PROGRAM COMPONENTS:
As a general
guideline, the Ph.D. requires 60 hours beyond the Master's degree. Coursework
comprises 42 of those hours. The other 18 are associated with the dissertation.
In between the completion of coursework and the start of the dissertation,
students are required to successfully pass comprehensive examinations.
Typically, completion of the Ph.D. involves a 4-year commitment.
Coursework:Coursework is
generally completed within the first two years of study. The program emphasizes
coursework in content areas and research methods/statistics important to the
field. Ph.D. study in management at Oklahoma State University has been divided
into the following functional areas:
- Organizational
Behavior
- Strategic
Management
All management
Ph.D. students are required to take the following content seminars, constituting
12 hours, which are open only to students at the doctoral level:
- Advanced
Organizational Behavior
- Advanced Strategic
Management
- Meso-Organization
Studies
- Contemporary
Research in Management
In addition, students are
also required to take the following research methods and statistics seminars,
constituting 15 hours:
- Advanced Research
Methods
- Analysis of
Variance
- Regression
- Advanced
Multivariate Analysis
- Structural
Equation Modeling Applications in Business
Additional
coursework to round out the 42 hours will be chosen by the student, in
conjunction with a faculty committee, to support the individual student's
specific interests and/or needs. In cases where an incoming student does not
have an undergraduate degree in Business or an MBA, it may be determined that
s/he needs to take one or more leveling courses in the functional areas of
business (e.g., Accounting, Finance, Marketing, etc.). Additionally, for
students without adequate or recent statistical training, it may be determined
that s/he needs to take one or more basic statistics courses before stepping
into the normal sequence. Decisions about the need for such courses and whether
they count toward the 42 hours rests with the Ph.D. Coordinator and/or a faculty
committee.
QUALIFYING/COMPRESHENSIVE EXAMS:
After the
completion of all coursework, the student must pass qualifying/comprehensive
examinations covering research methods/statistics and a content area
(organizational behavior or strategic management). These exams are constructed
and evaluated by a faculty committee. The purpose of the exams is to determine
whether the student has acquired and can demonstrate the knowledge and skills
required to 1) conduct a dissertation, and 2) to function successfully in the
profession. Successfully passing the exams allows the student to enter the
dissertation stage of training.
Dissertation
The completed
dissertation represents the culmination of a period of intensive research. As
such, the first phase of the dissertation involves the development of a formal
written dissertation proposal, under the guidance of a dissertation advisor and
committee, which is defended orally before the dissertation committee in an open
meeting. Following approval of the proposal, the research is conducted and the
dissertation is written. This second phase is marked by extensive interaction
between the Ph.D. candidate, the dissertation chairperson, and the dissertation
committee. The final phase involves a defense of the dissertation before the
management faculty in an open meeting. Successful defense of the dissertation
marks the earning of the Ph.D.
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