Writing problems: Person Pronouns

English (as with many languages) has 3 levels of personal pronouns:

 

	Singular	Plural
First Person	I, me, mine	we, us, our
Second Person	you, your	you, your(s)
Third Person	he, she, it, him, her, it, his, her(s), its	they, them, their, theirs

APA does not allow the use of first person plural "we" or "our" (the exception is if there are multiple authors). The broader use of the word "we" (often referred to as the "editorial we" or "royal we") leaves the reader wondering to whom you are referring. Instead, substitute an appropriate noun or clarify to whom you are referring. Here are some examples for a dissertation. 

Incorrect: We know that the elderly ……

Correct: Researchers have found that the elderly …..

Incorrect: Drug use is common in our country

Correct: Drug use is common in the United States. 

Incorrect: We will contact possible participants by …

Correct: I will contact possible participants by… 

Next time, in honor of the 4^th of July, I will talk about courage and the dissertation.  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 

Blog Index for June

2014, Current to 6/27

Topic	Dates of Posts
Dissertation, general	6/25
Selecting a Topic	4/28, 5/9
Organization
Committee Members	5/7
URR
Center for Research Quality
Overview of Process
Premise
Prospectus	4/4, 4/7, 4/9, 4/11, 4/14, 4/18, 4/21, 4/23, 4/25, 4/28, 5/2, 5/5
Proposal
Research questions	4/18
C. 1
C. 2 (literature related)	6/9, 6/11, 6/16
C. 3	1/3, 1/6, 1/13
Defense
IRB	1/10, 1/15, 1/17, 1/20, 1/22, 1/24, 1/27, 1/29, 2/3, 2/5, 2/7, 2/10, 2/12, 2/17, 2/19, 2/21, 2/24
Data Collection
Quantitative	1/3, 2/26, 3/12
Qualitative	1/6, 3/14
Mixed Methods	1/3, 1/6
C. 4	3/5, 3/10, 3/12, 3/14, 3/17, 3/19, 3/21
C. 5	3/21, 3/24, 3/26, 3/28
Final Defense
Career
Goal Form	5/23, 5/26, 6/2
Motivation	1/1, 6/4, 6/6
Secondary Data	2/24
Support, Getting	5/21
Writing	5/16, 5/19, 6/16, 6/18, 6/20
Other	2/14, 3/3, 3/7, 4/16, 5/12, 5/14, 5/28, 6/2, 6/13, 6/23, 6/27

 

2013

Topic	Dates of Posts
Dissertation, general	7/5, 8/16, 8/19, 9/27, 10/2
Selecting a Topic	4/23, 7/8, 7/10
Organization	4/22, 10/2
Committee Members	4/17, 5/3, 6/10, 7/19, 8/21
URR	5/8, 5/27
Center for Research Quality	12/9
Overview of Process	4/19, 9/18, 12/13
Premise	4/17, 9/6
Proposal	4/22, 9/9
Research questions	10/9
C. 1	5/6, 10/21, 10/23, 10/25, 10/28, 11/1
C. 2 (literature related)	4/26, 5/29, 6/3, 6/12, 6/17, 6/28, 9/16, 10/11, 11/4, 11/6, 11/9, 11/15
C. 3	5/1, 10/16, 10/28, 11/18, 11/20, 11/22, 11/25, 12/2, 12/4, 12/6, 12/11, 12/16, 12/18, 12/20, 12/23, 12/27
Defense	4/23, 5/8
IRB	5/10, 10/14
Data Collection	5/13, 5/15, 10/16
Quantitative	5/17, 7/24, 7/26, 7/29, 7/31, 8/2, 8/5, 10/4, 10/7, 11/20, 12/2, 12/4, 12/6, 12/18, 12/23, 12/27
Qualitative	5/20, 11/20, 11/22, 11/25, 12/11, 12/16
Mixed Methods	5/22, 11/18, 11/20, 11/22, 11/25, 12/11, 12/20, 12/23, 12/27
C. 4	5/17, 5/20, 5/22, 7/17
C. 5	5/24, 9/20, 10/11
Final Defense	4/23, 5/27/ 9/11
Career	7/12
Goal Form	8/12
Motivation	6/5, 6/26, 7/1, 8/16, 8/23, 9/2, 9/18, 10/18, 11/8, 11/27
Secondary Data	5/31
Support, Getting	4/26, 6/5, 6/24, 8/16
Writing	4/26, 4/29, 6/12, 6/21, 7/3, 8/9, 8/14, 9/4, 9/23,9/25
Other	4/18, 6/7, 6/14, 6/19, 6/24, 6/26, 7/1, 7/8, 7/15, 7/19, 7/22, 8/7, 8/16, 8/19, 8/26, 8/28, 8/30, 9/2, 9/13, 9/18, 10/18, 11/27, 12/13, 12/25

 Next time I will talk about some common writing problems.  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

 

How to complain

I commonly receive emails from students complaining about something- their chair, committee member, URR, IRB, etc. I think it important for you to consider how such emails are received- ones that are written in a calm voice, are clear, and professional are much more likely to be taken seriously than when someone rambles for pages, is demanding, and threatening. This may seem somewhat counterintuitive; isn’t the threatening one more serious and angry? Perhaps, but they also come across as someone who does not understand the system and is not looking for solutions, they simply want to vent. 

