6. Hypothesis/variables or Phenomena – Provides hypotheses with variables for each research question (quantitative) or describes the phenomena to be better understood (qualitative).
7. Methodology and design – Describes the selected methodology and specific research design to address problem statement and research questions.
8. Purpose statement – Provides one sentence statement of purpose including the problem statement, methodology, design, population sample, and location.
9. Data collection – Describes primary instruments and sources of data to answer research questions.
10. Data analysis – Describes the specific data analysis approaches to be used to address research questions.
The Process for Defining the Ten Strategic Points
The order of the ten strategic points listed above reflects the order in which the learner does the work. The first five strategic points focus primarily on defining the focus for the research based on a clearly defined need or gap from the literature as well as the learner’s passion, purpose and specialty area focus. First, a learner identifies a broad topic area to research for their dissertation based on a clearly defined need or gap from the literature — that they are interested in because based on their personal passion, future career purpose, and degree. Second, the learner completes a review of the literature to define the need or gap they will address, the theories and models that will provide a foundation for their research, related topics to demonstrate their expertise in their field, and the key strategic points behind their proposed research. Third, the learner develops a clear, simple, one sentence problem statement that defines the problem, or gap, their research will address. Fourth, the learner identifies some potential target populations they would have access to in order to collect the data for the study, considering the fact the quantitative study sample sizes need to be much larger than those for qualitative studies. Fifth, the learner develops a set of research questions, which define the data needed to address the problem statement.
Based on the above five strategic points, the learner next defines the key aspects of the research methodology in the following five strategic points. Sixth, the learner either describes the phenomena to be studied (if it is a qualitative study), or develops a set of hypotheses (matching the research questions) that defines the variables that will be the focus for the research (if it is a quantitative study). Seventh, the learner determines if the study will be qualitative, quantitative or mixed research based on (a) the best approach for the research, (b) the size of the sample they can get permission to access, (c) availability of data collection tools and sources, and (d) time and resources to conduct the study. In addition, the learner selects the best design approach considering these same four factors. Eight, the learner develops a purpose statement by integrating the problem statement, methodology, design, sample, and location. Ninth, the learner identifies the data they will need to collect to address the research questions or hypotheses and how they will collect the data (e.g., interviews, focus groups, observations, tested and validated instruments or surveys, data bases, public media, etc.) Tenth, the learner identifies the appropriate data analysis steps, based on their design, to be used to answer their research questions and address their problem statement.
Criteria for Evaluating the Ten Strategic Points: Clear, Simple, Correct and Aligned
When developing research, it is important to define the ten strategic points so they are simple, clear and correct in order to ensure anyone who reviews them will easily understand them. It is important to align all of the ten strategic points to ensure it will be possible to conduct and complete the research. The problem statement must come out of the literature. The research questions must collect the data needed to answer the problem statement. The methodology and design must be appropriate for the problem statement and research questions. The data collection and data analysis must provide the information to answer the research questions (qualitative) or test the hypotheses (quantitative). Developing the 10 Strategic Points as a two to three-page document can help ensure clarity, simplicity, correctness, and alignment of each of these ten key or strategic points in the prospectus, proposal, and dissertation. Developing these ten strategic points on a two to three pages also provides an easy-to-use use template to ensure the ten strategic points are always worded the same throughout the prospectus, proposal, and dissertation.
Value of the 10 Strategic Points Document
The learner can use the 10 Strategic Points document for communicating and aligning key stakeholders for the dissertation. The learner can also use the document to get agreement between the learner and the chair on the initial focus and approach for their research. The 10 Strategic Points document is useful when reviewing the proposed research with the people or organizations where the learner needs to get permission to conduct their research. The learner needs to obtain this permission to conduct research, or site permission, before developing their Proposal. The document is useful for communicating the dissertation focus when attracting a Content Expert as well as for reviewing the proposal with the dissertation committee and the AQR reviewers. Further, submitting this document with the prospectus to the methodologist will assist in demonstrating to the methodologist the methodology, design, data collection, and data analysis align with the problem statement, research questions, and hypotheses or phenomena.
Examples of the 10 Strategic Points Document
It is important that the ten strategic points are clear, concise, doable, and aligned throughout the prospectus, proposal, and dissertation. Following are samples for a quantitative study and a qualitative study. GCU does not recommend using a mixed method study, which requires the completion of a 10 Strategic Points for both the quantitative and qualitative method. A mixed-methods study should not be proposed unless the learner has lots of extra time and resources to complete it. Additionally, the learner must be able to do both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. A qualitative study with numbers or descriptive statistics does not mean it is mixed method study. Qualitative data can be displayed using tables, charts, graphs and descriptive statistics. Following the examples below, there is a table to use to develop your 10 Strategic Points.
