Honors dissertation abstracts: a bounded qualitative meta-study.
Holman, Debra K. ; Banning, James H.
A potential source of useful information about undergraduate honors
education can be found in doctoral dissertation abstracts that focus on
honors. We sought to explore this resource by undertaking a bounded
qualitative meta-study of such abstracts using document analysis. Three
sub-questions focused our inquiry:
* What are the general attributes of dissertations on honors
education?
* What are the thematic subjects and topics associated with the
dissertations?
* Have these dissertation findings been published in higher
education journals or books?
What follows is an account of our research, including information
on the meta-study framework we used, our selection of the dissertations
for analysis, and our methods and procedures for analyzing the
dissertations. At the close of this article, we discuss our findings,
summarize publication-related trends for dissertations on honors
education, and provide recommendations for future research.
A BOUNDED QUALITATIVE META-STUDY FRAMEWORK
A meta-study framework explores and synthesizes research for the
purpose of addressing specific research questions (Lipsey & Wilson).
Most often, the meta-study is based on a quantitative approach (Glass)
using effect size data to permit meaningful comparisons across a group
of studies (Lipsey & Wilson). A qualitative framework can be an
important strategy (Noblit & Hare; Major & Savin-Baden) when
researchers seek to analyze studies for common themes. The qualitative
framework can also be used to examine attributes of the research and
researchers, as demonstrated in 2001 by Paterson, Thorne, Canam, and
Jillings.
For our study, we used a qualitative meta-study framework limited
to or bounded by a specific activity: the production of dissertation
abstracts on honors education. Additionally, we selected a specific time
period (1987-2006) in which the dissertations were produced to further
bound and focus our analyses. In using a bounded qualitative approach,
we were applying a specific meta-study framework used successfully in
several recent studies on education, including Banning and
Folkestad's 2011 study of education-related dissertations on
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); Davies,
Dickmann, Harbour, & Banning's 2011 study on community
college-related dissertations; and Banning & Kuk's 2009 and
2011 studies on dissertations covering collegiate student affairs
organizations and residence life.
SELECTION OF THE DISSERTATIONS
In 2007, Holman undertook a study on publications of research
related to collegiate honors and to high-achieving, high-ability, and
gifted and talented education. Her findings were detailed in a report to
the External Relations Committee of the National Collegiate Honors
Council (NCHC) and disseminated broadly, both as an annotated
bibliography and EndNote library files, in two NCHC National Conference
sessions in Denver, Colorado, that same year. As part of her study,
Holman (2007a) sought to locate dissertations on collegiate honors and
on high-achieving, high-ability, and gifted and talented education in
ProQuest. Using a list of 25 search terms, she located a total of 132
dissertations, which were incorporated into her EndNote reference
library; this material was published in her Annotated Bibliography:
Honors Research. We selected this subset of 132 dissertation-related
entries for our qualitative meta-study framework and analyses. Before
undertaking our review, we reran Holman's dissertation search in
the current version of Digital Dissertations: ProQuest to include any
additional data that might have been added to the ProQuest entries for
the dissertations of interest.
METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Bounding the Sample
One of the primary research questions we had posed concerned the
publication of dissertation-related findings in higher education
journals or books. We chose to bound our study to the most recent
twenty-five-year period, from 1987-2011, to gain a sense of current
topics and trends in publishing on honors education research. We further
determined our specific analyses of the dissertations would focus on
those produced between 1987 and 2006 so that, in searching for related
post-dissertation publications, we would extend to the authors a
five-year window--until 2011--to have had their research published in
higher education journals or books.
To formally bound our sample, a query was run in EndNote to locate
those dissertations published in the twenty-year period of 1987-2006 and
containing the specific terms "honor" or "honour" in
any search field. A total of fifty-one entries met the criteria. The
abstracts for all entries in the query were subsequently reviewed to
confirm the research had been conducted as a dissertation focused on
some aspect of undergraduate honors program or honors college education.
