A ROADMAP TO WRITING PROSPECTUSES AND DISSERTATIONS
By
Dr. Optatus N. Chailla
PREAMBLE
The nobility of advancing the knowledge of the Christian faith through, inter alia, dissertation dissemination is steeped in the Holy Scriptures themselves and reflected in the driving paradigms of individual Christian educational institutions. The Holy Bible dictates the motto and drives every academic program of every truly Christian institution. The Scriptures teach us that, not only knowledge is the substratum of wisdom and must be stored but, more importantly, to the extent that dissertations are acceptable only if they advance knowledge, it is morally Christian to produce one to back up a doctoral degree.
A perspective of the biblical imperative of writing dissertations at Petrus Fidei Seminary & University, requires that one reflects on the biblical underpinning of the Ecumenical Apostolic Church Diocese (EACD) and its school. The philosophy behind the creation of the EACD and its Petrus Fidei Seminary & University is the concept of building. These two institutions are geared towards building bridges between Christian persuasions, building the knowledge upon which to further build the Christian faith which, in turn, is the foundation for building the Lord’s Church.
Knowledge which, must continuously be accumulated, faith and wisdom are all inextricably intertwined. Characteristic of and arguably none better than him, Saint Paul wove together, in 2 Timothy (3:14-15), the interdependence of knowledge, faith and wisdom in the following manner:
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
That knowledge is the foundation of both faith and wisdom becomes indisputable and, must be passed down through generations (Psalm, 78:5-8; Romans, 10:17). Handing down knowledge to generations begins by augmenting what is currently known with compilations of results from student and faculty research.
Unquestionably, the responsibility of accumulating and passing on knowledge befalls on all clergy, faculty and students, particularly those at the doctoral level, who share their belief in Christ. We are, again, reminded by Saint Paul, the apostle, that the clergy of various persuasions are all ministers, in equal standing, proclaiming the Christian faith to mankind who constitute the Lord’s building. We all must desist from tendencies to denominational divisiveness. Like Saint Paul, these ministers, through teaching, lay the foundation for faith building (1 Corinthians, 3:4-10). Among the many seminaries, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University takes on the role of inculcating the knowledge required by such ministers in fulfilling their obligations.
Once again, we ought to always remember that the Holy Bible instructs the wise among us, who are learned in God’s law, to amass the knowledge and to teach it to the next generation (Proverbs, 10:14; Psalm, 78:5-8). Such is the biblical underpinning of the essence of retrievably stored knowledge. It is this inalienable responsibility that, at the doctoral level, dictates the compilation of dissertations. All said and done, the rubric from this brief of the biblical writings is that to produce a dissertation to back up a doctoral degree is morally Christian and the proper thing to do. The process of dissertation writing begins with a prospectus and this handout attempts to condense its essential elements.
CHOICE OF THE SUBJECT
The key to choosing the subject on which to write your prospectus and ultimately your dissertation lies in the availability of published literature as well as in the depth of your personal knowledge, exposure and interest in the matter. You are advised to generate several subjects initially and ascertain the abundance of existing literature on the individual topics. As a matter of understanding, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University is non-restrictive on the subjects that deal with Christianity which, cover broadly doctrinaire teachings of the specialties of Christian religious studies as well as the interface between Christianity and biophilosophical issues characterizing modern day public policy debate.
One may want to critically examine the evolution of the many bible versions in use today as an example of a subject steeped in doctrinaire teachings. When considering the interface between Christianity, on the one hand, and culture and public policy, on the other, it is perfectly in order, for instance, to critically examine the divisiveness or cohesion or both engendered by biophilosophical tyranny on Christianity. In the light of the teachings of the Holy Bible, including the controversy over the interpretation of the relevant provisions, one may examine the impact of race, homosexuality or gender policies on Christianity as a whole in the United States or on specific denominations.
As troubling as its foundation was, on Sunday morning August 23, 2009, the NBC Network showcased the union of a Black Baptist Church and a White Baptist Church in Kentucky that was based on cost-cutting. However much you scuba dive the Holy Bible you are never likely to run into a provision where Jesus Christ agreed to the notion of money as the substratum of racial integration in His Church. Equally troubling, is the notion of a Southern Baptist Church and a Northern Baptist. The point being made here is that, in the spirit of ecumenism, there may be subjects on the splintering of churches.
Because the wise choice of the subject cannot be overemphasized, another condensed illustration of the iterative process involved will serve to drive the point home. Established by Congressional fiat under the United States Department of State, the Office of International Religious Freedom reported, in 2007, inter-religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in some areas of the federation and conflicts of a seemingly socioeconomic or political nature often dividing people along religious lines in Nigeria. Obviously, such a study area is pretty wide and its level of analysis macro (national).
Whether to cover only a single state such as Kwara State or the entire Nigeria and also whether to look at religious conflicts as a whole or a single aspect will depend on the abundance of existing literature. The researcher has to decide whether to cover the entire country or a selected state or whether to address inter-ethnic or mono-ethnic situations intertwined with religious conflicts. Is the researcher interested in Christian-Muslim conflicts among the Yoruba or the Hausa or in a comparative study covering the two?
Is the researcher interested in the generalized Nigerian Christian-Muslim conflicts or in a specific phenomenon like marriage and its contribution/impact on the general picture of inter-religious conflicts? What is the impact of inter-faith marriage to the stability of the marriages and to the objectivity of the political process and the conflicts? Underlying such an inquiry into inter-faith marriage will require a clear understanding of the concept of marriage in the selected religions and ethnic-cum-geographical contexts. If quantitatively adequate, corroborating and dissenting published evidence will go a long way to satisfy the requirements of both the prospectus and the dissertation itself. Inter-faith marriage is merely an example. Another phenomenon like education or participation in federal employment/amenities may serve. The subject should be strongly Christian in nature and an area in which the researcher is steeply versed.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Explicit in the research method selected in the circumstances of this undertaking, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University requires an extensive examination of the literature to arrive at an independent position on the subject of your choice. Literature review is not the mere downloading of text, ideas or opinions of the original authors’ materials. For the prospectus, a minimum of 30 (thirty) references and, for the ensuing erudite essay or dissertation, a minimum of 200 (two hundred) references will satisfy the requirements. The prospectus is a road map for both the author and the faculty assigned to assess the educational quality of the dissertation. Primary research is out of question and a derivative of secondary research is adopted focusing on re-examining already published materials. Far from what it may sound, that does not make the process plain sailing.
It is, consequently, imperative to succinctly define the nature of the expectations about what has to be deduced from the literature upon which the work rests. The common denominator of the deductions from the literature shall be the conceptualization of both the context and the lessons from the writings. Facts surrounding the individual studies or books will definitely differ but such literature may or may not yield common lessons. The objective shall be to ferret out lessons, rubrics or paradigms from individual writings.
Meaningful lessons can never be distilled without a proper understanding of the limitations and context of the individual research studies/books you review. Limitations of your essay/dissertation are a function of the limitations of the original writings that you review and must be clearly spelt out in the discussion of your research method. Context should come out at the point of discussing the actual lessons/rubrics from the literature.
The importance of context cannot be overemphasized. That Jesus Christ adopted a strategy of teaching in parables underscores this very essence of context. The contextual underpinnings of His parables intentionally targeted the cultural requisites of the Jews to facilitate the understanding of His lectures. We learn from Walker (1970:486) that in synthesizing the historical interpretation of the Holy Bible, Johann Gottfried von Herder’s (1744-1803) view may be summed up as:
Religion, especially Christianity, is the embodiment of that which is deepest in the feelings of the times in which the several books were written. They are, therefore, essentially a religious literature. What is true and permanent in them must be distinguished from the temporary and local.
Context allows researchers to distinguish dogma from culture in the Holy Scripture. It is not an overstatement to hold that context is the fulcrum to understanding Christian academic disciplines and their application even to modern society. Of all disciplines, anthropology and archaeology offer unequaled sources of contextual underpinnings of Christianity and professors like Bishop Robert Frank Tulak possess an exceptional insight into these disciplines. They will certainly come to your assistance.
In studies covering the interface between Christianity and government policies, context provides the pivot and, thus, the justification for using the Christian morality prism to assess the policies’ relevance to the welfare of society. In the United States, the fundamental challenge in a Christian theistic criticism or defense of public policy lies in the tussle between the Constitutional Separation of Church from State and, specifically, the presence or lack of entanglement between government laws and Christian morality. The discourse on biblical underpinnings of the relationship between Christians and their state/national/local governments quite often focuses on Saint Paul’s exhortation of obedience to government laws. A contextual analysis of Saint Paul’s rendering in this regard in Romans (13:1-7) unlocks the ramifications of such a discourse.
