Most of the work on this project is completed during the summer following the first year. Students present the results of their research during the second year of the program. The second research paper is due at the beginning of the students third year. It follows the same process as the first year paper but requires the collection and analysis of original data. This paper advances the student's research capabilities and generally leads to the research topic for the doctoral dissertation.
Students present the second research paper to the faculty and other Ph.D. students.
The dissertation is an original project that adheres to high standards of exposition, contributes to knowledge in the field of marketing and demonstrates an ability to conduct independent research. Students are responsible for identifying their area of research and work informally with faculty in developing their topic and project. When the project is well defined, the student forms a dissertation committee that typically consists of a faculty advisor, two other faculty from the Lundquist College and one faculty from another college of the university. The student presents a dissertation proposal to the faculty and other Ph.D. students after the dissertation committee agrees that a suitable topic has been chosen and an effective research design has been developed. Ideally, the dissertation proposal is defended in the spring of the third year of the program.