Health Professions Division Dissertation Guide

16 (includes advertising/recruiting subjects), data analyses, completion of the dissertation report, dissertation defense, and graduation. Note that the candidate will not be held accountable to meeting milestone dates, but the timeline can be useful as a guide for the committee chair and the candidate in planning the dissertation phases. The timeline also has realistic target dates for the candidate and chair. Timelines can be adjusted or revised during the proposal and studyphases, and agreed upon objectives and tasks for each upcoming term should also be documented. Outline and Format The following outline and instructions must be followed unless the proposal is of a qualitative nature, which requires a different format, which is described, beginning on page 31. The details for the front and back matter for the proposal are the same for quantitative and qualitative studies. The candidate should refer to him/herself as “the investigator” and refer to his/her study as the “dissertation study” to be clear in distinguishing the dissertation study from studies in the literature used to support points made. The dissertation proposal is composed of the first three of the five chapters that make up the final dissertation report. The outline for the formal dissertation proposal follows: Front Matter These pages are not numbered 1. Title Page. 2. Signature Page 3. Abstract 4. Table of Contents 5. List of Tables 6. List of Figures The Text Start the page numbering with the first page of Chapter 1, according to APA or AMA style. Each chapter starts on a new page. Chapter 1: Introduction (The chapter identifier is a level one heading.) This chapter includes the following topics, and the level one headings and subheadings for the chapter may be derived from the topics. The following headings are suggested headings for level one and level two. Make adjustments as needed to fit the candidate’s study. Use the present tense. Use the past tense when referring to studies from the literature. Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction to the Chapter Summary of the information to be presented