Social Work, Ph.D.

NOTE: It is imperative that all students take time to read and review the Graduate School Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD) web page beginning at the dissertation proposal writing stage.  This gives a step-by-step guide to the whole ETD submission process and answers nearly all of the questions that students have in regard to formatting and their ETD submission.

In particular, students must follow Graduate School guidelines regarding preparation of the dissertation.  See A Student Guide to Preparing Electronic Theses and Dissertations, published by the Graduate School.  Doing so at the beginning of the proposal stage will facilitate later success.

When dissertations are rejected, it is usually because there are errors in document formatting and the preparation and inclusion of the preliminary pages.  Candidates need to make time to review the required formatting and the sample preliminary pages on the Graduate School ETD website.

Dissertation Committee

After the student passes the Comprehensive Examination, they must focus on the dissertation proposal.  The student should successfully defend the dissertation proposal within one calendar year of passing the comprehensive examination.  The first step is to select a Dissertation Chair and the other members of the Dissertation Committee.  The student consults with the Dissertation Chair regarding the composition of the committee.  The Dissertation Committee must be composed of at least five members of the Graduate Faculty of the University.  The Chair of the Dissertation Committee must be a Full Member of the School of Social Work’s Graduate Faculty.  At least two additional committee members must be members of the School of Social Work Graduate Faculty.  At least one, and no more than two, members of the Dissertation Committee must be from another division of The University of Alabama and one can come from another institution.  Students should be sure that prospective committee members will be available for the anticipated duration of the dissertation research.  The Dissertation Committee should include members who can guide the student’s dissertation research, including experts in the student’s substantive area of research specialization and experts in the research methods that the student will use, including a statistician if the dissertation research will involve the analysis of quantitative data or a qualitative data analysis expert if the research will involve qualitative or mixed methods.

Faculty members from other universities and other expert individuals may, at times, be appointed to dissertation committees. There should be clear and compelling rationale for such appointments and the faculty member must receive an Affiliate Appointment to the Graduate Faculty.  The curriculum vitae of each such proposed Dissertation Committee member must be submitted to the PhD Program Director who will advise the Dean of the School of Social Work to recommend appointment to the Graduate Faculty to the Dean of the Graduate School.

The composition of the proposed Dissertation Committee must be approved by the PhD Program Director, the Dean of the School of Social Work, and the Dean of the Graduate School.  To compose or change the composition of the Dissertation Committee, the student does this through the Graduate Student Portal.

The dissertation is the major scholarly endeavor of the PhD experience.  A broad range of subjects and methods can be used in the dissertation.   All dissertations, however, should focus on issues of concern to social work so that the findings will have meaning and implications for social work.  The dissertation is expected to contribute knowledge and to demonstrate the student’s technical research skills and her or his mastery of the subject matter in the chosen area of specialization.  The following list offers examples (but by no means constitutes an exhaustive list) of the range of dissertation options that would usually be considered appropriate.  Exploration of the database ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global using the search term “social work” offers insights to potential inquiry paths.

• Social Policy or Program Evaluations. Evaluations of on-going programs and existing policies using administrative records, field studies, interviews, survey data, or some combination of these and other types of data.

• Case Studies. Intensive analyses of persons, social groups, organizational components, or communities, with an emphasis on depth rather than breadth. 

• Theory Generation.  Use of qualitative methods, e.g., grounded theory, to generate theory.

• In-depth Exploration. Use of qualitative methods to explore conduct in-depth investigations of phenomena, concepts, ideas, and/or experiences.

• Hypothesis-Formulation Studies. Exploratory research of a quantitative or qualitative nature on problems or issues with little or no previous study.  The goal is to formulate theories and hypotheses for future research.  The state of development of relevant theory will determine the appropriate designs to be used.

• Hypothesis-Testing Studies. Research on problems that have received sufficient empirical and theoretical attention for clear hypotheses to be stated in advance. The main goal of the research would usually be to test these hypotheses with systematic quantitative data, as a step in the refinement of knowledge.

• Methodological Studies. Development, standardization, and validation of research tools such as scales for measuring phenomena of importance in social work.  The constructs investigated in such studies should be grounded in theory.

• Survey Research. Use of purposive or random sampling techniques to investigate and/or to estimate the prevalence or intensity of various phenomena of interest to social work.  These studies can include epidemiological studies, attitude surveys, and demographic analyses.  All would attempt to make inferences about populations based on data collected from samples.

