The Pain of Writing

Writing is painful. Sorry, that tends to be everyone's reality. It is hard work to think through complex ideas and find the best way to present them so that someone else can understand them. I am not going to go into a lot of detail about writing specifics; Walden has an amazing writing center that is very happy to help you! 

A few general things though, first if you find it very hard to write, I recommend this book: 

Saltzman, J. (1993). If You Can Talk, You Can Write. Grand Central Publishing. 

As you can see, it is an older book, so it is available very cheaply on Amazon. It will reduce your anxiety and will help you get something down on paper. I strongly recommend reading your paper aloud; you will catch many errors. If nothing else, read to your dog or cat, they will find you fascinating! You will reduce the number of needed corrections by simply rereading your paper carefully.

Be prepared and open to many revisions. Your committee has much more experience in writing at this level, trust their guidance. At a doctoral level, revisions are simply part of the writing process. Professionals also have to rewrite their papers many times, keep in mind that the final article you see in the journal has little resemblance to where it started. As an example, a recent article that I wrote with colleagues went through 25 revisions (yes, I counted!). 

What should you look for in revisions? Read a sentence aloud and see if you can restate it more clearly. You want to be very precise in your meaning. Let me give you an example from one of my papers that I wrote with some colleagues. Here is the original draft of the first few sentences of the paper:

By 2020, one in six American citizens will be elderly or over 65 years old (U.S. Census, 1993). The number of oldest old individuals over 85 years old will reach 6.6 million in 2020 and is expected to triple by 2050 and reach 18-19 million (Administration on Aging [AoA], 2010). The rapid growth of the elderly and the oldest-old population is a growing concern to the healthcare system, as it must prepare to provide increased support services. 

Here is the final version: 

The 2000 U.S. Census (2001) reported 4.2 million people were over the age of 85 (1.5% of the population), this group has been designated the “the oldest-old” by demographers, and is the most rapidly growing age group.  Currently the cost of health service utilization for the oldest-old averages $22,000 per year compared to $9,000 for individuals 65-74 years old (Krause, 2010). 

What is different? The 2^nd version is much clearer, concise, and more to the point that the first.

One final issue, I think it is very important that you understand the dissertation from the faculty's viewpoint; it may explain much of their feedback to you. Throughout the dissertation process, and even after it is published, your committee's names are attached to it. When the URR (or IRB, etc.) criticizes a student's work, one of the first questions that is asked is "who is the chair?" The student is expected to make errors; the chair's role is to catch as many as possible.

Next time, we will move to Chapter 3, Research Methods.

The Lonely Task of Writing

By definition, writing is a task done alone, with minimal distractions. Such an environment can be difficult to find in a busy household particularly with small children. You will need to find a way to deal with these needs. Some suggestions from other students: find a space that allows you to close the door- even a large closet will work. Recruit or hire a babysitter for a couple of hours to allow you some writing time. Work early in the morning or late at night. Write during your lunch hour. Do you have other ideas? We would love to hear them.

One way to structure your time, is to set goals for yourself for each week of the quarter, leading to a final goal for the term. Hold yourself to these goals. You can even break it down further and set a goal for each day. Consider, if you wrote just one page per day, in a quarter you would have written 90 pages! Some people set an alarm; they must sit and work on the paper for an hour, until the alarm goes off. The important thing is to develop some writing habits, making your dissertation a priority. Otherwise, it is just too easy to let the rest of your life take precedence. Your paper is not going to shout at you to write it. Your chair will probably not nag you. You have to make the decision that receiving your degree is important enough to set time aside every day to write. 

It is a great idea to form a dissertation support group; members could be other students at Walden, students in your dissertation class, or others you know who are in the dissertation process. Commit to supporting each other regularly, sharing your frustrations, and your joys. People who have not gone through the process, however well meaning, do not really understand the stress involved. Get some support!

To reduce your isolation, there is a new Capstone Writing Community that I wanted to share with you. Here is a copy of the email I received on it: 

The goal of the Walden Capstone Writing Community is to somewhat replicate the community of student scholars that I found incredibly valuable as I wrote my dissertation.  The capstone writing process is lonely enough at a brick and mortar university; based on some conversations I’ve had with students, the isolation can be even more overwhelming in a virtual environment. The community is a place to talk about research, writing, and the challenges of earning a doctorate without the pressure of “sounding smart” in front of content faculty or the formality of discussion forums in Blackboard.  It provides an opportunity to share questions and ideas with editors and fellow doctoral candidates.

