How did the quarter go?

We are now at the end of week 11, and it is a good time to take a step back and evaluate how well your quarter plan worked. Did you meet your goals? If not, then let's take a moment to think about it. Why do you think that you were not able to meet them? Did you overestimate what you could get done? Did you have a lot of work or personal issues that took precedence? Or did you simply procrastinate and not work on it as you planned in the beginning of the quarter? Each reason needs to be evaluated as you consider how to address the fall quarter. 

If you overestimated what you could get done, then give yourself more of a time cushion next quarter, it is always better to underestimate than overestimate. If other things claimed your time, then you need to make some decisions- was this is a one-time event or an ongoing one? If it was a one-time event or one that been resolved (e.g., children back in school), no problem. However, if it an ongoing issue, such as a medical issue for you or a family member, then you should give this some deep thought. Is it time to consider a leave of absence? If you really want to continue, talk to your chair and work out a plan. 

If you found yourself procrastinating and not writing, I strongly advise you to think about what you really want and why you are in school right now. Do you have enough motivation to finish this dissertation? Do you need to rethink your topic? Consider changing chairs? Maybe you need to take a quarter leave of absence and decide what you really want to be doing. You are wasting a great deal of money being in a program that you are doing nothing in, plus, you are taking up the space in your chair's class for someone that is motivated. It can be a scary thought to leave your doctoral program, with student loans hanging over your head. However, if the alternative is to continue and not get anything done on your dissertation, leaving may be the smartest choice. 

Next time I will talk about life after get your PhD. 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 

Organizing your computer

One area students do not often give thought to is organizing their computer files. Keeping these files in a managed plan will make your life much easier and you will be less likely to lose things along the way. How to set it up? I suggest taking a few minutes and lay out how you will want your dissertation folders and files to look, here's an example (if you are using a bibliography program, such as endnotes, that may affect your organizing scheme): 

Dissertation

             Data (SPSS files/ interviews, etc.)

             Drafts

             IRB

             Literature

                           Resilience

                           Self-efficacy

                           Older adult

             Research journal 

Once you are happy with your plan, create a folder for Dissertation and subfolders for your other topics. Within your draft folder, keep every draft that you create- do not just keep rewriting the same file. That way it is easy to go back and find that section that you took out 2 drafts ago, and would be perfect now. Always have the date on each file and indicate, in some way, ones sent by your chair. 

A last word of advice on organizing your computer: Always back up your files regularly! There are cloud services that you can set up to back up your computer regularly, so you do not have to think about it. Take the time and spend the money to do it, do not get caught when your computer crashes (and it may!) and losing all of your hard work! 

Next time we will take a look at your quarter plan and how it went. 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 research journal as an organizer

What is a research journal? This is a journal, either on your computer or paper, where you keep track of everything related to your research project. If you have it on your computer in word, I suggest using a Research Journal folder and separate files within it. So it might look like this:

Research Journal

             Dissertation progress notes

             Library

             Future research ideas 

This will make it much easier to find things later. Within your files, I suggest always including the date and you may find it helpful to post the newest item at the top of the page. That way you don't have to scroll down to find the end. 

If you have a paper version, consider some type of dividers, you can use post it notes for this if actual folders aren't practical. Divide your journal similarly to the sub files above and always date your entries. 

In the section "Dissertation progress notes," keep a running log of what you are doing on your dissertation. It is also a good idea to write down comments from your chair or committee member. This is where you can vent your frustrations and share your excitement. 

In the section on "Library," write down your search terms and data bases used. You might want also to keep track of articles that you want to look up or ones that people suggest to you. 

In the section "Future research ideas," keep track of the connections that you see to other possible research studies. Even if right now, you don’t see yourself doing research in the future, write them down anyway. Someday you may be in a position to conduct more research and this will give you a start (or suggestions for future students). 

Next time I will talk about organizing your computer. 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 dedicated office

What do I mean by a "dedicated office"? It is a room that is used primarily as an office; it may occasionally be used for other functions, such as a guest room, but it returns to its office use. Often a guest room is used for this purpose. I want to make it clear that none of the workspaces I have discussed are "bad" they each have challenges, it just a part of working from home that must be dealt with. 

