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Open Access Theses and Dissertations

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OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions . OATD currently indexes 6,912,508 theses and dissertations.

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EBSCO Open Dissertations makes electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) more accessible to researchers worldwide. The free portal is designed to benefit universities and their students and make ETDs more discoverable. 

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EBSCO Open Dissertations is a collaboration between EBSCO and BiblioLabs to increase traffic and discoverability of ETD research. You can join the movement and add your theses and dissertations to the database, making them freely available to researchers everywhere while increasing traffic to your institutional repository. 

EBSCO Open Dissertations extends the work started in 2014, when EBSCO and the H.W. Wilson Foundation created American Doctoral Dissertations which contained indexing from the H.W. Wilson print publication, Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities, 1933-1955. In 2015, the H.W. Wilson Foundation agreed to support the expansion of the scope of the American Doctoral Dissertations database to include records for dissertations and theses from 1955 to the present.

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EBSCO integrates this data into their current subscriber environments and makes the data available on the open web via opendissertations.org .

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Home > ETDs > Doctoral Dissertations

Doctoral Dissertations

Dissertations from 2026 2026.

Clinician Perspectives on Fistula Mental Health , Victoria K. Leonard

Dissertations from 2024 2024

AN EXPLORATION OF ADULT CHILDREN’S ATTACHMENT TO THEIR PARENTS ACROSS TWO CULTURAL GROUPS: INDIANS IN INDIA AND INDIANS WHO IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES , Vilasini Meenakshi Arun

Understanding Mental Health Provider's Experiences of Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, and Vicarious Resilience from the provider perspective , Lauren Beheler-Romero

Evaluating the Client Base and Housing Outcomes of a Community Based Organization Serving Unhoused Adults , Emi Caprio

Emergent Themes In Identity Development For Transracial Adoptees: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis , Andrew G. Cecil

RESILIENT AF: UNDERSTANDING THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN OF COLOR PSYCHOLOGISTS IN FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH SETTINGS , Carisse A. Cronquist

HELP SEEKING EXPERIENCES OF ASIAN AMERICAN PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER , Mellanie Kristelle Roxas De Guzman

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MIND MAPS AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING CRITICAL-THINKING SKILLS AND DISPOSITIONS: A META-ANALYSIS , Carmen De Jesus

The Effects of Online Mind Mapping on the Cognitive Outcomes of Students and Their Perceptions in the Collaborative Prewriting Stage , Yen Thanh Hai Duong

Creating whole inclusive worlds: The impact of social media usage on Black gender expansive millennials’ experiences of social support and identity development processes , Meredith J. Holmes

The Transition from In Person Sessions to Telemental Health Sessions for College Counseling Center Counselors , Katherine L. Karimian

An Exploration of the Contributions of Parenting Styles and Peer Relationships on the Emotional Expression of Second-Generation Indian-Americans , Smitha M. Kashi

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN UNCERTAINTY, REPRODUCTIVE DISTRESS, AND AVOIDANCE IN ASSIGNED FEMALE AT BIRTH ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT (AYA-F) CANCER SURVIVORS , Devon Ann Pons

The Relationship Between Situated Reading Motivation and Perception of the Learning Environment for Adolescent Students , Travis VanderVelden

Dissertations from 2023 2023

STUDENTS AS CO-RESEARCHERS: USING PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH TO ADDRESS COLLEGE FOOD INSECURITY , Rachel Brand

Power Dynamics of Sexual Assault on College Campuses , Jillian L. Chase

WE ARE STILL PLAYING: A META-ANALYSIS OF GAME-BASED LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION , Thomas Conmy

MOVING BETWEEN ENTITLEMENT AND CO-CONSPIRACY: A STUDY OF HOW SUPPORT, SKILLS, AND COMMUNITY CAN ADVANCE ANTI-RACISM EFFORTS OF WHITE PARENTS , Karin Marianne Cotterman

WHITE WOMANHOOD: FINDING OPPOSITIONAL EPISTEMOLOGIES AND COMMUNITY AT THE INTERSECTION OF WHITENESS AND WOMANHOOD , Hannah Joy Fischer

Understanding Filipino Wellness: Investigating the Effects of Colonial Mentality and Enculturation , Juliene Grace P. Fresnedi

A Qualitative Study of Ableism on the Postsecondary Campus , George Stuart Fuller

Alleviating Mathematics Anxiety For Middle School Students Using A Combined Intervention Approach Versus Only Using The Cognitive Intervention Approach For Increasing Mathematical Achievement: A Comparative Study , Patricia Anna Garcia

Parent-Child Conversations about Body Safety and Consent , Natasha Gerber

Experiences of Black American Millennials: A Qualitative Study of Internalized and Externalized Coping in the Face of Racial Trauma , Natalia Angelique Giles

The Mental Health of First-Generation College Students of Color , Devin Hallquist

Identity Formation and Role Expansion for Nurse Practitioner Residency Preceptors: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis , Angel Chen Kuo

Understanding the Lived Experiences of Ethnic-Racial Minority Former Foster Youth Who Identify as Queer , Cristian A. Lemus

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERVENTIONS TO INCREASE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) ADHERENCE AMONG LATINX MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN (MSM) WITH HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) IN THE UNITED STATES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW , Everardo Leon

Mental Health and Experiences of Pregnancy Among Black Women and Birthing People with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) , Madeleine E. Marcus

EARLY DIAGNOSIS METHODS FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW , Megan Denise McCarthy

The Association between Psychotic Symptoms and Romantic Relationship Quality among Young Adult Ethnic Minorites , Tashagaye T. McKenzie

META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION WORLDWIDE , Ziyu Meng

A Case Study of a School-Supported Extracurricular Activity's Influence on STEM Identity and Interest for Females , Letta Meyer