Saint Paul’s argument of subservience to the governing authorities seems to suggest that the state, and indeed all organized institutions, require and deserve complete and unfettered obedience. Criticism of the demands of society and its governing authorities becomes insubordination threatening social norms and regulations and, must be punished. This view of Saint Paul’s position fosters tendencies to government tyranny. Most importantly, this view of Romans (13:1-7) strips it of its underlying context.
Implicit in Romans (13:1-4) is the assumption that authority in community institutions is God-ordained so as to achieve His intended social peace and order. The presence of laws, policies and regulations which, the authorities enforce, is deemed inevitable for eradicating chaos and anarchy to preserve peace and order in the community. It is crucial to note that Saint Paul wrote in the context of the prevailing Jewish heritage that government authorities were simultaneously guardians of God’s commandments which, made peaceful community life tenable. An account of the Jews’ march to freedom from Egyptian slavery, the entire book of Exodus is nothing but a testimony of God’s appointment of Moses as the supreme government and religious leader as well as of the laws He gave them to follow. For the Jews, God’s commandments simultaneously constituted the civil, criminal and canon law codes.
Is dissension against the existing government laws and regulations necessarily anti-God then? The Holy Bible itself is abound with Christ’s rebuke and challenge of the governing authorities claim to the right and the truth. How then can Christ’s rebuke of the governing authorities be reconciled with Saint Paul’s exhortation of obedience to them? The two are not at all in contradiction. Instead of controverting Christ, the underpinning context of Saint Paul’s exhortation of obedience to the laws of government stresses that the political process of the time of Jesus Christ did not produce God-anointed leaders. The leadership was questionable. With that reasoning, today’s leadership is even more questionable. The laws and policies made by the modern political process are, ejusdem generis, subject to questioning on the basis of, inter alia, the Christian morality prism.
Albeit not exhaustively argued, the four or so preceding paragraphs are meant to be a rudimentary depiction of the nature of the deductions sought from the literature you review. Whether you agree or disagree with the author of the opinion in those four paragraphs, you will need to revamp your position with themes, ideas or findings from other authors, the Bible, discipline-based (e.g. philosophy) literature, papal encyclicals as well as other authoritative publications of various Christian denominations on the pivotal departure or convergence between Christian morality and government laws. Better still, you are not bound to adopt the argument in the four paragraphs. You have the liberty to define your own fulcrum from which to launch your scathing criticism or corroboration with the individual policies or laws focusing on Christianity as the prism. The four paragraphs are merely intended to illustrate how to engage or distil the literature.
Where specific academic theories drive the individual studies/books reviewed, they enrich the analytical content of the researcher’s own dissertation. The challenge, though, is the justification of the selection of a particular theory to drive the dissertation in contrast to others that drive other studies/books covering the same subject and in similar circumstances. The application of a suitable academic theory, well-distinguished from or well-argued as corroborating with those in the reviewed literature, will produce a particularly very grounded dissertation in the current circumstances of this undertaking.
Distilling literature involves comparing and contrasting the different sources of ideas, lessons, data and information. After going through 30 such sources, one should be able to derive one’s own personal preliminary stand on the phenomenon of investigation. That is the objective of the prospectus. The preliminary position is to be corroborated or negated upon completing 200 pieces of literature. The erudite essay that does exactly that is the dissertation. In comparing and contrasting sources of literature, pay attention to:
Parallels: These are observations of phenomena that resemble each other but are not quite the same. It is a situation where phenomena are similar in some characteristics while dissimilar in other respects. For instance, it is quite common that dissimilar groups in society experience similar treatment. Dissimilar in characteristics, women and the disabled or children may suffer the same kind of discrimination. Bring out the dissimilarities and the basis for the similar treatment.
Confluence: This concerns instances of common characteristics and common treatment/lessons. It is about position/theme convergence. In the big picture of things, ferret out the read or thread that percolates through the references pertaining to the confluence.
Controversies: This relates to digging up discords or disagreements. It is not uncommon that authors face similar situations but come out with totally opposite conclusions based on their individual understanding of the Christian literature or theories or even the underlying contexts. Detail the differences and classify them because they provide the invaluable ramifications of theirs and your own conclusions.
Research Methods: Pay attention to the individual authors’ commonalties, differences and/or inconsistencies in research methods. A first level (primer) textbook of research methods will guide you in sorting out methodological differences. At this juncture, avoid advanced texts on research methods. Differences in research methods eradicate orange-apple comparisons, address generalizability of conclusions and sort out sweeping statements from reality.
“Non-Researched” Materials: Other than the acclaimed sources such as the inimitable works of Socrates or Plato, non-researched materials have to be used very sparingly. As a guide, assess the validity of assumptions underlying such materials and, in the case of facts/events/data, also the credibility of the author. A credibility gap, between a local newspaper and the United Nations, on reports of religious genocide of Christians, for example, can be expected.
Conclusions/Findings: This addresses the consistency between what the author found/concluded and the author’s own hypotheses. Though not common, the author may have set out to prove one thing but end up dwelling largely on tangents to the original issue. Tangents are issues remotely related to the author’s central theme. However, it is fun and excellent academics to spot and discuss such deficiencies.
The above itemization of what to look for in the literature that you review is essentially an indicative list. It is perfectly in order to focus also on other elements of academic value. The richer the content is the more erudite the essays, especially from a pioneering group like this. Feel proud in producing something to be quoted for centuries to come.
HYPOTHESIS/RESEARCH QUESTION(S):
After a thorough review of 30 items of literature, one will preliminarily deduce some explanation of the trends observed in the subject of investigation. If there are data and information that demonstrate a rise in the battles and ferocity between Christians and Moslems, one should preliminarily ascribe reasons or causes of such trends. As a basis for further investigation, statements that preliminarily puts forth associations between the subject of research and observable explanations are called hypotheses.
The exact nature of the association between explanatory variables and the subject or phenomenon of investigation can be tricky to define. Cause and effect relationships are often hard to delineate. It is difficult, for example, to say for certain that United States government welfare benefits are the cause of increased teen pregnancies or vice versa although statistical correlation analysis may easily determine a simultaneous rise in both among poor communities. At issue would be whether American teenagers engage in reckless sexual behavior because they know the government will take care of them and their babies or vice versa. Notice that a third variable, that of poverty or income levels, has been introduced into the picture and, a typical solution to the riddle is to deal with those variables with the strongest influence on teen pregnancies-i.e. those variables with high beta coefficients in a multiple regression model.
Moreover, a string of related variables, like education and Christian parenting or the lack of it, quickly emerge. Preliminarily, it sounds totally logical to propose that the lack of education leads to low incomes which, in turn, lead to a rise in social welfare spending which, in turn, drives up moral hazard detectable in increased teen pregnancy cases. In regression analysis, such a situation where the explanatory variables have a causal relationship between themselves is recognized as a multicolinearity problem. Similarly, for someone investigating Christian-Muslim conflicts, debunking the references to seemingly socioeconomic or political eruptions that divide communities along religious lines in Nigeria, colinearity may not entirely be avoided. Fortunately, there are quantitative (statistical) procedures developed to address colinearity.
Because this undertaking is based on a deductive second tier of secondary research-i.e. use of already concluded researches/books-the absence of raw primary data inhibits the use of statistical procedures. The way around this problem is to rely on confirmatory evidence based on the probabilistic concept of the law of large numbers. You now begin to appreciate why the requirement is 200 references at the minimum. While the 30 references serve to distil the hypotheses, the 200 plus references for the dissertation, including the initial 30, serve to confirm those preliminary findings stated in the prospectus. Hypothetically, it becomes quite believable when the majority of the 200 references point to differences, between the Yoruba and Igbo of Southern Nigeria, on the one hand, and the Hausa of Northern Nigeria on the other, in education together with the resulting income levels, as driving up Christian-Muslim conflicts.
Should one choose to work with less than the suggested 200 references, one will be required to justify the decision and clearly define the limitations of the conclusions reached using small sample statistical procedures. Any beginner’s statistics or sampling theory textbook discusses these procedures. The downside of a smaller sample, given the approach adopted in this undertaking, is a double jeopardy of ramifications. The research method adopted itself already poses constraints in interpreting results and adding more limitations, through sampling, may render one’s conclusions meaningless.
With that caveat on quantitative techniques in these circumstances, the most plausible approach remains that of a relatively wide reading to provide confirmatory evidence. The preceding discussion of co-linearity points to an alternative option to stating hypotheses. Instead of hypotheses, one has the option of stating research questions. Research questions are exploratory and are particularly suited to where the exact causal relationships are not easy to nail down even preliminarily. The questions are usually open-ended to allow brainstorming as many explanatory variables as possible. In the part on the choice of the subject, there is an example of such a research question.
RESEARCH METHOD
In the absence of prior preparation in research methodology, the entire dissertation exercise has no other choice but to adopt a derivative of secondary research that depends on deductions from already concluded researches, books or other published materials. Despite its weaknesses as compared to multi-method research, this exercise chooses to depend on evidence from secondary sources, particularly also that researchers are faced with stringent cost constraints. Resource constraint is an important factor that limits possibilities of using the multi-method research approach (Warwick, 1983:295).