Example 1: Ten Strategic Points for a Quantitative Correlational Study:
1. Topic – Provides a broad research topic area/title: Relationship of Servant Leadership behaviors in principals, school culture, and student performance
2. Literature review – Lists primary points for four sections in the Literature Review: a. Background of the problem/gap; b. Theoretical foundations (models and theories to be foundation for study); c. Review of literature topics with key theme for each one; d. Summary
a. Background of the problem/gap;
i. The national call for school accountability is a critical issue that has gained attention from federal educational lawmakers given the rate at which American students are falling behind other countries influenced federal lawmakers in the creation of the NCL Act (Koretz, 2009).
ii. The school principal of the twenty first century has been asked to do and be competent in more and more tasks than the previous two centuries of school principals including improving student performance and the school culture (Kafka, 2009).
iii. The characteristics of school culture are complex, and a leader must understand these complex variables before they create change with the school (MacNeil et al., 2009).
iv. Black (2010), who conducted a mixed method study showing relationship of servant leadership and school climate, suggest additional studies in this arrea.
v. Pritchard et al. (2005) explored the relationships between district and school culture and student achievement.
b. Theoretical foundations (models and theories to be foundation for study);
i. Servant leadership model (Greenleaf, 1977; Patterson 2003)
ii. School culture models (MacNeil, 2009; Schein, 1985)
iii. Broad set of studies exploring relationship among these two models and performance in school. (Halawah, 2005; MacNeil et al.,2009)
c. Review of literature topics with key theme for each one;
i. National Agenda: Need to improve the performance of students in schools to be competitive as a nation (Koretz, 2009).
ii. Changing Role of Principal: The role of the principal in American schools has changed dramatically from its beginnings of uniformed education (Rousmaniere, 2007).
iii. Servant Leadership in Principals Leads to More Effective leaders: The study used the Self-Assessment for Servant Leadership Profile (SALS) to assess whether or not a leader was a servant leader and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) to assess principal effectiveness. (Taylor et al., 2007).
iv. Principal’s Behavior Influence School Culture: The principal’s influence on school culture has an indirect effect on organizational and cultural factors of a school (MacNeil et al., 2009).
v. School Culture Influences Student Performance: A strong relationship exists between school culture and student performance (McCoach et al., 2004).
vi. Measuring Servant Leadership Behaviors: About 10 validated/tested Instruments exist to measure Servant Leadership Behaviors some of which have been used in schools
vii. Measuring Culture: Validated/tested instruments to measure culture exist and have been used in schools.
viii. Measuring Student Performance: State Test Scores are a standardized way to measure student performance used across all schools in a state.
ix. Methodology: The primary design from the Literature Review used to evaluate relationship between Servant Leadership and variables such as culture, climate, and performance has been correlational.
d. Summary.
i. Gap/problem: There is a need to identify different approaches to improve student performance
ii. Prior studies: Prior studies show various relationships between two of the three variables (servant leadership behaviors, culture and student performance) with only one exploring all three
iii. Quantitative study: Instruments and sources of data exist to collect numerical data on the three variables
iv. Significance: research will add to the broad area of correlating leadership, culture and performance; research may identify specific approaches to be use by school leadership to improve student performance
3. Problem statement – Describes the phenomena to study (qualitative) or variables/groups (quantitative) to study, in one sentence: It is not known if there is a relationship between the level of a principal’s servant leadership behaviors and c
Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?
- Plagiarism free papers
- Timely delivery
- Any deadline
- Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
- Subject-relevant academic writer
- Adherence to paper instructions
- Ability to tackle bulk assignments
- Reasonable prices
- 24/7 Customer Support
- Get superb grades consistently
Online Academic Help With Different Subjects
Literature
Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.
Finance
Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.
Computer science
Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!
Psychology
While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.
Engineering
Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.
Nursing
In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.
Sociology
Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.
Business
We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!
Statistics
We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.
Law
Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.
What discipline/subjects do you deal in?
We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.
Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?
Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.
What if I don’t like the paper?
There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.
Reasons being:
- When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
- We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.
In the event that you don’t like your paper:
- The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
- We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
- Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.
Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?
Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.
What if the paper is plagiarized?
We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.
When will I get my paper?
You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.
Will anyone find out that I used your services?
We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.
How our Assignment Help Service Works
1. Place an order
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
2. Pay for the order
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
3. Track the progress
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
4. Download the paper
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!