African American Women Make Meaning of Historical Trauma , Deidre A. MILLER

THE GRINDR COMPLEX: THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH IMPACT OF SEXUAL RACISM ON LATINX MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN , Luisalfredo Plascencia

Working with Other Immigrants Brings the Parts That I Lost Back To Me: The Experiences of Latin American Immigrant Therapists Working with Latin American Immigrant Populations , Elizabeth P. Rivera

DECOLONIZING MENTAL HEALTH THROUGH HE/A/R/TOGRAPHY: CORAZONAR, SENTIPENSAR Y SENTISABER , Patricia Rojas-Zambrano

The Effects of Acculturation, Marianismo, and Religiosity on Pregnancy Related Anxiety in Latina Women , Jennifer M. Zanoli

Dissertations from 2022 2022

A Collaborative Autoethnography: Your Passport to Immigrant Women of Color Leader's Stories of Identity Exploration and Leadership Barriers and Possibilities , Fraylanie Adan Aglipay

RECLAIMING OUR HUMANITY: REDEMPTION, REIMAGINING, AND RESTORYING OF THE FOUNDATIONS FOR SUCCESS OF FORMERLY INCARCERATED AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES , Robert Mossi Alexander III

Fifty Years of Underrepresented Student Advocacy at One Jesuit Secondary School , Sonya Cotero Arriola

Voces of Little Michoacan: A Collective Narrative of Resistance and Preservation of Home , Ana Angel Avendaño

CLINICIANS' PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAUMA - FOCUSED COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN: A QUALITATIVE STUDY , Jada Carter

The Use of Simulation with the School of Nursing and Health Professions (SONHP) Prelicensure Students to Support Affirming Practice with Transgender Communities , Genevieve Charbonneau

Understanding the perspectives, practices, and expectations of Korean American parents toward the heritage language education of their children , Yunhee Choi

The Association between Physical Pain, Depression, Anxiety, and Nervios among Latinx Agricultural Workers , Iveth Cuellar Celallos

Incorporating Andragogy and Cognitive Theory Of Multimedia Learning Into Self-Paced Training and Development Programs , Shanshan Gao

An Exploration of Learning-At-Home Experiences Among Families and Children of Color Labeled with Disabilities During COVID-19: A Narrative Inquiry , Nam Ju Han

"What’s Race Got To Do With It?”: A Virtual Participatory Action Research Study of Community College Students Exploring Intersectionality In Queer Studies , Breana Hansen

"MY BODY GOES NUMB A LOT OF THE TIME": EXAMINING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE EXPERIENCES USING YOUTH PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH AND EMBODIED CULTURALLY RELEVANT PEDAGOGY , Gabriela Elizabeth Holmes

TOWARDS CHARISM IDENTITY: A CATHOLIC IDENTITY CASE STUDY THROUGH THE LENS OF LAUDATO SI’ , Kristofer Ross Koller

Teaching Solidarity: Popular Education in Grassroots U.S. Social Movements , Tenaya Summers Lafore

The Effects of Curriculum-Integrated Explicit Learning Strategy Instruction on Reading Comprehension for English as a Second Language (ESL) Learners at the Community College , Sylvia Chaiyeon Lee

Genocide in East Turkestan: Exploring the Perspectives of Uyghurs in the Diaspora and their Resistance to Chinese State Violence , Lina Semyonovna Lenberg

Mediating Language Fluency Development: An Action Research Study In A High-School AP Chinese Second-or-Foreign-Language Task-Based Language Teaching Classroom , Jing Liang

EFFORTS TO CREATE A TRAUMA-INFORMED CLASSROOM IN HIGHER EDUCATION: INSIGHTS FROM MEMBERS OF A COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRAUMA-INFORMED TEACHING GROUP , Danyelle Marshall

Women in Senior Leadership Roles Career Mobility, Challenges, Success Stories and Need for Future Research , Giselle Flores Martin

Impact of COVID-19 on New Teacher Retention and Perceived Supports in a Northern California Public School District , Rebecka Maxkenzie

African American Female Identified Therapists' Experiences Working Culturally Similar and Dissimilar Populations , Kimiko J. May

EXPLORING LATINX PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION: DEVELOPING A COMMUNITY-BASED WORKSHOP TO EMPOWER LATINX PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN SPECIAL EDUCATION , Gabriela Alejandra Perez

BLACK MOTHERING IN THE BAY AREA WHILE UNSEEN AND UNHEARD: NAVIGATING BLACK MOTHERING IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC & SOCIAL UNREST , Kassie Michelle Phillips

Feminist Catholic Organizational Identity: A Phenomenological Study of Charism in the Lay Educator of a Notre Dame de Namur Learning Community , Kathleen Barrera Quiazon

Effects of Teaching Argument to First-Year Community-College Students Using a Structural and Dialectical Approach , Sharon Radcliff

¿TÚ QUÉ SABES?: LATINA DOCTORAL WOMEN DISRUPTING AND RESISTING DOMINANT KNOWLEDGE , Sendy Ramos Madsen

HEARING IMPAIRED AND LEADERSHIP: STRUGGLES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH HEARING LOSS IN THE WORKPLACE , John Cleese Relihan

Cuentos Criollos: Colombian Internally Displaced Families as Knowledge Producers , Liliana Salazar de Deck

An Exploration of Higher Educational Experiences For Mixed Blood American Indian Males in the Santa Clara Valley , Edward Salcedo

APPLICATION OF THE EPISTEMOLOGIES OF THE SOUTH TO ADDRESS THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS: A NARRATIVE CASE STUDY OF BURKINA FASO AND THE LEADER YACOUBA SAWADOGO , Barwendé Médard Sané

The Relationship Between Metacognitive Strategies and Listening Comprehension Proficiency in Intensive-Korean-Foreign-Language Setting , Gumok Seo

The Collegiate Black Space: Black College Students’ Use of New Counter-Spaces for Support, Knowledge Production, and Organizing for Activism , Heather Streets

