The Micro Level Writing Review

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 a reasonable time to review it, if you can reduce the number of reviews needed, it can save you months!

I recommend a several stage process of self-review; you can do the steps in any order that feels comfortable for you. Yes, it will take you time and it is not particularly fun, but it will save valuable time and it will teach you to write! First, review your writing at the micro level of individual paragraphs and sections. Make sure 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 in Word, go to the options menu (often listed under File)/ proofing and make sure spell and grammar check are turned on. Make sure the Exception boxes are not checked (these turn off spelling and grammar checks). Make sure that you then check all of the items in red (spelling) and green (grammar issues) underlining.

Step 1 is to pick a small section of your paper; read the section aloud, carefully listening for grammatical errors and missing words. You may also wish to consider utilizing and submitting your work, or even small sections of your work to electronic/online academic writing aids such as Grammarly and/or Turnitin. Check with you school as they may already provide students with access to these or other writing tools and aids.

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

Step 3 is the hardest one, check your content. Make sure 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 and break up long ones (there should be no page long paragraphs). 

Next time, I will consider the macro level of writing review. 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

Secondary data

What is secondary data? It is data that has already been collected by someone else. It may be data that is collected as a standard practice in an organization (e.g., medical charts, pre-employment testing). Some things to know about this type of secondary data, particularly if it is from an organization where you are employed. First, you will only be able to use information that is available to any outside researcher. Second, the data will need to be "de-identified" before you get access to it. This means someone else will have to remove all names of individuals, so the data is anonymous when you receive it. Check with IRB early in the process, if you are interested in this option.

Another source of secondary data is large datasets that have been available by the original researchers. Walden provides students with the opportunity to access hundreds of datasets. To see what is available – go to http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/ The researchers provide information on the background, variables, and any coding they used for data input. The use of such a dataset is perfectly acceptable as a dissertation, however a few cautions. Make sure that the study you are considering has not been previously published with the data. Typically, the researchers give a bibliography of all articles published by them. However, it does not mean that other people have not published. Search the library carefully, and include dissertations in the search. Use the name of the dataset as a search term. Another very important caution is do not try to access the data until you have IRB approval, you must have Walden's ok to proceed. Also, be aware that it can be tricky to convert the data to SPSS, and to understand the logic of their data entry. You probably will not be able to contact the researchers, so you will need to figure it out with the help of your committee.

Secondary data analysis is a great way to get access to difficult populations' data; an example might be sex offenders. However, you are stuck with the variables that the original researchers used, and there is no possibility of getting additional information from the participants. If you decide to go this route, you can reduce your time to completion considerably, but be prepared to work through the issues I outlined above.

Next time, we will examine reviewing your own 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

Alternative Sources for Articles

Students frequently ask me how to get articles that they cannot find in the Walden library. Today I will talk about a few alternative sources. First, make sure that you have checked all of the Walden databases. Some that are frequently missed- on the psychology topic page of databases (psycINFO is the first one listed); go down the page to "Psychology: A SAGE Full-Text Collection." This database has many psychology articles that, for some reason, are typically not picked up by PsycINFO. If you are interested in a health related topic, make sure you check in CINAHL (a nursing database) and Medline, both are available under Health Sciences.

On the Topic page in the library (where all of the different topic areas are listed), look in the left column for "Thoreau: Search Multiple Databases." This often pulls up articles I can't find in individual databases. In the same column on the Topic page is "Database by Name". In here is Academic Search Complete. It brings up some info outside the regular databases.

So, let's say you still cannot find a particular paper you are looking for; if you know the authors and title you can request a Document Delivery, in which the librarian will track it down for you. As a dissertation student, you are allowed 30 free ones, after that they may charge you.

Let's say you have reached your limit on Document Deliveries or the library can't find it. An alternative, check Google Scholar – there is a link on the library website.

Those are the easy sources -there are some other alternatives. If you have a college or university near you, you might check if they have it. If all else fails, you can write to the author, although this will probably require some detective work. If you know what affiliation (college, university, etc.) they listed on the article (it is usually listed in the abstract), go to the institution's website and see if they are still employed there. They usually provide email addresses. You can try the email they listed in the article (also often listed on the abstract page), however, be aware that faculty tend to move around a lot, and it may no longer work. The problem is that you usually do not receive any notice that the person no longer works there, so if you do not get a reply you don’t know if they are just rude or never got it. It is worth checking the institution's website.

If you still can’t find the author, do a Google search on him or her; you may pick up a clue where they work now and can try to track down an email.

What do you say when you write them? Tell them you are very interested in their work on X and ask if they could send you a copy of their article (give the citation for it). Also, ask them if they have any other papers in this area. Be sure to include your mailing address in case they want to send it that way. Here is a sample letter:

Dear Dr. Jones,

I am very interested in your work on fear of pencils. I am a doctoral student in psychology at Walden University and my dissertation is in this area. I have been unable to locate your paper Jones and Smith (2010) "Fear and Pencils: How do I function now?" I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me a copy of this article. In addition, if you have any subsequent papers in this area, I would love to get copies of those too.

