Milestone 5: Dissertation Process

Dissertation Proposal

The intent of the Dissertation Research Proposal is for the student to develop their research plan for their dissertation; it is not an exam but a document to clearly articulate the topic, scope and methodology to be used for the student’s dissertation. Completion of the Dissertation Research Proposal should be considered after the student has completed the majority of coursework, filed their GPAS with the Graduate School, and successfully completed the Preliminary Written and Oral Examinations. Students must have officially assigned faculty members to their Final Exam Committee before initiating the Dissertation Research Proposal.

Dissertation Research Proposal Content

The Dissertation Research Proposal should be in the form of portions of a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) proposal which includes specific aims (1 page, single spaced) and research strategy (6 pages, single spaced) and human subjects sections (unlimited length). The biosketch, investigator/team, facilities, and environment sections are not included. Students begin developing their Dissertation Research Proposal from the grant proposal developed for NURS 8153 if applicable but should be aware that final exam committee members may have substantial changes to the proposal. The finalization of the Dissertation Research Proposal is an iterative process between the student and the  final exam committee members.

In the proposal, the student must address the following:

Specific Aims (think of this as an abbreviated version of the full grant) 

• Describe the research topic, what is known, gaps in knowledge and critical need.

• Introduce the proposed solution to address the research gap, a rationale, and how it will advance the science.

• Delineate aims (and hypotheses or research questions).

• Consider including long-term goals. What future research will be developed from this research?

• Provide a summary of why the proposed work is innovative and how it will impact the field.

Significance

• Explain the importance of the problem or critical barrier to progress that the proposed research addresses.

• Describe the scientific premise for the proposed research, including consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of published (and unpublished) research or preliminary data crucial to the support of your proposal.

• Explain how the proposed research will improve scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice in nursing.

• Describe how the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field will be changed if the proposed aims are achieved.

Innovation

• Explain how the application challenges and seeks to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms.

• Describe any novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation or interventions to be developed or used, and any advantage over existing methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.

• Explain any refinements, improvements, or new applications of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.

Approach

• Describe the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project.

• Address the suitability (strengths and limitations) of a conceptual framework if relevant.

• Describe the study design and methods proposed and how they will achieve robust and unbiased results.

• Address how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted.

• Discuss potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success anticipated to achieve the aims. If the project is in the early stages of development, describe any strategy to establish feasibility, and address the management of any high risk aspects of the proposed work.

It is essential that all members of the Final Oral Exam/Dissertation Committee approve of the PhD Dissertation Research proposal. The length and content of the dissertation proposal is intended to be in enough detail for committee members to understand the proposed scope, research aims, theory or framework, methods and measures; however, committee preference for detail may vary by content area or the type of dissertation (i.e., multiple-paper dissertation format, secondary analysis, informatics data mining). Guidelines for the multiple-paper dissertation option are available HERE. The advisor is responsible to work with the student to ensure that all committee members support the dissertation plan and it is essential that this consensus is reached relatively early in the process of completing the dissertation. The proposal approval process should be a separate meeting from the Preliminary Oral Examination. The signed Proposal Form and a copy of the approved proposal must be submitted to the DGS and GPC using the following website link: https://redcap.ahc.umn.deu/surveys/?s=9NASgRzIYf.

Step-By-Step Dissertation Proposal Process

1. The student must draft the Dissertation Research Proposal following the guidelines described above. The student should first review and seek feedback about the proposal with their advisor. The student will then send the Dissertation Research Proposal via email to the Final Oral Exam Committee members (including external committee member(s)).

2. The student will consult with final oral exam committee members to find a date for a meeting to discuss the proposal plan (at least two weeks after the student has provided the committee with the Dissertation Research Proposal). The meeting may be conducted virtually or in-person. If in person, the student schedules a meeting date/time and a meeting location through their advisor’s Cooperative unit to meet with the Final Exam Committee members. 

• If students are uncertain of their advisor’s co-operative unit, look it up at this link: https://nursing.umn.edu/about/our-faculty-staff/cooperatives

• Adult and Gerontological Health - agh@umn.edu

• Child and Family Health - cfh@umn.edu

• Population Health and Systems - phscoop@umn.edu

• In communicating with the Cooperative staff to schedule the meeting the student will need to provide the following information: 

• Purpose/title of the meeting

• Date/time

• Approximate number of attendees

• A/V needs

• Advisor’s name

3. The student should prepare a 10-15 minute presentation of their Dissertation Research Proposal content for the meeting; PowerPoint presentations are recommended, but optional. Final oral exam committee members are to provide input on the Dissertation Proposal.  If all members believe they have enough detail about the proposed dissertation research for the student to begin an IRB application and proceed to complete the research, they may give their approval on the Dissertation Proposal Approval Form. If major changes are required for committee approval, committee members should not give approval for the Dissertation Proposal Approval Form at this initial meeting. The student will revise the Dissertation Research Proposal until all committee members agree that the student is ready to initiate an IRB application and begin dissertation research (this process can be done via email) and at this point all committee members should confirm approval by signing the Dissertation Proposal Approval Form (form is fillable if opened in Adobe Acrobat) or via email confirmation (see section below for guidance in collecting email approval). The student may not submit an IRB application for dissertation research or begin the research until all committee members have confirmed approval in writing (via signing the form or email approval)  and have received a copy of the final Dissertation Research Proposal.