The Impact of #MeToo on Reasons for Sexual Assault Disclosure , Cheryl H. Tien

Developing Queer Faith: Exploring Experiences of Cognitive Dissonance and Identity Integration For LGBQ Catholics Individuals , Kendal M. Vaarwerk

Using Peer Review to Improve English as a Second Language College Students' Writing Scores , Mengjie Wei

Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Effect of Teaching and Learning Vocabulary in Lexical Chunks on the Listening Comprehension of Adult Learners of Arabic , Bassam Al-Maqtari

Exploring Student Engagement for Diverse Student Populations: A Case Study Examining Institutional Logics of Student Affairs Middle Management Leaders , Frangelo Rominque Ayran

Employment Discrimination: An Efficacy Study of African American Inequities in the California Utility Sector , Victor Baker

Mental Health Outcomes of Various Types of Fear Among University Students who have an Undocumented Legal Status During the Donald Trump Presidency , Liliana Campos

Experiences of UC Santa Barbara female alumni exposed to a gender-based mass shooting , Erin G. Carpenter

Majority to Minority Shift: Experiences for American Born Chinese College Students from Predominant Chinese American Communities to Predominantly White Institutions , Joseph C. Chung

The Role of Community Building in Second Language Acquisition in the Mainstream Classroom , Alejandro Clemente Fernandez

The Effectiveness of Using Multimedia for Teaching Phrasal Verbs in Community-College ESL Classes , Guohua Fu

Replanting a Wild Seed: Black Women School Leaders Subverting Ideological Lynching , Whitneé Louise Garrett-Walker

The Significance of Jesuit Educational Institution in the Reconstruction of Postcolonial and Post-Conflict East Timor , Plinio do Rosario Gusmao dosReis Martins

Effects of Static and Dynamic Visuals on the Learning of Science Concepts in the Secondary-School Classroom , Theodore Johnson

Impact of Moral Injury for Ethnic/Racial Minority Male Veterans , Kristopher Kern

Dysconscious Racism and Racial Microaggressions in the Public School System , Ryan Lee

Stigma and Social-Emotional Health in Youth with Learning Differences , Kelsey Maki

Provider Perspectives: Working with the Male Lifer Reentry Population , Laura R. Marker Dr.

Women Who Lead: A Feminist Phenomenology of Crisis Leadership in Higher Education , Ingrid Helene McVanner

The Use of Mindfulness Meditation to Increase the Efficacy of Mirror Visual Feedback for Reducing Phantom Limb Pain in Amputees , Nicolas Sebastian Mills

A Minority Within a Minority: Exploring Identity Development in Relation to Mental Health Outcomes Within the Black Deaf Community , Nekolas Milton

Community Based Participatory Research Informed Manualization and Piloting of E-Training of a Modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intervention , Annika M. Miyamoto

Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Inclusion: A Qualitative Study on a School’s Transition From Segregated Classrooms to More Inclusion Classrooms , Shally Moua

The Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm as a Critical Theoretical Framework to Enhance Teachers' Professional Identity in Diverse Context , Lourdu Sunder Reddy Mummadi

Patient Reported Outcomes in Sickle Cell Disease Examined Within a Conceptual Model , Swapandeep Mushiana; Marsha Treadwell PhD; Sherif M. Badawy MD, MS; Liliana Preiss PhD; Allison King MD MPH PhD; Barbara Kroner PhD; Yumie Chen BS; Jeffrey Glassberg; Victor Gordeuk MD; Nirmish Shah MD; Angie Snyder Phd MPH; and Theodore Wun MD

Incorporating Critical Perspectives in Nonprofit Management Education Programs: How Critical Scholars of Color Navigate Pressures in Higher Education , Khanh H. Nguyen

A Critical Feminist Case Study of the Northern California Cherry Blossom Queen Program , Alison Kepola Nishiyama-Young

Understanding the African American Male Student Experience of Being Diagnosed with Emotional Disturbance Through the Use of Counter-Storytelling , Sara Ordaz

Sex or Sexual Assault? Critical Media Literacy as a Tool for Consent Education , Riana S. Pella

Higher Education Discourses of India’s National Education Policy 2020: Analysis and Teacher Counterspaces in Jesuit Institutions , Vincent Pereppadan Poulose

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This page provides links to databases and websites to find dissertations. This includes links to general databases to find dissertations, databases focused on the humanities, foreign dissertations, dissertations on religion, and dissertations hosted by other universities.

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Open Access Theses and Dissertations

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Dissertation & Thesis Examples 📖

Real-world examples and samples from leading universities

Need some inspiration for your study? You’ve come to the right place. Here we showcase a collection of dissertation and thesis   examples to help you get started. All of these are real-world studies from actual degrees (typically PhD and Master’s-level).

PS – If you’re looking for examples of specific dissertation chapters (e.g., literature review or methodology), you can also check out our collection of free templates .

Discipline-Specific Examples

• Business & management
• Political science

Stage-Specific Examples

• Proposal/pitch
• Literature review
• Methodology

Examples: Business & Management

Below you’ll find a sample of business and management-related dissertations and theses covering a range of topics.

Title: Interaction Among Supply Chains: Consumers, Firms and Policymakers Author: Yuanchen Li Year: 2020

This PhD thesis examines the dynamics of supply chain relationships across three levels: the interactions between firms and consumers, suppliers and buyers, and firms and governments. The research aims to provide insights into the complexities of supply chain dynamics and their implications for various stakeholders.

Title: Essays in Firm-Level Patenting Activities and Financial Outcomes Author: Michael J Woeppel Year: 2020

This doctoral dissertation explores financial dynamics in two key areas: investment valuation and the performance of small innovative firms. The first chapter introduces a new metric, PI q, which incorporates the replacement cost of patent capital into the traditional Tobin’s q calculation. The second chapter examines small innovative firms, finding that they achieve higher returns for up to five years compared to non-innovators.

