Ph.D. Degree Program Description
Florida State doctoral students are oriented toward critical
evaluation of existing knowledge and the development of new knowledge
for public policy purposes. The degree program has five key components:
Ours is a highly individualized program of study, developed
under the direction of a faculty supervisory committee, and ordinarily
requiring three years of study post-master's degree.
Program Statement
The content of each student's program of study is
tailored to the objectives and needs of the student and is specified in
a program statement that the student prepares in consultation with a
major professor and a doctoral committee assembled during the first
semester of study.
The program statement specifies the academic objectives of the
student and the areas of theory, methods, and applications necessary to
achieve those objectives. Because each student's needs are unique, it
is unlikely that new doctoral students will follow exactly in the path
of earlier doctoral students or each other.
Coursework
Doctoral coursework includes a minimum of 42 semester
hours of study, including at least 21 hours of theory courses, 9 hours
of intermediate or advanced methods courses, and 12 hours of
application courses. These courses include four courses required of all
doctoral students:
- URP6102: Seminar in Planning Theory
- URP6202: Design of Policy Oriented Research
- URP6846: Seminar in Urban Theory
- URP6847: Seminar in Regional Theory
Preliminary Examination
Upon completion of courses, the student takes his or
her Preliminary Examination which is a set of written and oral
exams in the areas of planning theory, urban and regional theory,
research methods, and applications set forth in the student's program
statement. The Preliminary Examination normally spans a two-week period
.
Dissertation
Upon passage of the Preliminary Examination, the student
is advanced to candidacy and prepares a dissertation. The
dissertation's scope is laid out in a prospectus approved by the
student's supervisory committee. The prospectus may include a statement
of the problem that the student is addressing, a discussion literature
pertaining to that problem, a set of hypotheses that the student
intends to test, and a research design for testing the hypotheses. Once
the prospectus is approved, the student carries out the research design
and completes the dissertation, defending it publicly prior to
graduation.
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