Why not to do interviews

Why should you not do interviews? Time- interviews take a great deal of time to plan, interview, transcribe data, and analyze. Doing qualitative data is not the "easy way" to do research. Transcription of interviews takes hours and there really is not a fast and easy way to do it (unless you can afford to have someone else do it). 

Being shy- doing interviews requires that you recruit and contact people that you do not know. If you are very shy/ afraid to contact strangers, the process can be insurmountable. 

Not understanding other methodologies- often students decide on qualitative methods and fail to really understand quantitative methods. This is very limiting in the long run, it may mean that you have limited future job opportunities. Make sure that you get as much experience as you can in all methods, so your options remain open. 

Ethical/moral issues- there may be ethical reasons for not interviewing certain people/ populations as it may be seen as exploitative and potentially damaging to them. An example would be interviewing illegal immigrants or prisoners, who could potentially be hurt if their comments were identified as coming from particular individuals. 

Interviewing needs to be carefully considered as a research method and needs to be a fit for your personality, time, and your population. 

Next time I will consider what is meant by phenomenological interviewing.  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

Interviewing

I have been repeatedly asked by students to talk more about qualitative studies, so let's begin that with talking about interviewing. I will be using as the basis for my posts Seidman's (2013) book on interviewing. So why do interviews? Interviewing is hearing people's stories, understanding the meaning of their behavior and how they see the world.  

The purpose of interviewing is not to test a hypothesis or to evaluate, rather it is to discover the lived experience of people and to understand the meaning they give the experience. So this means listening to people, and as an interviewer realizing you are not having a mutual discussion – instead you are listening to what the participant has to say. You need to show that you are valuing their opinion and not leading them to respond in a way that serves your own agenda. 

Phrasing your research question becomes very important – you must not have a predetermined outcome in mind. Thus if you are interested in the experience of online students in writing a dissertation – you DO NOT want to ask: Do online dissertation students hate working in an online environment? You are predicting an outcome. Instead, a more general question is better: What is the lived experience of being an online dissertation student? 

Next time I will consider when you should not consider doing interviews.  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 

Seidman, I. (2013). Interviewing as qualitative research, 4^th Ed. NY: Teacher's College Press. 

Repost: The Pain of Writing

Writing is painful. Sorry, that tends to be everyone's reality. It is hard work to think through complex ideas and find the best way to present them so that someone else can understand them. I am not going to go into a lot of detail about writing specifics; Walden has an amazing writing center that is very happy to help you! 

A few general things though, first if you find it very hard to write, I recommend this book: 

Saltzman, J. (1993). If You Can Talk, You Can Write. Grand Central Publishing. 

As you can see, it is an older book, so it is available very cheaply on Amazon. It will reduce your anxiety and will help you get something down on paper. I strongly recommend reading your paper aloud; you will catch many errors. If nothing else, read to your dog or cat, they will find you fascinating! You will reduce the number of needed corrections by simply rereading your paper carefully. 

Be prepared and open to many revisions. Your committee has much more experience in writing at this level, trust their guidance. At a doctoral level, revisions are simply part of the writing process. Professionals also have to rewrite their papers many times, keep in mind that the final article you see in the journal has little resemblance to where it started. As an example, a recent article that I wrote with colleagues went through 25 revisions (yes, I counted!). 

What should you look for in revisions? Read a sentence aloud and see if you can restate it more clearly. You want to be very precise in your meaning. Let me give you an example from one of my papers that I wrote with some colleagues. Here is the original draft of the first few sentences of the paper: 

By 2020, one in six American citizens will be elderly or over 65 years old (U.S. Census, 1993). The number of oldest old individuals over 85 years old will reach 6.6 million in 2020 and is expected to triple by 2050 and reach 18-19 million (Administration on Aging [AoA], 2010). The rapid growth of the elderly and the oldest-old population is a growing concern to the healthcare system, as it must prepare to provide increased support services. 

Here is the final version: 

The 2000 U.S. Census (2001) reported 4.2 million people were over the age of 85 (1.5% of the population), this group has been designated the “the oldest-old” by demographers, and is the most rapidly growing age group.  Currently the cost of health service utilization for the oldest-old averages $22,000 per year compared to $9,000 for individuals 65-74 years old (Krause, 2010). 

