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International Perspectives on Designing Professional Practice Doctorates pp 213–232Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Dissertation in Practice: Reconceptualizing the Nature and Role of the Practitioner-Scholar

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Abstract

The richness of dialog about the differing approaches to doctoral educational research from the viewpoint of a scholar and from the viewpoint of the professional has been inspiring and continues to shed new light on the role of the practitioner who performs research under the aegis of the academe (Butlerman-Bos, 2008; Drake & Heath, 2011; Hochbein & Perry, 2013; Jarvis, 1999b; Shulman, Golde, Bueschel, & Garabedian, 2006). However, there continues to be a curious lack of understanding about the signature product of a practitioner performing scholarly research who must satisfy the demands of both viewpoints (Dawson & Kumar, 2014; Willis, Inman, & Valenti, 2010). Accountability to traditionally disparate institutions—the academe and professional practice stakeholders (decision-makers)—decries innovative approaches to the capstone product—the dissertation. We will continue this discussion by outlining the unique characteristics of the dissertation produced by a practitioner who performed educational research. We refer to a dissertation produced by a practitioner while in practice as the Dissertation in Practice (DiP) (ProDEL, 2012; Storey & Maughan, 2014). We continue the discussion about how methodologies of applied or practice-oriented research assists the researcher in professional preparation, public service, outreach, and organizational change (Shulman, 2010).

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Authors
  1. Valerie A. Storey
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  2. Bryan D. Maughan
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Valerie A. Storey

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© 2016 Valerie A. Storey and Bryan D. Maughan

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Storey, V.A., Maughan, B.D. (2016). Dissertation in Practice: Reconceptualizing the Nature and Role of the Practitioner-Scholar. In: Storey, V.A. (eds) International Perspectives on Designing Professional Practice Doctorates. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137527066_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137527066_13

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-56385-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-52706-6

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