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Activity: Explore Dissertations

Overview

A dissertation is the major, book-length research project required as part of a doctoral degree. It often contains cutting-edge, original research and emerging areas of scholarly interest that have yet to appear in journal articles and books.

Dissertations are bibliographic monsters–citation krakens bursting from Puget Sound–so if you can find dissertations that share themes, subjects, and approaches to your own topic you will have a jump start on your research.

Look at theses or dissertations by students who graduated from your program.  You can search for your faculty adviser’s name in the adviser field.

Activity: Locating Dissertations

  1. Brainstorm words, synonymous words, topics, and phrases related to your research interest.
  2. Go to Requires UW loginProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. This database includes the full text of more than a million dissertations plus information on millions more.
  3. Use your brainstormed words to search for dissertations related to your research interest. If you find a dissertation that looks good, scroll to its final pages to review its bibliography.

Search example: "social media" and "2016 election" and "african americans"

Bonus Tip

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