Prospectus and Dissertation

Forming a Dissertation Committee

The dissertation committee must be approved by the Graduate School.

Please note: the committee must also include one member from an outside discipline. For example: a Professor of Sociology at Boston College would not be considered an outside member. A Professor of Economics at UMass would be qualified to serve as an outside member.

Please inform the GPM with the names of your committee members as early as possible. Committee members should be submitted BEFORE the prospectus defense. All members from outside of UMass must be granted Graduate Faculty Status, which can be a lengthy process.

Once committees are established, they can be changed. Please inform the GPM ASAP if your committee changes. 

For more information on Graduate Faculty Status, click here Links to an external site..


Prospectus & Dissertation

Below you will find readings about how to write a strong prospectus and dissertation, the link to the graduate school forms you'll need, and work done by previous students in the department. 

Please remember to download and fill out the necessary forms and cover page, as described below. Please make sure to fill them out and email them to the GPM. The GPM will take care of having the GPD, your committee, and the Department Chair sign the forms after you defend, and will deliver them to the Graduate School on your behalf. 

Resources

Levine Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation.pdf Download Levine Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation.pdf

Przeworski Art of Writing Proposals.pd Download Przeworski Art of Writing Proposals.pd

f Download fresearch design.pdf Download research design.pdf

research question.pdf Download research question.pdf

style.pdf Download style.pdf

theory.pdf Download theory.pdf


Prospectus and Dissertation Steps

  1. Form a Committee
    1. Select a dissertation committee once you've finished coursework and both comps. The committee should consist of at least three members of the University graduate faculty. 
  2. Write and Defend Dissertation Prospectus
    1. The prospectus typically summarizes the relevant literature, lays out your theory, data, and method, and could also include preliminary findings. 
    2. The defenses are open to the University community. 
  3. Write and Successfully Defend the Dissertation
    1. Most students in our department write either a "book-style" dissertation, with an intro chapter  that provides an overview of the literature & methods, three empirical chapters, and a concluding chapter, or an "article-style" dissertation, with an intro chapter that providesan overview of the literature & methods, three empirical chapters that are written as articles (intro, lit review, methods, findings, conclusions), and a concluding chapter. 
  4. University Paperwork: The following must be completed and returned to the Graduate School before the deadline:
    1. Signed Doctoral Eligibility Form 
    2. Signed Signature Page
    3. Unsigned Signature Page
    4. Memo of successful defense (GPM will take care of this)
    5. Survey of Earned Doctorates must be filled out.
    6. Dissertation must be uploaded to ScholarWorks

 


Forms

The GPM will fill out the signature page and send it to your committee via DocuSign before sending it to the Graduate School.

Guidelines for Theses and Dissertations-1.pdf Download Guidelines for Theses and Dissertations-1.pdf

TemplateDissertationSignaturePage.docx Download TemplateDissertationSignaturePage.docx

TemplateProspectusSignaturePage.docx Download TemplateProspectusSignaturePage.docx


Examples from the Department

Templer Prospectus Final Draft.pdf Download Templer Prospectus Final Draft.pdf

Mary Scherer dissertation prospectus final draft.pdf Download Mary Scherer dissertation prospectus final draft.pdf