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Abstract

When doctoral students complete all required coursework, pass the comprehensive examinations, and develop a proposal for an original piece of research which demonstrates their competence, they are admitted to candidacy. Because at this stage the execution and defence of the dissertation still remain, students become classified as ABD or All But Dissertation. Some never complete their dissertation, and never progress beyond ABD status. University administrators, the graduate programs they provide, the supervisors of doctoral students, and the doctoral students themselves, are all vested in the outcomes of doctoral education. Doctoral education is one of the primary functions of research universities. Yet studies indicate that only 50 percent of students who start a doctoral program manage to complete it. The reasons for this high level of doctoral student attrition are relatively unexamined: how and why doctoral students arrive at the decision to withdraw isn't fully understood. The current study addresses the issue by developing and pilot testing an instrument to begin investigating the All But Dissertation (ABD) phenomenon. When an extensive search of the literature on dropouts revealed little information on post-graduate attrition, theory-based research on undergraduate dropout was examined to determine its applicability at the doctoral level. Based on two major theories of undergraduate dropout, (Tinto, 1975 ; Bean, 1982) a conceptual model was developed to provide the theoretical framework for the current study. Five constructs - - Background, Environment, Organization, Attitude, and Intent - - were incorporated into the model in order to guide the investigation of the personal and contextual factors affecting doctoral students' completion of their programs. In-depth interviews, used in the context of the multiple case study method, were employed with six current doctoral students at the ABD stage to pilot test an instrument designed specifically for this study. A self-report measure of procrastination (Tuckman, 1991) was used in conjunction with the interview schedule to address psychological characteristics missing from earlier studies. The interview schedule and procrastination scale were not tested with any TABDs (Terminal All But Dissertation). Findings indicate that the instrument developed for this study is adequate for collecting data on ABD students enrolled in an adult education doctoral program. As such, it could prove useful to future researchers collecting data on the ABD phenomenon.