Two entries were removed, one for being a master's thesis and the
other for focusing on high-achieving students earning awards and honors
but not participating in an honors program or college. The remaining
forty-nine entries were retained as the sample for the bounded
meta-study.
Qualitative Document Analysis
Qualitative document analysis (QDA) (Altheide, Coyle, DeVriese,
& Schneider), also known as ethnographic content analysis
(Altheide), served as the primary analytical approach within our
meta-study framework. QDA is a form of qualitative content analysis that
examines documents in both deductive and inductive manners (Altheide) as
opposed to the strict deductive coding and numerical analysis typically
associated with classical content analysis (Krippendorff). Within the
QDA framework, coding is undertaken as template analysis (King). In this
method, a priori (deductive) codes are used along with new codes
produced through an inductive approach to the data.
The a priori codes for our study were year of degree, awarding
institution, author gender, research methodology used, comparative
analysis with non-honors program(s) or college(s), and type of doctorate
awarded. (When an author's gender was not readily identifiable in
the name, an online search in Google was conducted to locate the author
and confirm his or her gender through a published photograph. In all
such search instances, the author was located and a photo found either
at his/her place of employment or via a public social networking site,
e.g., LinkedIn or Facebook.) Our thematic analyses of the dissertation
subjects and topics used the inductive coding strategy of the constant
comparative method (Corbin & Strauss); each dissertation abstract
was assigned a subject and topic code, and, from the listing of codes, a
thematic structure was induced. The process of peer debriefing was used
to ensure the trustworthiness of the inductive coding process
(Creswell). We jointly examined our separate subject and topic coding of
the dissertations, and the final assignment of dissertations to subjects
and topics was determined by consensus.
Carnegie Research Classification for Institutions
Our analyses included identifying the Carnegie Basic Classification
for Institutions of Higher Education for each university granting a
doctoral degree for the dissertations in the meta-study. Carnegie
identifications were made by visiting the website for the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2012) in January 2012 and
searching for institutions by name to learn their current classification
standing.
Author Publications in Higher Education Journals or Books
The search for journal articles or books resulting from
dissertations was done in early fall 2011 using the following databases:
Educational Abstracts, Psychlnfo, the Humanities International, and
Academic Search Premier. A follow-up search was then completed in late
January 2012 in Google Scholar. Articles and books published by the
dissertation authors were selected if the titles or abstracts of the
publications were clearly identifiable as relating to the authors'
dissertation titles or abstracts.
FINDINGS
University Publication Information and General Attributes for
Dissertations
As shown in Figure 1, over the period of 1987-2006, dissertations
on honors education were published at the rate of two to three
dissertations per year. In four years--1993, 1999, 2003, and 2004--four
to six dissertations were published, and in two years--1990 and 1996--no
dissertations were published. Figure 1 also shows a general trend from
1999 to 2006 toward a quantitative methodological approach in the
dissertation research whereas in the prior twelve years most
dissertations relied on qualitative methodological approaches.
For the 49 dissertations under study, a total of 37 universities
served as the publishing entities for the research undertaken, with
Arizona State University and Indiana University having the highest
publication rate of three dissertations each during the twenty year
period of 1987-2006. Eight institutions--Morgan State University, State
University of New York at Buffalo, Texas A&M University-Commerce,
The Ohio State University, The Pennsylvania State University, The
University of Alabama, The University of Connecticut, and University of
South Carolina--each published two dissertations. Table 1 shows that
only six dissertations--12% of the total--were produced at universities
in the Western United States, with half of those at Arizona. A few
dissertations were published by universities in the Upper Midwest or
Midwest. The majority of the dissertations were published by
universities in the Eastern and Southern United States.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
Table 2 presents our findings on the general attributes for the
dissertations, including author gender, research methodology,
comparative analysis with non-honors program(s) or college(s), type of
doctorate awarded, and institutional classification by Carnegie. By
gender, 73% of the dissertations were produced by female students and
27% by male students. A little over half the dissertations, 25 total,
relied on quantitative methodology, but, with 21 dissertations having a
qualitative focus, there was no substantively demonstrated preference in
methodologies. As previously noted, however, and as displayed in Figure
1, there was a preference for using quantitative methodology in
dissertations published from 1999 to 2006. There was also a
preference--over the entire period under study--for doing research that
focused exclusively on honors education, with just over three-quarters
of all the dissertations not incorporating some element of comparative
analysis with non-honors programs, colleges, or students. When looking
at the types of doctoral degrees granted, 69% were found to have been
awarded as doctors of philosophy, 29% as doctors of education, and 2% as
doctor of arts. The large majority of degree-granting institutions, a
total of 83%, were classified by Carnegie as having RU/H or RU/VH
status, indicating that most students undertook their dissertations on
honors education at institutions with high to very high research
activity.
