Abstract:

Doctoral dissertations in many disciplines utilize a process of focused and specialized research to establish individual expertise through technical knowledge discovery. This research purpose, though arguably still dominant in many academic disciplines, is becoming challenged as more fields are confronted with recognizing the important roles of 1) relevance and impact of research on social outcomes and implementation (Splitter & Seidl, 2011; Nikolai & Seidl, 2010) and 2) the benefits of cross-disciplinary integration and techniques in the generation of new knowledge as requisite preparation of graduates (Fuhrmann et al., 2011; Nash, 2008; Mitrany and Stokol, 2005). By constructing a multi-paradigm model for doctoral research that applies principles of collaboration science, cross-disciplinary knowledge economies, and a translational approach to health science research, we propose that doctoral dissertation research, though challenging, can be a pedagogical and impact-driven experience with high social impact as part of its research goals. Doctoral student preparations for professional and/or scholarly careers, while once seemingly separate trajectories, are now more than ever synergistic social and knowledge networks where scholarly discoveries and professional problem-solving are intimately tied goals (Borrego & Newslander, 2010; Stokols, 2013). The translational capacity of research to bring mechanistic basic knowledge to impact social need is an emerging tradition grounded in the priorities of expediency and efficiency of knowledge application and the benefits of accessing cross-disciplinary teamwork to inform ‘wicked’ social problems (Woolf, 2008; Hirsch-Hadorn et al., 2008;Stokols, 2006). Our proposed model provides a framework that encourages multilevel knowledge generation and translation (Pohl, and Hirsch Hadorn, 2007), product and impact driven research and teaming priorities (Trochim, 2011; Kosaraju et al., 2014) to work beyond the boundaries of any one discipline’s social and scientific priorities (Nash, 2008) cognizant of the environmental factors that impact findings (Stokols et al. 2008).We propose that this type of approach, though seldom utilized in single-researcher doctoral dissertation preparation, will be useful in the prioritization and development of highly relevant and impact-focused research outputs that are the result of changing attitudes and behaviors of doctoral students and the purpose of their work (Lotrecchiano, 2014).

Keywords:

Doctoral, dissertation, model, translational, collaboration.