Ph.D. in Special Education - Dissertation Proposal and Defense

Typically during the first year of candidacy students are required to submit a dissertation proposal to their Dissertation Committee and to submit the accompanying "Dissertation Prospectus Approval" form to the Graduate College. This proposal includes an introduction, review of the literature, and a discussion of study methods. It is important that the candidate develop the proposal with sufficient detail to ensure that the Dissertation Committee can determine that the study is a logical extension of current research; not merely a replication of already published work nor a premature effort to test an under-developed hypothesis. Further, it is important that the Dissertation Committee gain a sense that the student has a comprehensive understanding of the scope and complexity of the proposed area of study. To accomplish these goals, a comprehensive literature review is essential. Additionally, the proposal should include sufficient detail in discussion of methods to ensure that the student and each member of the committee agree to the research questions and/or hypotheses, the exact procedures for the study, and how the data are to be collected and analyzed.

Approximately two weeks after this proposal is submitted to the Dissertation Committee, the committee will meet with the student to accept or reject it, as well as to provide a critique of its relative strengths and weaknesses. If approved, an abbreviated form of the proposal is submitted to the UNLV Social Sciences Institutional Review Board. Before any research with human subjects is undertaken, approval must be given by the UNLV Social Sciences Institutional Review Board for the protection of human subjects. In order to gain Board approval, the student and Advisor must jointly submit a protocol that describes the research questions, methods and procedures for the protection of human subjects. The Advisor's and student's Certificates of Completion, Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams, National Institutes for Health must accompany the protocol. Upon completion of the full dissertation, an oral defense will be scheduled and carried out in accordance with Graduate College policies for thesis and dissertation completion.