A social networking site, accessible only by invitation, serves as the hub for community resources and initiatives. The community site includes videos, blogs, and discussion forums. I am logged into the site whenever I am at my computer, so I am frequently available live if students need a quick pep talk.  As the community grows, I will ask other editors to spend some time on the site to provide more informal contact, beyond the existing editor@waldenu.edu mailbox.   

I am most excited about our weekly meet-ups, where students can talk informally (live, via GoToMeeting) about writing struggles and successes, support each other in their projects, and hold each other accountable. We just held our first meet-up, and the response was quite positive.  The participants seemed excited to have an opportunity check in with each other.  As more members join, I anticipate holding multiple meet-ups per week, to accommodate busy Walden students’ schedules.   

This project is designed to be fluid and flexible.  The site includes a forum in which members can suggest resources and services, which I will do my best to provide.  As our numbers grow, I will be able to add features like discipline or program specific groups, live text chat, and integration with other social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).   

Any Walden doctoral candidate currently writing a capstone is welcome to join.  Clicking the following link will take students to an invitation to the group.  I will then be notified to approve the new member, and he or she will have full access to the community site. 

http://waldencwc.ning.com/?xgi=3xs8QjmI5KQGzU 

Please encourage any students to email me at kevin.schwandt@waldenu.edu if they have any questions.  

Thanks!

Kevin Schwandt, PhD

Dissertation Editor and Coordinator of Capstone Writing Initiatives

 

Next time we will talk about writing issues in general, and then we will move on to Chapter 3. 

Chapter 2, the Literature Review: Getting Started

Today, we begin to consider Chapter 2, the Literature Review. It often feels overwhelming to think about writing the literature review. Let's begin by checking the dissertation template and appropriate checklist (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods), available in the research center. These documents indicate that there are the following headings in chapter 2: Introduction, Literature Search Strategy, Theoretical Foundation, Conceptual Framework (as appropriate), Literature Review, and Summary and Conclusions. So I suggest starting by writing those in your draft.

 

Save the Introduction for later, since you are not sure where you are going yet. The search strategy means in which database did you look for articles, and what terms did you enter, to do so. Keep track of those as you go. I suggest starting with an outline; list the theories you have found in the literature that are relevant to your study. If there are philosophical or theoretical concepts list those. Next, let's start on an outline of the major part of the chapter, the literature review.

The best way to start the literature review is to think of the broadest category of your variables and work down to the most narrow. Let's say that you are interested in older adults and their opinion of their health care provider (one of my own research interests). You would want to start with aging and the elderly, providing demographics, what constitutes "elderly," and discussing the importance of the age group. Then move to elderly and health care, showing why this is an important topic. Next, the elderly and their health care provider. Since this is the most narrow category and the key area of interest, you will want to discuss this in more depth. Particularly addressing how this area has been examined methodologically. This study is a mixed method one, so you will administer some surveys as well as interview participants. So next, you will discuss each of the survey instruments, examining their previous use with the age group, and in the context of health care. If anyone has examined the relationship of the surveys with health care providers, you will want to include this too. 

Here is the starting outline for the chapter, and my notes: 

A. Introduction

B. Search Strategy

C. Theories

             1. Theory A

             2. Theory B

D. Concepts/ philosophy (if appropriate)

             1. Info on mixed methods, philosophy behind it

E. Literature Review

1. Aging and the elderly, include demographics

2. Elderly and health care, why do we care about topic?

3. Elderly and their health care provider

                        a. Include methods used previously

b. Previous findings

c. What is missing from previous research?

d. What does my study add?

4. Survey instruments

a. Survey A

                                        1. Used with my age group?

                                        2. Used in health care research?

                                        3. Used in health care providers research?

b. Survey B

                                        1. Used with my age group?

                                        2. Used in health care research?

                                        3. Used in health care providers research

F. Summary and Conclusions 

You will refine this as you search the literature and bring in related areas; but to begin the chapter you now have some direction. Pick a topic and start writing about it. Use your research journal to keep track of your starting outline and any notes to yourself as you go. I am a big fan of track changes and including comments to myself as I write (e.g., "find more about this topic," or "check Smith et al. paper- did they say this too?"). 

I have a tendency to find interesting but tangential literature that can lead me far from my topic; the outline keeps bringing me back to task. Think of it as a map of where you are planning to go. 

I recommend adding in your references as you go, otherwise, you will spend several long frustrating hours later trying to track them down. Prevent plagiarism by never copying into your paper. Instead, read the passage you are interested in, and restate it in your own words (including your own old papers). You want to avoid quotes, saying it in your own words is always better. 

Next time, we'll consider the lonely task of writing, structuring your time, and getting help. 

