The Lonely Task of Writing

By definition, writing is a task done alone, with minimal distractions. Such an environment can be difficult to find in a busy household particularly with small children. You will need to find a way to deal with these needs. Some suggestions from other students: find a space that allows you to close the door- even a large closet will work. Recruit or hire a babysitter for a couple of hours to allow you some writing time. Work early in the morning or late at night. Write during your lunch hour. Do you have other ideas? We would love to hear them. 

One way to structure your time, is to set goals for yourself for each week of the quarter, leading to a final goal for the term. Hold yourself to these goals. You can even break it down further and set a goal for each day. Consider, if you wrote just one page per day, in a quarter you would have written 90 pages! Some people set an alarm; they must sit and work on the paper for an hour, until the alarm goes off. The important thing is to develop some writing habits, making your dissertation a priority. Otherwise, it is just too easy to let the rest of your life take precedence. Your paper is not going to shout at you to write it. Your chair will probably not nag you. You have to make the decision that receiving your degree is important enough to set time aside every day to write. 

It is a great idea to form a dissertation support group; members could be other students at Walden, students in your dissertation class, or others you know who are in the dissertation process. Commit to supporting each other regularly, sharing your frustrations, and your joys. People who have not gone through the process, however well meaning, do not really understand the stress involved. Get some support! 

Next time, I will discuss the pain of writing. 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

Sample Outline of Chapter 2

The best way to start the literature review is to think of the broadest category of your variables and work down to the most narrow. Let's say that you are interested in older adults and their opinion of their health care provider (one of my own research interests). You would want to start with aging and the elderly, providing demographics, what constitutes "elderly," and discussing the importance of the age group. Then move to elderly and health care, showing why this is an important topic. Next, the elderly and their health care provider. Since this is the most narrow category and the key area of interest, you will want to discuss this in more depth. Particularly addressing how this area has been examined methodologically. This study is a mixed method one, so you will administer some surveys as well as interview participants. So next, you will discuss each of the survey instruments, examining their previous use with the age group, and in the context of health care. If anyone has examined the relationship of the surveys with health care providers, you will want to include this too. 

Here is the starting outline for the chapter, and my notes: 

A. Introduction

B. Search Strategy

C. Theories

             1. Theory A

             2. Theory B

D. Concepts/ philosophy (if appropriate)

             1. Info on mixed methods, philosophy behind it

E. Literature Review

            1. Aging and the elderly, include demographics

2. Elderly and health care, why do we care about topic?

3. Elderly and their health care provider

                           a. Include methods used previously

b. Previous findings

c. What is missing from previous research?

d. What does my study add?

4. Survey instruments

a. Survey A

                                        1. Used with my age group?

                                        2. Used in health care research?

                                        3. Used in health care providers research?

b. Survey B

                                        1. Used with my age group?

                                        2. Used in health care research?

                                        3. Used in health care providers research

F. Summary and Conclusions 

You will refine this as you search the literature and bring in related areas; but to begin the chapter you now have some direction. Pick a topic and start writing about it. Use your research journal to keep track of your starting outline and any notes to yourself as you go. I am a big fan of track changes and including comments to myself as I write (e.g., "find more about this topic," or "check Smith et al. paper- did they say this too?"). 

I have a tendency to find interesting but tangential literature that can lead me far from my topic; the outline keeps bringing me back to task. Think of it as a map of where you are planning to go. 

I recommend adding in your references as you go, otherwise, you will spend several long frustrating hours later trying to track them down. Prevent plagiarism by never copying into your paper. Instead, read the passage you are interested in, and restate it in your own words (including your own old papers). You want to avoid quotes, saying it in your own words is always better. 

Next time, we'll consider the lonely task of writing. 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 

If you would like to see how the study outlined above looks in journal form (shorter literature review than for a dissertation) see: 

Stadtlander, L., Giles, M., Sickel, A., Brooks, E., Brown, C., Cormell, M., Ewing, L., Hart, D., Koons, D., Olson, C., Parker, P., Semenova, V., & Stoneking, S. (2013). Independent Living Oldest-Old and Their Primary Health Provider: A Mixed Method Examination of the Influence of Patient Personality Characteristics. Journal of Applied Gerontology. (Available in Walden Library's Psychology/ Sage database) 

New Researcher Interview!

Check out the Editor Speaks Out blog's new interview with Walden's own Dr. Brian Ragsdale! http://jsbhseditorblog.blogspot.com/

Literature Review: Getting started

I suggest starting your proposal with Chapter 2, the Literature Review. It often feels overwhelming to think about writing the literature review. Let's begin by checking the dissertation template and appropriate checklist (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods), available in the research center. These documents indicate that there are the following headings in chapter 2: Introduction, Literature Search Strategy, Theoretical Foundation, Conceptual Framework (as appropriate), Literature Review, and Summary and Conclusions. So I suggest starting by writing those in your draft. 

Save the Introduction for later, since you are not sure where you are going yet. The search strategy means in which database did you look for articles, and what terms did you enter, to do so. Keep track of those as you go. I suggest starting with an outline; list the theories you have found in the literature that are relevant to your study. If there are philosophical or theoretical concepts list those.  

Next time, we will do an example outline of Chapter 2. 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

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 discuss writing your proposal. 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 

 

Welcome to Spring!

As we begin Spring quarter, it is time to consider your work habits. First, make yourself weekly goals, with a specific "deliverable" each week, such as a specific number of pages written or articles read. Make yourself stick to your goals! 

Second, I strongly suggest you pick up my book: Finding Your Way to a Ph.D.: Advice from the Dissertation Mentor that takes you step-by-step through the dissertation process. It discusses dealing with committee members, tips on writing each chapter and getting through the IRB process. Some recent reviews on Amazon: 

"This is a fantastic book for any PhD candidate. It contains detailed and thoughtful guidance for navigating the challenges that all PhD candidates, whether they are savvy researchers or very new and clueless students, with ease and grace and humor. Lee's prose is readable and engaging." 

"An excellent book for doctoral students who are working on their dissertation. The book provides a step by step guide in how to develop a prospectus to writing your final dissertation chapter. Tips on motivating self is worth reading multiple times. There are many books that try to explain the dissertation process, but fail to answer clearly the students questions. This book is easy to read and a book that should be kept on your desk in eye view, at all times. I encourage all dissertation students to add this book to your library. You will find the book is an excellent reference guide just like the APA Manual book."  

"For any student pursuing a doctorate, this book will be your guide. It is an easy read yet packed with practical and important information to help you achieve your goal of a "done" dissertation! Dr. Stadtlander utilized her wealth of knowledge and experience to create a text for the benefit of all who choose to pursue a doctorate. Thank you for such a reference! I strongly recommend this book. " 

Make yourself a commitment to do all you can to get your dissertation done! 

Next time, I will return to some organizing ideas. 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