Title: Analysis of Design Artifacts in Platform-Based Markets Author: Vandith Pamuru Subramanya Rama Year: 2020

This dissertation investigates design issues within digital platform-based markets through three essays. The first essay explores the economic impact of augmented-reality games like Pokémon Go on local businesses, specifically restaurants. The second essay delves into the sponsored search ad-market, examining the effects of market frictions on bidding behaviors in auctions. The third essay examines user-generated content platforms, focusing on how the loss of elite status affects user contributions.

Title: Gaming the IRS’s Third-Party Reporting System: Evidence From Pari-Mutuel Wagering Author: Victor Charles Ferguson Year: 2020

This dissertation investigates if taxpayers deliberately avoid IRS third-party reporting mechanisms, focusing on an IRS amendment in 2017 that changed how gambling winnings are reported. Specifically, it looks at the impact on thoroughbred racing wagers in the US, using Canadian tracks as a control.

Title: Essays on Product Innovation and Failures Author: Moonsik Shin Year: 2020

This dissertation delves into how strategic decisions made by firms can lead to innovation failures, a relatively underexplored area compared to studies on successful innovations. The research is structured into three essays. The first explores how inter-organisational relationships, specifically investments from venture capitalists, can influence innovation failures due to pressures such as time constraints imposed on portfolio companies. The second essay examines the role of acquisitions in innovation failures, suggesting that challenges like adverse selection and integration issues post-acquisition can significantly hinder a firm’s innovation outcomes. The third essay looks at how incremental product development can lead to failures if new products are too dependent on existing technologies, which may themselves be flawed.

Need a helping hand?

Examples: Psychology Dissertations

Title: Development and Validation of the Instrumental Support Inventory for Spouses Author: Ryan P. Egan Year: 2020

This research develops and validates the Instrumental Support Inventory for Spouses (ISI-s), a new tool to measure the practical support received from a romantic partner. The study involved two phases: initially, 372 married individuals helped refine the 39-item inventory across five categories through exploratory factor analysis, assessing reliability and validity. The second phase tested the inventory with 298 parents and their partners, using a longitudinal design, confirming its reliability and validity further.

Title: Dysfunctional Individuation, Spiritual Struggle and Identity in Emerging Adults: A Developmental Approach Author: Katheryn J. Klukow Kelley Year: 2020

This study investigates why emerging adults are participating less in organised religion, yet showing increased spirituality, attributing this shift to the process of religious identity development. The research involved a longitudinal survey of 788 students at a religious university, using structural equation models to analyse data collected at four points over an academic year.

Title: Depression Dynamics across a Decade: Density in Daily Depressive Affect and Yearly Depressive Symptoms Author: Raquael J. Joiner Year: 2020

This thesis investigates depression through a dynamic systems perspective, which views changes in depressive symptoms as part of an interconnected network of emotions and states, rather than isolated events. The research focuses on how the density of depressive affect—essentially the compactness and intensity of depressive symptoms—varies within individuals over a decade. By examining data at five different timepoints, the study aims to understand how these symptoms cluster daily and how this clustering influences transitions into or out of depressive states year by year.

Title: Maternal and Adolescent ADHD, Aggression, and Dysfunctional Discipline: Mediating Roles of Maternal Emotion Dysregulation and Stress Author: Natalie M. Ehret Year: 2020

This dissertation explores the challenges that parents face when both they and their children exhibit symptoms of ADHD, as well as oppositional defiant and aggressive behaviours. It investigates how these symptoms in mothers and adolescents may influence parenting discipline, focusing specifically on the roles of maternal emotion dysregulation and stress in shaping disciplinary practices. The study employs a process-oriented approach to better understand these complex dynamics.

Title: Linguistic Markers of Maternal Focus within Emotional Conversations: The Role of Depressive Symptoms and Maltreatment Author: Brigid Behrens Year: 2020

This study explores the relationship between maternal well-being and the language used during parent-child conversations about past emotional events. It specifically examines the use of first-person singular (“I”) and first-person plural (“we”) pronouns during a reminiscing task, to determine how maternal language might reflect cognitive biases. The research includes 229 mother-child dyads, both maltreating and non-maltreating, who are part of a larger clinical trial focused on Reminiscing and Emotion Training.

Examples: Education Theses

Title: Functions and Purposes of Outdoor Education in Singaporean Education and Society: An Instrumental Case Study Author: Susanna Ho Year: 2011

This research aims to explore the roles outdoor education can play in Singapore, by conducting a case study of one school’s programme. Employing interviews, participant observations, and document analysis with tools like NVivo software, the study uses a grounded theory framework to interpret findings. It also incorporates Gert Biesta’s educational functions to assess outdoor education within Singapore’s specific context.

Title: The Impact of Internationalisation of Higher Education on Nursing Education in an Australian University: A Case Study Author: Elizabeth Alexandra Lavender Year: 2014

This study examines the impact of the rapid internationalisation of higher education on the School of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University, Australia. It explores how global trends and policies, particularly the shift from ‘Aid to Trade’, have influenced educational practices within the school. The research uses a case study approach, incorporating document analysis and interviews with 15 university staff experienced in international education.

Title: Diabetes Education from the Podiatrist Perspective Author: Julia Yungken Year: 2020

This thesis investigates how diabetes education is delivered by podiatrists to patients, and the retention of this education over time. Through a series of four articles, the research first conducts a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine current educational practices. It then follows a study with three podiatrists and 24 patients over six months to observe educational retention. Additionally, a survey among Australian podiatrists assesses various educational methods and experiences. The study utilises diverse methodologies including observational studies, cognitive assessments, and surveys to understand and enhance the educational practices in diabetes care provided by podiatrists.