Dissertation Subjects and Topics
Although we determined primary subject and topic categories by
consensus, many of the dissertations could have been coded into more
than one category. Ultimately, we settled on six distinct subject codes
and sixteen related topic codes induced from a constant comparative
analysis of the dissertation abstracts. As shown in Table 3, the most
common subject pursued in the dissertations was evaluation, followed
closely by curriculum and instruction and then achievement. other
subject areas of interest were recruitment and retention, student
development, and residence life.
For those dissertations focusing on evaluation, three forms
(topics) of evaluation were common: program/operational assessment,
historical examination, and assessment of student satisfaction. Nine
dissertations involved program/operational assessment, with Powell
(1992), Bulakowski (1993), Viger (1993), and Phillips (2003) focusing on
community college settings; Peterson (1989) looking at honors in
nursing; Cummins (2004) examining honors in private, Catholic school
settings; and Billingsley (1994), Huggett (2003) and Christopher (2003)
evaluating some other aspects of honors programs or colleges. Capuana
(1993), DeHart (1993), Haarlow (2000), and Galinova (2005) each
undertook evaluation involving a historical examination of honors
education. Finally, two dissertations (Montgomery, 1991; Enochs, 2001)
centered on evaluation in relation to student satisfaction.
Subjects related to curriculum and instruction were the second most
common found among the forty-nine dissertations in the meta-study.
Literature/composition was the most common topic, pursued by Mathey
(1993), Wheeler (1997), Guzy (1999), and Abrams (2004). The topic of
STEM education in relation to honors was found in three dissertations
(Aryulina,1995; Meel, 1995; Wallace, 2002). Additionally, Ringle (1999)
and Hollister (2001) took topics related to learning styles/strategies;
Cook-Goodhue (1989) looked at teacher education; and Gibboney (1997)
examined service learning.
A fifth of all the dissertations took the subject of achievement.
Four authors (Longo, 1995; Shute, 1999; Rinn, 2004; Green, 2005) looked
at achievement through the lens of honors and/or gifted education.
Achievement was also examined topically in relation to peer/family
relationships by Bouldin (1998) and Smith (2000) and in relation to
self-esteem/self-efficacy by McCrimmon (1988) and Lapp-Rincker (2003).
Two authors (Higginbotham, 1992; Adkins, 1994) explored the topic of
perfectionism in relation to achievement.
Six dissertations focused on recruitment and retention, another six
on student development, and one on residence life. For the dissertations
on recruitment and retention, the topic of persistence/completion was
most common with four of the six authors (Allen, 2002; Cosgrove, 2004;
Gagliardi, 2005; Campbell, 2006) exploring some aspect of persistence
and/or completion in their studies while two authors (Sell, 1987;
Harrison-Cook, 1999) looked at recruitment. Under the subject of student
development, three dissertations focused on aspects of student
identity/interrelationships; these dissertations had sub-topics of role
(Park-Curry, 1988), peer relationships (Lease, 2003), and race (Pittman,
2003). Two student-development-based dissertations focused on
psychological evaluation of first-year/freshman students in honors
(Brown-Myers, 1989; Shushok, 2002), and one dissertation (Chmiel, 1993)
undertook psychological evaluation of honors students in STEM education.
