This presentation constitutes the oral examination requirement of the program. This first course in the three-course Dissertation Development sequence provides the framework for implementing a research idea and writing the concept paper, which serves as the basis for the dissertation proposal. The focus of the first course is on working with one's research question, writing an Introduction, and outlining the Brief Review of the Literature for the concept paper. Students also work on understanding and mastering American Psychological Association style. The second course in this sequence focuses on drafting the Brief Review of the Literature, Statement of the Problem, and Method sections of the concept paper.
Students also learn about strategies and techniques for conducting library research in psychology.
At the end of this class, students should have a draft of a complete concept paper. The third course in this sequence focuses on finalizing the concept paper and submitting it to members of the research faculty and to the Ph.D. administration for approval. The final summer term is devoted to an individualized project in the service of beginning the work of the dissertation. For some students this will be a further opportunity to write a concept paper. For students who have already completed the concept paper, a project will be undertaken which will deepen awareness of the vocational and transferential aspects of their particular research and locate it in the larger frame of academic scholarship.