Technically, secondary sources are only an aspect of secondary information, the others being secondary data and information stored in some retrievable form. Secondary data refer to the raw data whereas secondary sources refer to summaries from the raw data but in this exercise this fine distinction is overlooked because it tends to blur in practice (Stewart and Kamins, 1993:1-3). With field research supervision not practicable, availability of raw data on the undertaking’s areas of interest is out of question and thus the studies depend on published documents. For this purpose, the term documents means secondary sources comprising anything and everything from inimitable works related to religious disciplines, government reports, archived data sets, social agencies’ reports, articles in professional journals, other related studies, monographs, textbooks, as well as any written materials that may be used as information in the investigations.
As such these dissertations will be subject to potential conceptual limitations and detail-related problems inherent in the use of secondary information to draw lasting conclusions. The first conceptual limitation is that of validity. Several reasons can be identified that affect validity. Unlike in experimental design, there is a strong possibility of bias in selection of the documents since it is not possible to get a list of all documents published on the subjects, thereby, engendering a threat to internal validity. Because the documents will not be randomly sampled a serious threat to external validity exists.
Measures used in the documents consulted, at best, may approximate the measures and concepts the researcher is investigating. The discrepancy is a product of the differences in the objectives between the original study and the secondary research done to satisfy the requirements of the dissertation. The measures and concepts reflect the original purpose of the primary research or statistics compilation. Data retrieved from archives and other sources may often be aggregates which pose difficulties for any subsequent studies needing individual-observation apart from the potential of masking methodical problems in their collection (Babbie, 1995:325; Stewart and Kamins, 1993:6).
The second limitation this exercise faces is the reliability of the secondary sources. Conclusions drawn from any analysis of existing information and data depends heavily on the quality of such data or information (Jill Kielcolt and Nathan, 1985:14, Babbie, 1995:326). Like in historical or comparative research, secondary research needs to assess the credibility of the content of the written materials. In historical research the test relates to the manner the information was collected and corroboration of other sources is a criterion for credibility of documents (Babbie, 1995:333). Babbie (1995:332-333) suggests replication and logical reasoning to deal with validity and reliability of information but for this exercise, resource constraints militate against replication.
However, Babbie’s (1995:333-334) suggestion of searching for patterns among details coupled with corroboration of findings in the written materials to be used, just like in historical or comparative research, sounds pragmatic. Thus, this exercise depends on as many sources as obtained to corroborate individual facts, findings, observations, views and conclusions to improve on reliability. Because of the diversity of the sources of the evidence, this dissertation exercise expects differences between the documents in several dimensions. The key to dealing with the diversity remains, as Babbie (1995:333-334) suggested, in confirmatory evidence. Hence, writers are expected to consult not less than 200 references for their findings and conclusions to be both credible and reliable.
The second dimension relates to inclusion. Which documents are to be included is largely dependent on the conceptual definition adopted by the individual writers. In social sciences, the same concept may have varied meanings. It is imperative to be clear on the definitions of the topic and the related concepts one is investigating. Define the concepts as early as possible in both the prospectus and the dissertation itself.
Thirdly, previous researchers have had to grapple with striking the balance between breadth and depth of their studies. When perusing documents, one may find out that some studies were mere case studies that chose to test a large number of variables in a limited number of incidents or communities. Explanatory variables for Christian-Muslim clashes in a particular city, for example, may not all mirror entire states. Such clashes in that particular city are case studies. Furthermore, the clashes may occur in a particular year only. When they occur in a particular year only, they are said to be cross-sectional and when they recur for a number of years, they are longitudinal-processual. Case studies may be strong in validity but they may not be generalized. Generalizability, may be improved through panel studies-i.e. studies that cover a longer period-coupled with comparisons between similar case studies. Again, corroboration of findings by multiple-sources to enhance credibility stands out as the pragmatic way to go.
Although corroboration takes care of much of the problems of the quality of data and information, there may still be questions or differences about the given data or information that depends on differences in the original collection methods or sources. Hatry (1994:374-381) provides a guide of detail-related potential problems inherent in secondary sources and ways to alleviate such problems. Much will depend on the type of data or information needed by the individual write but one is urged to take a look at what Hatry (1994:374-381) provides to improve on the overall quality of the dissertation.
By design, all dissertations will mostly use electronic search for locating secondary data and information stored in university libraries and other research centers as well as in a number of survey archives available in the respective countries. Libraries have a wealth of information such as the doctoral dissertation abstracts or the social science index that contains entries on articles published in more than 300 journals useful in identification of relevant literature pertaining to the intended study. The compact disk read-only memory (i.e. CD-ROM) technology has made secondary data and information very easily accessible (Stewart and Kamins, 1993:2,12). As an advice, take it from one who has been there, it wont hurt befriending a librarian.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE PROSPECTUS
Having discussed the central elements of writing both the prospectus and the dissertation itself it is important to delve into the structure of the presentation of the prospectus. It cannot be stressed enough that the prospectus is the cornerstone of the exercise. It provides the roadmap for both the writer and the committee of professors reading, guiding and assessing the final output. Adjudged as satisfactory by the committee of professors, the prospectus becomes a quasi-contract that the writer will follow to the end. Changes may occur as the work progresses but only upon agreement with the faculty involved in supervising it.
All members of the faculty on the committee assigned to supervise the production of the dissertation shall sign its first page to signify its approval and acceptability for publication as an official production of the university. University academic standards require that the approval be done after its viva voce defense. Resources permitting, at this juncture, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University will pursue this policy to the full. As a guide to the process, the prospectus shall outline the following:
The Topic of investigation and the Author.
Introduction/Background to the Problem/Topic: Describe the circumstances, information, data surrounding the problem or topic of investigation. The description may include the macro (national and/or international), the meso (the intermediate level of analysis like a single state) and the micro (down to the very level of the particular interest) situation. The key is to ask oneself : What is it about the topic that attracted one’s attention?
Significance of the problem/topic: Briefly discuss why and to whom are the results of the study important or useful.Hypothesis/Research Question(s): The previous discussion has provided at length enough perspective on this aspect.
By
Dr. Optatus N. Chailla
PREAMBLE
The nobility of advancing the knowledge of the Christian faith through, inter alia, dissertation dissemination is steeped in the Holy Scriptures themselves and reflected in the driving paradigms of individual Christian educational institutions. The Holy Bible dictates the motto and drives every academic program of every truly Christian institution. The Scriptures teach us that, not only knowledge is the substratum of wisdom and must be stored but, more importantly, to the extent that dissertations are acceptable only if they advance knowledge, it is morally Christian to produce one to back up a doctoral degree.
A perspective of the biblical imperative of writing dissertations at Petrus Fidei Seminary & University, requires that one reflects on the biblical underpinning of the Ecumenical Apostolic Church Diocese (EACD) and its school. The philosophy behind the creation of the EACD and its Petrus Fidei Seminary & University is the concept of building. These two institutions are geared towards building bridges between Christian persuasions, building the knowledge upon which to further build the Christian faith which, in turn, is the foundation for building the Lord’s Church.
Knowledge which, must continuously be accumulated, faith and wisdom are all inextricably intertwined. Characteristic of and arguably none better than him, Saint Paul wove together, in 2 Timothy (3:14-15), the interdependence of knowledge, faith and wisdom in the following manner:
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
That knowledge is the foundation of both faith and wisdom becomes indisputable and, must be passed down through generations (Psalm, 78:5-8; Romans, 10:17). Handing down knowledge to generations begins by augmenting what is currently known with compilations of results from student and faculty research.
Unquestionably, the responsibility of accumulating and passing on knowledge befalls on all clergy, faculty and students, particularly those at the doctoral level, who share their belief in Christ. We are, again, reminded by Saint Paul, the apostle, that the clergy of various persuasions are all ministers, in equal standing, proclaiming the Christian faith to mankind who constitute the Lord’s building. We all must desist from tendencies to denominational divisiveness. Like Saint Paul, these ministers, through teaching, lay the foundation for faith building (1 Corinthians, 3:4-10). Among the many seminaries, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University takes on the role of inculcating the knowledge required by such ministers in fulfilling their obligations.
Once again, we ought to always remember that the Holy Bible instructs the wise among us, who are learned in God’s law, to amass the knowledge and to teach it to the next generation (Proverbs, 10:14; Psalm, 78:5-8). Such is the biblical underpinning of the essence of retrievably stored knowledge. It is this inalienable responsibility that, at the doctoral level, dictates the compilation of dissertations. All said and done, the rubric from this brief of the biblical writings is that to produce a dissertation to back up a doctoral degree is morally Christian and the proper thing to do. The process of dissertation writing begins with a prospectus and this handout attempts to condense its essential elements.
