Can you do a PhD diseration on ANYTHING?

Question

So if I wanted to, could I write one on the tv show The OC?

Answer 1

YOu can do a dissertation on anything. However preferrably related to the field you wish to get your phd in. For example, a dissertation on the cultural impact of the hamburglar might not be recieved well for a Phd in geothermal physics. and just a sidenote. it really starts the dissertation off poorly if you misspell dissertation....just a note.

Answer 2

If the TV show The OC is relevant to your PhD - maybe cultural anthropology or some aspect of sociology or something in media studies, yeah.

But remember the object of the dissertation is to discover, uncover and present new knowledge to the discipline. This is not an overgrown book report where you read the book (or watch the show) and then puke the contents back up in the form of a printed page that summarizes what you read or watched.

Answer 3

I am betting your doctoral committee would steer you otherwise and would have quite a bit to say. A dissertation is a book you write over a research topic that has yet to be explored. It is possible to analyze a pop culture topic such as a television show and present it as "an in-depth cultural analysis of the effect of television programming on the American family" or something like that. Your paper probably would have little to do with the show and a whole lot to do with a statistical analysis of some aspect of the pop culture experience you have defined as measurable.

I am betting a PhD committee (unless it is one at somewhere like USC in filmography) would prefer a more distinguised scholarly work, but anything is possible if you word it correctly and get the statistical analysis and research in there with appropriate substantiation of theory.

Answer 4

You must first submit your proposal to the commitee in college and be approved. I doubt you could write about TV shows unless it happens to be relavant to your major.