Critical Issues on the Road to Doctorateness

Tuesday, 22 August, 13:30 - 15:30
Location: TBA

Speakers: Professor Emeritus Vernon Trafford (Anglia Ruskin University UK, and Research Associate, Stellenbosch University South Africa) and Professor Shosh Leshem (Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel, and Research Associate, Stellenbosch University South Africa)                                                      
               
'Doctorateness' accounts for the essential features of 'doing a doctorate' and 'producing a doctoral thesis'.  

There are generic features of the doctorate that transcend the individual university or discipline and examiners use similar indicators to assess scholarly merit in a doctoral thesis.  A series of essential elements in research activity have to be accounted for and explained in the text of a thesis.  These are the inescapable pre-requisites of doctoral research.  When these indicators are met they constitute doctorateness which is what examiners look for in a doctoral thesis. 

This presentation will be composed of questions that candidates should ask themselves in order to achieve scholarly merit in their research.  It will use the medium of asking 'difficult' questions to highlight issues in undertaking research. An important and developmental part of the research process involves questions that researchers can ask themselves and answer appropriately.  Identifying and resolving such questions helps candidates to understand the complexity of 'doing research' and then to make it visible in their thesis.      

This presentation will provide participants with the questions and the answers. It will include practical and theoretical perspectives in which participants will be actively involved in hands-on-tasks.   Each of these very practical considerations contribute to 'explaining' your research so that examiners recognize and appreciate exactly how you planned and undertook that research.