CHOICE OF THE SUBJECT
The key to choosing the subject on which to write your prospectus and ultimately your dissertation lies in the availability of published literature as well as in the depth of your personal knowledge, exposure and interest in the matter. You are advised to generate several subjects initially and ascertain the abundance of existing literature on the individual topics. As a matter of understanding, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University is non-restrictive on the subjects that deal with Christianity which, cover broadly doctrinaire teachings of the specialties of Christian religious studies as well as the interface between Christianity and biophilosophical issues characterizing modern day public policy debate.
One may want to critically examine the evolution of the many bible versions in use today as an example of a subject steeped in doctrinaire teachings. When considering the interface between Christianity, on the one hand, and culture and public policy, on the other, it is perfectly in order, for instance, to critically examine the divisiveness or cohesion or both engendered by biophilosophical tyranny on Christianity. In the light of the teachings of the Holy Bible, including the controversy over the interpretation of the relevant provisions, one may examine the impact of race, homosexuality or gender policies on Christianity as a whole in the United States or on specific denominations.
As troubling as its foundation was, on Sunday morning August 23, 2009, the NBC Network showcased the union of a Black Baptist Church and a White Baptist Church in Kentucky that was based on cost-cutting. However much you scuba dive the Holy Bible you are never likely to run into a provision where Jesus Christ agreed to the notion of money as the substratum of racial integration in His Church. Equally troubling, is the notion of a Southern Baptist Church and a Northern Baptist. The point being made here is that, in the spirit of ecumenism, there may be subjects on the splintering of churches.
Because the wise choice of the subject cannot be overemphasized, another condensed illustration of the iterative process involved will serve to drive the point home. Established by Congressional fiat under the United States Department of State, the Office of International Religious Freedom reported, in 2007, inter-religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in some areas of the federation and conflicts of a seemingly socioeconomic or political nature often dividing people along religious lines in Nigeria. Obviously, such a study area is pretty wide and its level of analysis macro (national).
Whether to cover only a single state such as Kwara State or the entire Nigeria and also whether to look at religious conflicts as a whole or a single aspect will depend on the abundance of existing literature. The researcher has to decide whether to cover the entire country or a selected state or whether to address inter-ethnic or mono-ethnic situations intertwined with religious conflicts. Is the researcher interested in Christian-Muslim conflicts among the Yoruba or the Hausa or in a comparative study covering the two?
Is the researcher interested in the generalized Nigerian Christian-Muslim conflicts or in a specific phenomenon like marriage and its contribution/impact on the general picture of inter-religious conflicts? What is the impact of inter-faith marriage to the stability of the marriages and to the objectivity of the political process and the conflicts? Underlying such an inquiry into inter-faith marriage will require a clear understanding of the concept of marriage in the selected religions and ethnic-cum-geographical contexts. If quantitatively adequate, corroborating and dissenting published evidence will go a long way to satisfy the requirements of both the prospectus and the dissertation itself. Inter-faith marriage is merely an example. Another phenomenon like education or participation in federal employment/amenities may serve. The subject should be strongly Christian in nature and an area in which the researcher is steeply versed.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Explicit in the research method selected in the circumstances of this undertaking, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University requires an extensive examination of the literature to arrive at an independent position on the subject of your choice. Literature review is not the mere downloading of text, ideas or opinions of the original authors’ materials. For the prospectus, a minimum of 30 (thirty) references and, for the ensuing erudite essay or dissertation, a minimum of 200 (two hundred) references will satisfy the requirements. The prospectus is a road map for both the author and the faculty assigned to assess the educational quality of the dissertation. Primary research is out of question and a derivative of secondary research is adopted focusing on re-examining already published materials. Far from what it may sound, that does not make the process plain sailing.
It is, consequently, imperative to succinctly define the nature of the expectations about what has to be deduced from the literature upon which the work rests. The common denominator of the deductions from the literature shall be the conceptualization of both the context and the lessons from the writings. Facts surrounding the individual studies or books will definitely differ but such literature may or may not yield common lessons. The objective shall be to ferret out lessons, rubrics or paradigms from individual writings.
Meaningful lessons can never be distilled without a proper understanding of the limitations and context of the individual research studies/books you review. Limitations of your essay/dissertation are a function of the limitations of the original writings that you review and must be clearly spelt out in the discussion of your research method. Context should come out at the point of discussing the actual lessons/rubrics from the literature.
The importance of context cannot be overemphasized. That Jesus Christ adopted a strategy of teaching in parables underscores this very essence of context. The contextual underpinnings of His parables intentionally targeted the cultural requisites of the Jews to facilitate the understanding of His lectures. We learn from Walker (1970:486) that in synthesizing the historical interpretation of the Holy Bible, Johann Gottfried von Herder’s (1744-1803) view may be summed up as:
Religion, especially Christianity, is the embodiment of that which is deepest in the feelings of the times in which the several books were written. They are, therefore, essentially a religious literature. What is true and permanent in them must be distinguished from the temporary and local.
Context allows researchers to distinguish dogma from culture in the Holy Scripture. It is not an overstatement to hold that context is the fulcrum to understanding Christian academic disciplines and their application even to modern society. Of all disciplines, anthropology and archaeology offer unequaled sources of contextual underpinnings of Christianity and professors like Bishop Robert Frank Tulak possess an exceptional insight into these disciplines. They will certainly come to your assistance.
In studies covering the interface between Christianity and government policies, context provides the pivot and, thus, the justification for using the Christian morality prism to assess the policies’ relevance to the welfare of society. In the United States, the fundamental challenge in a Christian theistic criticism or defense of public policy lies in the tussle between the Constitutional Separation of Church from State and, specifically, the presence or lack of entanglement between government laws and Christian morality. The discourse on biblical underpinnings of the relationship between Christians and their state/national/local governments quite often focuses on Saint Paul’s exhortation of obedience to government laws. A contextual analysis of Saint Paul’s rendering in this regard in Romans (13:1-7) unlocks the ramifications of such a discourse.
Saint Paul’s argument of subservience to the governing authorities seems to suggest that the state, and indeed all organized institutions, require and deserve complete and unfettered obedience. Criticism of the demands of society and its governing authorities becomes insubordination threatening social norms and regulations and, must be punished. This view of Saint Paul’s position fosters tendencies to government tyranny. Most importantly, this view of Romans (13:1-7) strips it of its underlying context.
Implicit in Romans (13:1-4) is the assumption that authority in community institutions is God-ordained so as to achieve His intended social peace and order. The presence of laws, policies and regulations which, the authorities enforce, is deemed inevitable for eradicating chaos and anarchy to preserve peace and order in the community. It is crucial to note that Saint Paul wrote in the context of the prevailing Jewish heritage that government authorities were simultaneously guardians of God’s commandments which, made peaceful community life tenable. An account of the Jews’ march to freedom from Egyptian slavery, the entire book of Exodus is nothing but a testimony of God’s appointment of Moses as the supreme government and religious leader as well as of the laws He gave them to follow. For the Jews, God’s commandments simultaneously constituted the civil, criminal and canon law codes.
Is dissension against the existing government laws and regulations necessarily anti-God then? The Holy Bible itself is abound with Christ’s rebuke and challenge of the governing authorities claim to the right and the truth. How then can Christ’s rebuke of the governing authorities be reconciled with Saint Paul’s exhortation of obedience to them? The two are not at all in contradiction. Instead of controverting Christ, the underpinning context of Saint Paul’s exhortation of obedience to the laws of government stresses that the political process of the time of Jesus Christ did not produce God-anointed leaders. The leadership was questionable. With that reasoning, today’s leadership is even more questionable. The laws and policies made by the modern political process are, ejusdem generis, subject to questioning on the basis of, inter alia, the Christian morality prism.
Albeit not exhaustively argued, the four or so preceding paragraphs are meant to be a rudimentary depiction of the nature of the deductions sought from the literature you review. Whether you agree or disagree with the author of the opinion in those four paragraphs, you will need to revamp your position with themes, ideas or findings from other authors, the Bible, discipline-based (e.g. philosophy) literature, papal encyclicals as well as other authoritative publications of various Christian denominations on the pivotal departure or convergence between Christian morality and government laws. Better still, you are not bound to adopt the argument in the four paragraphs. You have the liberty to define your own fulcrum from which to launch your scathing criticism or corroboration with the individual policies or laws focusing on Christianity as the prism. The four paragraphs are merely intended to illustrate how to engage or distil the literature.
Where specific academic theories drive the individual studies/books reviewed, they enrich the analytical content of the researcher’s own dissertation. The challenge, though, is the justification of the selection of a particular theory to drive the dissertation in contrast to others that drive other studies/books covering the same subject and in similar circumstances. The application of a suitable academic theory, well-distinguished from or well-argued as corroborating with those in the reviewed literature, will produce a particularly very grounded dissertation in the current circumstances of this undertaking.