Dissertation Proposal

While the subject matter of proposals may vary greatly, there are certain elements common to all dissertation proposals.  The proposal, whether for a monograph dissertation or a three-article dissertation, must have:

1. A clear statement of the research problem or area of investigation.

2. A comprehensive synthesis and summary of the relevant literature and prior research. 

3. Unambiguous and comprehensive research procedures including, where applicable, a description of the data to be collected, how the data will be obtained, and a detailed description of how the data will be analyzed.  This should include a draft of proposed instruments, interview or question protocols, document audit procedures, and scales.  If appropriate, evidence of data availability from archived sources or agency records should be provided.

4. A description of units of observation (subjects, records), how they will be selected and accessed.  If data will come from human participants, measures taken to ensure availability and provide for protection of rights and welfare along with informed consent should be described.

5. In the case of multiple-article dissertations, methods should be clearly and thoroughly described for all studies or all parts of the study planned for each article in the dissertation.

6. In the case of multiple-article dissertations, the proposal must include an introduction which introduces the common theme or framework, describes the articles, explains how they are related, and explains their expected significance.  There must be connecting language to bridge each planned article description to the next.  There must be a summary section that addresses the expected importance of the articles and discusses the potential implications of the overall product.  This section should provide a clear description of how the parts of the project fit together.

7. Explication of potential risks or harm to human participants, where applicable, and steps that will be taken to minimize such risks.  This will be important when preparing forms for submission to the Institutional Review Board (IRB). All members of the UA community (students, faculty, staff) hold an obligation to adhere to Office of Research Compliance policies and procedures.

8. A timetable, including critical milestones and potential sources of delays.

9. A budget (if needed).  This will be particularly important if a subsidy to defray dissertation costs will be requested from the UA Graduate School.

10. Potential results and the potential usefulness of the results for social work.

11. An outline and tentative table of contents for the dissertation.

12. The proposal should be concise and to the point.  It should clearly demonstrate that the student has mastered subject matter, methodology, and the logistics of carrying out a major research investigation.

Institutional Review Board

The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) of the US Department of Health and Human Services requires that any research that involves the collection of data from human participants must have approval from the UA Institutional Review Board (IRB). Guidelines, forms, and other information can be obtained by calling the Office for Sponsored Programs at (205)348-5152 or visiting the website.

Where students receive approval from the IRB a copy of the certification must be included in the dissertation as the final appendix.

Proposal Defense

When the student and the Dissertation Committee Chair believe the proposal is ready for defense, a Proposal Defense, or formal oral examination, will be scheduled.  This meeting should be scheduled through the PhD Program Assistant well in advance, but at a minimum three weeks, of the time set in order for the Program Assistant to reserve space for the Proposal Defense.  Copies of the defense-ready dissertation proposal must be provided to all committee members at least two weeks in advance of the oral defense.  The student is responsible for presenting her or his dissertation proposal to the Dissertation Committee. 

As a “working meeting” between the student and their committee members, the Dissertation Proposal Defense meeting can be conducted in various ways depending on the needs of the student and the preference of the Dissertation Committee Chair.  The agenda may include a formal presentation by the student of their proposed project and then a discussion of the proposal by the committee with the student, but the formal presentation is not a requirement (e.g., committee members may be familiar enough with the project that no “reminding” may be necessary via a presentation). 

A student, after discussion and agreement by their Dissertation Committee Chair, may invite guests for that portion of the meeting when the student presents details of their proposed project. If guests are invited, they will leave the meeting for the portion of the meeting where the student and the committee discuss the proposal and committee members offer feedback about the project to the student. 

As a result of the defense process, the committee may find that the proposal is:

• Acceptable (without modification);
• Acceptable (with modification); or
• Not Acceptable

​If the committee finds that the proposal is Acceptable (without modifications), the student may proceed with the dissertation research.  If the committee finds that modifications are necessary, the student will be given a list of recommended changes for improvement of the proposal.  The Dissertation Chair is responsible for seeing that these changes are made to the satisfaction of the committee.  If the committee finds that the proposal is Not Acceptable, the Dissertation Chair will provide the student with a list of reasons for its unacceptability and a record of the Dissertation Committee’s vote.  This document will be kept in the student file.  If the proposal was Not Acceptable, the student must schedule another proposal defense.

A successful defense of the proposal is defined as an Acceptable vote (with or without modification) by a majority of the Dissertation Committee members.  After the defense, a copy of the approved dissertation proposal must be submitted to the Director of the PhD Program.  The student should successfully defend the dissertation proposal within one calendar year of passing the comprehensive examinations.