 

If you would like to see how the study outlined above looks in journal form (shorter literature review than for a dissertation) see: 

Stadtlander, L., Giles, M., Sickel, A., Brooks, E., Brown, C., Cormell, M., Ewing, L., Hart, D., Koons, D., Olson, C., Parker, P., Semenova, V., & Stoneking, S. (2013). Independent Living Oldest-Old and Their Primary Health Provider: A Mixed Method Examination of the Influence of Patient Personality Characteristics. Journal of Applied Gerontology. (Available in Walden Library's Psychology/ Sage database)

Mailbag

How can I find a gap in the literature?

This is definitely one of the trickier aspects of research! My suggestion is to first, pick a major topic in which you are interested. Then start reading the literature about this area (take notes in your research journal). Pay attention to the discussion section; the author(s) will suggest areas that they have found to need more research. Once you have narrowed down your topic area, do searches with the term "review" as a search term. This will bring up articles that are just literature reviews of the topic. Pay special attention to what the author(s) suggest as areas still in need of research. Once you think you have found a gap, do searches to make sure no one has done the study you are considering. Write your search terms, databases used, and articles that you found helpful in your research journal.

 I need to do a PowerPoint for my defense, do you have any suggestions?

Typically, you will only have about 20 minutes for your portion of the defense (the rest of the hour is questions), so it is best to have 20 or so slides. It is usually best to just have key points on the slides, you can write out the rest and read it. For the proposal, concentrate most on the methods and analysis, with just enough theory and literature to put it into context. For the final defense, concentrate on c. 4 & 5, with enough of the proposal to put it into context.

I do have examples of quantitative and qualitative PowerPoint for both proposal and final defenses. If you would like to see one of these, just send me an email and tell me your type of study and what stage you are in the process.

Keeping Organized: "I know I saw that somewhere"

One of the toughest parts of doing research is keeping track of the many pieces of information you collect. You not only want to find things the first time, but be able to find them months later. You also want to be able to recall your rationale for making the decisions that you made along the way and a timeline of when things were done.

First, let's think about your computer documents. (A warning- I am a windows person, so all of my software info is based on that). It is a really bad idea to just save everything into a single folder, like My Documents. I can guarantee that before long you won't be able to find anything! Instead, create some folders within My Documents. Personally, I would have one folder called Dissertation, within that folder I would have subfolders for Literature, Paper Drafts; later add IRB, and any other major categories you can think of.  I strongly advise saving every paper draft with the date it was written in the name of the file (don’t overwrite your old file – save the draft as a new file). Yes, that means you will have a huge number of files eventually, but (and here is why it is important) if your chair comes back and says – I think you should put back in that section you had on fish guts (or whatever), you still have it and don’t have to rewrite it. You also have a very nice record of the history of the project, and always know what is the most recent draft.

Always, always back up your files. Get an external hard drive, a flash (or thumb) drive, or a subscription to a cloud backup system and back up your dissertation files at least once a week. You can set your computer to backup automatically. Disasters occur. I have seen several students have their hard drive crash with no backup, losing whatever was on it.

I propose that you need (at least) three separate organizing systems: 1) A research journal that keeps track of your day-to-day thoughts on your project. 2) Some way to keep track of references. 3) A future research ideas journal where you can keep track of ideas for future studies. Now I will go into more depth on each of these.

The Research Journal

What will you write in your research journal? Anything you do on the project each day. To whom did you talk about the project, what did they say? What articles did you read, what are the important points from them? What ideas do you want to consider later? You can even get fancy and color code such things. You need to be able track the evolution of your thinking on the project and keep track of the day-to-day info that will cross your desk/ computer/ mind.

There are many ways to approach this- both high and low tech; the main thing is to be consistent with using it. You can certainly use a paper notebook and write things in it. Another alternative is to use Word or One Note (for Microsoft fans). Again more important is consistency of use. I have recently discovered some software that I have been recommending: The Journal http://www.davidrm.com/ (costs about $50). It is not the easiest software to set up, but is great once you do. It has a daily journal as well what it calls notebooks, in which you can easily document your progress. You can set up multiple notebooks and diaries for different topics/projects. You can also copy from other programs into it, allowing you to keep track of emails, citations, etc.

References

The banes of every researcher's existence are reference articles. You have to have them and you have to find a way to organize them. I suggest you think carefully about how you like to read articles- in paper or electronic forms. Use that method when you set up your organization.

If you like to print out the articles, there are two common organizational methods. One is to have a file box (or cabinet) and file the articles in folders; it is often done by authors' names. A second method is to create reference 3-ring binders; these they can be organized by topic, or author.