Title: Empowering Saudi Arabian Primary Teachers Through Participatory Action Research to Improve Their Professional Knowledge and Practices Regarding Gifted Learners Author: Faisal Yahya Alamiri Year: 2013

Title: Developing a National Assessment Model to Inform Educational Policy in Bhutan Author: Gembo Tshering Year: 2012

Examples: Healthcare-Related Dissertations

Title: Impact of the Increased Use of Telehealth on Health Care Management and Administration: The Case of New Care Management Practices Author: Immacula Pierre Year: 2024

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of healthcare managers on telehealth’s role and its influence on healthcare practices during the pandemic, focusing on aspects like provision and quality control. Through video-conferenced semi-structured interviews with 10 healthcare managers across various U.S. settings, the research aimed to understand the benefits, challenges, and the future role of telehealth.

Title: Healthcare Facilities Management Leadership Style Compared to Traditional Healthcare Business and Clinical Leaders Author: Joshua Ashlock Year: 2020

This dissertation explores leadership style differences between two groups within healthcare: traditional business and clinical leaders (represented by members of the American College of Healthcare Executives, ACHE) and healthcare facilities management leaders (represented by members of the American Society of Healthcare Engineers, ASHE). The research focuses on comparing transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant leadership traits between these groups.

Title: Leadership Support as an Influence on Frontline Healthcare Employee Retention in the Washington Metropolitan Area (DMV) Author: Tamika Fair Year: 2023

This qualitative case study addresses the significant issue of high turnover rates among frontline healthcare employees in the DMV area, examining how the lack of support from healthcare leadership contributes to this problem. Through semi-structured interviews with 11 primary healthcare administrators in the DMV region, the research investigates how leaders engage with frontline workers and assesses their preparedness to tackle high staff turnover.

Title: Electronic Patient Portals: Promotion of Access by Healthcare Workers Increases Patient Engagement Author: Dena Todd Year: 2022

This integrative literature review examines strategies for promoting electronic patient portal (EPP) access in healthcare settings, a requirement highlighted by the Health Information for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2010. The review underscores the importance of EPP systems in providing patients with access to their personal health information, including medications, lab results, diagnostics, and appointments. It discusses the potential risks for healthcare organisations that fail to offer such access, notably the loss of federal funding.

Title: Understanding Workplace Conditions Contributing to Physician Burnout Prevalence in Maryland State Author: Fatima Adefunke Queen Year: 2023

This dissertation utilises a qualitative multiple-case study to examine the workplace conditions that contribute to physician burnout in Maryland, particularly among primary care providers who show burnout rates of up to 50%. The study involved interviews with 21 physicians, including Medical Doctors (M.D.s), Doctors of Nursing Practice (DNPs), and Nurse Practitioners (NPs). Using Shanafelt’s well-being framework, the research aimed to understand the factors leading to burnout and its subsequent impact on physician attrition.

Examples: Political Science Theses

Title: The Influence of Peer Relationships on Political Socialisation Among College Students Author: Zachary Thomas Isaacs Year: 2021

This thesis investigates the role of peer relationships in the political socialisation of college students. This is an area not extensively covered by existing research, which primarily focuses on parental influence and often excludes the post-18 age group. A survey was conducted among college students aged 18 to 24, to explore how they communicate with their peers regarding politics and the effects of these interactions on their political socialisation.

Title: The Impact of Political Culture on Political Reactions: A Case Study of EU Sanctions on Russia Author: Kenzie Robin De Keyser Year: 2020

This dissertation examines the complex political impacts of European Union (EU) sanctions on Russia, taking into account the nuanced interplay between Russia’s political culture and the economic interdependencies between the EU and Russia. The research utilises the Cross-Cultural Competency (3Cs) Theorem to analyse key elements of Russian political culture—Russian Orthodox Christianity, geography, autocracy, and economic development— which are crucial in shaping the country’s political responses and governmental structure.

Title: Biased Representation: How Compulsory Voting and Campaign Finance Interact to Influence Government Responsiveness Author: Sarah Steinberg Year: 2016

This thesis investigates the interaction between compulsory voting and campaign finance, focusing on how they influence government responsiveness. It argues that the significant financial influence in political campaigns can lead to an elite bias, where government policies favour wealthier interests. The study uses statistical analysis and case studies from two countries to explore whether compulsory voting, which typically results in nearly universal voter turnout, can mitigate this bias.

Example: Dissertation Proposal

Example: literature review chapter, example: methodology chapter.

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Theses and Dissertations Available from ProQuest

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Open Access Theses

This series contains theses that students have wished to make openly available. The full content is available to all, although some theses may have embargoes. If an embargo exists the date will be listed instead of the download button. The download button will appear once a thesis is no longer embargoed. To browse a fuller listing of theses from Purdue please visit the Theses and Dissertations Available from ProQuest series.

Open Access Dissertations

This series contains open access dissertations that students have wished to make openly available. The full-text content is available to all, although some theses may have embargoes. If an embargo exists the date will be listed instead of the download button. The download button will appear once a dissertation is no longer embargoed. To browse a fuller listing of dissertations from Purdue please visit the Theses and Dissertations Available from ProQuest series.

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• DASH , Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard, is the university's central, open-access repository for the scholarly output of faculty and the broader research community at Harvard.  Most Ph.D. dissertations submitted from  March 2012 forward  are available online in DASH.
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Doctoral Theses

Academic Commons holds the full text of doctoral theses written since 2011 at Columbia and of theses written for a Doctorate of Education at Teachers College since mid 2018. A selection of dissertations from Union Theological Seminary, and from Columbia before 2011, are also available. You can start exploring theses by selecting one of the doctoral programs below.

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Home > Dissertations and Theses > Education (PhD) Dissertations

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Below is a selection of dissertations from the Attallah College of Educational Studies. Additional dissertations from years prior to 2019 are available through the Leatherby Libraries' print collection or in Proquest's Dissertations and Theses database.