General Outline of a Traditional Monograph Dissertation

The student should work closely with the Dissertation Committee, under the supervision and guidance of the Dissertation Chair.  As with dissertation proposals, organization and content of dissertations may vary, especially across methods. Listed below are some suggested headings for chapters.

• Chapter I. Research Problem. A description of the question, issue, or phenomenon being investigated, including the research questions being addressed. Definitions of major concepts should be given.  The significance of the project to social work should be discussed.
• Chapter II. Theoretical Considerations. The relevant literature should be described in detail. A conceptual framework synthesizing several theories or conceptual schemes may be developed. Hypotheses to be tested (if appropriate) should be discussed within the context of the existing literature.
• Chapter III. Research Methods. This chapter should contain a complete description of the research methods used in the study.  It should be clear that these approaches were a direct result of the questions asked and/or hypotheses tested.  The chapter should contain a description of the following:
• the research design or general plan of approach;
• sampling strategy, access to units of observation, and any sources of bias;
• procedures;
• instruments, scales, record audit procedures, protocols, or questionnaires, including information about properties such as reliability, validity, and inter-coder agreement (as relevant for respective research approaches);
• data collection procedures;
• data analysis procedures, and
• Statement of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval.
• Chapter IV. Results. This section should present a complete description of the findings of the study.  It should include a description of the sample, and, if appropriate, a description of how the sample was different from expectations. Findings should be specifically linked to the questions that were asked or the hypothesis that were tested in the research.
• Chapter V. Interpretation and Summary. This section should interpret the findings of the study with particular emphasis on the contribution made by the research.  It should discuss implications for the profession and for other disciplines, if appropriate.  It should also discuss limitations of the research and appropriate next steps in the overall research plan represented by the dissertation.
• Appendices. IRB documents, etc.

Three-Article Dissertation Option

For students who choose this option, the dissertation will include three manuscripts or articles.  As with traditional dissertations, the work in a three-article dissertation must be based on research completed while the student is enrolled at The University of Alabama.  For each article, the student must be the sole author.

The dissertation must reflect the student's original work.  Each of the three papers will be of publishable quality, focusing on a single theme or framework.  In one of the articles or across all three, the product must include a comprehensive review of the literature, and the dissertation must illustrate an in-depth understanding of the unifying theme or framework.  At least two of the articles must be empirical.

The product must include an introduction which introduces the common theme or framework, describes the articles, explains how they are related, and explains their significance.  There must be connecting language to bridge each article to the next.  There must be a summary section that addresses the importance of the articles, integrates the major findings, and discusses the implications of the overall product.

All parts of the dissertation must conform to the provisions set forth in the UA Student Guide to Preparing Theses and Dissertations, except when the circumstances of a specific project require deviation.  Articles submitted to journals should follow the style requirements of the particular publications, but for the three-article dissertation, the articles must follow UA Graduate School guidelines with respect to formatting and presentation.

A maximum of one sole-authored article published or accepted for publication prior to the proposal defense may be included in a three-article dissertation.  This article must represent work undertaken while the student was enrolled at UA and must be approved by the student’s dissertation committee at the time of the proposal defense.  If a previously published article is approved by the committee, the student will be responsible for securing necessary permissions from the copyright holder, as the article will be reprinted as part of the dissertation.

As with traditional dissertations, students choosing this option will work with a dissertation committee of five members.  In addition to the considerations included in a traditional review of a dissertation, the committee will be responsible for assessing whether the articles are of publishable quality, evaluating the quality of the integration into a unified theme, and evaluating the quality of the implications.  Note also that the dissertation defense will be comprehensive; in addition to the component parts, it will focus on the entire dissertation.  

Community-Friendly Dissemination of Dissertation Findings

In addition to the customary dissertation document, students who entered the SSW PhD Program in the Fall of 2020 and later, are required to also create a community-friendly document summarizing dissertation findings and implications. The community-friendly document itself, along with the plan for dissemination, should be included as an appendix to the dissertation.

The “document” could take a variety of forms including, but not limited to:  an infographic, website, Facebook page, flyer, short report, slide presentation, video, and/or poster. 

It could be distributed to a range of audiences including, but not limited to:  research participants, community members, and/or social work students. It could be distributed through a variety of means including, but not limited to:  electronic mail, postal mail, in-person meetings or presentations, and/or social media. When applicable, students should consult with research participants and/or community members about the format and distribution method.

