c.4: Intro, pilot study, and setting

There are still a few openings in the blog text support group. If you would like some daily encouragement and support- this is for you! See the post from Mon. 3/3 for more info. 

We are now going to assume that you have collected and analyzed your data, so it is time to start on Chapter 4 Analyses. You begin this chapter with a restating your research questions and a brief statement as why these questions are important. Then do a preview of chapter 4 and what will be covered. 

The next section is only used if you have done a pilot study (which I always recommend). So begin this section with a description of the pilot study and how it was done. Describe how you selected your pilot subjects, any important characteristics of them, and your procedure. There are a number of reasons to do a pilot study, for example you may simply want to practice interviewing people or want to check how long the study takes. Alternatively, it may be done to confirm that your participants understand the questions you are asking and they have other suggestions which affect your procedures. If you changed any procedures report that next, describe why you felt it was necessary, and that you filed a change of procedure form with the IRB. 

The next section is the Settings section of the chapter. Here you would describe any personal or organizational conditions that may have occurred since the study was approved. Some examples might be if you were recruited people to talk about a particular program and that program's budget was cut in the midst of your data collection- it would be important that the reader know this. Alternatively, perhaps you were in a car accident half way through your interviews, changing your appearance. It would again be important for the reader to be aware of such a change. 

Next time there will be a special IRB announcement. 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 spring quarter!

Mandy as a snow puppy

Although the calendar says that it is spring quarter, here in Montana it is still snowy and cold. I always think of spring as a new beginning, what do you want to do with your dissertation this quarter? Now is the time to change those bad habits that you may have developed of putting off writing and promise yourself that you will do better this quarter by setting up a writing schedule. You also may need to feel more connected and find some peer support.

I am starting a special text (as in phone texting) dissertation support group this quarter just for readers of the blog. What's involved? I ask that you let the group know whenever you are thinking about or working on your dissertation. You need to have unlimited texting on your phone, be in the dissertation course, and commit to being involved for at least spring quarter. I will help by every morning sending a text to everyone to get you started for the day. This is NOT a forum for complaining about chairs, etc., it is a way to get peer support on the writing process. I can only have about 10 people in the group, so the first 10 people that email me with their phone numbers will be included. I will ask you to do a short survey to see where you are in the process. Anyone else will be added to a wait list. Want to get daily support and commitment to your dissertation? Send your phone number to leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu

Next time we will return to the dissertation proposal and talk about c.4: Intro, pilot study, and setting. 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