Dissertations from 2024 2024

Rising from the Abyss: A Grounded Theory Exploration on How Afghani and Ukrainian Mothers Navigate Major Milestones Following the Onset of Political Conflict , Rabab Atwi

Investigating Factors Influencing Chinese Private College Students’ Engagement in Emergency Online Learning , Limei Cao

“Caught in the Continuum”: How Special Educators Facilitate Access for Students With Extensive Support Needs , Megan Doty

Exploring Community College Faculty and Administrators Work Providing Educational Opportunities for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD): An Integral Framework for Inclusive Postsecondary Education , Stacy Eldred

Leading Towards Racial Justice: Counterstories of TK-12 Latinx Men Administrators , Pedro Espinoza

Experiences of Latine LGBTQ+ High School Students in California , Michael Gorse

Shattering the Glass Ceiling: A Grounded Theory Exploration of Barriers and Facilitators to Women Leaders’ Career Advancement Within Private Universities in China , Xiuying Han

Peacing it Together: Post 9/11 Enlisted Student Veterans’ Awakening to Peace Leadership , Nicholas J. Irwin

The Experiences of Postsecondary Students with Disabilities Utilizing One Stop Student Services: A Grounded Theory Approach , Ivan Noe

Personalized Learning for Art Major Students Based on Learner Characteristics , Jiayu Shao

Influences of Cultural Capital and Internationalization on Global Competence: Evidence from China’s Higher Vocational Education , Yiying Teng

Visit the Imprisoned: A Heuristic Inquiry into the Experiences of Catholic Detention Ministry Volunteers , Christopher Tran

Factors Influencing College Students’ Learning Satisfaction With Educational Videos , Fei Wang

A Positive Psychology Perspective on Chinese EFL Students’ Well-Being, Language Mindset, and English Performance , Qian Wei

Becoming and Thriving as an EFL Instructor: Exploring Key Factors Contributing to Positive Identity Construction , Weiyi Xia

Fair or Unfair? Chinese Undergraduates’ Perceptions of College Classroom Assessments , Ying Zhu

Dissertations from 2023 2023

All Things Weird and Wonderful: A Creative Exploration of Disability Representation , Lara Ameen

Generalizability of the Scale of Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC) to School Psychologists , Abraham Aryadad

Understanding the Relationship Between Organic Chemistry Misconceptions and Students’ Chemistry Self-efficacy in Higher Education Organic Chemistry Courses , Lauren A. Dudley

Women’s Pornography Use and Sexuality Education in U.S. Public Schools , Julie Fraumeni-McBride

Educator Professional Development in Universal Design for Learning and Social-Emotional Learning: A Collective Case Study , Sara Morgan

Phenomenological Study on Veteran Resource Center (VRC) in California Community Colleges , Darl Park

Equipped for Change: A Grounded Theory Study of White Antiracist School Leaders’ Attitudes and Perceptions of Racial Consciousness in Educational Leadership , Thomas Joseph Peterson

A Discourse Analysis of Parents' and Teachers' Social Constructions of School Readiness and Transition to Kindergarten for Children With Disabilities , Ronica Senores Toyota

How Market-Driven Policies Impact a Private Vocational College Department in China , Huiru Zhu

Dissertations from 2022 2022

Disabled IDF Veterans in Israeli Higher Education: Disability Identity and Use of Support , Einat Ben Dov

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Teacher Preparation Standards within Inclusion-Intensive States , Kay Lynn Ceja

Beta Drift: Forecasting the Manifold Relationships between Students and their Pursuit of STEM Careers , Douglas D. Havard

Radical Belonging: School as Communion of Peoples, Place, and Power , Joey Yung-Jun Liu

“I Just Learn Differently”: The Experiences of Dis/abled Students of Color Interpreting and Resisting Normalizing Forces in the Mathematics Classroom , Dina Mahmood

The Efficacy of a Key Word Signing Workshop , Krista McMorran-Maus

The Relationship Among Social and Psychological Inclusion, Marginalized Group Membership, and Student Outcomes , Katheryn Munguia

Higher Education Housing Professionals and Disability: A Grounded Theory Exploration of Resident Directors’ Understandings of Disability , Christopher Toutain

Dissertations from 2021 2021

Understanding First-Generation Latinx Students' Experiences in a Predominantly White Private Institution: A Grounded Theory Study , Jacqueline Aparicio

Constructing Critical Change: Learning from Elementary Teachers' Engagement with Inclusive Critical Education , Courtney Beatty

Fighting An Uphill Battle: Black Undergraduate Women Navigating Higher Education While Acknowledging and Challenging Media Portrayals of Black Women , Kandace Branch

Community College Success of Students with Disabilities , Shayne Brophy-Felbab

Searching for Balance: The Reading Choices, Experiences, and Habits of Women in Higher Education Leadership Roles , Laura Burns

Leading Climate Action Planning: A Case Study of Local Community Practices , Mackenzie Crigger

Bidimensional Assessment of Youth Mental Health: Evaluation of the California Healthy Kids Survey as a Measure of Youth Subjective Well-Being , Michael Doria

Exploring the Relationship Between Religion and Resilience Among Latina Academics in Higher Education , Rocio Garcia

Special Education Parent Perceptions of Involvement and Parent–Educator Relationships During IEP Meetings at Nonpublic Schools , Alex Huynen

Systemic Functional Linguistics in the Community College Composition Class: A Multimodal Approach to Teaching Composition Using the Metalanguage of SFL , Jennifer James

School Psychologists as Leaders in Professional Practice: An Examination of Leadership Roles and Perceived Support , Jodi LaChance

An Examination of Chinese Private College Students’ Intercultural Competence , Li Li

Relationships Among Mentoring Support and Student Success in a Chinese First-Year Experience Program , Tianxiang Liu

Contributing to Engineering Colleges Students' Development Through Out-of-Class Involvement: A Survey of Chinese Private Colleges' Engineering Students , Wanlu Li