If you prefer to read electronically on the computer, I have some free software to suggest: ReadCube http://www.readcube.com/. It was designed for researchers. It lets you access all of your pdf files, organize them by topic, search the files, write comments and highlight articles. It does not provide a way to write the reference in your paper. An option for that is bibliography software such as Endnote. I don’t use this, because I am terrible about entering them in the database. You will have to decide such things for yourself.

Future Research Ideas Journal

Believe it or not, someday you will probably want to do more research. If you go into academics as a professor, it will be required. So, make your future-self happy by writing down research ideas, thoughts, inspirations as you think of them in one place. You will find that you will see interesting links between research areas as you read not only journal articles but also other books, movies, in conversations, etc. I use my journaling software for this, but any other method will work, just be consistent.

Now that you are organized, we will move to writing the actual proposal. I always have my students start with chapter 2, the literature review. So that is where we will start next time.

 

Do you have an organizational method or software that you recommend? Reply to this post and share it!

The Prospectus: The real beginning

Today I will talk about the prospectus, this is the first official document related to your dissertation (the premise is not officially submitted). This paper will go into more depth on your project; it is usually 10-12 pages long. In it, you explore more of the literature (clearly showing there is a gap in the literature) and fleshing out your research method. It is important to remember that you are building a case in your writing, you want to clearly show that there is a need for your study (answering the "so what" question, which is your gap in the literature). Then, you want to show clearly how your study will fill this gap.  Make sure that everything in your paper is aligned- your literature, research questions, hypotheses and method all address the same issues and are consistent. Your analyses should be consistent with your hypotheses and research questions.

 

You will want to consider the social change implications of your study, don’t overstate this, you will not change the world. You are adding a little more to the literature, hopefully clarifying your small piece of the puzzle.

There is a dissertation prospectus guide in the Research Center, available at: http://researchcenter.waldenu.edu. This document also has a prospectus example of what is required. It is also a good idea to take a look at the prospectus rubric available in the research center. These documents will let you know how the faculty will be evaluating your paper.  

If you are planning to use a vulnerable population (e.g., your subordinates, children, elderly, prisoners, people who are ill, etc.) or if you are thinking about having people participate in some sort of activity or program (e.g., a new relaxation technique; something they would not normally do) then you may have ethical issues to consider. First, go to the Walden's IRB (Institution Review Board /ethics board) website http://researchcenter.waldenu.edu/Application-and-General-Materials.htm, there you will find several information sheets on these issues. Think the issues through and talk them over with your chair. It is probably a good idea to write up your method in an email to the IRB (IRB@waldenu.edu), and ask for their opinion and if they foresee any problems. They are very open to this early planning and can save you much pain and disappointment later. 

Often, by the time you are writing your prospectus you have a chair of your committee, and you will be in his or her dissertation class. Beware of the tendency to think of your dissertation as MINE. It is not your paper, it is a paper written by you at the advice of your committee. You will be asked to write many revisions. No, it does not mean that you are a bad writer; you are learning to write in a very technical manner that requires precise clarity. Your committee (and particularly your chair) is there to guide you and get you and your paper through the many obstacles ahead. Patience, persistence, and meticulousness will save you a great deal of pain in the future! 

Once your chair has approved your prospectus draft, your chair will send it to your committee member (note, you should always have the chair submit your paper to other faculty). He or she will probably want revisions. Once those are completed and everyone is happy with the draft, the committee member and chair complete the prospectus rubric. Your chair will submit the prospectus and rubric to the Research Center, who will in turn send it on to your program director for approval. 

This last step, that your prospectus will be sent to your program director by the research center, is an important one to consider. He or she will double-check your entire paper, of special concern will be if everything in your paper is consistent and aligned (research questions fit with method, analyses, etc.). They will also make sure that your topic fits within your program. Why is this important? Because if you are a health psych student proposing to examine a clinical psych issue, areas that you have not been trained in during your Walden health psych program it may not be approved. If you have expertise outside of your Walden program, perhaps you are a licensed counselor or a mental health nurse, have your chair mention that in the email to the research center. 

Next time, we start on the actual dissertation with a side visit to organization: record keeping and references, so you can find things in the future.  

Mail Bag

I have had a few questions that I would like to answer for everyone's benefit. 

How Do I Post a Comment?

 

To post a comment in the blog, you do need a Google account (i.e., Gmail). This is done to make sure you are a real person and not a computer posting SPAM. I only use my Gmail account for this purpose. To get an account, go to https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?service=mail. Once you have an account, go to the blog, at the bottom of the post and click where it says comments (has a pencil next to it). You can reply either to my main post or to the comments already there. You will need to enter your Google info and rewrite a word or phrase they give you in order to post it. 

