Sample Chapter Audit report
Findings
What to do next, in order
Build a synthesis matrix for 2.3–2.5, grouping the studies by the ideas your research questions need.
How to read this report
- Committee feedback
- Your committee's own words, as you supplied them.
- Our recommendation
- What we suggest, based on the material reviewed. Not a committee requirement.
- Needs clarification
- Our reading of something unresolved in the material; worth confirming before you rely on it.
Overall assessment
Chapter 2 covers the right ground for your research questions, and its first two sections already compare studies well. Sections 2.3 to 2.5 need two related but separate things: connecting the studies to each other (synthesis), and weighing their evidence (critical evaluation). You can start both now.
Your questions
- Is my literature review organized around themes, or still study by study?
- Partly. Sections 2.1 and 2.2 are organized by theme and compare studies (see p. 14). Sections 2.3 to 2.5 mostly describe one study at a time (pp. 19–31).
- Does Chapter 2 set up my research questions?
- RQ1 is set up clearly at the end of 2.2. RQ2 isn't yet: the gap it addresses is stated in the Chapter 1 excerpt you supplied (§1.3), but Chapter 2 doesn't show it from the literature.
Findings
High priority
- Studies are reported, but their evidence is rarely weighedNeeds clarificationOur interpretation
§2.3–2.5, pp. 19–31
"Lee (2021) found that coaching increased teacher agency."
Committee feedback Chair: "Be more critical in the review."
Most studies are reported without comment on the strength of their evidence, their methods, their limitations, or other explanations for what they found. One reasonable reading of your chair's comment is that it asks for this critical evaluation. That reading is ours, not your chair's, and "more critical" doesn't necessarily mean "synthesize" (see the next finding).
→ Where your argument depends on a study, say how strong its evidence is, what its methods allow it to conclude, and what else could explain its result. If your chair's comment was about something else, ask them to point to an example; you can start meanwhile.
Based on your chapter · what you reported
- Sections 2.3–2.5 summarize studies one at a timeConfirmed observationOur recommendation
§2.3–2.5, pp. 19–31
"Smith (2019) found that… Jones (2020) examined… Lee (2021) reported…"
Paragraphs are built around single studies, so how the studies relate (where they agree, where they differ, and what they add up to) is left to the reader. This is separate from critical evaluation: a chapter can connect studies without weighing them, or weigh them one at a time without connecting them.
→ Organize these sections around the ideas your research questions need rather than study by study, and use comparisons, evidence and critical evaluation where they help the argument. Not every paragraph needs the same structure. A synthesis matrix can help you see the connections first.
Summary versus synthesis: a fictional example Study by study
Smith (2019) surveyed 200 teachers and found that coaching increased their reported agency. Jones (2020) interviewed 12 teachers and found that agency depended on school leadership. Lee (2021) observed one district and found that the effect faded after a year.
Synthesis
Studies agree that coaching can increase teacher agency (Lee, 2021; Smith, 2019), but they differ on what sustains it: Jones (2020) points to school leadership, while Lee (2021) found the effect faded within a year. Together they leave open what keeps agency growing after coaching ends.
The first reports each study in turn. The second groups the studies by what they show together, notes where they disagree, and points to what remains open.
The studies and findings in this example are fictional. In a real Audit, examples come from your own writing; we don't invent study findings or citations, and an example isn't a rewrite of your chapter.
Based on your chapter
- The gap behind RQ2 isn't established in this chapterConfirmed observationOur recommendation
§2.5, closing paragraphs, p. 31; Chapter 1 excerpt, §1.3 (context)
"Further research is needed in this area."
The Chapter 1 excerpt you supplied states the gap RQ2 addresses. Chapter 2 doesn't yet show that gap from the literature, so RQ2 isn't set up by this chapter.
→ Add a short closing subsection showing what existing studies leave unanswered and how RQ2 addresses it.
Based on your chapter · the Chapter 1 excerpt (context)
Medium priority
- Self-determination theory is introduced but not yet connected to the studies or to RQ2Confirmed observationOur recommendation
§2.1, p. 9; §2.4–2.5
"This study draws on both sociocultural theory and self-determination theory."
Both frameworks are approved. Sociocultural theory organizes 2.3 and is used to interpret the studies in 2.4. Self-determination theory is introduced in 2.1 but not used again, so its connection to the motivation studies in 2.4–2.5, and to RQ2, isn't shown.
→ Keep both frameworks. Show how self-determination theory frames the motivation studies in 2.4–2.5, and say in 2.1 which research question each framework informs. This doesn't need a decision from your chair.
Based on your chapter · what you reported
Low priority
- The same definition appears three timesConfirmed observationOur recommendation
pp. 7, 15 and 26
"Teacher agency refers to…"
Repeating the definition adds length and makes later sections feel like restarts.
→ Define the term once in 2.1 and refer back to it.
Based on your chapter
What to do next, in order
- Build a synthesis matrix for 2.3–2.5, grouping the studies by the ideas your research questions need.
- Reorganize 2.3–2.5 around those ideas, comparing studies and evaluating their evidence where your argument depends on them.
- Add the closing subsection that establishes the gap behind RQ2.
- Show how self-determination theory frames the motivation studies, and which research question each framework informs.
- Define "teacher agency" once and refer back to it.
You can start all of these now; none waits on a decision from your chair. If your chair's comment meant something other than critical evaluation, adjust step 2 when you hear back.
Audits are focused diagnostic reviews. They do not include line editing, rewriting, line-by-line citation corrections, a full APA or other style-guide compliance review, or a consultation.
Prepared with AI assistance, checked against the submitted chapter, and approved by a Dissertation Collective specialist before release (sample).