4. The student and committee members should discuss whether the student will write a traditional dissertation or the multiple paper option. If the multiple paper option is selected, consider discussing authorship for potential publication of the papers at this point, time permitting. Not all committee members necessarily need to be considered as potential authors but  authorship discussion should be started early in the process. 

5. The student submits the signed Dissertation Proposal Approval Form for all Final Exam Committee members and submits the completed Dissertation Proposal Approval Form and the final Dissertation Research Proposal using the online submission form. 

Dissertation Approval Form Email Procedure

Students may circulate their Dissertation Research Proposal and Approval form for completion via email in lieu of physical signatures on the form.  Follow this process when any committee member will be confirming approval via email.  

1. From your UMN email, initiate an email with all committee members and the DGS on the same email using their UMN email address.  

2. Including your Dissertation Research Proposal and the Approval Form as attachments, request the committee members review the documents and reply confirming their approval. 

3. Once all emailed approvals are received, compile the emails containing the committee approval(s) and include it in a single PDF document along with the approval form.

4. Upload the approval form, the emailed approval pdf and the final Dissertation Research Proposal as instructed in step 5 above.

Protections for Human Subjects

If the proposed project involves human subjects, propose protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 

• Risk to subjects

• Adequacy of protection against risks

• Potential benefits to the subjects and others 

• Importance of the knowledge to be gained 

• Data and safety monitoring for clinical trials

For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the six categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, evaluate: 

• The justification for the exemption 

• Human subjects involvement and characteristics

• Sources of materials

Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Children

If the proposed project involves human subjects, describe plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults)  to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. You may want to consider the NIH Policy on sex as a biological variable as appropriate for your design. 

Human Subjects Approval of Research

Institutional Review Board Approval

Once the dissertation research proposal approval has been submitted , students should seek University approval to conduct research before going any further. Any research that employs the use of human subjects on or off campus must be approved by the University’s Human Subjects Committee prior to the gathering of data for the dissertation. The University of Minnesota and federal policies require that each project involving human subjects be reviewed with respect to: 

• The rights and welfare of the individual(s) involved.

• The appropriateness of the methods used to secure informed consent.

• The risks and potential benefits of the investigation. 

Information and forms are available through the Research and Innovation Office Institutional Review Board (IRB) website. Questions concerning exemptions or other aspects of human subjects research review should be addressed to the IRB: Human Subjects Committee at 612-626-5654 or irb@umn.edu. The website provides a lot of detailed information including the role and responsibility of a student investigator and their advisor, the processes for determining whether research is considered human subjects research, and the extent of review different types of research require.  The site also has a detailed investigator manual and the forms required to submit an IRB application. IRB review may take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks for review and notification of a decision, which may include a request for additional clarification or information in order to provide a final decision. It is important to be aware of the length of time for IRB review and decision making in developing your dissertation research timeline. 

Research may not be initiated until written notification of exemption or IRB approval is received. This includes recruitment of subjects, advertising, mailing or distributing consent forms, and data gathering. Any requirements indicated in the response of the Human Subjects Committee must be addressed before commencement of the research project. 

Clinical Partnership Affiliation Agreements

If dissertation research will be conducted within a clinical site an affiliation agreement between the School of Nursing and the site must be signed prior to beginning your research. Students should contact Susan Kostka (kostk008@umn.edu) to begin the process as it can take many months to establish. 

Dissertation Research

Once a student has received approval  from the IRB, they may begin working on the dissertation project (according to dates approved by the IRB). It is strongly recommended that students maintain regular contact with their advisor and other students in the program during this time. Most students at this stage in the dissertation are no longer taking coursework and may no longer have routine contact with faculty or peers.  It is easy to feel isolated, which may be quite different from one’s educational experiences up to this point. Joining writing groups or research groups at this stage is encouraged.  

As you start writing the dissertation components, it is recommended that students work out a plan with their advisor(s) for getting feedback on chapter drafts. In most instances, the expectation is that only the advisor reviews dissertation drafts until they believes it is ready to be forwarded to the whole committee for review. However, certain committee members may be asked—or may ask—to read particular chapters where their expertise is sought before the dissertation is completed.

Students conducting their dissertation work still need to register every fall and spring semester to maintain their active student status, even if all required coursework and dissertation credits have been taken. HERE you can check the different course registrations options that are appropriate for your circumstance.