What is different? The 2^nd version is much clearer, concise, and more to the point that the first. 

One final issue, I think it is very important that you understand the dissertation from the faculty's viewpoint; it may explain much of their feedback to you. Throughout the dissertation process, and even after it is published, your committee's names are attached to it. When anyone at your institution criticizes a student's work, one of the first questions that is asked is "who is the chair?" The student is expected to make errors; the chair's role is to catch as many as possible. 

Next time I will begin an exploration of interviewing techniques.  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

Updated Repost: Keeping Organized: "I know I saw that somewhere"

One of the toughest parts of doing research is keeping track of the many pieces of information you collect. You not only want to find things the first time, but be able to find them months later. You also want to be able to recall your rationale for making the decisions that you made along the way and a timeline of when things were done.  

First, let's think about your computer documents. (A warning- I am a windows person, so all of my software info is based on that). It is a really bad idea to just save everything into a single folder, like My Documents. I can guarantee that before long you won't be able to find anything! Instead, create some folders within My Documents. Personally, I would have one folder called Dissertation, within that folder I would have subfolders for Literature, Paper Drafts; later add IRB, and any other major categories you can think of.  I strongly advise saving every paper draft with the date it was written in the name of the file (don’t overwrite your old file – save the draft as a new file). Yes, that means you will have a huge number of files eventually, but (and here is why it is important) if your chair comes back and says – I think you should put back in that section you had on fish guts (or whatever), you still have it and don’t have to rewrite it. You also have a very nice record of the history of the project, and always know what is the most recent draft. 

Always, always back up your files. Get an external hard drive, a flash (or thumb) drive, or a subscription to a cloud backup system and back up your dissertation files at least once a week. You can set your computer to backup automatically. Disasters occur. I have seen several students have their hard drive crash with no backup, losing whatever was on it.  

I propose that you need (at least) three separate organizing systems: 1) A research journal that keeps track of your day-to-day thoughts on your project. 2) Some way to keep track of references. 3) A future research ideas journal where you can keep track of ideas for future studies. Now I will go into more depth on each of these. 

The Research Journal 

What will you write in your research journal? Anything you do on the project each day. To whom did you talk about the project, what did they say? What articles did you read, what are the important points from them? What ideas do you want to consider later? You can even get fancy and color code such things. You need to be able track the evolution of your thinking on the project and keep track of the day-to-day info that will cross your desk/ computer/ mind. 

There are many ways to approach this- both high and low tech; the main thing is to be consistent with using it. You can certainly use a paper notebook and write things in it. Another alternative is to use Word or One Note (for Microsoft fans). Again more important is consistency of use. I have recently discovered some software that I have been recommending: The Journal <http://www.davidrm.com/> (costs about $50). It is not the easiest software to set up, but is great once you do. It has a daily journal as well what it calls notebooks, in which you can easily document your progress. You can set up multiple notebooks and diaries for different topics/projects. You can also copy from other programs into it, allowing you to keep track of emails, citations, etc. 

References 

The banes of every researcher's existence are reference articles. You have to have them and you have to find a way to organize them. I suggest you think carefully about how you like to read articles- in paper or electronic forms. Use that method when you set up your organization. 

If you like to print out the articles, there are two common organizational methods. One is to have a file box (or cabinet) and file the articles in folders; it is often done by authors' names. A second method is to create reference 3-ring binders; these they can be organized by topic or author. 

If you prefer to read electronically on the computer, I have some free software to suggest: ReadCube <http://www.readcube.com/> and Mendeley <https://www.mendeley.com/>. Both were designed for researchers. They let you access all of your pdf files, organize them by topic, search the files, write comments, and highlight articles. They do not provide a way to write the reference in your paper. An option for that is bibliography software such as Endnote. I don’t use this, because I am terrible about entering them in the database. You will have to decide such things for yourself. 