Distilling literature involves comparing and contrasting the different sources of ideas, lessons, data and information. After going through 30 such sources, one should be able to derive one’s own personal preliminary stand on the phenomenon of investigation. That is the objective of the prospectus. The preliminary position is to be corroborated or negated upon completing 200 pieces of literature. The erudite essay that does exactly that is the dissertation. In comparing and contrasting sources of literature, pay attention to:
Parallels: These are observations of phenomena that resemble each other but are not quite the same. It is a situation where phenomena are similar in some characteristics while dissimilar in other respects. For instance, it is quite common that dissimilar groups in society experience similar treatment. Dissimilar in characteristics, women and the disabled or children may suffer the same kind of discrimination. Bring out the dissimilarities and the basis for the similar treatment.
Confluence: This concerns instances of common characteristics and common treatment/lessons. It is about position/theme convergence. In the big picture of things, ferret out the read or thread that percolates through the references pertaining to the confluence.
Controversies: This relates to digging up discords or disagreements. It is not uncommon that authors face similar situations but come out with totally opposite conclusions based on their individual understanding of the Christian literature or theories or even the underlying contexts. Detail the differences and classify them because they provide the invaluable ramifications of theirs and your own conclusions.
Research Methods: Pay attention to the individual authors’ commonalties, differences and/or inconsistencies in research methods. A first level (primer) textbook of research methods will guide you in sorting out methodological differences. At this juncture, avoid advanced texts on research methods. Differences in research methods eradicate orange-apple comparisons, address generalizability of conclusions and sort out sweeping statements from reality.
“Non-Researched” Materials: Other than the acclaimed sources such as the inimitable works of Socrates or Plato, non-researched materials have to be used very sparingly. As a guide, assess the validity of assumptions underlying such materials and, in the case of facts/events/data, also the credibility of the author. A credibility gap, between a local newspaper and the United Nations, on reports of religious genocide of Christians, for example, can be expected.
Conclusions/Findings: This addresses the consistency between what the author found/concluded and the author’s own hypotheses. Though not common, the author may have set out to prove one thing but end up dwelling largely on tangents to the original issue. Tangents are issues remotely related to the author’s central theme. However, it is fun and excellent academics to spot and discuss such deficiencies.
The above itemization of what to look for in the literature that you review is essentially an indicative list. It is perfectly in order to focus also on other elements of academic value. The richer the content is the more erudite the essays, especially from a pioneering group like this. Feel proud in producing something to be quoted for centuries to come.
HYPOTHESIS/RESEARCH QUESTION(S):
After a thorough review of 30 items of literature, one will preliminarily deduce some explanation of the trends observed in the subject of investigation. If there are data and information that demonstrate a rise in the battles and ferocity between Christians and Moslems, one should preliminarily ascribe reasons or causes of such trends. As a basis for further investigation, statements that preliminarily puts forth associations between the subject of research and observable explanations are called hypotheses.
The exact nature of the association between explanatory variables and the subject or phenomenon of investigation can be tricky to define. Cause and effect relationships are often hard to delineate. It is difficult, for example, to say for certain that United States government welfare benefits are the cause of increased teen pregnancies or vice versa although statistical correlation analysis may easily determine a simultaneous rise in both among poor communities. At issue would be whether American teenagers engage in reckless sexual behavior because they know the government will take care of them and their babies or vice versa. Notice that a third variable, that of poverty or income levels, has been introduced into the picture and, a typical solution to the riddle is to deal with those variables with the strongest influence on teen pregnancies-i.e. those variables with high beta coefficients in a multiple regression model.
Moreover, a string of related variables, like education and Christian parenting or the lack of it, quickly emerge. Preliminarily, it sounds totally logical to propose that the lack of education leads to low incomes which, in turn, lead to a rise in social welfare spending which, in turn, drives up moral hazard detectable in increased teen pregnancy cases. In regression analysis, such a situation where the explanatory variables have a causal relationship between themselves is recognized as a multicolinearity problem. Similarly, for someone investigating Christian-Muslim conflicts, debunking the references to seemingly socioeconomic or political eruptions that divide communities along religious lines in Nigeria, colinearity may not entirely be avoided. Fortunately, there are quantitative (statistical) procedures developed to address colinearity.
Because this undertaking is based on a deductive second tier of secondary research-i.e. use of already concluded researches/books-the absence of raw primary data inhibits the use of statistical procedures. The way around this problem is to rely on confirmatory evidence based on the probabilistic concept of the law of large numbers. You now begin to appreciate why the requirement is 200 references at the minimum. While the 30 references serve to distil the hypotheses, the 200 plus references for the dissertation, including the initial 30, serve to confirm those preliminary findings stated in the prospectus. Hypothetically, it becomes quite believable when the majority of the 200 references point to differences, between the Yoruba and Igbo of Southern Nigeria, on the one hand, and the Hausa of Northern Nigeria on the other, in education together with the resulting income levels, as driving up Christian-Muslim conflicts.
Should one choose to work with less than the suggested 200 references, one will be required to justify the decision and clearly define the limitations of the conclusions reached using small sample statistical procedures. Any beginner’s statistics or sampling theory textbook discusses these procedures. The downside of a smaller sample, given the approach adopted in this undertaking, is a double jeopardy of ramifications. The research method adopted itself already poses constraints in interpreting results and adding more limitations, through sampling, may render one’s conclusions meaningless.
With that caveat on quantitative techniques in these circumstances, the most plausible approach remains that of a relatively wide reading to provide confirmatory evidence. The preceding discussion of co-linearity points to an alternative option to stating hypotheses. Instead of hypotheses, one has the option of stating research questions. Research questions are exploratory and are particularly suited to where the exact causal relationships are not easy to nail down even preliminarily. The questions are usually open-ended to allow brainstorming as many explanatory variables as possible. In the part on the choice of the subject, there is an example of such a research question.
RESEARCH METHOD
In the absence of prior preparation in research methodology, the entire dissertation exercise has no other choice but to adopt a derivative of secondary research that depends on deductions from already concluded researches, books or other published materials. Despite its weaknesses as compared to multi-method research, this exercise chooses to depend on evidence from secondary sources, particularly also that researchers are faced with stringent cost constraints. Resource constraint is an important factor that limits possibilities of using the multi-method research approach (Warwick, 1983:295).
Technically, secondary sources are only an aspect of secondary information, the others being secondary data and information stored in some retrievable form. Secondary data refer to the raw data whereas secondary sources refer to summaries from the raw data but in this exercise this fine distinction is overlooked because it tends to blur in practice (Stewart and Kamins, 1993:1-3). With field research supervision not practicable, availability of raw data on the undertaking’s areas of interest is out of question and thus the studies depend on published documents. For this purpose, the term documents means secondary sources comprising anything and everything from inimitable works related to religious disciplines, government reports, archived data sets, social agencies’ reports, articles in professional journals, other related studies, monographs, textbooks, as well as any written materials that may be used as information in the investigations.
As such these dissertations will be subject to potential conceptual limitations and detail-related problems inherent in the use of secondary information to draw lasting conclusions. The first conceptual limitation is that of validity. Several reasons can be identified that affect validity. Unlike in experimental design, there is a strong possibility of bias in selection of the documents since it is not possible to get a list of all documents published on the subjects, thereby, engendering a threat to internal validity. Because the documents will not be randomly sampled a serious threat to external validity exists.
Measures used in the documents consulted, at best, may approximate the measures and concepts the researcher is investigating. The discrepancy is a product of the differences in the objectives between the original study and the secondary research done to satisfy the requirements of the dissertation. The measures and concepts reflect the original purpose of the primary research or statistics compilation. Data retrieved from archives and other sources may often be aggregates which pose difficulties for any subsequent studies needing individual-observation apart from the potential of masking methodical problems in their collection (Babbie, 1995:325; Stewart and Kamins, 1993:6).
The second limitation this exercise faces is the reliability of the secondary sources. Conclusions drawn from any analysis of existing information and data depends heavily on the quality of such data or information (Jill Kielcolt and Nathan, 1985:14, Babbie, 1995:326). Like in historical or comparative research, secondary research needs to assess the credibility of the content of the written materials. In historical research the test relates to the manner the information was collected and corroboration of other sources is a criterion for credibility of documents (Babbie, 1995:333). Babbie (1995:332-333) suggests replication and logical reasoning to deal with validity and reliability of information but for this exercise, resource constraints militate against replication.
