The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty

The five-chapter social science dissertation generally reigns supreme. However, an increasing number of doctoral candidates are already professionals in their field, and are eager to work on action dissertations, those in which research participants are either in control of the research or are involved with designing and creating methodology for it. Faced with this fundamental shift in expectations, review committees need to assure themselves that action dissertations contain the equivalent acad…