Understanding the Lived Experiences of Autistic Adults , Sneha Kohli Mathur

Using a Dual-Factor Model to Understand the Mental Health of Students with School Refusal Behavior , Zachary D. Maupin

The Effects of Internationalization Activities on Undergraduates' Global Competence: An Exploratory Study at A Chinese Private University , Haiying Meng

Resilience and Mental Health of Students Attending California's Continuation High Schools , Brianna Meshke McLay

'Training' the Body Politic: Essays on the School Reform Orthodoxy , Jahan Naghshineh

Mitigating Risks for Youth in At-Risk Living Conditions Through School-Based Protective Factors , Cora Palma

Seeing the Tress For the Forest: An Analysis of Novice and Experienced Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Stress , Allison Serceki

An Examination of Chinese Undergraduates’ Contemplativity and Academic Stress , Ran Tao

Teachers’ Experiences of a District’s Transformational Leadership Design Program: A Qualitative Study , Jarit Unrau

California Elected City Council Women of Color: Building a Collaborative Vision With Inclusive Voice , Beatriz T. Valencia

Equality of Educational Opportunity in China: Factors from Family, School, and Shadow Education , Qin Xiang

An Examination of Chinese Adolescents’ Resilience and Their Perceptions of Parental and Peer Attachment , Jingwen Xing

Do Academic Characteristics Predict Chinese Private University Students’ Success in English Language Testing? , Feijun Yu

Empathy Among Nursing Undergraduates at a Chinese Private University , Yuanyuan Zhang

A Study of Critical Thinking Dispositions of Undergraduates in Foreign Language Discipline at One Private College in Mainland China , Yuanyuan Zheng

Dissertations from 2020 2020

Hidden Power: Journalistic Representations of Mental Health Labels , Elise Anguizola Assaf

Finding Voice from the Inside: How Postsecondary Education Impacted Perceptions of Higher Education for Long-Term Incarcerated Juveniles , Gregory Barraza

Experienced Pediatric Oncology Nurses Using Self-Reflective Practices in the Clinical Setting: A Descriptive Phenomenological Investigation , Daniel Josue Bonilla

The Labyrinth of Autism: Heuristic Journeys of Fathers Who Have a Child on the Autism Spectrum , Lisa Boskovich

Developing Trust in a Cross-Functional Workgroup: Assessing the Effectiveness of a Communication Intervention , Scott De Long

A Place of Yes? Experiences of Educators Participating in Site-based Teacher-led Reform , Elizabeth Hind

Vietnamese Resilience Assessment: Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Scale Validation , Loan Le

School Psychologists and School Counselors’ Perceptions of Preparation Received for the Provision of School-Based Mental Health Services , Sherika McKenzie

The Perceived Effectiveness of School-Based Accommodations for Students with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus , MaryAnn Seng

Secondary Traumatic Stress in Teachers and School Communities Impacted by the Opioid Epidemic , Anne Steketee

Performative Possibilities in the Development of Protagonistic Agency Among Graduate Students in China , Yan Wang

Dissertations from 2019 2019

Laughing Back: A Phenomenological Study of Disability Humor Using Culturally Responsive Methodologies , Kinda Abujbarah

Women’s Right and Education in Saudi Arabia: Raising Critical Consciousness in Arabic Studies Courses in Female High Schools in Saudi Arabia , Eman Almutairi

Exploring Gender Roles and Gender Equality within the Evangelical Church , Christopher Bishop

Minding the Gap: A Grounded Theory Exploration of Transition from Secondary School to Community College for Students Identified with Autism , Douglas Highlen

#BLACKQUEERLIVESMATTER: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Black Gay Male Leaders in Los Angeles , Christopher Jackson

The Power of Partnership: Understanding the Dynamic of Co-Teaching Pairs , Amanda M. Lozolla

The Intersection of Speech-Language Pathologists’ Beliefs, Perceptions, and Practices and the Language Acquisition and Development of Emerging Aided Communicators , Margaret Vento-Wilson

On the Move: Storying the Authentic Leadership Development of Millennial Gay Men , Kyle Williams

The Media, Education, and the State: Arts-Based Research and a Marxist Analysis of the Syrian Refugee Crisis , Meng Zhao

Dissertations from 2018 2018

Collegiate Women in Saudi Arabia: Leading Collectively for the Development of Self, Others, and Society , Miznah Alomair

Counter-stories of First-Generation Latinx Alumnae: A Critical Race Theory Analysis , Pamela Ezell

Practitioner Research in Schools: Revealing the Efficacy Agency Cycle , Edward Resnick

An Analysis of Mentoring and Job Satisfaction in Public and Private College and University Academic Libraries in California , Kevin M. Ross

Dissertations from 2017 2017

Queer Teachers in Catholic Schools: Cosmic Perceptions of an Easter People , Kevin Stockbridge

Dissertations from 2016 2016

Young, Urban, Professional, and Kenyan?: Conversations Surrounding Tribal Identity and Nationhood , Charlotte Achieng-Evensen

Inside/Outside/In-between: Understanding how Jewish Identity Impacts the Lives and Narratives of Ashkenazi Female Public School Educators , Mindi Ellen Benditson

The Repatriation Experiences of American Third Culture Kids , Nicole Mazzo Bennett

Academic Factors that Predict Community College Students’ Acceptance of Evolution , Meredith Anne Dorner

Operation Transition: Post-9/11 Combat Marines Transitioning to Civilian Life and the Role of Higher Education in their Identity Formation , Jamie M. Fenton

Towards a New Understanding: Complex Familial Constructs of Autism , Joanne Kim

The Development of the Scale of Contemplative Practice in Higher Education , Maryann Krikorian

Bridgers in the Third Space: An In-Country Investigation of the Leadership Practices of US-Educated Chinese Nationals , Maria L. Martinez

The Experiences of Siblings of Individuals with Disabilities: A Holistic View , Ashley Mc Adams

