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All doctoral
students are required to complete a dissertation – an empirical research
project that contributes to the theory or practice of psychology. This is
generally achieved through consideration of a problem on the boundaries of
knowledge in the field. The dissertation is an empirical project that
involves the formulation of a research question or problem, the design of
a study to answer the question, the collection and analysis of data, and
the interpretation of this data in light of the research question |
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The Dissertation Process |
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In order to assist students in developing a plan for
managing their time during the last semester of their studies, a
Dissertation Checklist has been created. Students are
strongly encouraged to use this checklist to map out the various stages
of the Dissertation and Graduation process. |
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Selecting a
Dissertation Chair and Committee |
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The
dissertation chair works with the student in developing and
focusing the research problem or question. The dissertation committee
(sometimes referred to as the Doctoral Supervisory Committee)
consists of three persons, including the dissertation chair. The
dissertation chair must be a full-time faculty member in the Psychology
Department. Students in the Clinical concentration must have a
clinical faculty member serve as their dissertation chair. At least
one of the remaining two members must also hold a full-time faculty appointment in the Psychology
Department. The third
member is part of the Mason community but must not a member of the
Psychology Department. The task of this group is to provide advice and
consultation at all stages of the dissertation. With the guidance of the
dissertation chair, the student
should formally request faculty members to serve on their committee. Program
Coordinator's must approve each committee makeup and may do so via
E-Mail. A copy of this approval should be forwarded via E-Mail to
Darby Wiggins in the Graduate Programs Office. Once received, a formal
letter requesting the constitution of the students' dissertation committee
will be sent to the CHSS Office of Graduate Academic Affairs, where it will be
evaluated and approved by the Dean. All committee members will be notified via U.S. Mail of their
appointment and responsibilities. |
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Registering for
Dissertation Credits
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When a student
is ready to register for Proposal or Dissertation credits, they should
E-Mail Darby
Wiggins to obtain the PSYC 998/999 registration code that
corresponds to their dissertation chair's last name. The Psychology
Department requires a minimum of 12 hours combined total of dissertation credit. This includes a minimum of 3 hours of Dissertation Proposal (PSYC 998) and
a minimum of 3 hours of Dissertation (PSYC 999). No more than 24 hours of
998/999 can be counted toward degree requirements.
Once a student begins registering for dissertation
(999) they must maintain continuous enrolment until graduation - even
while enrolled in required Internships/Externships/Practicum.
Students must register for 3 or more credits of
dissertation (999) each semester they are eligible to, with the exception
of the summer term, until they have reached the 12 combined hours.
Students will then be permitted to enroll in 1 credit of dissertation
(999) thereafter and be certified as full-time. |
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The Dissertation
Proposal Defense |
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The dissertation proposal must be
presented to the dissertation committee for approval. This
presentation is open to anyone who wishes to attend and should therefore
be announced by the department. The student should discuss the
procedure for this presentation with his/her dissertation chair.
When the
chair agrees that the rough draft proposal is far enough
along, the draft is distributed to the entire committee at least 2
weeks before the anticipated proposal defense date. Once all committee members
have agreed that the proposal is at the stage were it can be successfully defended, the
student may schedule their dissertation proposal defense. The proposal
defense meeting approves or directs changes in the scope and design of
dissertation, with feedback on what changes are required before final
approval. Students should
submit a copy of their proposal along with their signed Dissertation
Proposal Signature Sheets to the Graduate Programs Office for the Assoc.
Chair for Graduate Studies to review. Copies of the signature sheets will
be forwarded to the CHSS Office of Graduate Academic Affairs. Students who have
successfully proposed, may register for dissertation credit, PSYC 999, in
the semester immediately following the term in which they proposed. |
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The Dissertation Defense |
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Approval of the final dissertation is
contingent upon passing an oral defense of the dissertation before the
committee. The oral defense of the dissertation is the final
demonstration that the doctoral candidate has mastered the content and
research methods of the discipline. Prior to the defense, the
student must complete the
Approval
to Defend Form before
he/she will be allowed to set a date for the defense. Students may submit
this form either in person or via E-Mail to the Graduate Programs Office. A dissertation committee member who signs this form agrees that he/she (1)
has carefully read the dissertation; (2) finds the analysis and
interpretation of the data appropriate; (3) does not anticipate that
major changes will be necessary, and (4) believes that approval
of the dissertation is conditional on only minor corrections and a
successful defense.
It is
customary to give the committee members at least two weeks to read
the dissertation prior to the signing of the Approval to Defend Form. The
Assoc. Chair for Graduate Studies will require at least two days to review
the dissertation prior to signing the Approval to Defend Form.
Notice of a defense
must be circulated to the university community no less than 2 weeks before the defense
date therefore, students are required to provide, via the Graduate
Programs Office, the following information no less than 2 weeks
prior to the defense: (1) full name; (2) defense date; (3)
begin/end time;
(4) location (including room number); (5) names of all Committee members;
(6) title and; (7) abstract. To reserve a room, student should
contact Sara
Montiel. |
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Dissertation Formatting |
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Theses are subject to format review by the
Dissertation and Thesis Coordinator 1 to 2 months before final submission. During the format review,
the Coordinator examines the component parts of the dissertation (the
preliminary pages, figures and tables, if any, and the text) for
compliance with GMU regulations for appearance and layout. Finally,
students learn more about the new electronic, Edt@Mason
submission method.
*It
is highly recommended that you submit your work for format review (even if
it is not your final version) as early as possible so as to avoid
end-of-semester delays. |
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Dissertation Submission |
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For more information on dissertation submission methods, please visit
the
Dissertation and Thesis Submission webpage |
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Additionally, the Psychology Department
requires that you provide them with an electronic copy of your entire copy
of your dissertation. Submission via email is preferred as is PDF format. |
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Submission deadlines are as follows: 5 P.M. on
the Friday before the last day of Spring Semester classes as published in
the
Schedule of Classes for May
graduation and participation in Commencement Ceremony and 5 P.M. on the
Friday before the last day of Summer Term or Fall Semester classes for
August or January graduation, respectively. For more information on
submitting your thesis and the documentation involved, please click on the
following:
Doctoral Program Handbook - A Guide to Time
Management.
For more information on due dates, please visit the
CHSS Webpage. |
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