2024 Online EdD Programs No Dissertation Required (Applied Capstone Projects)

[Sagan]

Not an examination. A scholarly dissertation, an applied dissertation, or a capstone project.

- -Scholarly dissertation: advances scholarship by either creating or testing theory with empirical research, often by using sampling to make inferences about a population. Can also use qualitative methods to tell a deeper story about the phenomenon under study.
-- Applied dissertation: advances practice through empirical research. Does not necessarily make inferences about a population
-- Capstone project: Action-based research to test a process or project. Does not make inferences about a population.

All three are comparable in terms of scope, rigor, and breadth. They require a thorough study of the extant literature, the identification of a gap in either scholarship or practice, data collection and analysis, and argumentation regarding the findings. Can be either inductive or deductive.

But this requirement is never met by an examination, rigorous or otherwise.