The remaining dissertation (Freeman, 1988) in the meta-study was
concerned with engagement and involvement of honors students in
residence life.
Publication Results
Using Educational Abstracts, PsychInfo, the Humanities
International, and Academic Search Premier, 8% of the dissertations, a
total of four authors (Adkins, Bulakowski, Christopher, and Rinn) were
found to have published articles related to their dissertations. When
the search was repeated in Google Scholar, we found that almost 20% of
the dissertations, a total of ten authors (Adkins, Bulakowski, Campbell,
Christopher, Cosgrove, Guzy, Huggett, Meel, Rinn, and Shushok), had
either published articles related to their dissertations or had their
dissertations highlighted in published reviews.
Table 4 provides a summary of the journals that published the
honors-related dissertation research. Rinn, with five publications since
her dissertation was completed in 2004, was the most successful author
in getting her dissertation-related research on honors education
published in articles or reviews. Both Adkins and Huggett were also able
to publish twice in relation to their dissertation research.
Although not highlighted in Table 4, three of the 49 authors with
honors education dissertations were found, through the search in Google
Scholar, to have been successful in getting their dissertation-related
research published as monographs or books. In 2004, Guzy authored Honors
Composition: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Practices, an NCHC
monograph which remains available in print and can be obtained from the
NCHC national office. In 2003, Routledge published Haarlow's Great
Books, Honors Programs, and Hidden Origins: The Virginia Plan and the
University of Virginia in the Liberal Arts Movement. Finally, Peter Lang
published Pittman in 2009 under the title Whited Out: Unique
Perspectives on Black Identity and Honors Achievement.
In total, 12 of the 49 authors--almost 25%--had some portion of
their dissertation-related research published in education journals or
books. Those 12 authors were responsible for generating a total of 16
articles, 2 books, and 1 monograph. The remaining 37 authors, just over
75%, either did not pursue post-dissertation publication or were
unsuccessful in getting their dissertation research published for the
higher-education readership.
Some additional attribute-related highlights of those who were
published include: 6 of the original dissertations used quantitative
methodology, and 6 used qualitative methodology; 11 of the 12 authors
received PhDs, with the twelfth receiving an EdD; all of the authors
published their dissertations at institutions ranked by Carnegie as
having an RU/H or RU/VH research status. For those authors whose work
appeared in journals, the average time between the publication of their
dissertation and the first appearance of their work in a journal was 1.8
years. The journals publishing more than one article were: JNCHC (4),
Gifted Child Quarterly (3), Roeper Review (3), and Journal of Secondary
Gifted Education (2). For the three authors with monograph or book
publications, the average time between publication of their
dissertations and publication of the monograph or book was 4.3 years.
DISCUSSION
Through our bounded qualitative meta-study of doctoral dissertation
abstracts on undergraduate honors education, we learned a great deal.
Ten universities, with two in particular, Arizona State University and
Indiana University, have taken a leadership role in supporting doctoral
research on honors education since the mid-1980s. Those universities
granted more PhDs for honors-related dissertations than EdDs, at an
almost three to one ratio from 1987 through 2006. During that time, 84%
of the dissertations were also published at institutions with an RU/H or
RU/VH Carnegie research classification.
In a three-to-one ratio, more women than men authored doctoral
dissertations between 1987 and 2006; this is consistent with previous
studies of higher-education-related dissertations (Banning & Kuk,
2009 and 2011). Also consistent with previous studies was the balanced
distribution of quantitative and qualitative methods across the
dissertations, although a trend toward quantitative-based methodology in
honors-related dissertations may have started developing in around 2000.
Typical subjects for honors-related dissertations from 1987 through
2006 were, in order from most to least common, evaluation, curriculum
and instruction, achievement, recruitment and retention, and student
development. Just over three-quarters of all dissertations produced did
not involve a comparative study with non-honors programs, colleges, or
students.