Future Research Ideas Journal 

Believe it or not, someday you will probably want to do more research. If you go into academics as a professor, it will be required. So, make your future-self happy by writing down research ideas, thoughts, inspirations as you think of them in one place. You will find that you will see interesting links between research areas as you read not only journal articles but also other books, movies, in conversations, etc. I use my journaling software for this, but any other method will work, just be consistent. 

Next time I will look at the pain or writing.  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 

Updated Repost: What is a dissertation?

What is a dissertation, and why is required to get a Ph.D.? It might help to take a step back and consider, what is a Ph.D.? This is a Doctor of Philosophy; it is a research degree, meaning that during the process of getting the degree you were trained as researcher. Your dissertation is therefore the demonstration of your ability to conduct research and to write professionally. It is considered the terminal (or highest) degree in your professional field. Receiving the degree places you in an elite group (less than 4% of the US population has a professional degree), and it is evidence of your professionalism and learning. 

Why are you required to do research to show you are a professional? Conducting a research project shows your persistence and ability to complete a large project. It integrates all that you have learned in your education and shows that you can formulate new questions for future learning. Most degrees simply show learning; however, a PhD also shows your ability to go further and explore unknown areas, to develop research that answers questions. It shows that you are a logical and critical thinker; you can synthesize ideas, data and information, and write in a technical and professional manner. Being able to conduct research also shows that you are able to sift through information to find the current thinking in the field; as well as able to apply theory to your thinking, practice, investigations, and current events. The dissertation is considered the first step in your future research plan for the rest of your professional life. Will you have to stay in this topic area? No, but you will have the ability to plan and execute future studies. 

At the completion of your project, you are assumed to be able to teach in your areas of expertise – both content and method at a college or university level. No licensure beyond the doctorate is required to teach in post-secondary institutions. 

Is the dissertation "just another paper to write?" No, it really is much more than that; it is a very formalized document that demonstrates your expertise in your chosen area of interest. Once you have completed the project, you are considered an expert in this area. The paper will eventually be published in the dissertation databases, and will be a part of the professional literature. Other researchers and graduate students interested in your topic will read it in the future.  

There are a number of implications of these issues. (a) Your literature review must be correct and as complete as possible, both to demonstrate your expertise and also for future researchers. (b) Your research methods must be as accurate and complete as possible, so others know exactly what you did in your study. Consider the future researcher who does a study similar to yours but gets different results. He or she will want to be able to compare the two samples and methods to determine why the difference occurred. (c) Your paper must be written in the format required for publication, and the formatting will be checked before you are allowed to defend the final draft. (d) This paper will follow you forever. Any future employer or colleague will be able to look up this document. (e) For many students, your dissertation will be your first published work. Think of it as your first child, yes, you will make mistakes, and when you look back at it years later, you will see things you should have done differently. For your future self, make it as elegant as possible and something of which you are and will be proud. 

Next time I will look at being organized.  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

Small efforts

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out. -Robert Collier, author 

This quote is the essence of working on a dissertation: small efforts, small steps, doing a little something every day. Sometimes life seems to overwhelm and it seems impossible to work on your paper, but remember this quote and do a little something on it- file some papers, read an article, just think about your project – perhaps consider your theory and what it predicts. 

Every day do something on your dissertation, sit and write for an hour, read articles in the waiting room or while you are waiting for someone. You can do this… one small step at a time. 

Next time I will begin a series of updates of earlier posts.  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

Welcome to Winter

 

Today begins winter quarter; this tends to be a cold but busy quarter! Before you know it, the holidays will be here so make sure you do some advance dissertation planning. (Mandy is demonstrating doing some winter planning in the photo- she is thinking hard!) It is fine not to work on your paper for a few days, especially with children, family, and friends all demanding your attention. However, you also do not want to forget about it! 

How to balance life and your dissertation? It is not easy and choices will have to be made. It will be easier for you if you plan ahead, and think through your options. Perhaps it would make sense to get up an hour early to get things done while it is quiet in the house. Maybe taking yourself off to the library or a quiet coffee shop would make sense. I know I hate to be working when I can hear everyone else talking and having fun, so leaving the house would make it easier for me. 

Another option is work extra hours on it early in the quarter, knowing you will slack off for a couple of weeks, and then hit it hard in January.   

Next time I will talk about making small efforts.  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