This course is designed to prepare doctoral students to develop strong dissertation proposals. It will orient doctoral students to conducting and disseminating different types of research and publishing for different audiences. The course will orient doctoral students to the nature of research as an iterative process of integrating theory, data, analysis, and writing, and give them opportunities to practice a variety of research-related skills. Through its pedagogical techniques, the course will orient students' thinking about research as knowledge construction through ongoing conversation (i.e., debate or dialogue) among scholars. Key topics include: research paradigms, conducting literature reviews, developing research questions, conceptual and theoretical frameworks, various methodological approaches, and the ethics of conducting research. Each student will be expected to conduct independent work, share their ideas with peers, engage in discussion and constructive feedback, and practice translating research ideas to various audiences. The primary outcomes of the course will be a polished research proposal and a presentation to the class of their research proposal.