The culminating project for the Ed.D. program is either the Dissertation in Professional Practice (DiPP) or a traditional dissertation in educational leadership. In order to carry out a successful project, you will need to be very familiar with the existing research on your topic. An extensive literature review is required. The resources on this page will aid you in conducting your literature review and writing your dissertation.
Search for Dissertations:
It may be helpful to view example dissertations in your area prior to beginning your project. A dissertation search will also help you to avoid duplicating another's efforts.
You can find dissertations and theses in education using the following links.
- ProQuest CentralYou can specify "Dissertation/Thesis" as the source type to search for when using ProQuest Central.
- Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD)OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes 4,510,808 theses and dissertations.
Literature Reviews:
A literature review grounds your project within the context of existing research. It is both process and product. The product is a written synthesis of all relevant scholarly research on your topic. Learn more about the process by viewing the slides below.
The sources below may provide additional guidance and methods for organizing your literature review.
The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: 2022Creating a successful literature review can be a daunting task, which is why so many researchers have relied on previous editions of this book to make the process more manageable. Using the six-step model, you’ll work seamlessly to narrow your research topic, focus your literature search, negotiate the myriad of books, periodicals, and reports about your topic—and, of course, write the review.
Succeeding with Your Literature Review by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780335243686Publication Date: 2012-02-01This book provides practical guidance on processes of researching a range of relevant literature on a subject, planning and writing a literature review.
Learning to Read Critically in Educational Leadership and Management by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780761947967Publication Date: 2003-04-14Learning to Read Critically in Educational Leadership and Management is a unique resource which combines a teaching text with exemplary reports of small-scale research and a literature review conducted by international scholars. Part One gives the reader a framework for the critical analysis of any text and explains how to incorporate it into a literature review for a course assignment, dissertation or thesis.
Stylish Academic Writing by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780674064485Publication Date: 2012-04-02Elegant data and ideas deserve elegant expression, argues Helen Sword in this lively guide to academic writing. For scholars frustrated with disciplinary conventions, and for specialists who want to write for a larger audience but are unsure where to begin, here are imaginative, practical, witty pointers that show how to make articles and books a pleasure to read--and to write.
Selected eBooks:
Completing a Professional Practice Dissertation by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781607524397Publication Date: 2010-02-01
Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation by Call Number: eBook, available onlineISBN: 9781412942249Publication Date: 2007-12-21See chapter 7 for examples of literature reviews.
A Functional Approach to Educational Research Methods and Statistics by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780773418585Publication Date: 2012-05-18
Qualitative Research in Education by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780761961406Publication Date: 2003-07-29
Find (Free) Tests & Measures
Some types of education research will require the adaptation and use of pre-existing survey instruments, tests, measures, scales, etc. Many articles include these either in the article itself or the appendix; but others do not. You may be able to find the full text of tests and measures used in research studies by searching for the name of the test in an academic database. PsycTests is the best resource we have for searching the instruments themselves.
- PsycTESTS via EBSCO This link opens in a new windowPsycTESTS is a collection of materials containing psychological measures, scales, surveys, and other instruments. Full text coverage is available.
You may also have success searching specific journals like Psychological Assessment or Educational and Psychological Measurement. You can access these--and many other journal titles--through Journal Finder.
Find (Fee-based) Tests & Measures
Many widely-used test instruments are owned by publishers and are available to use for a fee. There are two titles at Smith Library which index and/or review published, fee-based instruments. These include:
Tests in Print VIII by Call Number: R 153.9016 T28te8 2011ISBN: 9780910674621Publication Date: 2011-11-01As the most comprehensive index to commercially available tests published in English, this volume contains information on more than three thousand testing instruments.
Mental Measurements Yearbook by Call Number: R 153.9016 M52m; Older volumes: 153.9016 M52mHPU Libraries holds the most recent (18th and 19th) volumes of the MMY series in the reference section on the main floor of Smith Library.
The following website has a comprehensive list of all tests reviewed in the Mental Measurements Yearbook series, along with the corresponding volume: http://buros.org/tests-reviewed-mental-measurements-yearbook-series