Take a Break!

 

Today begins your first 2-week Walden break! I have heard many dissertation students say that that breaks don’t matter – they just keep working. I am a firm believer that even a couple of days away from your desk (and computer) will make you feel rejuvenated and more energized about your paper. So I encourage you to plan some time off, to get away from everything and recharge your batteries. 

To that end, I am going to post a photo for you every day from my home state of Montana, giving you a moment of mental vacation each day. J Today's photo is of northern Montana near Glacier National Park. Hey, go take a nap, and dream of mountains! 

Next time, I will consider Chapter 5 and why each of the sections are included. 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 

Chapter 4

Your future reader, Lucy, has reached the heart of your dissertation, Chapter 4. This is where she finds out what actually happened in your study! First you will give her a quick overview of the study and why you were doing it. Then you jump into any pilot studies that you did. It is important to indicate any deviations that you made to your original plan in c. 3. Carefully lay out how you went about recruiting your sample for the pilot study and any changes that you made based upon what happened in the pilot. Lucy needs to very clear about where you are as you begin the main study. 

Next, you describe the setting of your study, remember that Lucy needs to know exactly how you went about it, so be detailed. Describe your participants, so Lucy can clearly see how your participants might differ from hers. Now clearly and in detail, explain how you went about your procedures with your participants. Lucy should be able to replicate your study based upon your description. So talk about how and where you recruited, how and where the study took place, how long it took, etc. 

Next, in c 4 is the data analysis section, describe how you went about analyzing your data. Discuss each step and how you went about it. Lucy should be able to take your data set, analyze it exactly as you, and get the same results that you did, based upon your description.

Now present your results, Lucy is very excited to see how your study came out, so give her a careful and logical explanation of everything you found and relate your findings back to your research questions. Finally summarize the chapter and what you will cover in c. 5. 

Next time, we will take a little side trip and celebrate going on break! 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

Chapter 3

Let's bring back your future dissertation reader, grad student, Lucy. The key issue for Lucy in reading your chapter 3, regardless of your methodology, is understanding what you did in the study. It needs to be explained in enough detail that she could replicate it if she wanted to. What does this mean for you, as a writer? It means you must clearly define who is eligible to be in your study and how you decided how many people should participate. Thoroughly explain any measures you used, give statistics on the reliability and validity of the measures.  

Did you do a pilot study? Why? Explain how you went about it. Discuss exactly how you recruited your participants What did they see as potential subjects (e.g., ads, flyers, etc.); include them in your appendix. How did they let you know they wanted to participate? What happened when they started the actual study? Was it done in a group? Individually? Online? How did you maintain privacy? How long did it take people complete the study? Be sure to include all measures, permission to use them, interview questions, etc. in your appendix. Discuss the ethical issues in your study, how you went about protecting your subjects and their data. Finally describe your plan for analysis of your data. 

Why do you have to include all of this? Because Lucy needs to be able to clearly see how your study differs from the one that she is considering. She needs to know how your participants are different from her population. Should she use the same measures you used or different ones? How should she structure her methods based upon your study? 

Think of chapter 3, in particular, as teaching Lucy about your study. Make sure she clearly understands the rationale for your methods as well as how you went about it. Next time, I will consider Chapter 4 and why each of the sections are included. 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 

Chapter 2

Our examination of why the various sections of the dissertation are included continues today with Chapter 2. Your future dissertation reader, graduate  student Lucy, is ready to begin Chapter 2. She begins by reading your introduction, which sets the stage for the rest of your literature review. Briefly remind her why you are doing your study, give an overview of the literature review and the main sections of your chapter, this is helping her to see where you are leading her. Next comes your literature search strategy, this section is important to Lucy, because it gives her a map of how you went about the literature search. It tells her what databases you used and the search terms used. If she would like to follow up on your study, she will need to retrace your path. 

Your theoretical framework section is where you teach Lucy about your theory and how you are applying it. Make sure she follows your logic by laying it out carefully. Discuss the history of the theory and how it has progressed over time. Relate it back to your study and how you see your methods being influenced by the theory. It might help her to get a better grasp of it by doing a conceptual map, showing how each aspect of your theory interacts with other aspects. 

The rest of the chapter will be examining your variables- their history and how you see the variables interacting in your current study. It is very important to indicate to Lucy your logic of including each variable and how it relates to your study. Assume that while she is very intelligent, she may not have any understanding of your topic areas, so explain them thoroughly. Keep bringing each topic back to your study and how you are examining it. By the time she has finished chapter 2, Lucy should have a full grasp of the literature related to your study and a clear understanding of the need for your study. Of course, she should still be impressed with the clarity of your writing and formatting! 