However, Babbie’s (1995:333-334) suggestion of searching for patterns among details coupled with corroboration of findings in the written materials to be used, just like in historical or comparative research, sounds pragmatic. Thus, this exercise depends on as many sources as obtained to corroborate individual facts, findings, observations, views and conclusions to improve on reliability. Because of the diversity of the sources of the evidence, this dissertation exercise expects differences between the documents in several dimensions. The key to dealing with the diversity remains, as Babbie (1995:333-334) suggested, in confirmatory evidence. Hence, writers are expected to consult not less than 200 references for their findings and conclusions to be both credible and reliable.
The second dimension relates to inclusion. Which documents are to be included is largely dependent on the conceptual definition adopted by the individual writers. In social sciences, the same concept may have varied meanings. It is imperative to be clear on the definitions of the topic and the related concepts one is investigating. Define the concepts as early as possible in both the prospectus and the dissertation itself.
Thirdly, previous researchers have had to grapple with striking the balance between breadth and depth of their studies. When perusing documents, one may find out that some studies were mere case studies that chose to test a large number of variables in a limited number of incidents or communities. Explanatory variables for Christian-Muslim clashes in a particular city, for example, may not all mirror entire states. Such clashes in that particular city are case studies. Furthermore, the clashes may occur in a particular year only. When they occur in a particular year only, they are said to be cross-sectional and when they recur for a number of years, they are longitudinal-processual. Case studies may be strong in validity but they may not be generalized. Generalizability, may be improved through panel studies-i.e. studies that cover a longer period-coupled with comparisons between similar case studies. Again, corroboration of findings by multiple-sources to enhance credibility stands out as the pragmatic way to go.
Although corroboration takes care of much of the problems of the quality of data and information, there may still be questions or differences about the given data or information that depends on differences in the original collection methods or sources. Hatry (1994:374-381) provides a guide of detail-related potential problems inherent in secondary sources and ways to alleviate such problems. Much will depend on the type of data or information needed by the individual write but one is urged to take a look at what Hatry (1994:374-381) provides to improve on the overall quality of the dissertation.
By design, all dissertations will mostly use electronic search for locating secondary data and information stored in university libraries and other research centers as well as in a number of survey archives available in the respective countries. Libraries have a wealth of information such as the doctoral dissertation abstracts or the social science index that contains entries on articles published in more than 300 journals useful in identification of relevant literature pertaining to the intended study. The compact disk read-only memory (i.e. CD-ROM) technology has made secondary data and information very easily accessible (Stewart and Kamins, 1993:2,12). As an advice, take it from one who has been there, it wont hurt befriending a librarian.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE PROSPECTUS
Having discussed the central elements of writing both the prospectus and the dissertation itself it is important to delve into the structure of the presentation of the prospectus. It cannot be stressed enough that the prospectus is the cornerstone of the exercise. It provides the roadmap for both the writer and the committee of professors reading, guiding and assessing the final output. Adjudged as satisfactory by the committee of professors, the prospectus becomes a quasi-contract that the writer will follow to the end. Changes may occur as the work progresses but only upon agreement with the faculty involved in supervising it.
All members of the faculty on the committee assigned to supervise the production of the dissertation shall sign its first page to signify its approval and acceptability for publication as an official production of the university. University academic standards require that the approval be done after its viva voce defense. Resources permitting, at this juncture, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University will pursue this policy to the full. As a guide to the process, the prospectus shall outline the following:
The Topic of investigation and the Author.
Introduction/Background to the Problem/Topic: Describe the circumstances, information, data surrounding the problem or topic of investigation. The description may include the macro (national and/or international), the meso (the intermediate level of analysis like a single state) and the micro (down to the very level of the particular interest) situation. The key is to ask oneself : What is it about the topic that attracted one’s attention?
Significance of the problem/topic: Briefly discuss why and to whom are the results of the study important or useful.Hypothesis/Research Question(s): The previous discussion has provided at length enough perspective on this aspect.
Research Method: Again, the previous discussion of this aspect has provided a thorough guide for this. Include ramifications of your investigation as well as definitions of the variables and measures of the phenomena. Ramifications provide the framework within which your story and its findings have to be understood. Clarity of variables addresses the way you measure things. How do you measure, for example, the ferocity of the Christian-Muslim clashes over time? Is it by the number of deaths or by the length of the battles or both?
An Outline of the Dissertation: This provides an understanding of the systematic coverage of the topic by individual chapters. Because of its importance this will be touched upon briefly below.
Bibliography/References: This is citation of the sources of your information and data. It will also be dealt with briefly below.
The prospectus is the architectural design of the dissertation. Almost half of the analytical challenge is accomplished by a thoroughly thought through prospectus. It is the blueprint of the entire work. A well-done prospectus permits easy classification of the major and the minor opinion positions on the matter thus making it easier to summarize the rest. Because of the low number of readings for the prospectus, it may be accomplished in three to four months. On basis of the subject preferences, the school will constitute the faculty committees and notify the individuals undertaking the dissertation work.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION
The outline of the contents of the dissertation follows the structure of professional writing. By chapters, spell out what the committee of professors should expect in the actual dissertation as:
Chapter One: Background/Introduction: Having covered more ground in literature, this is an expanded version of the same introductory part of the prospectus. It is about basic facts and information surrounding the problem or topic. Again, what is it that caught one’s eye about the situation? If this was done comprehensively in the prospectus, one just reproduces it in the dissertation. Do not forget to discuss the significance of the subject of the dissertation. Again, if this was adequately tackled in the prospectus, it will only be reproduced and expended. If anything, the preamble to this handout demonstrates this with the wider context and down to the Christian moral impetus for writing dissertations before delving into its process elements.
Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Research Method: Again, if this was comprehensively discussed in the prospectus, it will simply be reproduced and expanded after having covered more references. One begins to realize the importance of doing a thorough job at the prospectus stage.
Chapter Three: The Body: This is the essence of the study itself. It constitutes the summary of findings from the entire literature. At this point, one is summarizing and classifying the different positions of the authors of the 200 plus references consulted. At this point, clear sides to or schools of thought of the argument or issue emerge. At this point one discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each side/school of thought. It is not necessary that this be covered in one chapter. Captions and number of chapters depend on the number of themes reflecting the extensiveness of the subject of investigation.
Chapter Four: Conclusions and Recommendations: Where do you stand on the discourse or debate and why? Are you neutral and why? This is what makes the contribution to knowledge. Down the road your dissertation will also be referred to and a member of the next generation of dissertation researchers will determine to either side with you or oppose your position in the same manner that you did to others. If your position is robust, it will withstand criticism for a long time in the future.
Given its importance, try figure out preliminarily the contents of the dissertation in order to assist professors determine the direction of your discourse. You begin to realize the importance of a serious work on both the prospectus and the dissertation as well as your obvious authorship potential. In the professional world of academics, dissertations have been the backbone of many first books published by professors.
“Scripta manent”.
A BRIEF CAVEAT
Refrain completely from plagiarizing other people’s works. Plagiarism is when one copies, the whole or part of another’s work, without acknowledging that original author of the copied materials thereby putting the work forward as one’s own. Once detected, the offender loses the diploma immediately. Not only is it the highest form of academic dishonesty but, more seriously, plagiarism is legally prosecutable in courts. Remember to sparingly use verbatim quotes. Verbatim quotes are to be used only where they summarize the entire argument which, must be elaborated simultaneously.
As you embark on the dissertation work, remember the Chancellor’s message. Petrus Fidei Seminary & University is an arm of the Ecumenical Apostolic Church Diocese founded to build connecting bridges across denominations that believe in Jesus Christ. It is the mission of Petrus Fidei Seminary & University to advance knowledge upon which Christian faith is promoted. This school is a seminary first and a university second. It is in that vein that you are required, in your dissertation work, to focus on Christianity. The content of instructional materials is of the same level as in any reputable university. Bearing in mind the raison d’être of both the Ecumenical Apostolic Church Diocese and of its school, dissertations shall never be battle grounds of denominational partisanship. In writing, desist completely from Christian denominational divisiveness.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CITATION
There are various standard bibliographical citation formats in social sciences. However, each university/school or professional journal of an individual social science discipline selects one format. At Petrus Fidei Seminary & University, a distinction of formats is made between in-text and bibliographical appendix citations. In this school, in-text citation shall be of the format that specifies:
(Author’s last name, year:pages)
or in a running sentence,
Both these are illustrated in this discussion of the roadmap to the prospectus and the dissertation. You will notice that this format very closely approximates the biblical citations. The advantage from this is that professors and any interested individuals are easily able to check the accuracy of the idea/position/fact ascribed to the original author being cited in the dissertation. It provides a control against deception.
While some universities and professional journals permit footnotes, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University discourages the use of footnotes. No professor should have to chase around commentary pertaining to footnotes either at the end of a chapter or at the end of the entire dissertation. Any and every commentary on circumstances associated with the idea or opinion ascribed to the original author shall be summarized in the text proper at the very point where that author’s work is being referenced.
