Dear Ken,

Both situations are totally outside my experience.

In the first case, if the study was purely empirical and there was no directly associated body of theory, I would probably accept that as an answer but then want to know what related body of theory might pertain.

In the second case, I am constantly encouraging my students, both master's and doctoral, to take a long view and not assume that everything recent is novel.  Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine predicted the Internet.  H. G. Well's predicted Wikipedia.  Everything old becomes new again.

Danny


On 4/6/11 3:23 PM, "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Two incidents in the past month lead me to raise a question on this list about doctoral studies. I want to be very careful to frame the question so that it is clear that I am seeking to understand expectations not to criticize them.
At a recent doctoral student presentation the candidate was asked about the theoretical framework for the study. The response was that the institution did not require a theoretical framework (for some of us this is a distinguishing feature between master's and doctoral work). Is this the case at your institution? Is this a change?
Today a doctoral student from another institution asked me about recent research in a specific area. The institution "requires that I use research no further back than the year 2006." (I will set aside whether there is any relationship between the topic of study and the date prescription.) Again, is this the case at your institution? Is this a change?
I have not encountered these before and wonder if there are changes underway or I am less aware of expectations elsewhere or whether these are unique.
Thank you.
[cid:3385026863_43938]
Ken Haycock
voice: 778-689-5938