Doctor of Education (EdD) at The University of Huddersfield
The Doctor of Education (EdD) is a research degree for experienced educational professionals and is equivalent to the PhD. It differs from the PhD in providing formally assessed research training during the first year.
The course recruits from a wide variety of educational contexts and offers a comprehensive programme of study and training in quantitative and qualitative research techniques. One of the strengths of the course is the sense of group cohesion, which is developed in year one. The maximum duration for a Doctor of Education (EdD) is 3 years (36 months) full-time or 6 years (72 months) part-time with an optional submission pending (writing-up) period of 12 months.
Research in Education
Our Doctor of Education (EdD) research students are supported by research-active academic staff. Ongoing research underpins the University’s reputation for developing professionals. At Huddersfield, our vibrant and dynamic research culture includes a seminar series, lectures by external speakers, funded research projects, book publications and journal articles.
The University's designated education Research Centre, the Huddersfield Centre for Research in Education and Society (HUDCRES) has various research groups, focusing their research on educational and social challenges. Our Research Centre and active research groups reflect emergent research areas led by our senior academics.
The structure of the Doctor of Education (EdD)
For full-time students, all four taught modules listed below are completed during the first year of study and teaching takes place across 16 Saturday sessions. Each module is delivered through four of these Saturday day schools, which are typically scheduled two to three weeks apart. Two modules are studied in the first term. For part-time students, the schedule is spread over a longer period, with students taking one module in the first term.
Students must successfully complete all four modules before progressing to the research
This module provides the theoretical, methodological and conceptual foundation for doctoral-level study in educational research. It aims to enable you to apply this knowledge to critically evaluate the methodological basis of research practices and anticipates the formulation of research questions, outcomes and design for the generation of new knowledge in an area of professional practice as well as its evaluation.
This module applies the critical understanding developed through the study of the conceptual foundations of research, the principles of design and the evaluation of data collection and analysis techniques to the process of developing a proposal suitable for doctoral-level research.
Along with the support of action learning sets and a designated supervisor, you will design and refine your ideas in order to present a coherent research proposal in a format suitable for submission for approval and scientific review appropriate to the requirements of a professional doctorate in your field. In addition, workshops will consider the real-world challenges of undertaking ethical research and the standards required for professional research practice.
This module is designed to develop your critical appreciation of a specific field of research related to your intended research topic, and to enhance your capacity to evaluate a range of forms of research design. The module will review the traditional evaluative criteria of validity, reliability and representativeness, as well as criteria more specifically suited to the evaluation of qualitative research, such as authenticity and verisimilitude.
The applicability of these criteria will be assessed in relation to a range of types of design (e.g. Survey-based research, quasi-experimental and action research, ethnographic and phenomenological research, narrative research, critical, critical feminist and critical race research approaches). Specific literature and research studies will be evaluated in the light of students’ choice of perspective.
This final module builds upon the understanding of the conceptual foundations of educational research and on the analysis of research designs gained in previous modules, and provides an opportunity to acquire and apply techniques of data collection and analysis. The module will address the practical as well as theoretical aspects of data collection and analysis, and provide an in-depth experience of the application of relevant computer techniques. There will be an exploration of the range of possibilities in data gathering appropriate to the types of research questions.
Following completion of the final module, your work will be dedicated to completing a thesis that should not normally exceed 50,000 words, under the guidance of two research supervisors, involving analysis of data, writing up and a viva voce examination.
What are the differences between an EdD and a PhD?
- The Doctor of Education (EdD) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) are both supervised research degrees and are of the same academic standing. Both involve a period of independent
research, and require the development of new knowledge or ideas. - The EdD is a professional doctorate and is suitable for those working in education or those who require a period of
learning, prior to undertaking the research, to enhance their knowledge of theory, concepts, approaches and methodologies in educational research. - The EdD involves two phases - a taught phase of four modules over a year, and a research phase. Each module is
assessed and the taught phase must be passed before progressing to the research phase. Assessments in the taught phase total 30,000 words and the thesis at the end of the research phase is 50,000 words. The total word count across both phases is 80,000 words. - The PhD has no taught element and is awarded entirely on the basis of research. The research is written up in a
thesis 80,000 words. - Both the EdD and PhD are assessed at the end of the research through the submission of a thesis and a viva voce
(oral) examination.
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