This guide focuses on the dissertation work as a step-by-step process and details the structure and the content of dissertation chapters. Unique to this edition is its conception of the dissertation in optimistic, realistic, and symbolic terms, which altogether provide theoretical basis and practical advice to students who are beginning their dissertation process. The guide features the personal accounts of doctoral students who have gone through the experience, which makes this edition stand out among other similar books on the market. Dissertation is the work of a laborer, a craftsman, and an artist. Long hours of hard labor with our hands and head go into developing ideas, planning, and implementing research projects such as dissertations. But what ultimately drives our academic pursuits and, therefore makes them successful and enjoyable is inspiration that sets our hearts on fire and makes it impossible not to venture on the journey. The uncharted territories of the dissertation process - life events and happenings - make the path toward the highest academic degree attainment both exciting and challenging. Just like life itself with its unplanned and unpredictable twists and turns, the dissertation journey requires strength of character and an unwavering faith in one's self and in the ultimate value of the pursuit of knowledge. So, why merely survive? Let's enjoy the dissertation journey! The guide is intended primarily for doctoral students pursuing dissertations in social sciences, as well as for faculty who teach doctoral-level research courses and seminars and supervise doctoral dissertations.

What is research and who is a researcher? Why engage in research and what can be its value? How do we come to know what lies beyond our horizons? Paradigms of Research for the 21st Century opens the door for wondering about these and other questions pertaining to the nature and process of educational research. It offers an insightful and detailed account of Western and non-Western philosophical traditions and perspectives on reality, knowledge, and values that have been responsive to past and present developments of educational research in North America. These accounts form a paradigm - a system of inquiry, a model, or a way of knowing. Empirical-analytic, pragmatic, interpretive, critical, poststructuralist, and transcendental paradigms are distinguished as an alternative to a quantitative-qualitative typology of paradigms in educational research. This book can be used for introductory and advanced research methods courses at the master's and doctoral levels.

This guide focuses on the dissertation work as a step-by-step process and details the structure and the content of dissertation chapters. Unique to this edition is its conception of the dissertation in optimistic, realistic, and symbolic terms, which altogether provide theoretical basis and practical advice to students who are beginning their dissertation process. The guide features the personal accounts of doctoral students who have gone through the experience, which makes this edition stand out among other similar books on the market. Dissertation is the work of a laborer, a craftsman, and an artist. Long hours of hard labor with our hands and head go into developing ideas, planning, and implementing research projects such as dissertations. But what ultimately drives our academic pursuits and, therefore makes them successful and enjoyable is inspiration that sets our hearts on fire and makes it impossible not to venture on the journey. The uncharted territories of the dissertation process - life events and happenings - make the path toward the highest academic degree attainment both exciting and challenging. Just like life itself with its unplanned and unpredictable twists and turns, the dissertation journey requires strength of character and an unwavering faith in one's self and in the ultimate value of the pursuit of knowledge. So, why merely survive? Let's enjoy the dissertation journey! The guide is intended primarily for doctoral students pursuing dissertations in social sciences, as well as for faculty who teach doctoral-level research courses and seminars and supervise doctoral dissertations.

What is research and who is a researcher? Why engage in research and what can be its value? How do we come to know what lies beyond our horizons? Paradigms of Research for the 21st Century opens the door for wondering about these and other questions pertaining to the nature and process of educational research. It offers an insightful and detailed account of Western and non-Western philosophical traditions and perspectives on reality, knowledge, and values that have been responsive to past and present developments of educational research in North America. These accounts form a paradigm - a system of inquiry, a model, or a way of knowing. Empirical-analytic, pragmatic, interpretive, critical, poststructuralist, and transcendental paradigms are distinguished as an alternative to a quantitative-qualitative typology of paradigms in educational research. This book can be used for introductory and advanced research methods courses at the master's and doctoral levels.