Publication-Related Trends for Dissertations on Honors Education
The number of dissertations on honors education is on the increase
with 21 published in the ten-year period 1987-1996 and 28 published in
the subsequent ten years, representing overall a 33% increase decade to
decade. Education journals and publishing houses have taken notice of
the increased interest in honors education. Over the twenty-year period
examined, 12 of the 16 dissertation-related articles that were published
appeared in print after 2000. Additionally, the NCHC monograph and two
books generated from the dissertation research have all been published
since 2003.
Recommendations for Future Research
Based on our analyses, we have two sets of recommendations for
those interested in undertaking future honors-related doctoral research.
The first recommendation is directed toward individuals considering
evaluation-based orientations for their dissertation. A strong
preponderance of qualitative-based methodology (11 out of the 15
dissertations) characterized the dissertations on evaluation, and none
of the evaluation-oriented dissertations sought comparative analyses
with non-honors programs, colleges, or students. To provide balance in
evaluation-based research on honors, we recommend more dissertations
take a quantitative or mixed methods approach. In particular, Teddlie
and Tashakkori in 2009 provided a valuable resource for those
considering mixed methods. Additionally, in an effort to better
understand what makes honors distinct from other collegiate education
experiences, evaluation ought to incorporate some comparative analysis
with appropriate non-honors education paradigms.
Our second recommendation is for researchers in social science or
educational psychology disciplines. We found that many of the
dissertations focused on personal attributes of honors students,
typically examining the attribute in relation to some aspect(s) of the
students' collegiate or honors-specific experience(s). The results
of these studies typically pointed to the value of honors education in
students' overall collegiate success. When considering future
studies of honors students' personal attributes in relation to
major or honors program characteristics, an ecological framework may be
of interest. The ecological framework not only focuses on dynamics among
personal attributes and environmental conditions related to behavioral
outcomes but also helps structure interventions (Felner & Felner).
Therefore, an ecological framework could support the following kind of
question for honors education research: What student attributes under
what kinds of program characteristics promote what kinds of behavior?
Answering such a question within a mixed methods approach could further
support student success outcomes for participants in honors programs and
colleges.
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(Dissertations evaluated within the meta-study are noted with an
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methodology (2nd ed.). Thousand oaks, CA: Sage.
* Lapp-Rincker, R. H. (2003). Achievement motivation in honors
students: The role of the impostor phenomenon and self-efficacy
(Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Digital Dissertations: ProQuest.
(3111491)
* Lease, J. A. (2003). Defining friendships: Peer relationships
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from Digital Dissertations: ProQuest. (0805057)
Lipsey, M. W., & Wilson, D. B. (2001). Practical
media-analysis. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage.
* Longo, F. C. (1995). Gifted education: Its effect on college
functioning (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Digital
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qualitative research synthesis: Managing the information explosion in
social science research. London, UK: Routledge.
* Mathey, C. K. (1993). Six female college honors students'
reader responses to literature and how they indicate religious or
philosophical values (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Digital
Dissertations: ProQuest. (9411193)
* McCrimmon, C. A. (1988). Gifted college students: A study of self
esteem, depression, and demographics (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved
from Digital Dissertations: ProQuest. (8905807)
* Meel, D. E. (1995). A comparative study of honor students'
understandings of central calculus concepts as a result of completing a
calculus and mathematica or a traditional calculus curriculum (Doctoral
dissertation). Retrieved from Digital Dissertations: ProQuest. (9614207)
Meel, D. E. (1998). Honors students' calculus understandings:
Comparing Calculus & Mathematica and traditional calculus students.
CBMS Issues in Mathematics Education, 7, 163-215.
* Montgomery, W. L. (1991). Factors affecting student satisfaction
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* Park-Curry, P. S. (1988). Honors student role-identity: Social
structure, self-structure, and role performance (Doctoral dissertation).
