Graduation Thoughts

Today I am in Orlando, attending faculty meetings. Tomorrow is graduation. What realizations have you gained since starting your dissertation? Here are few things graduates have reported. 

"Writing a dissertation is harder than I thought it would be." This is a common realization that students have- they went into the process, having written many papers before; however, writing a dissertation is very different. It takes longer to research the literature, write, conduct the study, and revise than most people assume it will take. There are also many approvals you will have to get along the way; each person will want more changes. 

"I was surprised that I actually enjoy the process." I hope students discover this one. Writing the dissertation is an intellectual challenge, it will force you to grow, to stretch, and to develop as a professional. Most researchers have a deep intellectual curiosity that research satisfies. It allows you to ask interesting questions and to find out the answers. Enjoy the process! 

"It is a much more lonely process than I anticipated." For online doctoral students, this is a very real aspect. You need to develop a way to counter this. Get a support group, find a dissertation buddy, you need someone to talk to that is also going through the process. 

"My family is supportive, but they just don't get the work involved." People who have not gone through it do not really understand how difficult the process is. It may help to share with them the day-to-day highs and lows, and incorporate them into the process. Help them to understand both the pressure and your drive and motivation to succeed. Also, get a support group! 

"My defense was much more collaborative that I thought it would be." I often heart this comment. Students expect that a "defense" will be confrontational, but it rarely is. It tends to be colleagues working together to come up with the best possible project. 

"I was surprised that I ended up really sick of my topic." Unfortunately, this is common. Many people become quite burnt out on the dissertation topic and do not want to do anything further on it. 

"Writing a dissertation changed me." Often, I hear this at graduation. Going through the dissertation process makes you a better writer, able to cope with constructive feedback, become more compulsive in your research, and provides a deeper appreciation of your topic and participants. At Walden, we often talk about social change, but also realize that you will be changed by going through the process. 

Next time we will consider theory and research design. 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 

The Prospectus – from a Faculty View

A prospectus shows up in my inbox, what do I look for? First, I read through the paper making general notes in track changes. Is the APA correct? Are there misspellings? Does the general topic make sense? Is the topic area original or has it been done before?  

Then I go through the paper again reading more carefully. Does the literature make sense? Is there a logical flow to how the rationale is described? The student should be making a case that his or her study is needed through citations of literature and previous research. By the time, I finish the Background section I should be nodding and thinking, yes, this study is needed.  

Another consideration is if the topic is one that student has either been trained in at Walden or demonstrated he or she has a previous background in the topic. Therefore, if you want to examine the deaf, you must show that you have outside experience in this area. Save yourself revisions by including a sentence or two documenting your experience. 

Do the theories discussed in the Framework section make sense with the topic? Has the student provided enough detail that I am convinced he or she understands the theories? Will the theories provide interesting areas to discuss when the student has results? 

Do the research questions fit with the research methods? These two sections must fit together well. A common error here is to have a quantitative wording for a qualitative study; an example, Is there a correlation between X and Y? This is not a qualitative question. Will the student be able to answer the research questions given their methods? Sometimes I see students wanting to know about a variable, but do not indicate that they will be measuring/ asking about it. Alternatively, there may be a variable that it isn’t possible to realistically examine- for example, how people learn a language. I suppose you could watch a child for 24 hrs. a day for several years, and know what words he or she learns, but you still will not really know how he or she learned them.  

Save yourself revisions and go into detail with your research methods. How many participants are you thinking of having? How did you arrive at that number? How will you recruit them? What measures/ surveys will you use? It is ok to say that the specific instrument is to be determined- but at least have an idea of the variable. If you are doing a qualitative study, give a couple of example interview questions. Talk about where and how you will do the interviews. I will consider whether ethically, you will be allowed to do the study- for example, interviewing your own students or subordinates is not ethical. 

Briefly, discuss the analysis and what statistics or qualitative techniques you will use. The idea is to give the reader an awareness that you have thought about these topics. 

Finally, I look at the references. Are they in APA format? Are they primary sources? The best prospectus has all of the elements I have discussed. Everything is consistent and pieces build upon each other. 

Next time, we will take a look at the proposal from a faculty viewpoint. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Send me an email with your ideas. leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu

Alternative Sources for Articles, part 2

Previously I discussed the easy sources for articles, however, there are some other alternatives. If you have a college or university near you, you might check if they have the article you need. If all else fails, you can write to the author, although this will probably require some detective work. You can try the email he or she listed in the article (often listed on the abstract page), however, be aware faculty tend to move around a lot, and it may no longer work. The problem is you usually do not receive any notice the person no longer works there, so if you do not get a reply you do not know if they are just rude or never got it. If you know what affiliation (college, university, etc.) they listed on the article (it is usually listed near the title or as a footnote), go to the institution's website, and see if they are still employed there. They usually provide email addresses. If you still cannot find the author, do a Google search on him or her; you may pick up a clue where they work now and can try to track down an email address. 

