Nurse Scientist Educator PhD

Required Courses

• NUR 780 - Doctoral Seminar I variable credits
• NUR 785 - Doctoral Dissertation Research variable credits

Disseration Proposal

The dissertation research proposal is submitted in Fall of Year 3 by December 1.  All dissertation work follows the format of the American Psychological Association Manual for Publication, 5th Ed. and the  relevant University guidelines in Requirements for  Theses and Dissertations available at http://www.umassd.edu/graduate/administration.cfm . Although the length of the proposal will vary with the candidate and the topic, the proposal must include the following elements: 

• cover page
• table of contents
• 300-400 word abstract
• introduction that clearly states the problem, establishes its significance, states the research questions to be examined or the hypotheses to be tested
• clear statement of the conceptual-theoretical-empirical structure that will guide the research
• critical review of the literature that synthesizes the current research on the problem, explores related bodies of knowledge that contribute to the understanding of the problem, and explores the theoretical framework of the study
• thorough description of the methodology including research design, a description of the study population and sample, a plan to access the study population, human subjects considerations, data collection methods, and the plan for data analysis
• work plan that identifies needed resources, indicates how they will be obtained, and presents a realistic time line for data collection and analysis
• references
• appendices with informed consent letters and instruments

The candidate works closely with the chair of the committee. Together they decide when to forward the draft proposal to the entire committee for review.  After review, the candidate and the chair review the committee members’ recommendations and make necessary adjustments to the proposal.  The chair schedules a proposal hearing. Three weeks prior to the scheduled hearing the final draft of the proposal must be received by all committee members. All members of the committee are expected read the proposal, forward any questions to the full committee and the candidate 72 hours in advance of the proposal hearing , and attend the proposal hearing. Following the hearing, the committee meets in executive session and makes one of four determinations regarding the proposal:  1) approve; 2) approve subject to minor changes; 3) action deferred pending major revisions; and 4) disapprove.  In the case of approval, the candidate may proceed with the dissertation. In the case of approval with minor revisions, the candidate need only resubmit the revised proposal to the chair and any other specified committee members.  Once approved, the chair forwards two (2) copies of the proposal to the Graduate Program Director with a letter stating that all minor revisions have been satisfactorily completed.          In the case of major revisions, the candidate must resubmit the proposal to all committee members. The candidate must complete both minor and major revisions within three months. In the rare case of a rejection, the committee will meet with the candidate and decide how to proceed. 

The Dissertation

The candidate works closely with the chair and other appropriate committee members throughout the data collection, data analysis and final writing phases of the dissertation. The candidate should expect repeated iterations of the dissertation to accommodate the committee chair’s and members’ input and guidance.

The dissertation contains all of the elements listed under Dissertation Proposal above. In addition, the methods section is revised to report the actual protocol for data collection and analysis. The following content areas are added to the dissertation manuscript:

• Findings
• Identify new and/or confirmed knowledge
• Relate this new knowledge to the research question(s), theoretical framework and previous literature discussed earlier in the paper
• Identify limitation of the data / study
• Summarize the findings
• Discuss implications of these findings for nursing science, practice, and education
• Identify further research questions that arise this study

Dissertation Defense

A dissertation defense is scheduled by the committee chair after the committee members agree that the dissertation is sufficiently complete to undergo defense. Three weeks prior to the scheduled defense the final draft of the dissertation is delivered to all committee members. All members of the committee are expected to read the dissertation, forward any questions to the candidate and the committee at least 72 hours in advance of the scheduled dissertation defense and attend the dissertation defense hearing.

Committee Determination

Following the dissertation defense, the dissertation committee meets in executive session and makes one of two determinations: 1) approve; or 2) approve subject to minor changes. In the case of approval, the chair forwards two copies of the dissertation cover sheet to the graduate program director and the candidate can prepare the dissertation for binding and microfilming.

In the case of approval with minor revisions, the candidate need only submit the revised dissertation to the chair and any other specified committee members. Once approved, the chair forwards two copies of the dissertation cover sheet to the graduate program director and the candidate can prepare the dissertation for binding and microfilming. The dissertation manuscript must conform to Requirements for Theses & Dissertations at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth: see http://www/umassd.edu/gradaute/administration.cfm . The College of Nursing has designated the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Ed. as the format for organization, tables, illustrations and references. Students must pay particular attention to deadlines and the timing of their dissertation defense hearing to allow enough time for a completed manuscript to be filed prior to Commencement exercises.