system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Dissertation without primary research? (curious how this works)

Hey gang, 

I've been talking to a friend a lot about her dissertation (psychology). She's spent years creating research, gathering data, etc. and is putting it all together as you do. 


This has led me to wonder how other disciplines deal with dissertations. I studied English and Theater for Undergrad and Business for Grad. I've never been exposed to research the way my psych friend has. 


Do PhD candidates in these disciplines do primary research for their dissertations? How would this research differ/compare to the kinds of studies social scientists do? 


If I were to ever decide to pursue a PhD, how could I build the necessary research skills to be effective? For example, I'm aware of IRB's, but have never done one...or designed a study. I've plenty of experience hitting the [digital] stacks to find research and write papers, but it's not the same. 


Thanks!
gpt
The dissertation is always original research or original theorizing. The nature of research obviously differs from one field to the next--in psychology, gathering original data is pretty much universal. In sociology and political science, it's not uncommon for dissertations to report secondary analyses of existing data sets. For something like English or theater, the research may be focused on applying theories about text or audience to a body of work, extending an existing theory in light of such an application, or something along those lines. In addition, there is an emerging field called the "digital humanities" in which data analytic tools are applied to understand how audiences respond to media texts. It's kind of a sexy research area right now--lots of universities are hiring one or two digital humanities people, and they are in somewhat short supply. 

If you entered a PhD program, you would take classes that exposed you to relevant theories and research methods in whatever discipline you choose. As for the details of IRBs, study design, and data collection--you would tend to learn these things by working with your advisor on her or his research, then collaborating on your research ideas.