What do you say when you write them? Tell them you are very interested in their work on X and ask if they could send you a copy of their article (give the citation for it). Also, ask them if they have any other papers in this area. Be sure to include your mailing address in case they want to send it that way. Here is a sample letter: 

Dear Dr. Jones,

I am very interested in your work on fear of pencils. I am a doctoral student in psychology at XXXX University and my dissertation is in this area. I have been unable to locate your paper Jones and Smith (2010) "Fear and Pencils: How do I function now?" I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me a copy of this article. In addition, if you have any subsequent papers in this area, I would love to get copies of those too. 

Thank you so much for any help you can provide, 

Suzy Student

17 Hopeful Lane

Johnston, NY 98765 

Unfortunately, some people are rude, and you may not get a response. Give the author a week or two to respond; the final step would be to try to track down other authors on the paper.  

Next time, I will post an updated blog index. 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

 

Fun Interview!

update on 1/24/16 - oops sorry, it is now posted!


Check out the Editor Speaks Out blog http://jsbhseditorblog.blogspot.com/ for a fun interview with Walden's sex researcher, Dr. Peter Anderson!

Alternative Sources for Articles, part 1

Students frequently ask me how to find articles that are not available in the library. Here are a few alternative sources. Make sure you have checked Google Scholar, also check electronic professional media such as LinkedIn or Research Gate. These are sites where authors frequently post preprints (work not yet published) as well as published articles. Be sure you have checked all of the available databases in your library. In psychology, one that is frequently missed is "Psychology: A SAGE Full-Text Collection." This database has many psychology articles, which for some reason, are typically not picked up by PsycINFO. If you are interested in a health related topic, make sure you check CINAHL (a nursing database) and Medline. 

Check "Thoreau: Search Multiple Databases." This often pulls up articles not found in individual databases. Similarly, the database, "Academic Search Complete" brings up some information outside the regular databases. 

If you still cannot find a particular paper you are looking for and if you know the authors and title, you can request an interlibrary loan, in which the librarian will track it down for you. As a dissertation student, you may be allowed only a certain number of free loans, so check the rules out first.

 Next time we will consider other alternative sources for articles. 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

Finding Articles

I suggest starting to write your dissertation with Chapter 2, the literature review. How do you start? How do you do library searches and not be overwhelmed with distantly related articles? The first step is doing the outline of your Chapter 2, including your variables. Then you are ready to begin the library search. Pick a variable and get started! 

If you are in psychology, you may want to start your search in the psychology databases; however, be sure you check related ones too (e.g., Thoreau, Sage, CINAHL, Medline, ERIC). Start with getting some general background on your topic. Say you are interested in "resilience" in older adults; begin with a search of resilience, review, and older adults (you will also need to try elderly and aging). This search will bring up literature reviews on the topic. Let us say there are three reviews, which look to fit your interests. Read those. These articles will have references, which relate to your specific interests, look those up. In addition, take note of the keywords lists with each of your articles; they may offer suggestions you had not considered. 

When you find mention of theories, make a note of authors related to the theories. Look up those authors, you may find additional information on your topic. Keep in mind you are expected to understand the history of the theories. It is very important you are keeping a research journal as you search. You need to keep track of your search terms and databases used, as these will be included in Chapter 2. You should also keep notes as you go, perhaps marking articles, which you want to be sure to read carefully. 

Next time we will consider alternative sources for articles. 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

Journal Publishing

I have recently taken on the job of editor of Walden University's Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences. As part of that position, I have started a blog that will regularly discuss academic publishing, tips on getting manuscripts accepts, and interviews with interesting authors and researchers. If you would like to subscribe to it, so you get an email when there is a post, go to http://jsbhseditorblog.blogspot.com/       There is a Follow by Email link (you will need a gmail account to do it).  

Meanwhile here is some info on submitting a manuscript to the journal: 

The Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Science (JSBHS) seeks manuscripts for a 2016 special focus on online research methods, as well as manuscripts in the content areas of social, behavioral, and health sciences.   

JSBHS is a Walden University sponsored, peer-reviewed, online, open-access, interdisciplinary journal focusing on research that addresses contemporary national and international issues in the content areas. The objectives of JSBHS are to:

• Encourage dialogue between scholars and practitioners in the social, behavioral, and health sciences that fosters the integration of theoretically-based empirical research with practice.
• Inform the relationship between practice and research in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. 

If you are interested in submitting a manuscript, please visit the JSBHS website at http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/jsbhs/ for more information. Next time we will consider how to find articles. 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 

Updating articles

Students often feel that once they have completed Chapter 2’s literature review they do not have to look at the literature again. Sorry, not true! I suggest every month or two you go to the library and update your literature. New articles are constantly being published, and you want your literature review to be up to date. Do you need to do an exhaustive search each time? No, but you may want to set up a schedule, so that over several months you have checked on all of your variables and theories.  

Then add in the new articles into your literature review. I suggest using track changes, so it is obvious to your faculty reviewers what is new info and what they have previously read. Keep track in your research journal your searches and if you find new info. It will make it much easier to remember what you have done along the way if you keep a map through your journal. Remember that you should be an expert on the literature related to your study, so keep reading! 

Next time we will consider publishing in a journal. 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