Retrieved from Digital Dissertations: ProQuest. (8824586)
Parker, W. D., & Adkins, K. K. (1995). The Incidence of
Perfectionism in Honors and Regular College Students. Journal of
Secondary Gifted Education, 7(1), 303-309.
Parker, W. D., & Adkins, K. K. (1995). Perfectionism and the
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* Peterson, S. S. (1989). Characteristics of honors programs in
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* Phillips, G. W. (2003). Measuring the effectiveness of community
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* Pittman, A. A. (2003). Whited out: The influence of collegiate
honors education on Black racial identity (Doctoral dissertation).
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identity and honors achievement. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
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what? The educational and psychological experiences of academically
talented undergraduates. Gifted Child Quarterly, 48(1), 54-67.
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comparison of multiple and ridge regression (Doctoral dissertation).
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* Shushok Jr., F. X. (2002). Educating the best and the brightest:
Collegiate honors programs and the intellectual, social and
psychological development of students (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved
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longitudinal study of 172 Honors students, 2000-2004. Journal of the
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university honors students (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from
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* Smith, G. P. W. (2000). The relationship between parental
involvement, peer pressure, and self-concept to first-semester freshman
grade-point average for honors and non-honors students (Doctoral
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methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in
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* Viger, D. V. (1993). Understanding community college honors
programs: Why students enroll and their perceptions of benefits received
(Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Digital Dissertations: ProQuest.
(9320667)
* Wallace, M. L. (2002). Undergraduate honors students' images
of science: Nature of scientific work and scientific knowledge (Doctoral
dissertation). Retrieved from Digital Dissertations: ProQuest. (3060156)
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review after first-year composition: A case study (Doctoral
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Debra K. Holman and James H. Banning
Colorado State University
The authors may be contacted at
kaye.holman@colostate.edu.
Table 1. Summary of Dissertations Included in Meta-Study (N = 49)
Author (Year) Institution
Abrams, D. J. (2004) George Mason University, Virginia
Adkins, K. K. (1994) The University of Alabama, Alabama
Allen, N. E. (2002) Morgan State University, Maryland
Aryulina, D. (1995) Virginia Polytechnic Institute &
State University, Virginia
Billingsley, L. C. (1994) Nova Southeastern University, Florida
Bouldin, E. L. (1998) The University of Alabama, Alabama
Brown-Myers, P. A. (1989) Auburn University, Alabama
Bulakowski, C. (1993) Loyola University of Chicago, Illinois
Campbell, K. C. (2006) Oklahoma State University
Capuana, J. A. (1993) State University of New York at
Buffalo, New York
Chmiel, S. M. (1993) State University of New York at
Buffalo, New York
Christopher, M. M. (2003) Texas Tech University, Texas
Cook-Goodhue, N. R. (1989) University of South Carolina,
South Carolina
Cosgrove, J. R. (2004) The Pennsylvania State University,
Pennsylvania
Cummins, C. F. (2004) Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas
DeHart, K. E. (1993) The University of Akron, Ohio
Enochs, P. P. (2001) Tennessee State University, Tennessee
Freeman, M. G. (1988) The Ohio State University, Ohio
