Just wanted to verify…would you address an “Ed.d” as Dr.? …just like a Ph.D. or MD? - Jinx
Yep. The main difference between an EdD and a PhD is that the EdD’s research and program probably had a more applied focus. An EdD fulfills the same requirements as a PhD, however (writes the dissertation, for example).
Of course, not all PhDs like to go by “Dr.” It makes me laugh, personally, although from some people I see it as a nice show of respect.
In general, the more Mickey-Mouse the degree, the more the holder will insist on being called Doctor.
In acedemia it is usual to address all and sundry as “Doctor” providing the individual has the credentials.
I have known of some wives who also insisted as being addressed as Mrs. Dr. So and So. That is some ego or a sign of insecurity. These same wives would show up on pay day ( 1950’s or so) to pick up the pay check so they could make deposit and keep checks from bouncing. By and large the Dr’s. didn’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain or handle the most mundane of matters BUT were above genius level in their scientific field(s).
A direct answer is to use the title in public and not in private IF you are well axquainted.
“Ball busting bitch” was what I usually said (albeit, under my breath).
A former boss had her Ed.D. and she was, without a doubt, the most difficult woman I’ve ever had to associate with. I’m a very easy going guy, and I like to think that I’m easy to get along with, but she and I just couldn’t get along.
How do I address an Ed.D?
“Hey. Teach!”
My guiding principle when dealing with Mickey Mouse degree holders is to ask myself, “What would a Bowery Boy do?”
“Eddie”?
Aren’t you sweet?
I should have predicted that someone would come along and have to turn this into yet another snarky thread about whether non-medical doctorate degrees are “worthy” of being called “Dr.”
However, I believe that the OP was more interested in whether an EdD is at the same approximate “level” as a PhD. And the answer is yes.
For the record, most of the PhDs and EdD I know don’t give a hoot, but then the title is meaningless around here because next to Cambridge we’ve got the second-highest concentration of highly edumacated folk. However, it does seem to me that some of the people who are most vocal about who “shouldn’t” be called doctor have not studied at the doctoral level (in any field) themselves.
Only those with a Medical or in some cases a Religous doctorate should be addressed as “Doctor”.
Thus, “NO” to a PhD or EdD.
I don’t agree, Mr. Deth.
If it’s a doctorate, you become a doctor once you achieve it. IME, only JDs don’t refer to themselves as doctors.
My SIL has a PhD in psychology and teaches and runs a research lab at UCLA. Everything official lists her as “Dr. Jennifer.”
And besides, what is the difference between a PhD in theology and a PhD in another field?
I disagree. I think those with PhD’s should be called doctors too. Cos I always find it funny when I hear people say “he insists on being called doctor when he isnt actually a doctor”. LOL.
Never heard of an EhD btw, do you get them in UK or are they just a US thing?
An EdD is a doctorate in education and/or education administration. Most school district superintendents, for example, have them or are getting them.
At least in my university experience “Doctor X” was the preferred form of address for professors who hadn’t asked you to use their first name. “Professor X” was thought to sound like something out of an 1930’s movie. So that would have applied to an Ed.D, too.
College survival advice:
Call every faculty member “doctor”. They’ll correct you if they do not have a doctorate or do not wish to be called doctor.
As for the JD, I met a JD who insisted he be called ‘doctor’. It was irritating so I finally had a showdown with him where I demanded to know what his dissertation was. He didn’t do one. He kept saying that ‘JD’ has ‘doctorate’ in it. I countered that anyone can call anything anything and if he only did three years past college and did no dissertation than insisting on being called ‘doctor’ was silly and wrong. If plumbers granted themselves degrees with ‘doctorate’ on the end should they be able to insist on the honorarium? We never really talked again which was fine by me. One more time of him saying “That’s Dr. X” and I would have throttled him.
Though KenP and j.c.'s post were on the insulting side, I have also noticed an inverse correlation to (my) perceived prestige of the degree and their insistence on being called Doctor.
Just call them Doctor. Do not make enemies of any faculty.
Funny, especially since the title “juris doctor” does not contain the word “doctorate!”
Too true about faculty, though.
Re: Professor vs Doctor.
In my academic experience, for 3 out of 5 the default was Professor and the other 2 (both in the same city) it was Doctor. But those 2 also had or had had (!) some non-PhD tenure track faculty.
So that varies.
So, DrDeth, is your degree in ‘religous’ studies?
I don’t want to seem personal (if it is in ‘religous’ studies), but 'doctor of divinity’ would seem to rank below Ed.d in terms of academic rigor.
But your empathic “NO” piqued me. I wonder why you think that. I apologize in advance if I have you wrong, since this is GQ and let’s keep this to the facts.
What is even worse is the proliferation of unaccredited online ‘universities’ that offer ‘doctorates’ in whatever field one would want to pay for. ‘Doctor of Parapsychology’ for a few hundred dollars.
I recall a Ph.D. vs. M.D. thread some time ago.
See:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139691&highlight=Ph.D.
From that, I gather a lot of physicians do not like non-M.D.s being called ‘Doctor’. But a lot of the faculty at med schools are Ph.D. holders and not M.D.s. But the debate goes on about how the Ph.D. is the highest degree and an M.D. is somehow a ‘lower academically’ professional degree.
Professor vs. Doctor at universities can be an easy debate to answer (in most cases): Many Ph.D.s working at universities are postdoctoral fellows and are not professors on the faculty. In that case, they are doctors, but not professors. And most professors (at least in my experience) don’t really care about being called ‘Doctor’.
Which brings me to:
KenP—your comment about mickey mouse degrees almost made laugh out loud—that has been my experience: ~“they protest too much.”
As a personal aside, I had a roommate who received an Ed.d. or Ph.D. in education (I’m not sure which, now), but I read her dissertation and was surprised by what I considered a lack of ‘hard science’ and research or statistical analysis of the ‘data’ that was presented. Most of it seemed to consist of her personal experiences and how she felt about them.
No- actually, I am not a “Doctor”, but that is my nickname, due to my profession (not going to go into that)- I only have a B.S.
I do agree that “Doctor of Divinity” does rank below PhD in academic toughness- but that has nothing to do with it.
It is the TITLE “Doctor”, not the degree. Which is why all Medical Doctors - even Vets- get “Doctor”, and PhD’s don’t. Nothing to do with how hard you worked for it.
This has digenerated into an argument about academic credentials.
Anyone with a doctoral degree should be called ‘Doctor’ PROFESSIONALLY (JDs got ‘Esquire’ at the end, a whole different problem); socially they used to call ‘Mister’ and ‘Missus’ or ‘Miss’ (see how silly this all is?), but now they are called ‘Bill’ and ‘Amy’ (yes, that annoys Betty and Frank no end).
This is not about who is deserving of the title; it’s about formal usage, and about as important as the fish fork resting in the bowl of the soup-spoon on the right instead of outside on the left.
If you want to get all snarky about it, refuse to address a surgeon as ‘Doctor’.
As J66 finally pointed out, it’s context that helps you answer the question. Within the academe, folks are called Dr. so and so regardless of the nature of their post grad work. Assuming the OP was asking as a student, the answer is that in school, one makes no distinctions. Socially, most folks consider it pretentious for anyone other than an MD to be called Dr. so and so. It’s nice, it’s respectful and it’s an ego boost to those who have academic doctorates to be referred to as Dr. so and so outside of school, but for most people who experience it, it’s also seen as pretty silly.
(Personal aside: I have seen many Ph.D. dissertations that were pretty flaccid and many Ed.D. dissertations that were highly rigorous and of stellar intellectual character. The nature of the work reflects the student as much as the program.)