Dissertation Proposal 

The dissertation proposal demonstrates the student’s in-depth knowledge of some research topic along with a detailed outline of the empirical research to be conducted for the dissertation. The literature review of previous research should be fairly complete, although no longer than what one might find in a long journal article reporting the results of a series of empirical studies (such as Developmental Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General). The proposal should describe all the relevant details regarding questions or hypotheses, predictions, methods, data analyses, etc. Piloting of the procedures is strongly encouraged. Consult with your advisor concerning the expected length of the proposal. Dissertation proposal abstracts are available for reference from the graduate advising team.

It is recommended that the student give a finished draft of the proposal to the faculty advisor and other members of the dissertation examination committee at least two weeks before the proposal meeting. Of course, the student should have responded to fairly detailed comments on rough drafts of the proposal from their advisor and potentially from other key members of the committee well beforehand.

The dissertation committee will consist of a minimum of three faculty members, at least two of whom are Psychology faculty; the majority are members of the Santa Cruz Academic Senate and at least one is tenured. For this committee, a student’s advisor may serve as Chair. Students may, if they wish, use the same group of faculty to serve on both the qualifying exam and dissertation committees. This committee is subject to approval by the Psychology Graduate Affairs Committee and by Graduate Council. The Psychology Department is required to notify the Graduate Division of the composition of your Dissertation Reading Committee (approved by the Department). 

Students submitted their dissertation committee nomination after passing their qualifying exam. If students have any changes to the members of their dissertation committee at any time, students should complete a new Dissertation Reading Committee Nomination form and submit it to the Graduate Advising Team. 

During the proposal meeting, the student will usually first give a brief, 15-minute overview of the proposed topic and empirical studies and then answer questions from the faculty committee about the plan of research. In most cases, the faculty will offer ideas and suggestions for improving the research plan. Within two weeks of the proposal meeting, the student (with the advisor’s assistance) finalizes a two-page (maximum, single-spaced) abstract of the proposal, reflecting the study’s questions and design as agreed upon at the meeting. The committee members’ signatures on the second page of the abstract constitute the formal approval of the plan. The signed abstract must be filed with the Graduate Advising Team, who will distribute copies to the faculty in the student’s research area and add it to the file for other students to consult for guidance.

*As of January 2020, the psychology faculty have discussed the practice of graduate students bringing food to milestone meetings (e.g., QE, dissertation, etc). The faculty are concerned that students are spending considerable time, money, and energy on providing food for milestone meetings. The faculty agree that going forward this practice should be discontinued and respectfully request that students not provide food at milestone meetings.