Gagliardi, C. J. (2005) Arizona State University, Arizona
Galinova, E. V. (2005) The Pennsylvania State University,
Pennsylvania
Gibboney, R. K. (1997) Indiana University, Indiana
Green, S. M. (2005) Delta State University, Mississippi
Guzy, A. (1999) New Mexico State University, New Mexico
Haarlow, W. N. (2000) University of Virginia, Virginia
Harrison-Cook, R. R. (1999) University of South Carolina, South
Carolina
Author (Year) Institution
Higginbotham, L. G. K. (1992) Indiana University, Indiana
Hollister, D. L. (2001) University of Central Florida, Florida
Huggett, K. N. D. (2003) The University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Wisconsin
Lapp-Rincker, R. H. (2003) University of Kansas, Kansas
Lease, J. A. (2003) University of Georgia, Georgia
Longo, F. C. (1995) The University of Southern Mississippi,
Mississippi
Mathey, C. K. (1993) New York University, New York
McCrimmon, C. A. (1988) Brigham Young University, Utah
Meel, D. E. (1995) University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Montgomery, W. L. (1991) Illinois State University, Illinois
Park-Curry, P. S. (1988) The Ohio State University, Ohio
Peterson, S. S. (1989) Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
Phillips, G. W. (2003) Sam Houston State University, Texas
Pittman, A. A. (2003) The University of Connecticut,
Connecticut
Powell, G. S. (1992) East Texas State University, Texas
Ringle, J. A. (1999) Oregon State University, Oregon
Rinn, A. N. (2004) Indiana University, Indiana
Sell, D. K. (1987) Kent State University, Ohio
Shushok Jr., F. X. (2002) University of Maryland, College Park,
Maryland
Shute, L. D. (1999) The University of Connecticut,
Connecticut
Smith, G. P. W. (2000) Morgan State University, Maryland
Viger, D. V. (1993) Arizona State University, Arizona
Wallace, M. L. (2002) University of Missouri-Columbia,
Missouri
Wheeler, J. I. (1997) Arizona State University, Arizona
Table 2. Dissertation Attributes (N =49)
Subject
n %
Gender of Researcher
Female 36 73
Male 13 27
Methodology for Study
Quantitative 25 51
Qualitative 21 43
Mixed 3 6
Comparative Analysis with Non-Honors
(all quantitative studies)
Yes 12 24
No 37 76
Degree Granted
Ph.D. 34 69
Ed.D. 14 29
D.A. 1 2
Carnegie Classification (n = 37)
RU/VH: Research Universities (very high research activity) 19 51
RU/H: Research Universities (high research activity) 12 32
DRU: Doctoral/Research Universities 5 14
Master's L: Master's Colleges & Universities 1 3
(larger programs)
Table 3. Dissertation Subjects (alpha-ordered)
and Topics (frequency-ordered) (N = 49)
Subject Topic
n % n %
Achievement 10 20
Honors & Gifted Education 4 8
Peer/Familial Relationships 2 4
Perfectionism 2 4
Self Esteem/Self-Efficacy 2 4
Curriculum & Instruction 11 23
Literature/Composition 4 9
STEM Education 3 6
Learning Styles/Strategies 2 4
Other 2 4
Evaluation 15 31
Program/operational Assessment 9 19
History 4 8
Student Satisfaction 2 4
Recruitment & Retention 6 12
Persistence/Completion 4 8
Recruitment 2 4
Residential Life 1 2
Engagement/Involvement 1 2
Student Development 6 12
Identity/Interrelationships 3 6
Psychological Evaluation 3 6
Table 4. Summary of Journals & Articles Published
with Dissertation-Related Findings
Journal Author(s) and Year
CBMS Issues in Mathematics Meel, D. E. (1998)
Education
Community College Journal of Bulakowski, C., & Townsend,
Research and Practice B. K. (1995)
Gifted Child Quarterly Rinn, A. N. (2007)
Rinn, A. N., & Cunningham,
L. G. (2008)
Rinn, A. N., & Plucker,
J. A. (2004)
Journal of College Student Campbell, K. C., & Fuqua,
Retention: Research, Theory D. R. (2008)
and Practice
Journal of Secondary Gifted Parker, W. D., & Adkins,
Education K. K. (1995)
Rinn, A. N. (2005)
Journal of the National Collegiate Cosgrove, J. R. (2004)
Honors Council Guzy, A. (2004)
Huggett, K. D. (2003)
Shushok Jr., F. (2006)
NACADA Journal Huggett, K. D. (2004)
Roeper Review Blanchfield, S. L. K.,
Christopher, M. M.,
& Lee, M.-S. (2004)
Chin, C. S., & Rinn, A. N. (2004)
Parker, W. D., & Adkins,
K. K. (1995)