Thank you so much for any help that you can provide,

Suzy Student

17 Hopeful Lane

Johnston, NY 98765  

Unfortunately, some people are rude, and you may not get a response. The final step would be to try to track down other authors on the paper. Next time, I will talk about the issues related to using secondary data and where to get it.

Final steps

You have written all five chapters, your dissertation is probably between 100-200 pages, you have put in many hours of work, thought, and sweat into this document. So what is next? First, your chair must approve it, and then it goes to your committee member. Expect changes, these are just part of the process. Once both of your committee members are happy with it, it goes to the University Research Reviewer (URR) who will read through the entire paper and probably want more changes. I strongly urge patience at this point. Again, as I have mentioned many times, each person is responsible for their small piece of this paper and will be held accountable for the quality of the final product. Rest assured that everyone wants you to be done with the best quality paper possible.

These final steps often are very stressful for students; they are often nearly at the end of a quarter and feel a great deal of pressure. Keep reminding yourself, it will happen… the end is in sight. Patience will keep you from sleepless nights.

Once the URR signs off on your paper, the research center sends it on for Form and Style review. In this review, an editor goes through your paper indicating what will need to be done to be compliant with the dissertation publishing company. The editor has 14 days for this, and in my experience, they generally take the full time. Meanwhile, you will be told that you can set the date for your defense to be after the 14 days for Form and Style review. Contact your committee members and come up two or three times that will work for everyone. Your chair will submit the necessary form to reserve the conference call line. Use this time to prepare your PowerPoint for your defense.

As soon as you get the Form and Style review back begin working on the changes. In advance of the defense call, you will want to prepare a PowerPoint for your committee. You will be given 20 minutes to talk about your project, so keep the slides to less than 25. It is better to have just an outline on the slides, you can always write out everything you want to say and read it during your presentation. Concentrate on the analyses and results with just enough from your proposal to put it into context. Check with your chair how they like it done. Send your committee the PowerPoint prior to the defense call.

On the day of the defense, have your computer on with your paper open for reference. Have any other papers available that you might need, as well as your PowerPoint. It is also a good idea to have some water available and make sure you have an environment where you won’t be distracted or disturbed. Once you call in, your committee will greet you and try to put you at ease. Your chair will leave the conference briefly to turn on the recorder; there will be announcement when it starts. Your chair will probably indicate the date and who is on the call for the recorder and then it will be your turn to go through the presentation.

A few reminders, this is not a confrontational situation. I know it is called a defense, but it is really just a chance for the committee to hear about the project one more time and celebrate with you have completed it. It is typically very collegial, with everyone trying to make it the best project possible. After your 20-minute talk, your committee will ask you questions. They are just trying to clarify any remaining issues, there may be some minor changes needed in your paper. Some very common questions that you may be asked at the end of the call: what are your plans now? Are you planning to follow up on your results in the future? Will you attend graduation?

After the defense, finish all of your Form and Style changes. Any final changes that came out of your defense should be highlighted for the URR. It is a good idea to also have a cleaned copy – with all highlighting, comments, and track changes removed. Your chair will do a double check of the paper and send it on to the URR who will confirm that the Form and Style changes were done. When the URR approves it, just the abstract is sent to the Chief Academic Officer (CAO), who double-checks it. Often minor changes will need to be made (this step tends to be very short – a couple of days). And then… you are done!

We have done an overview of the entire dissertation process over the last few weeks. Next time I will look at some alternative sources for articles. 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 

Graduation Thoughts

Today I am in Orlando, attending faculty meetings. Tomorrow is graduation. What realizations have you gained since starting your dissertation? Here are few things graduates report.

"Writing a dissertation is harder than I thought it would be." This is a common realization that students have- they went into the process, having written many papers before; however, writing a dissertation is very different. It takes longer to research the literature, write, conduct the study, and revise than most people assume it will take. There are also many approvals you will have to get along the way; each person will want more changes.

"I was surprised that I actually enjoy the process." I hope students discover this one. Writing the dissertation is an intellectual challenge, it will force you to grow, to stretch, and to develop as a professional. Most researchers have a deep intellectual curiosity that research satisfies. It allows you to ask interesting questions and to find out the answers. Enjoy the process!

"It is a much more lonely process than I anticipated." For online doctoral students, this is a very real aspect. You need to develop a way to counter this. Get a support group, find a dissertation buddy, you need someone to talk to that is also going through the process.

"My family is supportive, but they just don't get the work involved." People who have not gone through it do not really understand how difficult the process is. It may help to share with them the day-to-day highs and lows, and incorporate them into the process. Help them to understand both the pressure and your drive and motivation to succeed. Also, get a support group!