Next time, I will examine Chapter 3 and why each of the sections are included. 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 

Chapter 1

Let's visualize a future reader of your paper, a doctoral student named Lucy. Lucy is thinking about doing a study on a similar topic as your dissertation and wants to learn more. As you write your paper, think about Lucy reading it in the future- your dissertation is your message to her. 

Chapter 1 is the introduction to your paper and has quite a few sections that are needed to prepare Lucy to understand the rest of the paper. It begins with a general introduction, by the end of this section Lucy should have a good understanding of the gap in the literature your study is addressing and why you are doing this particular study. Next, you briefly bring Lucy up to speed on the key literature in the background section- again you are just introducing the gap in the literature, it should not be a terribly long section. Now bring in your problem statement. There should not be any surprises here, but it should be a succinct statement of the need you are addressing, so Lucy knows if you and she are considering similar problems. 

Your research questions and hypotheses are important information for Lucy; it tells her exactly what you are studying, the measures you will use, and how you will interpret the results. Next, explain to her your theoretical framework, make sure she understands why you have chosen that theory and how you see it applying to your study. The Nature of Your Study will explain to Lucy the method that you will be using and the population and sampling strategies you will use.  

The next section will educate Lucy on the terms you will use in the paper, make sure that you explain anything she may not be familiar with and give her citations so can read further, if she wishes. The assumption section tells Lucy what your beliefs about your population and study are before you started it. The scope and delimitations tell her what populations your study will generalize to and to whom it does not generalize- this lets her know if she can cite your study in hers and if it can be seen as a direct link to hers or just a related one of interest. The limitations section tells Lucy about any methodological weaknesses that you were aware of and any biases; explain to her how you tried to take reasonable measures to address them. Finally, the significance section lets Lucy know what you see as applications of your study, regarding the overall discipline, practice, and with social change. 

Whew, you have taught Lucy a lot in this chapter! By the time she finishes reading it, she should have a good understanding of what you are doing in your study and why you are doing it. She should, of course, be impressed by the clarity of your writing and thinking, and impressed with your grammar and formatting. You have set a high bar for this future doctoral student to reach! Next time, I will begin a look at Chapter 2 and why each of the sections are included. 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 Abstract

Why is there an abstract in your dissertation, and why does it matter? The abstract is actually the most important part of your entire paper. It is this part of the document that people will read in the future to get a summary of your study. Picture future grad students searching the dissertation abstracts for a topic related to their interests. They bring up your title and abstract, from this document they will decide whether to investigate your paper further. Remember, your dissertation is contributing to the literature in your profession, and future researchers will want to know what you did in the study and your results. With this in mind, the formality and requirements for the abstract begin to make sense. 

Your study needs to be briefly introduced so your reader has a mental picture of where it stands in the literature – what do you see as the gap in the literature? Then you want to explain the type of study you are doing and what theoretical framework you are using. Next, briefly explain how many people participated and how you recruited them. Then a brief summary of your results needs to be given. Finally, being that you are graduating from Walden, you need to tie your study and its results to social change. All of this needs to be done in one page. Yes, it will be difficult, but it also makes you clearly identify the key aspects of your study, so save this part for the end of the process (you will need a preliminary draft for the proposal too). 

Next time, I will begin a look at Chapter 1 and why each of the sections are included. 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

Why is the dissertation like it is?

Students often feel that there is too much emphasis on the formality of the dissertation. That there are parts that don’t seem to make sense to them, and as a result they don’t give each part attention (a great example, is the abstract). First, it is important to understand that the dissertation will be published, and much of the structure and formality is because of this. At one time, your final dissertation would actually be bound as a book and be in a library (you can still have it bound, if you wish). Of course, now, everything is electronic, but the formatting remains as for a bound book. That is why the left margin is larger than normal (1.5"), to allow for binding.  

Second, there is also an historical aspect to the entire dissertation process; in that, it is a tradition that you will be part of. Dissertations are looked on as proof of the student's ability to add to the empirical literature, thus, you are making a contribution to your profession.  

Third, the PhD is a research degree, and your dissertation is proof of your completion of the process. Your paper will have been peer reviewed by faculty and is considered a professional document. Over the next few posts, I will go through each section and consider why it is included. 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