The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - 94

James H. Banning • Linda Kuk

analysis, we determined that 49% of the 47 dissertations were completed by males, 45% were completed by females, and 6% could not be clearly attributed to one gender or another. Fifty-one percent were Ph.D. dissertations and 49% were Ed.Ds. Thirty-nine different institutions served as the degree-granting institution. Regarding research methods, of the 47 dissertations examined, 28% were based on qualitative research methods, 68% were based on quantitative methods, and 4% were based on a mixed design.

technology issues. Whereas a dissertation may have focused on one or more of these categories, each dissertation was coded only into the one category that best represented the focus of the study. The appendix provides a list of each dissertation by categorical theme.

Theory Results
Coding the dissertations for the use of theoretical frameworks produced three different categories. (See Table 1.) The broadest category was termed the general theoretical framework. Dissertations within this category were those where an author mentioned a broad theoretical framework but did not specifically note a particular theory by name. The next category included dissertations that mentioned a specific theoretical framework, and the last category included those dissertations that did not speak directly to theory but invoked a particular instrument-based framework.

Learning communities. Seventeen dissertations (see Appendix) addressed the general topic of learning communities. Three of the dissertations (Jacobson, 2007; Longerbeam, 2005; Johnson, 2004) addressed the importance of special housing programs on campus and the need to give special attention to planning and implementing the learning community. The remaining 14 looked at the impact that a learning community has on students. Positive impacts were reported in the areas of general academic performance and success, psychosocial development, health and wellness, and diversity awareness. Multicultural issues. Nine dissertations addressed multicultural issues. Two focused on the residence hall director, one in terms of diversity representation (Howlett, 2006) and the other in terms of diversity awareness (Blanshan, 2007). While Hart’s (2007) work called for additional diversity programs within housing systems, the remainder of the studies looked at the issue of satisfaction for certain diverse groups and success for different groups within the residence hall environment. Staffing issues. Staffing issues were the
topics of nine dissertations. Most of them focused on the residence hall directors: their training (Fugate, 2005), including looking at a competency model for training (Porter, 2005); leadership styles (Kieffer, 2003; McCuskey, 2003; Tompkins, 2004); and issues associated with job satisfaction and living conditions

Topic Results
Using constant comparative analysis (Corbin & Strauss, 2008), each dissertation topic was given a descriptive code (open code) and then these codes were compared and contrasted. From this list of open codes a thematic categorical structure was induced (axial codes) that organized the dissertation topics into five basic categorical themes: (1) learning communities/special housing programs (2) multicultural issues (3) residence hall staffing issues (4) student success, and (5) administrative and

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2