How can you be taken seriously when you are upset? I suggest first opening word and just dump all of your emotions and frustrations into that document- layout everything that happened and how you felt about it. Feel better? Ok delete it and let's start fresh. 

Let's start a new document, now unemotionally lay out the sequence of events that has led to the current issue. Include the dates; do not personalize or say how you felt about it – just give the facts. Once you have a clear timeline, write a BRIEF summary of the history, again no emotion.

Now I want you to think about what you would like the reader to do about the issue. How do you want them to help you? Would you like him or her to suggest some solutions? Would you like him or her to speak to your chair and possibly mediate? Add that in as a polite request. 

Time to write the email. First, introduce yourself to the email recipient, where are you in your program? What program? Have you ever met him or her? State that you are seeking their help/ advice/ etc. with a problem with (whomever). 

Copy the brief summary into the email. Then add the section on what you would like the reader to do for you. You may add one sentence with how you are feeling about the problem (e.g., "I am feeling very frustrated, and would deeply appreciate your input"). End the email by thanking them for their help. If you have emails or documents that show the history or in some way support your claims, attach them. I suggest that you then let the email set for a day, read it again when you are calm. If it sounds clear and professional, go ahead and send it. 

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

Playing the waiting game

Waiting is an essential part of the dissertation experience (and it is often worse at land-based institutions). You wait for faculty to review your paper, and wait for the URR and IRB; every person has two weeks to review it. Why does it take so long? What should you do while you are waiting so the time is not wasted? 

Why does it take so long? Typically, the time is not spent in just reviewing your paper- that actually just takes a few hours. The problem is that faculty may have many more students and other obligations, they may be traveling and attending residencies, or be on vacation. So the waiting time is taken up with getting to your paper. 

What can you do to use the waiting time productively? You can go on to the next step- such as the next chapter, working on the PowerPoint for your defense, or the IRB application. You can do an updated search in the library- seeing if there is more recent literature that you can use; check the dissertation database and other databases outside psychology. You can work on organizing your workspace, filing system, or learning new software such as EndNote. You can read some reference books on your method, statistics, or theory. 

The important part is to keep working on something related to your dissertation! Do not just sit there doing nothing – use the waiting time productively. This is your paper, take ownership, take control, and get done! 

Next time I will give you some guidelines for how to complain.  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

 

 

Lessons learned from my dissertation journey

Today I am thrilled to bring you a guest writer - an alumna of Walden's health psych doctoral program, Dr. Veronica Semenova!

It is with great pleasure that I accept this opportunity to share my dissertation experiences with you, my dear fellow Ph.D. students. I enrolled in my Ph.D. Program in Health Psychology at Walden in September 2009 and graduated in February 2013. 

Someone may say the time was short, but life during the dissertation was flowing very differently for me. Being in the Ph.D. program was a life lesson by itself. It has helped me prioritize everything in my life – my goals, my relationships, my commitments. It was a true transformation. Suddenly, it became obvious to me that my time is precious and should not be wasted on activities, people, obligations that are not benefitting me as an individual. I've let go of a lot of “baggage” to give myself more time to study, do my research, and write. I've learned to care about “Me” and “My time”.  

In the course of my work on the dissertation, I had moments of inspiration and moments of frustration. I guess it is normal for each of us. There were doubts as to whether I was capable enough to do it, there were health problems – I went through a hospitalization with pneumonia and a long recovery after that. There were family problems, kids' illnesses, vacations, house moving and so on. I once found myself writing on a transatlantic flight and once while checking up on my Christmas turkey in the oven (luckily the bird didn't burn that time!).  

It is not easy to make yourself write every day. And as I found it wasn't possible for me. I was going through phases of intense writing and intense preparation, where I was collecting ideas, thinking, and reading articles.. I did have 2-3 hours set for working on my dissertation every day – not all of that time I was inspired enough to write, but I was there in front of my computer, reading, editing, working on formatting. Somewhere in the middle of the process, I got overwhelmed with all the articles I had read and figured I needed to come up with some system to index each article, reference, major findings, gaps, and limitations. I encourage you to think about that early on. It will be very difficult to remember what each article was about several months later. 

