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Waiting to Get Your Dissertation Accepted?
Last Updated on: 2nd February 2024, 05:26 am
In my years of editing dissertations, I found one concept that students struggle with the most: dissertation alignment. They would submit their proposals and, time after time, they would be rejected.
After seeing so many clients with the same issue, I developed materials that I used to explain alignment. These were usually accompanied by a phone conversation and a lightbulb moment.
What Is Dissertation Alignment?
Dissertation alignment is one of the most important concepts in a dissertation proposal. It means that each section, and especially the key sentences in those sections, are all focused on the same specific point.
At its most basic, dissertation alignment is about focus and consistency.
Focus means that you are being specific. For example, rather than researching “history teacher preparation,” you might research “high school history teacher preparation for the topic of Middle Eastern conflict.”
Consistency means that the focus is exactly the same throughout your paper. For example, a student may write that their focus is shareholder wealth maximization and then later state that the focus is on management impact on stock price. While these are related, they are not the same and are thus out of alignment.
How to Achieve Dissertation Alignment
1. Narrow Your Focus
Remember that the focus of a dissertation is extremely narrow, so broad or vague statements won’t cut it. This is where most students struggle–they have statements that are related but don’t have exactly the same minute focus.
Alignment may seem annoying while you’re writing it, but you’ll be grateful for the rigor of phrasing once you start your study, because it tells you exactly what to look for and pay attention to.
Creating a study about “cats” would be difficult, because that’s such a broad subject. But creating a study about “social behavior of cats weaned before 5 months of age” would be easier, because it’s specific. Now, that brings us to the next point.
2. Achieve Consistency
Consistency is the other important part of dissertation alignment. Over time, I’ve developed the idea of “Key Sentences” to support students in achieving consistency. I’ve found this to be the most effective way of helping students grasp the concept of dissertation alignment and integrate it into their dissertation.
It’s this: your Title, Problem Statement, Purpose Statement, and Research Questions should all be variations of the same sentence.
I’ve found the most effective way is to focus on these sentences and build the rest of the paper around them.
Or, if you’ve already written your paper, focus on these sentences and then revise the surrounding text to align with them. Let’s go over the key sentences for each section:
Key Sentences
Title
For the purpose of example, let’s say I’m writing a paper titled, “Employee Perceptions of the Effect of ABC Diversity Training Program on Reducing Racism in the Workplace in an Organization in Southwest Wisconsin” You’ll see how this aligns as you go through the other sections.
Problem Statement
Get Your Dissertation Accepted On Your Next Submission
The Problem Statement is made up of two primary sentences: the General Problem Statement and the Specific Problem Statement. Your key sentence should be the specific problem statement.
General problem statement. This statement should be one sentence indicating the general problem. This isn’t one of the key sentences, but I include it here so that you can see how it’s different from the specific problem statement. Using my example, that would sound something like:
“The general problem is that racism in the workplace is common in the US and leads to unsafe work environments, abusive employee relationships, wage disparity, and lower productivity.” This sentence is the second-most important part of your Problem Statement section.
Specific problem statement. This statement should be one sentence directly following the general problem statement. It is a precise sentence about what will be studied and leads directly to the Purpose Statement. This sentence should have almost the exact same wording as your Title and Purpose statement. In this case, it could be something like,
“The specific problem is that the influence of the ABC Diversity Training Program on reducing racism in the workplace is unknown.”
One very easy way to make sure your problem statement is in alignment is to write, “[your title] is unknown.” Notice how I did this above. You may have to adjust the wording slightly, but this will ensure your paper is in alignment. I’ve encouraged many clients to do it this way, and so far their chairs have always been happy with it.
Purpose Statement
The most important part of your Purpose Statement section is the one sentence designated as your “purpose statement.” Your purpose statement should align directly with your Title and specific Problem Statement. It should even have almost the exact same wording. Here is an example, based on the imaginary paper I’m writing:
“The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify employee perceptions regarding the effects of the ABC Diversity Training Program on racism in the workplace in an organization in Southwest Wisconsin.”
See how I’ve taken the same sentence and changed the wording slightly to turn it from a Problem Statement to a Purpose Statement?
Note that quantitative studies should include the independent, dependent, and covariate variables in the purpose statement.
Research Question
Your overarching research question should sound very similar to your Title, Problem Statement, and Purpose Statement. They should also be in alignment with your chosen research method. For example, a phenomenological study’s research questions should have wording like, “What are the lived experiences of…” and a quantitative study might have wording like, “What is the relationship between…”
For this study, the research question might sound something like, “What are the perceptions of employees at an organization in Southwest Wisconsin regarding the effects of ABC Diversity Training Program on reducing racism in the workplace?
Look at Key Sentences First
When helping students bring their papers into alignment, the first thing I do is pull out the key sentences in their paper. This makes it easy to see what’s in alignment and what’s not. For example, the imaginary paper I’m writing would have the following key sentences:
Title: “Employee Perceptions of the Effect of ABC Diversity Training Program on Reducing Racism in the Workplace in an Organization in Southwest Wisconsin”
Problem Statement
General: “The general problem is that racism in the workplace is common in the US and leads to unsafe work environments, abusive employee relationships, and lower productivity.”
Specific: “The specific problem is that the influence of the ABC Diversity Training Program on reducing racism in the workplace is unknown”
Purpose Statement: “The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify employee perceptions regarding the effects of the ABC Diversity Training Program on racism in the workplace in an organization in Southwest Wisconsin.”
Research Question: “What are the perceptions of employees at an organization in Southwest Wisconsin regarding the effects of ABC Diversity Training Program on reducing racism in the workplace?
Dissertation Alignment Worksheet
Copy and paste the following text into a blank document and fill it in for yourself. Do your Title, Problem Statement, Purpose Statement, and Research Questions align? Are they all variations of the same sentence? If not, revise until they are. Note that depending on your method, your research questions may deviate slightly from this prescription, but it’s a good place to start.
Title:
Problem Statement:
Purpose Statement:
Overarching Research Question:
Aligning Your Whole Paper
If you haven’t written your paper yet, write the key sentences first, and use them to focus the surrounding paragraphs. If you do that, your paper should have no problem with alignment.
If you’ve already written your first chapter and had it returned due to issues with alignment, you may have to do some rewriting. Start by getting clear on your key sentences and then re-write the surrounding text in each section so that the focus is consistent.
While it’s useful to look at the key sentences, those alone won’t bring your paper into alignment. Remember, the same two rules apply for all of the text in your paper, not just your key sentences. Throughout the entire paper, your topic should be focused and consistent.
Final Thoughts on Dissertation Alignment
With proper alignment, you will be able to move forward in the dissertation process much more quickly and easily. Taking time to pay attention to focus and consistency will hone your research project, making it easier for you to stay on track and much easier for your committee to approve your proposal and final document.
If you need support writing your dissertation, check out our dissertation coaching and dissertation editing services.
