Practitioner Research in Doctoral Education

Author(s): Robin Throne

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There are many fine “how-to” guides or manuals for the design and writing of the doctoral dissertation research study…

Practitioner Research in Doctoral Education expands upon the limited scope of these texts by offering a melding of the conversation surrounding an emerging necessity within U.S. doctoral education to define and allow for rigorous and well-designed practitioner research for the dissertation study.

Practitioner Research in Doctoral Education:

  • Explores the ongoing research-based conversation that demystifies doctoral research study and clarifies its relation to and within the setting of professional practice. 
  • Is inspired by the varied and intriguing research into doctoral learner success, practice settings as research setting, practice-based constructs and variables, practitioner as independent researcher, and the many connotations of what practitioner research is and should be.
  • Is designed for doctoral scholars who desire to bring their research to practice; as well as the doctoral faculty, doctoral program developers, and the leaders in doctoral education who serve them to consider practitioner research across the disciplines and its value for the scholar practitioner. 


Users of Practitioner Research in Doctoral Education bring innovation, problem-solving, research-based decision making and the betterment of the discipline outside of the academy as they return to professional practice.

Robin Throne
Robin Throne, Ph.D., has been a practitioner researcher in higher education for almost 20 years specializing in assessment and evaluation, distance education, institutional effectiveness, and program development. She teaches graduate research and advises doctoral dissertation research studies that have offered practitioner research contributions across diverse industries and professional practice sectors that have included P12 education, language acquisition, community colleges, organizational leadership and professional development, vocational education, for-profit higher education, health care, mathematics and analytics, accountancy, construction management, active military and veterans, gender studies, and state, federal, and international governments. Her current research interests include the online doctorate for executive leadership and heuristic narrative research.

There are many fine “how-to” guides or manuals for the design and writing of the doctoral dissertation research study…

Practitioner Research in Doctoral Education expands upon the limited scope of these texts by offering a melding of the conversation surrounding an emerging necessity within U.S. doctoral education to define and allow for rigorous and well-designed practitioner research for the dissertation study.

Practitioner Research in Doctoral Education:

  • Explores the ongoing research-based conversation that demystifies doctoral research study and clarifies its relation to and within the setting of professional practice. 
  • Is inspired by the varied and intriguing research into doctoral learner success, practice settings as research setting, practice-based constructs and variables, practitioner as independent researcher, and the many connotations of what practitioner research is and should be.
  • Is designed for doctoral scholars who desire to bring their research to practice; as well as the doctoral faculty, doctoral program developers, and the leaders in doctoral education who serve them to consider practitioner research across the disciplines and its value for the scholar practitioner. 


Users of Practitioner Research in Doctoral Education bring innovation, problem-solving, research-based decision making and the betterment of the discipline outside of the academy as they return to professional practice.

Robin Throne
Robin Throne, Ph.D., has been a practitioner researcher in higher education for almost 20 years specializing in assessment and evaluation, distance education, institutional effectiveness, and program development. She teaches graduate research and advises doctoral dissertation research studies that have offered practitioner research contributions across diverse industries and professional practice sectors that have included P12 education, language acquisition, community colleges, organizational leadership and professional development, vocational education, for-profit higher education, health care, mathematics and analytics, accountancy, construction management, active military and veterans, gender studies, and state, federal, and international governments. Her current research interests include the online doctorate for executive leadership and heuristic narrative research.