Top 10 Reasons Dissertations Fail
Top 10 Reasons Dissertations Do Not Pass on Their First Review by the Dean
Lack of adherence to the guidelines for content development and presentation prescribed by the APA manual. These violations take many forms, including the following:
o Lack of appropriate structure
o Incorrect labeling of figure and table captions
o Incorrect spacing in content and in quotations
o Paragraph imbalance
o Inconsistent use of third-person point of view
Lack of scholarly writing in presenting the research for a reading audience of academics. Writing is not succinct, and poor word choices are inherent. Too much information not related to the overall purpose of the study is added.
Lack of alignment exists from the problem statement to purpose statement to research questions to hypotheses to data analysis to findings, recommendations, and conclusions. The entire dissertation is not aligned well from Chapter 1 through Chapter 5:
o Chapter 1 Introduction
o Chapter 2 Literature Review
o Chapter 3 Method
o Chapter 4 Results
o Chapter 5 Conclusion and Recommendations
Lack of development in Chapter 2 to fully reflect the breadth and depth of the study's purpose, including the variables, locations of study, and unit of analysis.
Lack of balance in Chapter 2 in that the dependent variable or one of the independent variables is elaborated on to a much greater extent than the others.
Lack of tie-in near the end of Chapter 2 regarding how all the variables, location of the study, and unit of analysis are interrelated, thus indicating the complete application of the material to the study.
Lack of consistent, complete presentation of data in Chapter 4. Presentation data does not follow a logical pattern and/or does not support the text.
Lack of a complete Chapter 5 in that it inadequately relates the study's findings to the required elements of the conclusion and recommendations.
Lack of adequate evidence regarding the significant and substantial aspects of the dissertation in both Chapter 1 and Chapter 5, which is a reflection of the doctoral candidate's lack of passion for the study.
Lack of consistency in the type and amount of work that committee members contributed to the process as evidenced by the state of the dissertation.
~UOPX SAS Team