While the school is flexible on bibliographical formats to be used in the appendix, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University mandates that all bibliographical references be indicated at the very end of the entire dissertation and not after each chapter completed. Once again, it wont hurt to befriend a librarian because they are the experts of this aspect. Your local librarian will assist you with guidelines to social science citation formats as well as different reviews of available materials. However, it has to be emphasized that those reviews, sometimes conflicting, are opinions of the different reviewers and must be used as guides only. You are encouraged to have your own review of the same materials. Hereunder, please, find an example of referencing and, although not cited in the text, an example of bibliographical citation of electronic sources is provided at the end.
REFERENCES
Babbie, E. (1995). (7th ed.). The Practice of Social Research. New York, U.S.A.: Wadsworth Publishing Company, An International Thomson Publishing Company.
Hatry, H. P. (1994). Collecting Data from Agency Records. In Wholey, J. et al. (eds.). Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Jill Kiecolt, K. and Nathan, L. (1985). Secondary Analysis of Survey Data. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, Incorporated.
Stewart, D. W. and Kamins, M. A. (1993). (2nd ed.). Secondary Research: Information Sources and Methods. New Delhi: SAGE Publications, International Educational and Professional Publisher, Applied Social Research Series, Volume 4.
Thomas Nelson Bibles. (1994). The Holy Bible: New King James Version. United States of America: Thomas Nelson Incorporated.
Walker, W. A History of the Christian Church, (3rd Edition) rev. ed., Handy, R. T. (1970). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Warwick, D. P. (1983). On Methodological Integration in Social Research. In Bulmer, M. and Warwick, D. P. (eds.). Social Research in Developing Countries: Surveys and Censuses in the Third World. New York: John Wiley & Sons Limited.
Here’s an example of an electronic (internet) source citation:
The World Bank (1999). Private Sector Development: Small-and Medium-Scale Enterprise Development [Online]. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/privatesector/sme.htm [1999, February 8]
An Outline of the Dissertation: This provides an understanding of the systematic coverage of the topic by individual chapters. Because of its importance this will be touched upon briefly below.
Bibliography/References: This is citation of the sources of your information and data. It will also be dealt with briefly below.
The prospectus is the architectural design of the dissertation. Almost half of the analytical challenge is accomplished by a thoroughly thought through prospectus. It is the blueprint of the entire work. A well-done prospectus permits easy classification of the major and the minor opinion positions on the matter thus making it easier to summarize the rest. Because of the low number of readings for the prospectus, it may be accomplished in three to four months. On basis of the subject preferences, the school will constitute the faculty committees and notify the individuals undertaking the dissertation work.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION
The outline of the contents of the dissertation follows the structure of professional writing. By chapters, spell out what the committee of professors should expect in the actual dissertation as:
Chapter One: Background/Introduction: Having covered more ground in literature, this is an expanded version of the same introductory part of the prospectus. It is about basic facts and information surrounding the problem or topic. Again, what is it that caught one’s eye about the situation? If this was done comprehensively in the prospectus, one just reproduces it in the dissertation. Do not forget to discuss the significance of the subject of the dissertation. Again, if this was adequately tackled in the prospectus, it will only be reproduced and expended. If anything, the preamble to this handout demonstrates this with the wider context and down to the Christian moral impetus for writing dissertations before delving into its process elements.
Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Research Method: Again, if this was comprehensively discussed in the prospectus, it will simply be reproduced and expanded after having covered more references. One begins to realize the importance of doing a thorough job at the prospectus stage.
Chapter Three: The Body: This is the essence of the study itself. It constitutes the summary of findings from the entire literature. At this point, one is summarizing and classifying the different positions of the authors of the 200 plus references consulted. At this point, clear sides to or schools of thought of the argument or issue emerge. At this point one discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each side/school of thought. It is not necessary that this be covered in one chapter. Captions and number of chapters depend on the number of themes reflecting the extensiveness of the subject of investigation.
Chapter Four: Conclusions and Recommendations: Where do you stand on the discourse or debate and why? Are you neutral and why? This is what makes the contribution to knowledge. Down the road your dissertation will also be referred to and a member of the next generation of dissertation researchers will determine to either side with you or oppose your position in the same manner that you did to others. If your position is robust, it will withstand criticism for a long time in the future.
Given its importance, try figure out preliminarily the contents of the dissertation in order to assist professors determine the direction of your discourse. You begin to realize the importance of a serious work on both the prospectus and the dissertation as well as your obvious authorship potential. In the professional world of academics, dissertations have been the backbone of many first books published by professors.
“Scripta manent”.
A BRIEF CAVEAT
Refrain completely from plagiarizing other people’s works. Plagiarism is when one copies, the whole or part of another’s work, without acknowledging that original author of the copied materials thereby putting the work forward as one’s own. Once detected, the offender loses the diploma immediately. Not only is it the highest form of academic dishonesty but, more seriously, plagiarism is legally prosecutable in courts. Remember to sparingly use verbatim quotes. Verbatim quotes are to be used only where they summarize the entire argument which, must be elaborated simultaneously.
As you embark on the dissertation work, remember the Chancellor’s message. Petrus Fidei Seminary & University is an arm of the Ecumenical Apostolic Church Diocese founded to build connecting bridges across denominations that believe in Jesus Christ. It is the mission of Petrus Fidei Seminary & University to advance knowledge upon which Christian faith is promoted. This school is a seminary first and a university second. It is in that vein that you are required, in your dissertation work, to focus on Christianity. The content of instructional materials is of the same level as in any reputable university. Bearing in mind the raison d’être of both the Ecumenical Apostolic Church Diocese and of its school, dissertations shall never be battle grounds of denominational partisanship. In writing, desist completely from Christian denominational divisiveness.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CITATION
There are various standard bibliographical citation formats in social sciences. However, each university/school or professional journal of an individual social science discipline selects one format. At Petrus Fidei Seminary & University, a distinction of formats is made between in-text and bibliographical appendix citations. In this school, in-text citation shall be of the format that specifies:
(Author’s last name, year:pages)
or in a running sentence,
Both these are illustrated in this discussion of the roadmap to the prospectus and the dissertation. You will notice that this format very closely approximates the biblical citations. The advantage from this is that professors and any interested individuals are easily able to check the accuracy of the idea/position/fact ascribed to the original author being cited in the dissertation. It provides a control against deception.
While some universities and professional journals permit footnotes, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University discourages the use of footnotes. No professor should have to chase around commentary pertaining to footnotes either at the end of a chapter or at the end of the entire dissertation. Any and every commentary on circumstances associated with the idea or opinion ascribed to the original author shall be summarized in the text proper at the very point where that author’s work is being referenced.
While the school is flexible on bibliographical formats to be used in the appendix, Petrus Fidei Seminary & University mandates that all bibliographical references be indicated at the very end of the entire dissertation and not after each chapter completed. Once again, it wont hurt to befriend a librarian because they are the experts of this aspect. Your local librarian will assist you with guidelines to social science citation formats as well as different reviews of available materials. However, it has to be emphasized that those reviews, sometimes conflicting, are opinions of the different reviewers and must be used as guides only. You are encouraged to have your own review of the same materials. Hereunder, please, find an example of referencing and, although not cited in the text, an example of bibliographical citation of electronic sources is provided at the end.
REFERENCES
Babbie, E. (1995). (7th ed.). The Practice of Social Research. New York, U.S.A.: Wadsworth Publishing Company, An International Thomson Publishing Company.
Hatry, H. P. (1994). Collecting Data from Agency Records. In Wholey, J. et al. (eds.). Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Jill Kiecolt, K. and Nathan, L. (1985). Secondary Analysis of Survey Data. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, Incorporated.
Stewart, D. W. and Kamins, M. A. (1993). (2nd ed.). Secondary Research: Information Sources and Methods. New Delhi: SAGE Publications, International Educational and Professional Publisher, Applied Social Research Series, Volume 4.
Thomas Nelson Bibles. (1994). The Holy Bible: New King James Version. United States of America: Thomas Nelson Incorporated.
Walker, W. A History of the Christian Church, (3rd Edition) rev. ed., Handy, R. T. (1970). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Warwick, D. P. (1983). On Methodological Integration in Social Research. In Bulmer, M. and Warwick, D. P. (eds.). Social Research in Developing Countries: Surveys and Censuses in the Third World. New York: John Wiley & Sons Limited.
Here’s an example of an electronic (internet) source citation:
The World Bank (1999). Private Sector Development: Small-and Medium-Scale Enterprise Development [Online]. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/privatesector/sme.htm [1999, February 8]
DISSERTATION OUTLINE:
By
Dr. Steven Cambio
A Dissertation stands as the final requirement for the Ph.D. degree. It represents an original and substantive contribution to its field and grows out of sustained thought, research, consultation, and writing, typically taking 18-24 months to complete.
SELECTING A DISSERTATION TOPIC
Students are encouraged to begin thinking about their dissertations as early as possible.
