Too Similar?

There is nothing like the panic a researcher feels when they find a study that appears similar to theirs! What do you do?? First, take a deep breath, rarely is a study going to be identical, so relax. I suggest your next step is to analyze the differences and similarities between yours and theirs (a spreadsheet works great for this).

Compare the population/ sample. How are they similar and different?

Look at their methodology. How are they different? What measures are used?

If you find they are similar, consider tweaking yours to add to the literature (this should always be your goal!). Perhaps adding a different variable or two would tell us more about the issue. If the previous study was quantitative, a qualitative or mixed methods study may provide interesting insights which are not evident in a quantitative study. Keep in mind that a major limitation of surveys is people are limited in their response to the choices given; they may have more to say.

Perhaps you can slightly modify your population to look at the issue in a new way. A hypothetical example might be originally, you wanted to look at diabetes in children and its effect on their schoolwork; your plan was to talk to the students and parents. Let us say you found a very similar study. You could tweak yours and look at the teachers' views of diabetic children in school. How knowledgeable are they about the illness and how do they see it affecting the children's work?

I often suggest students use the similar study as a contrast in their paper. Example: "Smith and Jones (2014) examined children and parents' views of the effect of the child's diabetes on schoolwork. The present study will extend this work by examining the perspective of the teachers of diabetic children."

Next time, I will consider fear. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu 

From Stadtlander, L. (2015). Finding Your Way to a Ph.D.: Advice from the Dissertation Mentor, p. 10