¿Dónde Pertenecemos? Narrative Analysis of Afro-Boricua Women’s Experiences of Belonging Within and Beyond College , Marie Nubia-Feliciano

Nontraditional Student Risk Factors and Gender as Predictors for Enrollment in College Distance Education , Tammy Crews Pao

The Glass Ceiling is Not Broken: Gender Equity Issues among Faculty in Higher Education , Jillian Wood

Dissertations from 2015 2015

A Narrative and Poetic Exploration into Self-Defining Asperger’s: Ceasing to be X-1 , Lisa Boskovich

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How to write a PhD thesis: a step-by-step guide

A draft isn’t a perfect, finished product; it is your opportunity to start getting words down on paper, writes Kelly Louise Preece

Kelly Louise Preece

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Congratulations; you’ve finished your research! Time to write your PhD thesis. This resource will take you through an eight-step plan for drafting your chapters and your thesis as a whole. 

Organise your material

Before you start, it’s important to get organised. Take a step back and look at the data you have, then reorganise your research. Which parts of it are central to your thesis and which bits need putting to one side? Label and organise everything using logical folders – make it easy for yourself! Academic and blogger Pat Thomson calls this  “Clean up to get clearer” . Thomson suggests these questions to ask yourself before you start writing:

• What data do you have? You might find it useful to write out a list of types of data (your supervisor will find this list useful too.) This list is also an audit document that can go in your thesis. Do you have any for the “cutting room floor”? Take a deep breath and put it in a separate non-thesis file. You can easily retrieve it if it turns out you need it.
• What do you have already written? What chunks of material have you written so far that could form the basis of pieces of the thesis text? They will most likely need to be revised but they are useful starting points. Do you have any holding text? That is material you already know has to be rewritten but contains information that will be the basis of a new piece of text.
• What have you read and what do you still need to read? Are there new texts that you need to consult now after your analysis? What readings can you now put to one side, knowing that they aren’t useful for this thesis – although they might be useful at another time?
• What goes with what? Can you create chunks or themes of materials that are going to form the basis of some chunks of your text, perhaps even chapters?

Once you have assessed and sorted what you have collected and generated you will be in much better shape to approach the big task of composing the dissertation. 

Decide on a key message

A key message is a summary of new information communicated in your thesis. You should have started to map this out already in the section on argument and contribution – an overarching argument with building blocks that you will flesh out in individual chapters.

You have already mapped your argument visually, now you need to begin writing it in prose. Following another of Pat Thomson’s exercises, write a “tiny text” thesis abstract. This doesn’t have to be elegant, or indeed the finished product, but it will help you articulate the argument you want your thesis to make. You create a tiny text using a five-paragraph structure:

• The first sentence addresses the broad context. This locates the study in a policy, practice or research field.
• The second sentence establishes a problem related to the broad context you have set out. It often starts with “But”, “Yet” or “However”.
• The third sentence says what specific research has been done. This often starts with “This research” or “I report…”
• The fourth sentence reports the results. Don’t try to be too tricky here, just start with something like: “This study shows,” or “Analysis of the data suggests that…”
• The fifth and final sentence addresses the “So What?” question and makes clear the claim to contribution.

Here’s an example that Thomson provides:

Secondary school arts are in trouble, as the fall in enrolments in arts subjects dramatically attests. However, there is patchy evidence about the benefits of studying arts subjects at school and this makes it hard to argue why the drop in arts enrolments matters. This thesis reports on research which attempts to provide some answers to this problem – a longitudinal study which followed two groups of senior secondary students, one group enrolled in arts subjects and the other not, for three years. The results of the study demonstrate the benefits of young people’s engagement in arts activities, both in and out of school, as well as the connections between the two. The study not only adds to what is known about the benefits of both formal and informal arts education but also provides robust evidence for policymakers and practitioners arguing for the benefits of the arts. You can  find out more about tiny texts and thesis abstracts on Thomson’s blog.

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Write a plan

You might not be a planner when it comes to writing. You might prefer to sit, type and think through ideas as you go. That’s OK. Everybody works differently. But one of the benefits of planning your writing is that your plan can help you when you get stuck. It can help with writer’s block (more on this shortly!) but also maintain clarity of intention and purpose in your writing.

You can do this by creating a  thesis skeleton or storyboard , planning the order of your chapters, thinking of potential titles (which may change at a later stage), noting down what each chapter/section will cover and considering how many words you will dedicate to each chapter (make sure the total doesn’t exceed the maximum word limit allowed).

Use your plan to help prompt your writing when you get stuck and to develop clarity in your writing.

Some starting points include:

• This chapter will argue that…
• This section illustrates that…
• This paragraph provides evidence that…

Of course, we wish it werethat easy. But you need to approach your first draft as exactly that: a draft. It isn’t a perfect, finished product; it is your opportunity to start getting words down on paper. Start with whichever chapter you feel you want to write first; you don’t necessarily have to write the introduction first. Depending on your research, you may find it easier to begin with your empirical/data chapters.

Vitae advocates for the “three draft approach” to help with this and to stop you from focusing on finding exactly the right word or transition as part of your first draft.

This resource originally appeared on Researcher Development .

Kelly Louse Preece is head of educator development at the University of Exeter.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter .

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Methodology

• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

• Search for relevant literature
• Evaluate sources
• Identify themes, debates, and gaps
• Outline the structure
• Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

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When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
• Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

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See an example

Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

• Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
• Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
• Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
• Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

• Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
• Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
• Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

• Your university’s library catalogue
• Google Scholar
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
• EconLit (economics)
• Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

• What question or problem is the author addressing?
• What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
• What are the key theories, models, and methods?
• Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
• What are the results and conclusions of the study?
• How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

• Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
• Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
• Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
• Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
• Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

• Most research has focused on young women.
• There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
• But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

• Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
• Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
• To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
• To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
• To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

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McCombes, S. (2023, September 11). How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved June 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/

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