Happy New Year!

 

Today is New Year's Eve and it is time to reflect on 2014. What did you accomplish on your dissertation this year? How are you feeling about your year? Think about how often and how well you worked on it, what do you want to change in 2015? Now might be the time to think about taking some writing classes in the writing center or make changes in your writing schedule. 

As you celebrate the turning of the calendar page to 2015 (Mandy is demonstrating celebrating for you!), consider what changes you will institute in the new year. Take control of your future, and let's get you done! 

Time for a glass of champagne and a toast to 2015! Next time I will post an updated blog index.  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 

New Resources in the Center for Research Quality

Today we have a guest post from Dr. Daniel Salter from the Center for Research Quality.

 

Thanks again for letting me “guest post” on this blog, Dr. Stadtlander. I thought I’d take this opportunity to highlight a few new items on the CRQ website that would be of particular interest to researchers just starting the dissertation.

 

Updated Dissertation Prospectus Guide

 

This past year, we conducted a formative evaluation to fine-tune our prospectus process, by seeking feedback from students, faculty, and program leaders. Students can expect a few key things in the updated Dissertation Prospectus Guide. Most importantly, the basic content expectations for writing the prospectus have not changed. Instead, we worked to clarify and update the guidance in the annotated outlines; to increase the fidelity between guides, the templates, and the dissertation; and to include some basic information on My Doctoral Research (MyDR). We have also provided some evidence-based "tips" on successful prospectus approval. You should download it now (from the PhD forms area) if you are in this phase.

 

Sources of Data for Research - A Primer

 

Because we are seeing a wider variety of projects at the University, we developed Sources of Data for Research. This primer provides some very general thoughts and guidelines for using all types of data in all phases of the capstone process. To organize these sources, a taxonomy was developed based on the nature of the data, their state of existence, and purpose for their collection. Examples are provided for each of the eight types of sources, many of which might not be considered as typical data collection strategies. This primer might help you “think out of the box” a little with your project.

 

Data Resources for Secondary Analysis

 

And speaking of sources of data, we have launched a new space devoted specifically for existing databases that student may access. You might be surprised to see what is available. Just remember that the perfect SPSS file is not sitting on some server somewhere, waiting for you to download it for your dissertation. Sometimes, a secondary analysis can take even more work than collecting original data.

 

Early IRB Consultation

 

Normally, addressing specific ethical challenges is part of proposal development. In projects involving vulnerable populations and/or sensitive topics, however, a student may benefit from a discussion with the IRB at the prospectus stage. To help students and faculty better perceive when such a formative discussion would be useful, the IRB has posted examples in “Red Flag Issues that Need an Early IRB Consultation” on the IRB FAQs and Guides section of our website. Lots of other good guides there as well, especially for clinicians and others working in the behavioral sciences.

 

 

Next time we will celebrate 2015!  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: 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.

If 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 is to 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

suzy.student@waldenu.edu

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 we will have a guest post.  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

Learning

During the course of writing, collecting, and analyzing your data for your dissertation, you will learn a great deal. You will learn about technical writing, APA format, and more about your methodology. However, if you are observant and self-reflective, you can learn a great deal about yourself too. Occasionally take stock of how you approach this large task. Are you methodological and require a step-by-step plan be implemented? Are you a last minute person, trying to put something together before you have to meet with your chair? Think through the implications of your responses, how is your personality interacting with your desire to be done with your doctorate?

 Do you need frequent feedback or are you a person who likes to work on your own and just get feedback when necessary? How do you handle criticism? Do you become angry and defensive or do you look on criticism as a learning opportunity? 

What writing issues are frequently commented upon by your chair/ committee? Do you tend to get into the little details to such an extent that your committee does not understand why you have included these issues? Common comments might be "please reduce your number of pages! Relate this back to your project." Perhaps you tend to follow interesting but irrelevant tangents in the literature- either never writing because you cannot get out of the literature or writing about issues not related to your study. Consider what leads you to these tendencies… how can you keep yourself on track?

How do you like to read articles- in print or on the computer? How do you (or do you??) organize these articles? Do you have piles everywhere or is your office very tidy? All of these clues are giving you information about yourself and your personality. Why not take a little time to think about how you are reflected in your work habits? None of the characteristics are necessarily bad or wrong, however, it is an opportunity to decide if it they are getting you where you want to go.

Wishing you a happy and safe holiday! Next time I will discuss some alternative ways to get articles.  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: The Care & Feeding of Committee Members

What is appropriate behavior for a dissertation student toward his or her chair and committee member? In a traditional brick and mortar program you would see the behavior modeled by students further along in your program, but it is difficult at an online school to know what is normal. 

The reality is it varies tremendously, so the first bit of advice I have for you is to ask what your chair and committee member prefer. If your chair does not suggest it, ask for a phone call to get you started, and discuss how your chair likes to structure their class and what their expectations are of students. What are they expecting from you in the first quarter? How will they decide if you should get a “U” or an “S” in the dissertation course? How would they prefer for you to address them? 

