Outlines

I have had several questions on how to do outlines of dissertation chapters. My approach is to think of the outline in terms of headings or main topics. What are the main issues that you want to discuss in the chapter? A great way to start, if you are staring at blank piece of paper, is with the dissertation checklist. Write down all of the parts that are required. Then go back through each part and think about what do you want to discuss in that section? Let's try an example together. Let's use my oldest old and opinions about their primary health provider (PHP) paper (Stadtlander et al., 2013) as the basis for an outline of c. 2. 

This is a mixed method study, so let's begin with the mixed method template and write down the headings from that checklist, I am also going to put in an outline format. 

Chapter 2 (Mixed Methods)

A. Introduction

B. Literature Search Strategy

C. Theoretical Foundation

D. Literature Review of Key Variables

             1. Qual

             2. Quant

E. Summary & Conclusions 

Now I will think about my study and what needs to be discussed. I plan to conduct interviews (the qual portion) and locus of control (LOC), resilience, and self-efficacy surveys (the quant portion). I will now add in the main topics under each heading (I am also using the checklist to determine the topics, this info is in italics. 

Chapter 2 (Mixed Methods)

 

A. Introduction

1. Restate the problem and the purpose.

2. Provide a concise synopsis of the current literature that establishes the relevance of the problem.

             a. Who are Oldest old

             b. Oldest Old and health costs

             c. Oldest old and PHP

3. Preview major sections of the chapter. 

B. Literature Search Strategy

1. List accessed library databases and search engines used.

2. List key search terms and combinations of search terms

3. Describe scope of literature review  

C. Theoretical Foundation

             1. Patient-by treatment interactive model

a. Provide origin or source of the theory.

b. Describe major theoretical propositions

c. Provide a literature- and research-based analysis of how the theory has been applied previously in ways similar to the current study.

d. Provide the rationale for the choice of this theory. 

e. Describe how and why the selected theory relates to the present study and how the research questions relate to, challenge, or build upon existing theory.   

D. Literature Review of Key Variables

1. Describe studies related to the constructs of interest and chosen methodology and methods

             a. Aging and oldest old

             b. Aging and health care

2. Describe ways researchers in the discipline have approached the problem and the strengths and weakness inherent in their approaches.

             3. Quantitative

                           a. Locus of control (LOC)

                                        1) LOC and aging

                                        2) LOC and health care

                                        3) LOC, aging, health care

b. Resilience

1) Resilience and aging

                                        2) Resilience and health care

                                        3) Resilience, aging, health care

c. Self-efficacy

1) Self-efficacy and aging

                                        2) Self-efficacy and health care

                                        3) Self-efficacy, aging, health care

4. Qualitative

             a. Review and synthesize studies related to the key concepts and/or phenomena under investigation

                           1) Oldest old and relationships with PHP

                           2) Oldest old and health care practices

b. Review and synthesize studies related to the research questions and why the approach selected is meaningful. 

E. Summary & Conclusions

1. Concisely summarize the major themes in the literature.

2. Summarize what is known as well as what is not known in the discipline related to the topic of study.

3. Describe how the present study fills at least one of the gaps in the literature and will extend knowledge in the discipline.

4. Provide transitional material to connect the gap in the literature to the methods described in chapter 3. 

Next time, we will take a look at the scientific method. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Send me an email with your ideas. leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu 

Stadtlander, L., Giles, M., Sickel, A., Brooks, E., Brown, C., Cormell, M., Ewing, L., Hart, D., Koons, D., Olson, C., Parker, P., Semenova, V., & Stoneking, S. (2013). Independent Living Oldest-Old and Their Primary Health Provider: A Mixed Method Examination of the Influence of Patient Personality Characteristics. Journal of Applied Gerontology. (Available in Walden Library's Psychology/ Sage database)