Title

 ** Best Practices for Developing the Title of a Dissertation ** The Title is indicative of the contents of the study and should be from 10-15 words in length. 1. Use a working title and develop your final title as you finish your dissertation. 2. Summarize the main idea of the dissertation simply and, if possible, “with style” (Publication Manual of the APA, 2010, p. 23). 3. Use a title that concisely describes the topic addressed in the studyand includes the variables or theoretical issues under investigation as well as the relationship between them. 4. Develop a title that makes sense standing alone without explanation. Keep in mind that the title is often used as a statement of content for abstracting and reference purposes in various databases. 5. Avoid words that serve no useful purpose since they can mislead indexers. Examples of words and phrases to avoid include //method//, //results//, //A Study of,// and //an Experimental Investigation of//. 6. Do not use abbreviations in a title. 7. Be concise. Use as few words as possible to accomplish the various objectives when constructing a title—never more than 15 words and, preferably, fewer. 8. Helpful resources for developing your final title include: (a) page 23 of The 6th Edition of the //APA Publication Manual// (2010) (b) pages 201 to 203 of //Surviving your Dis//sertation by Rudestam and Newton (2007) (c) pages 286 - 287 of //Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research// by Creswell (2008) (d) [|Tips for Writing an Effective Title and Abstract for your Dissertation]