| Statement of the problem. The purposes of this study were: (1) to identify the greatest obstacles to completion of the dissertation, (2) to identify the factors or circumstances which may be effective in facilitating students' progress on the dissertation, and (3) to ascertain doctoral students' attitudes or beliefs toward their dissertation experience, specifically, toward the dissertation itself, their dissertation committee chairperson and dissertation committee members.; Procedure. A survey was conducted of EdDs and ABDs at Pepperdine University. Seventy-five percent of the EdD respondents and sixty-five percent of the ABD respondents provided data for this analysis.; Each respondent was provided a packet of materials describing the purposes of the study and a survey instrument developed for the study. The instrument collected demographic information, responses to 22 attitudinal statements relating to obstacles to completion of the dissertation, and responses to 17 attitudinal statements relating to the dissertation and the dissertation committee chairperson and members. Two open-ended questions, relating to factors which impede and/or facilitate progress on the dissertation, were also provided on the survey instrument. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted of three ABD and three EdD respondents.; Findings. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results of each survey item's rating. The findings of these analyses revealed that the greatest obstacles to completion of the dissertation, as perceived by the majority of the total respondents, were: (1) full-time employment, and (2) the lack of structure of the dissertation phase. Additional obstacles surfaced as a result of the qualitative analyses of the open-ended question and interviews. Overall, the EdD respondents, in comparison to the ABD respondents, identified fewer obstacles.; Likewise, the similar results of the statistical analyses conducted on each survey item revealed that the EdD respondents, for all items, have a more positive attitude than the ABD respondents toward their dissertation experience, although this finding was not always statistically significant. Overall, however, both groups of respondents have a favorable attitude toward their dissertation experience.; The top recommendations for facilitating progress on the dissertation offered by the respondents were: (1) to carefully select the dissertation committee chairperson, (2) to begin the dissertation early, and (3) to establish a timetable and stick to it. |