The purpose of this requirement is to encourage students to adopt practices consistent with community-engaged research and social work values and ethics.  Values reflected in the requirement include: (1) social work research should have relevance to community members, research participants, and others outside academia; (2) research participants and community members should be informed of research findings having relevance to their lives; and (3) research findings should be shared with participants.

Dissertation Defense

Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the requirements and expectations laid out by the Graduate School and described in the Graduate Catalog related to dissertations, their defense, and other PhD degree requirements (https://catalog.ua.edu/graduate/about/academic-policies/degree-requirements/#doctoraldegreestext), including initiation of the Public Notice of Defense Form (visit The Graduate Student Portal).

The student has the primary responsibility for determining their readiness to defend the dissertation.  However, the dissertation defense should not be scheduled until the Dissertation Chair and members of the Dissertation Committee have indicated that the dissertation is ready to be defended.  When the student, the Dissertation Chair, and the other members of the Dissertation Committee believe the time is right, the student and Dissertation Chair will arrange for the defense of the dissertation.  This meeting should be scheduled through the Doctoral Programs Assistant well in advance, but at a minimum three weeks, of the time set in order for the Program Assistant to reserve space for the Defense.  At least three weeks in advance of the defense, the Dissertation Chair should inform the PhD Program Director and the PhD Program Assistant, so the date and time of the defense can be publicized internally.  Dissertation defenses will take place in Little or Farrah Hall unless compelling circumstances warrant that the defense takes place outside of Little or Farrah Hall (see section on virtual defenses below).  Dissertation defenses are public, and thereby publicized, in accordance with University policy.

Copies of the dissertation, in complete and legible form, must be provided to all committee members at least two weeks in advance of the time selected for the oral defense.  This version should, in substance and format, be presented as the final report of the dissertation research.

The Dissertation Committee will conduct an oral examination based on the copy of the dissertation the student has provided to them.  When the defense is completed, the chairperson will poll the committee members for their recommendation.  The decision will be either:

• Acceptable (if the committee determines that little or no revision of the manuscript is required).
• Not Acceptable (if the committee determines that major revisions are required before the dissertation can be considered acceptable).

In the case of a Not Acceptable recommendation, the Dissertation Chair will compile a complete list of detailed instructions/requested revisions from the various committee members, including whether or not another defense should be scheduled.  The student should incorporate the recommendations into the dissertation as quickly as possible and, if needed, schedule another defense.

Virtual Defenses

In accordance with Graduate School Policy all members of a student’s graduate committee are expected to attend and participate, usually in person, in any oral examination as part of the student’s degree program. Traditionally, oral examinations are conducted with the student meeting their committee while gathered in one physical location on campus. However, the need occasionally arises for virtual participation in the oral examination. Under extenuating circumstances, a virtual defense may be possible based on the discretion of the Dissertation Chair in consultation with the PhD Program Director.  In these cases, graduate programs must ensure adherence to the Graduate School policy regarding technical and attendance requirements if any graduate-level oral examination involving the student’s partial or entire thesis/dissertation committee includes virtual participation: https://catalog.ua.edu/graduate/about/academic-policies/degree-requirements/#doctoraldegreestext  

Following Successful Defense of the Dissertation

The PhD Dissertation Chair should alert the PhD Program Director of the successful defense so the Program Director can initiate the Committee Acceptance Form and publicize the successful defense. The notification to the PhD Director needs to include the following information:

• The student’s name and email address,
• Date of the defense,
• Manuscript title,
• The name and email address for each regular committee member,
• The name and email address of the committee chair.

After the Dissertation Chair has notified the PhD Director, all committee members can sign the Committee Acceptance Form initiated by the PhD Program Director via the DocuSign process.  The PhD Program Director will provide a final signature on the Committee Acceptance Form once the ETD confirmation notification is received by the PhD Program Director from the student.

If the student is unable to complete the dissertation prior to the deadline for regular commencement, the student may defend later in the semester, between semesters, or whenever the Dissertation Committee can be convened.  After the successful defense and approval of the dissertation by the Dean of the Graduate School, a Certificate of Degree will be issued to potential employers, as needed.  The official degree will be conferred at the next commencement.  Other appropriate letters documenting completion of the degree will be written to assist the student in matters related to employment or credentialing.

Submission of the ETD

The final dissertation as approved by the dissertation committee and in the format required for ETDs must be submitted online to the Graduate School through the ProQuest/UMI submission portal.  In addition, the student must complete the information about his or her degree and dissertation in the online submission.  There is an easy step-by-step process to follow, simply go to the Graduate School ETD web pages to prepare for the process. It is very helpful to familiarize yourself with this process prior the time when you need to engage with this process. 