The advantages of an office are that you have a door that you can shut, reducing the noise and intrusions. Of course, if you have children, that may not make much difference! In general, it makes it easier to maintain privacy and confidentiality of your data. I still, however, recommend a locked cabinet, to reduce any chance of a confidentiality issue (the IRB will insist upon it). The disadvantages are that you may feel cut off from your family and you may need to enter transient mode when guests take over the room. Make sure you remove or lock up any papers or data you are working on. Otherwise, you may discover the guest has accidently packed them and taken them home.  

Next time I will talk about using a research journal as an organizing tool. 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 

Shared workspace

Last time we looked at ideas for people who had transient workspace – with no area of their own. Today I want to consider people who have shared workspaces. You fit this category if you have your own workspace and it is in a shared part of the house. So, if you work at a desk in the family room, kitchen, bedroom, etc. you fit this category.
The shared workspace has some advantages over the transient one- work does not have to moved frequently and there is stability in your work process. However, it does share with the transient space the lack of privacy. You may have to work with the TV going in the background and other people coming and out of the room. This become of concern with you reach the data collection phase. As with the transient, you need a locked file cabinet, somewhere you know that no one else has access. Think about the worst-case scenario, your child decides to use a completed survey to draw on or to cut up for a craft process for class. This is a breach of confidentiality and would require you to report it to the IRB.
Having a desk does allow for piling of information, which can quickly get out of control. To help with this tendency you may want get some organizers with vertical or horizontal dividers .
I suggest setting one day a week for filing paper, that way it doesn't get out of control.
Next time I will look at the dedicated office and make some suggestions. 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 Transient Workspace

What are signs that you have a transient workspace? When you do not have an office or space that is yours alone. When you find yourself having to pack up all of your papers, computer, etc. so the family can have dinner or if you tend to work out of a tote bag most of the time, you fit this profile. It is difficult to keep things organized when you are transient, but I have a few ideas for you. You need a file cabinet to keep your work together and help you organize, think creatively as where to put it; it can find its home in a closet, under the stairs, or in the laundry room. The main point is to have a place that you organize articles and keep your papers in one space. 

You also may want to consider a tote bag, basket, or box where you keep your materials that you are currently working on. Keep your pens, paper clips, calculator, and any other small items that you may need in a small box or bag so you can find them easily. Consider having some brightly colored folders that you can use as a color coding system (e.g., red folder has articles on self-efficacy). 

When you are at the data collection/ analysis stage keeping organized becomes even more important for the transient workspace user (I will call you a "transient" from now on). If you have paper copies of data and or consent forms, you must keep them confidential and secure. I suggest using manila envelopes to categorize them and having a locked file cabinet or other locked space that you keep them. Yes, it seems like over kill in some ways, but for the transient you must make a special effort to protect the confidentiality of your participants. As you do not have your own space, you are using public areas that anyone entering your home has access, make the effort and have some locked spaces- there are small lockable filing boxes available, that would be quite adequate. 

The transient has to rely a great deal on keeping their laptop organized, I will discuss more on this in a later post. 

Next time I will look at the shared workspace and make some suggestions. 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

 

Organizing

One of the most difficult parts of conducting research isn’t the method or stats- it is keeping track of all of the articles, books, information, data, and ideas that accumulate during the process. For most people desks, tables, and the floor may become covered with files, print outs, and small scraps of paper. Things can easily become lost or misplaced and you lose track of where you are. What can be done? 

First, I think you need to need to seriously consider your own personality- are you willing to invest time and effort to set things up and maintain it? It is the maintenance that often gets lost… so think about that. What are your current work habits? Do you have a dedicated space, like an office, or are you transient in your work? Organization will only work as far as it fits with your work habits and personality. 

There are many approaches to this topic, over the next few posts I will make some suggestions that you might want to consider. Always, think about your own work habits – it is better to gradually make changes that you will keep up then make drastic changes and not maintain them. The point is not to make you feel guilty – it is get you organized! 

Next time I will look at the transient workspace and make some suggestions. 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