Use Early Coursework: Students may plan coursework and paper topics to explore possible dissertation topics
Solicit Advice: Students may consult with faculty members, who are willing to brainstorm with students about how to frame a dissertation topic as a research question so that it results in a thesis contributing to on-going scholarly conversations.
WRITING THE DISSERTATION
When writing the dissertation, students follow the steps so as to finish their dissertations in a timely fashion and in accordance with the Graduate School's Dissertation Directives Select Director: Students select directors who are knowledgeable in students' chosen fields and who are people with whom students can have a comfortable and productive working relationship. Directors read early drafts of dissertation chapters, determine when chapters are ready to be given to other committee members, and conduct 2-hour oral dissertation defenses, including overseeing completion of required paperwork.
Select Committee Members: Students, in consultation with directors, set up dissertation committees consisting of the director and two faculty readers. Readers provide feedback on later drafts of dissertation chapters, consult with directors on a dissertation's readiness for defense, and participate in a 2-hour oral dissertation defense.
Submit Dissertation Outline: The dissertation outline should be written in English 8830 and approved in the DqE. The dissertation outline, which frequently undergoes revision in response to suggestions from the DqE and dissertation committees, should be submitted to the Graduate School no later than a couple months after the DqE has been passed. Although dissertations often diverge from particulars in the dissertation outline, the outline enables students to begin with clear arguments and methods that can serve as a reference for all subsequent efforts on the dissertation.
Consult regularly with Director: Successful and timely completion of the dissertation within 18-24 months depends on students' sustained work, including remaining in close consultation with directors. At least one formal communication per month is recommended, and more frequent meetings, phone calls, and email exchanges are helpful. In these communications, directors and students discuss students' reading, writing, and general progress. Directors may suggest or require certain avenues of inquiry, set deadlines, and read initial drafts of dissertation chapters. These initial drafts represent students' best current efforts; as such, they are crafted pieces of writing with complete citations, not hastily-composed or casual rough drafts. Directors read the initial drafts in a timely fashion and return them to students with suggestions for revision.
Consult Committee Members: Directors may seek advice from two readers about initial drafts or wait until initial drafts have been revised. Although readers typically communicate formal responses to students through directors, students should feel free to call on the expertise of the readers at any time.
Schedule the Dissertation Defense: Once directors and committee members approve dissertations, public defenses may be scheduled. Advisers should submit the English Department Dissertation Checklist to the English Director of Graduate Studies. At least four weeks before the defense, students prepare a Dissertation Defense Program for the Graduate School, together with a Graduate School Dissertation Checklist and an Announcement for Public Defense Members of the dissertation committee must sign the Announcement, indicating that they have approved a final version of the dissertation and agree on the defense date.
DEFENDING THE DISSERTATION
Students defend their dissertations in a two-hour oral exam.
Prepare for the Dissertation Defense: Students plan to undertake their defenses no later than a month prior to graduation. Students are responsible for presenting each member of the committee with a clean copy of the final version in ample time to insure its reading before the scheduled date of the defense.
Pass the Dissertation Defense: Students defend their dissertations by answering questions posed by committee members about the dissertations' claims, methods, and potential for publication. At the conclusion of defenses, committee members vote on whether to accept the dissertations. To pass, a dissertation must receive a vote of 3-0 or 2-1. Committees may pass a dissertation as is or require minor revisions before students submit final drafts to the Graduate School. The committee will fill out a Dissertation Assessment, to be handed in to the departmental director of graduate studies, and a Graduate School Dissertation Checklist for submitting the final draft, available from the Graduate School. Directors fill out the Dissertation Approval Form.
IV. FACULTY AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Although faculty directors and readers offer advice and encouragement, students ultimately write their own dissertations. Consequently, the primary responsibility for completing the dissertation rests with students; as such, the dissertation process trains students in the research habits needed for successful academic careers.
Even though students have four years beyond the M.A. to complete their coursework, DqE, and dissertations, the department does all it can to insure that students complete their work even faster. The goal of directors and readers has always been to facilitate students' work in ways that produce the best possible dissertations. Our department's record of degree completion and its academic placement attest to the success of faculty and students in achieving this goal.
Copyright © 2009 The President and Fellows of Petrus Fidei Seminary & University.
By
Dr. Steven Cambio
A Dissertation stands as the final requirement for the Ph.D. degree. It represents an original and substantive contribution to its field and grows out of sustained thought, research, consultation, and writing, typically taking 18-24 months to complete.
SELECTING A DISSERTATION TOPIC
Students are encouraged to begin thinking about their dissertations as early as possible.
Use Early Coursework: Students may plan coursework and paper topics to explore possible dissertation topics
Solicit Advice: Students may consult with faculty members, who are willing to brainstorm with students about how to frame a dissertation topic as a research question so that it results in a thesis contributing to on-going scholarly conversations.
WRITING THE DISSERTATION
When writing the dissertation, students follow the steps so as to finish their dissertations in a timely fashion and in accordance with the Graduate School's Dissertation Directives Select Director: Students select directors who are knowledgeable in students' chosen fields and who are people with whom students can have a comfortable and productive working relationship. Directors read early drafts of dissertation chapters, determine when chapters are ready to be given to other committee members, and conduct 2-hour oral dissertation defenses, including overseeing completion of required paperwork.
Select Committee Members: Students, in consultation with directors, set up dissertation committees consisting of the director and two faculty readers. Readers provide feedback on later drafts of dissertation chapters, consult with directors on a dissertation's readiness for defense, and participate in a 2-hour oral dissertation defense.
Submit Dissertation Outline: The dissertation outline should be written in English 8830 and approved in the DqE. The dissertation outline, which frequently undergoes revision in response to suggestions from the DqE and dissertation committees, should be submitted to the Graduate School no later than a couple months after the DqE has been passed. Although dissertations often diverge from particulars in the dissertation outline, the outline enables students to begin with clear arguments and methods that can serve as a reference for all subsequent efforts on the dissertation.
Consult regularly with Director: Successful and timely completion of the dissertation within 18-24 months depends on students' sustained work, including remaining in close consultation with directors. At least one formal communication per month is recommended, and more frequent meetings, phone calls, and email exchanges are helpful. In these communications, directors and students discuss students' reading, writing, and general progress. Directors may suggest or require certain avenues of inquiry, set deadlines, and read initial drafts of dissertation chapters. These initial drafts represent students' best current efforts; as such, they are crafted pieces of writing with complete citations, not hastily-composed or casual rough drafts. Directors read the initial drafts in a timely fashion and return them to students with suggestions for revision.
Consult Committee Members: Directors may seek advice from two readers about initial drafts or wait until initial drafts have been revised. Although readers typically communicate formal responses to students through directors, students should feel free to call on the expertise of the readers at any time.
Schedule the Dissertation Defense: Once directors and committee members approve dissertations, public defenses may be scheduled. Advisers should submit the English Department Dissertation Checklist to the English Director of Graduate Studies. At least four weeks before the defense, students prepare a Dissertation Defense Program for the Graduate School, together with a Graduate School Dissertation Checklist and an Announcement for Public Defense Members of the dissertation committee must sign the Announcement, indicating that they have approved a final version of the dissertation and agree on the defense date.
DEFENDING THE DISSERTATION
Students defend their dissertations in a two-hour oral exam.
Prepare for the Dissertation Defense: Students plan to undertake their defenses no later than a month prior to graduation. Students are responsible for presenting each member of the committee with a clean copy of the final version in ample time to insure its reading before the scheduled date of the defense.
Pass the Dissertation Defense: Students defend their dissertations by answering questions posed by committee members about the dissertations' claims, methods, and potential for publication. At the conclusion of defenses, committee members vote on whether to accept the dissertations. To pass, a dissertation must receive a vote of 3-0 or 2-1. Committees may pass a dissertation as is or require minor revisions before students submit final drafts to the Graduate School. The committee will fill out a Dissertation Assessment, to be handed in to the departmental director of graduate studies, and a Graduate School Dissertation Checklist for submitting the final draft, available from the Graduate School. Directors fill out the Dissertation Approval Form.
IV. FACULTY AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Although faculty directors and readers offer advice and encouragement, students ultimately write their own dissertations. Consequently, the primary responsibility for completing the dissertation rests with students; as such, the dissertation process trains students in the research habits needed for successful academic careers.
Even though students have four years beyond the M.A. to complete their coursework, DqE, and dissertations, the department does all it can to insure that students complete their work even faster. The goal of directors and readers has always been to facilitate students' work in ways that produce the best possible dissertations. Our department's record of degree completion and its academic placement attest to the success of faculty and students in achieving this goal.
Copyright © 2009 The President and Fellows of Petrus Fidei Seminary & University.
Petrus Fidei
Seminary & University
Seminary & University
Ecclesiam Dei Fide Aedificabo
Dissertation info.
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