Perseverance is perhaps the only thing I can wish you along the way. In times of frustration or lack of motivation, always remember this journey is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Do not doubt your abilities; you are already in the program and you can do it. Do give yourself credit for every small achievement – even as small as a couple of paragraphs written today, an article read and indexed, or your reference list edited according to APA requirements. Every little bit counts. One of the highest achievements in an academic life is writing and defending a dissertation. Praise yourself for being in that prime moment, as difficult as it may seem, this is the best time of your life, one that will make you proud and will give you a lot of credit going forward.  

Finally, never forget to take care of yourself - rest, get enough sleep to recharge your batteries, ensure you are receiving all the nutrients you need, follow up with your medical practitioner on any acute or chronic illnesses. Devote time to yourself, help yourself deal with stress and anxiety by exercising or just going for walks, and learning how to use mindfulness-based practices. Finishing this dissertation requires you to be in top shape.  

Good luck to all of you, please feel free to contact me for any additional support you may require. I'd be happy to share as much as I can. My email is semenova.veronica@gmail.com 

Veronica Semenova, Ph.D.

Walden Alumni, Ph.D. Health Psychology Program 

Next time we will talk about the waiting game.  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

Reviewing Your Own Work, Part 2

Last time we examined how to review your own writing on a micro level of sentences and paragraphs. Today, we are going to move to a macro level in which you make sure that chapters and the paper as a whole are consistent.

As you write over time, it is easy for your paper to deviate in your methodology and approach. If you have ever read a new novelist's first book you may have experienced the situation in which the details in how they describe a character or scene changes throughout the book (e.g., "Mary" may change from being "an auburn haired beauty" to a woman named "Marie, with chestnut hair" by the end). This is a lack of good editing. The next stage of your self-review should be as an editor.

To do this, you need to read the entire paper in one sitting. You need to keep track of any inconsistencies or changes in methodology descriptions- I like using track changes comments for this. Don’t change things during the reading – just note the problem areas. It is important that you are able to read the paper without interruptions, because you want to be able remember details. Things to carefully check include the description of theories throughout the paper- are you always using the same terms? Check your research questions and hypotheses, are they the same in c.1 and in c.3? Are your descriptions of your methodology the same in c. 1 and c. 3? Are the topics that you introduced in c.1, discussed in c.2? 

When you review the full 5 chapters of your final dissertation, it is even more important to double check the details. Are c. 1, 3, 4, and 5 all consistent? Did you do the methods and analyses in c. 4 that you discussed in c. 1 & 3? If not, explain why they changed. Read c. 1 and then read c. 5- make sure everything is consistent, particularly look at theory issues. Make sure you have discussed all of your results in c. 5 that you mention in c. 4.

A final check is to print out your references, then go through the paper and cross off each reference as it is cited. They should come out even. Make sure that citations with 3-6 authors list all the authors the first time cited, then use et al. When in doubt, check the APA manual for the correct citation. 

All of these self-reviews will take you some time, but you truly will save yourself a great deal of waiting time in the end. In addition, you will be a much better writer for doing it. Eventually, you will do these reviews as you go, and will take much less time.

 Next time we will have a recent graduate as a guest writer.  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

Reviewing Your Own Work, Part 1

How do you review your own writing? Why should you spend time on this? Doing a good review of your writing before you send it to your chair or other committee member can save you a great deal of time in the end. Remember, every time a faculty member reads your paper they are allowed up to two weeks- if you can reduce the number of reviews needed- it can save you months! 

I recommend a several stage process of self-review. Yes, it will take you time and it is not particularly fun, but it will save valuable time and it will also teach you to write! Today, I am going to talk about reviewing at the micro level of individual paragraphs and sections. Make sure that you have spell check and grammar check turned on in your paper. If you are not seeing some words/ sentences underlined in red or green, go to the help menu and check if they are turned on. Make sure that you then check all of the items in red (spelling) and green (grammar issues) underlined. 

Step 1 is to pick a small section of your paper; read the section aloud, carefully listening for grammatical errors and missing words. If you find that you have difficulty with this part, use Grammarly in the Walden Writing Center, it will point out grammatical issues. 

Step 2, read through the section again checking for APA errors. There are several common problems that students have – citations and use of the words "we" and "our". Read those sections of the APA manual and make sure you are doing them correctly. Make sure any jargon are defined (a good rule of thumb, would your grandmother or friend not in psychology, understand the term? If not, define it). 

Step 3 is the hardest one – check your content. Make sure that you are only talking about one topic in each paragraph. Are your arguments clear? Does every fact or statement have a citation? Check the length of your paragraphs, break up long ones (there should be no page long paragraphs).  

Step 4, go back to the checklist and make sure you have addressed the issues for that section. When you are satisfied with the section, move on to the next one. 

Next time we will talk about reviewing your work at a macro level- making sure chapters and the full paper are consistent.  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