Graduate School Review

The final version of the dissertation must follow the requirements of the Graduate School for the preparation and submission of dissertations as stated in A Student Guide to Preparing Electronic Theses and Dissertations, published by the Graduate School and available on-line. This section of the PhD Handbook contains cautions based on past experiences but does not contain complete information about the process.  The Graduate School provides complete information and students must consult and follow those policies and procedures.

In preparing to submit the dissertation to the Graduate School, the student should pay particular attention to the requirements listed under Format.  The instructions contained in this section must be followed exactly.  Failure to do this can result in a considerable delay, perhaps even to the next semester.

The results of the defense, and the dissertation, must be in the hands of the Dean of the Graduate School in accordance with Graduate School deadlines.  The Graduate School determines the exact calendar deadlines for each semester; these are available online at the Graduate School website for Current Students.  The student needs to pay attention to this information well in advance of at the beginning of the semester in which they intend to graduate.  The student should be aware that she/he will be required to register for more dissertation credits if all paperwork is not completed by a certain date.

The manuscript prepared by each student should be fully proofread and corrected BEFORE submission online to the Graduate School.  It is the primary responsibility of the student for reviewing and proofing the document before submission. Some students engage external editors to help with this process.

As part of the submission the committee and the student must sign and certify that the electronic copy of the manuscript is a true copy of the final approved version.  The PhD Program Director initiates the Committee Acceptance Form for the Electronic Thesis or Dissertation; the thesis or dissertation cannot be accepted unless this form has been completed via the Graduate School’s process.

Each doctoral candidate must also submit to the Graduate School at the same time as the ETD is submitted a completed Publication Agreement Form.  This is the publishing agreement between the student and UA and mirrors the Electronic Publishing Agreement the student completes online as part of the submission to ProQuest/UMI, UA’s publishing partners.  Any embargo period selected MUST be the same on both of these publishing agreements; any inconsistencies will result in a rejection of the submission.

Also, each doctoral candidate is required to complete an online NORC Survey of Earned Doctorates.  Again, unless and until this has been completed, the submission will be deemed incomplete and may be subject to rejection.

The Graduate School then conducts a final editorial review of each master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation to ensure that the general requirements of this manual and the student’s style guide have been met.  However, the primary responsibility for reviewing a thesis or dissertation has always belonged to the student and the thesis or dissertation committee.

The Graduate School’s review focuses on grammar and format rather than the scholarly content, which is the responsibility of the student and committee.

The Graduate School reviews the following key areas:

• Organization of the pages – preliminaries are all present and in the correct order;
• Format - print font, margins, and page numbering are all correct;
• Grammar and spelling – the Graduate School will review the manuscript for spelling errors and to ensure that the sentences and use of English are grammatically correct;
• References – bibliographies will be reviewed to ensure that all references and quotations are included and correctly formatted;
• Abstract – this will be read to ensure that it satisfies the Graduate School requirements for length and content;
• Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables – these will be reviewed to ensure that wording is consistent between table/list and main body of the manuscript; and
• Publishing Agreement and Survey of Earned Doctorates – the Graduate School will ensure that all necessary forms have been completed and signed.

If, in reviewing a manuscript, the Graduate School determines that major corrections must be made, the dissertation will be rejected for a more thorough editing and proofing by the student and the Committee Chair.  Thereafter, a changed pdf must be re-submitted using the online electronic submission process.

If the Graduate School requires minor corrections to the dissertation, the student will need to complete these within the deadline set by the Graduate School (typically 10 days) and create a changed pdf file for re-submission.

The student will be notified under either of the above instances via email, please make sure that the email address input to the UMI Administrator is current and valid as ALL ETD correspondence will be made using this address.

Once the dissertation has been approved by the Graduate School, the student will also receive confirmation via email.

Publication Requirements 

You can make your work available either as soon as it is published under either of the above publishing options or place an embargo (delay) for one of the following periods of time: 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, or 5 years.  The decision to place an embargo on your work must be made in conjunction with your committee advisor and funding agency.

Candidates must satisfy publication requirements by having their dissertations published online with ProQuest/UMI and through the University of Alabama Libraries.  There is no charge for the Traditional Publishing option with ProQuest, and this is the recommended choice. Students will satisfy the requirement for wide dissemination of their material by publishing the ETD “Open Access” with UA Libraries, for which there is also no charge.  Where an embargo period is selected, the student must ensure that the same period is selected with both ProQuest and UA Libraries.