Chapter One

Chapter One begins your dissertation, it is separate from the abstract and any information mentioned in the abstract needs to be repeated. (Please note that I go into much more detail on each required element in my book). As a faculty member reading your paper, I will look for an introduction to your study, which puts the study into context, addressing the "why do we care about this?" question. Also in the introduction, briefly discuss the current literature, indicating how your study addresses the gap in the literature. By the time, I finish reading this section, I should understand the key issues that your study addresses and why your study is important.  

In this chapter, I will expect to see the theoretical basis for your study, the problem statement, purpose, your research questions and hypotheses, an explanation of the type of study you will do, assumptions and limitations, and definitions of terms. Think of the chapter as concise summaries of information to be discussed in future chapters. It generally works best to write this chapter after you have written Chapters 2 and 3. 

By the time I have completed reading Chapter One, I should have a clear understand of your study, why it is needed, an overview of your research method and analyses, and any concerns you have identified. As a faculty reviewer, I will expect the chapter to be well written with appropriate grammar and spelling. 

Next time I will examine Chapter 2. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu