Attachment V
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY
School of Social Welfare
GUIDELINES
FOR PAPERS
FOR PHD QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS
STANDARDS
OF SCHOLARSHIP
Faculty
who supervise research papers should encourage students to take a critical
and analytical approach to their topics. The papers should offer more
than a descriptive review of the literature; they should accurately
describe selected themes relevant to a topic and address substantive
questions, such as:
-
The strengths and unique features of this theory/research strategy/intervention
method.
- The
weaknesses, limitations, or areas for improvement of this theory/research
strategy/method.
- The
parsimony, empirical support and predictive value of each perspective.
These criteria may not apply to historical or non-empirical types
of dissertation research.
- Papers
should focus on depth rather than breadth. Research
topics generally represent only one aspect of a broader field. The
field bibliography is intended to represent a comprehensive view of
the broader field and should reflect the student's general knowledge
of that field.
Primary
sources should be used, wherever available, to describe theories,
problems, research paradigms, or intervention methods. Secondary sources,
particularly textbooks, are not appropriate as examples of original
research and theory development. It is also important that relevant
current sources be used, particularly in terms of research findings
and critical articles.
Students
should express their own opinions and critically assess theories, research
or intervention methods discussed. These opinions and critiques should
be supported by data and/or critical analysis.
LENGTH,
STYLE, AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF RESEARCH PAPERS
Qualifying
examination research papers range between 30-50 pages, excluding references,
tables, and figures. Papers of this length will help students to focus
clearly on a specific topic, to be disciplined in writing, and to produce
papers which can easily be revised for publication.
All
papers must conform to American Psychological Association uniform standards
in style of references and heading levels. (Most journals in social
work and other social sciences use the APA format.) Final drafts should
be double-spaced, using the standard type and margins required in dissertations.
Students
often focus their papers on related topics. While some degree of interlinking
among paper topics is encouraged, no more than two of the three papers
should be directly related to the subject area of the dissertation.
Finally,
faculty members who supervise orals papers are expected to discuss agreed
upon guidelines with doctoral students, clarify program expectations
for scholarly work, and offer regular supervision and support to their
students.
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