"My defense was much more collaborative that I thought it would be." I often hear this comment. Students expect that a "defense" will be confrontational, but it rarely is. It tends to be colleagues working together to come up with the best possible project.

"I was surprised that I ended up really sick of my topic." Unfortunately, this is common. Many people become quite burnt out on the dissertation topic and do not want to do anything further on it.

"Writing a dissertation changed me." Often, I hear this at graduation. Going through the dissertation process makes you a better writer, able to cope with constructive feedback, become more compulsive in your research, and provides a deeper appreciation of your topic and participants. At Walden, we often talk about social change, but also realize that you will also be changed by going through the process.

Next time, we will take the final steps in the dissertation process and examine the approvals needed and the final defense. 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 5

You have completed your data analysis and are ready to try to make sense of it all. Let's return to the checklist and see what we need to include: Introduction, Interpretation of Findings, Limitations, Recommendations, Implications, and Conclusion. Chapter 5 is dealing with the big picture, what do your results mean in light of previous research? What is new, what have you clarified? What still needs more research?

For the interpretation section, you will want to go back to your research questions and see what your results add to our knowledge. Relate your study to previous literature and back to your theories; what findings are unexpected based on previous work? Why do you think they came out this way? Which findings are consistent with previous studies? This point is important; because it validates that your study is consistent with previous research. How does your study fit the theoretical models you discussed earlier in your paper? If it is not consistent, it is important that you discuss why this may be.

The limitations section asks you to consider your sample and its similarities and differences from the population. Unless you carefully sampled thousands of people, your sample will not be representative of the population, which is fine- you just need to understand how it is differs. Consider racial and cultural differences between your sample and the general population. Other things to consider are that people who volunteer to be in a research study are probably different from those who do not volunteer, so that is a limitation to mention. Think carefully about your recruitment and research methods, how did you recruit? Who would not have been included? Did you use a computer survey? Then people without one would have been excluded. Again, all of this fine, it is just part of research, but it is important to understand the study's limitations.

In the recommendations section you propose future research ideas based on your study. What needs to be examined further? What new areas have you discovered that need to be addressed?

The implications section asks you to think about social change and your work. How could future researchers, practitioners, or the public use your results? The biggest problem students have in this area is that they overstate the implications. Be realistic, your study is not going to change the world as we know it. You are just adding one little piece to the puzzle. In the conclusion section, you need to wrap up the study by summarizing the key issues.

One difficult issue is when you have non-significant results; your study does not come out as hypothesized. This requires you to carefully rethink all of the assumptions and the thought process that led you to make the hypotheses that you did. Could there have been other factors involved that you missed earlier? Consider your sample; were they a good representation of your population? Perhaps, the results might have been different if you had a larger sample. Take a look again at your data, were any of the findings going in the right direction, but did not reach significance? This is evidence that a larger sample may have been needed. 

Next time, we will take a field trip to graduation.

Chapter 4 Analyses: Mixed Method

By definition, a mixed method incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods. There are several ways to analyze the data; I am going to discuss two. In the first method, the quantitative data is analyzed and the qualitative simply adds to an understanding of that data through quotes.

In the second method, the data are analyzed together. Typically, the quantitative data is analyzed first, using more sophisticated analyses, such as multiple regression. Then the qualitative data is transformed into quantitative data (see Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). To do this you will need to develop a scoring rubric for the qualitative themes and codes that you want to incorporate. Let's use the qualitative data from last time (see May 20 post), in which we had 3 sample responses. I developed coding as follows:

101- grandmother, death, visual imagery, with mother, crying (negative emotion)

102- grandmother, visual imagery, auditory, empathy (recognizing other's emotions)

103- mom, eating, auditory imagery, feelings of comfort

I need to decide what is important to include in my data analysis. I want to include any person mentioned; if a female relative, it will be designated as 1, a male relative will be 2, nonrelative female 3, etc. I am also interested in the use of imagery; if they mention visual images it will be 1, no visual will be 0. Auditory imagery will be 1, no auditory will be 0. Emotions in the self will be 1, and emotions mentioned in others will be 2. I would then enter this into SPSS along with the participants' scores on the quantitative measures that were used. The resulting SPSS entry would look something like this:

Subnum	Survey1Tot	Survey2Tot	Person	Vismage	AudImage	Emotions
101	56	24	1	1	0	1
102	32	23	1	1	1	2
103	86	26	1	0	0	1

Then I will analyze the data using probably correlations and chi square to see if the scores on the surveys are related at all to the memories that the participants reported. Presumably, I would have some theoretical rationale for doing this.

If you would like to see what a mixed method analysis looks like in a journal, please 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)

Next time we will look at the final dissertation chapter – Chapter 5, Summary.

Creswell, J. W. & Plano Clark, V.L. (2011) Designing and conducting mixed methods research, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.