The Dissertation Process

A quick overview of the dissertation process. I suggest printing out this list and putting it near your computer. 

Premise. This is a short idea paper, usually 5-7 pgs. It is mainly used for recruitment of your committee (there is a Premise Guide with a sample paper in the Research Center http://researchcenter.waldenu.edu). 

Prospectus. This is usually 10-12 pgs. It lays out your study (more on this tomorrow); your chair, committee member, and program director must approve the prospectus. Your chair will send it to the necessary people. 

Proposal. This consists of Chapter 1 (Introduction), Chapter 2 (Literature Review), and Chapter 3 (Research Methods and Analyses) of your dissertation; typically, these three chapters together are approximately 75-125 pgs. Your chair will work with you on these three chapters. When he or she approves your proposal, you need to complete the checklist (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods as appropriate; available in Research Center). Your proposal and checklist will be sent to your committee member by your chair. You will need to update and send the checklist with each proposal revision to your committee member. When both your chair and committee member are happy with the proposal, your chair sends it to your University Research Reviewer (URR, faculty member appointed by University to double check the paper) for approval, with the checklist. You will need to update and send the checklist with each proposal revision to your URR.  

Oral defense of proposal (1 hr. recorded conference call with chair and committee member), you will need to send a power point presentation of your study to your committee, prior to the call. 

Institutional Review Board (ethics board, IRB), you will need to complete the IRB application (with all of the required materials as indicated on IRB website) and receive their approval. You will also need to complete ethics training online, see the IRB site for the application and info on training. 

Collect data using the steps approved by IRB. If there are any changes to your methods, you need to get approval from the IRB. Your committee and URR should approve any major changes in methods.

Analyze data, as laid out in chapter 3. Your committee and URR should approve any major changes in analysis. 

Chapter 4 (Results) and Chapter 5 (Summary and Recommendations), are typically another 40-50 pgs. with the full dissertation being all 5 chapters. When your chair approves your dissertation, you need to complete the checklist (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods as appropriate; available in Research Center). Your proposal and checklist will be sent to your committee member by your chair. You will need to update and send the checklist with each revision to your committee member. When both your chair and committee member are happy with the dissertation, your chair sends it to your University Research Reviewer (URR, faculty member appointed by University to double check the paper) for approval, with the checklist. You will need to update and send the checklist with each revision to your URR. 

Form & Style. The full dissertation is sent by the Research Center to Form & Style review (in Writing Center). Since the dissertation will be published, this review makes sure it is in correct publication format and APA formatting is correct. 

Oral defense of dissertation (1 hr. recorded conference call with chair and committee member), you will need to send a power point presentation of your study to your committee, prior to the call. 

URR. Chair sends the dissertation back to the URR for a review of any changes since he/she last saw it. 

CAO. Abstract is sent by the Research Center to the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) for approval. 

DONE!

Welcome to the dissertation mentor blog!

In this blog, I will discuss the process of the dissertation, tips on writing, and answer questions. If you would like to ask me a question, you can respond to my post or send me an email: <leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu>. You can have any posts email to you by filling out the Follow the Blog by Email form to the right of this post. My plan is to post about 3 days a week, if I get questions appropriate to be answered here, I may post more often.

First, a brief introduction- I am Dr. Lee Stadtlander, I have worked at Walden since 2005 and been the coordinator of the health psychology program since 2009. I have mentored many doctoral students, with 6 graduates in 2012. I have heard every possible question that you can think of, there are no dumb questions! If you don’t understand something, I am sure that you are not alone, and others would benefit from the answer.

Let's begin with an over view of the process of the dissertation. Today, I will discuss the first step, the premise; this is a short paper that lays out your thinking on your topic, and some basics on the method that you will use in your project. The premise is often used as a recruiting tool for your chair and committee member. Some things to understand about this use of the premise, faculty will be looking at your writing (including spelling and grammar), so it is worth spending time on this aspect. You can run it by the writing center's editors to make sure it is as clear as possible.

It is important to be open to faculty's suggestions and comments, but also realize the most important person you will need to listen to is your chair. There are typically no absolutely correct answers on research design, there are many options. Be prepared to negotiate and discuss issues.

As a side note on recruiting your committee, be sure that you send an individual email (not a mass one) to faculty. Make sure you proofread and check spelling and grammar on your recruitment email; it is your introduction to your committee. You can find out which faculty are available for dissertations by writing to Dr. Elisha Galaif <elisha.galaif@waldenu.edu>, she maintains the psychology faculty list.

Typically, you will use the premise as the basis of your prospectus. More about that next time.