In advance, think about how you like to work… are you independent and good at personal goal setting? Then perhaps ask if you could send them your draft once a month (or whatever the 2 of you agree is appropriate). Are you a person who has a hard time structuring your time and goal setting? Then ask for help as to what is realistic. You might want to set up regular meetings or times when you will need to submit drafts. Talk to your chair about your needs, and how they can be accommodated. 

Also ask your committee member when they would like to see a draft. Many will prefer that you wait until the proposal has been approved by your chair, unless you have specific methodological or content issues on which you want their advice.  

A few general bits of advice, be polite, ask questions when you need help, no one expects you to know everything. A “thank you” for good advice, prompt response, etc. means a lot to faculty (think of it as positive reinforcement, they will tend to repeat the good behavior J).  

This is important: No one will know you are having problems, unless you say something! Typically, if they don’t hear from you, the faculty’s assumption is that you simply don’t care or aren’t working on the paper. There are many people who can help if you run into problems. If you have writing issues, contact the writing center. They have editors that will work with you. If one of your committee members advises you go to the writing center then listen and try not to be defensive. They are trying to save you time and tuition money! If you have committee issues, contact your program coordinator or program director. Be assertive, it is your money and time being spent, however, always be professional in interactions with faculty and administrators. Emotional responses are never a viable solution. 

Faculty are people too, with busy schedules and family obligations, it is not realistic to expect immediate feedback. However, if you have not heard from a faculty member at all within a couple of days of sending an email, write and double check that they received it. Ask if they can give you an estimate of when you might get a response. Again, be polite and professional.  

Remember, every faculty member who reads your paper is allowed 10 business days. I know it is hard to wait, but go on to the next stage. If you are waiting to get feedback on your prospectus, then go ahead and start on Chapter 2. If you are waiting on your proposal approval, work on your IRB application and power point for your defense. There is always something to work on. If you can’t find anything else, do an update in the literature and see if anything new has come out that could be helpful. 

What do you do if you are having problems with your chair? First, write out an email outlining the issues, say how you would like it to be resolved- be very professional- no emotional response. Often it helps to take on some of the responsibility. It is a good idea to let it set for a day to make sure that you are not being impulsive. As the health psych program coordinator, I am always happy to read such email drafts and give suggestions. Here is an example of a an appropriate email: 

Dr. X,

I am concerned that it is often taking 3 weeks for you to review my proposal drafts; the delay is really slowing my progress on the paper. Is there anything I can do to make this process go a little faster? If it would help, I could just send you a couple of pages at a time. Ideally, I would like to be able to get a response on my writing within a few days to a week. Do you have any further ideas? 

If you feel that you don’t get a satisfactory response, the next step would be to contact your program coordinator or program director and ask for help.  

One final bit of advice, keep a record of when you submit papers to faculty, when you get a response, and their comments. It is a record that may come in handy in the future (this is where a research journal comes in handy!). 

Next time I will consider what you can learn about yourself while writing your dissertation.  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 

A three interview series

As I discussed last time, phenomenological interviewing requires an understanding of both the context and the meaning that a participant associated with a particular phenomenon. Seidman (2013) recommends the use of a three- interview series, in order to delve deeply into the context and to establish trust with the participant. Interview 1 establishes the context of the participant's experience. Interview 2 allows the participant to reconstruct the details of their experience within the context in which it occurred. Interview 3 encourages the participant to reflect on the meaning of the experience. 

Interview One: Focused Life History. In the first interview, the interviewer's task is to put the participant's experience into context by talking about him or herself in light of the topic of interest. The interviewer avoids the use of "why" questions – using "how" questions instead. For example, "how did you come to be in an online dissertation program?" By asking "how" you are leading the person to reconstruct the event and place it into the context of their family, school, and work experience. 

Interview Two: The Detail of Experience. The second interview concentrates on the details of the participant's current life in the topic area. Here you are collecting details upon which their later opinions will be built. As an example, you might ask online dissertation students what they do each day related to their dissertation. You are trying to get the person to reconstruct the many details of his or her life that make up the experience of interest. Thus, you might ask about the dissertation students' relationships with their chair, their committee member, other students, their spouse or partner, children, work colleagues, and friends. You might ask them to reconstruct a day in their dissertation life from the moment they wake up until they fell asleep. You may ask for stories about their experiences in school as a way to of eliciting details. 

Interview Three: Reflection on Meaning. In the third interview, participants are asked to reflect on the meaning of their experience. It addresses the intellectual and emotional connections between the participants' work and life. An example question with an online dissertation student, might be: "Given what you have said about life before you started dissertation and what you said about your dissertation work now, what does completing a dissertation mean to you in your life?" Making sense or meaning requires that participant look at how the factors in their lives interacted to bring them to their present situation.  

Next time I will discuss the care and feeding of committee members. We will return to interviewing after the first of the year.  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. 

Phenomenological Interviewing: Philosophy

Phenomenology is actually a philosophical approach to interviewing. Different researchers have slightly different methods and views for what they call phenomenology, I will be talking about the view set forth by Seidman (2013). Phenomenology is interested in the experience of participants and the meaning they make of it; this view stresses the transitory nature of human experience. As Seidman states (p. 16) "in human experience, the 'will be' becomes the 'is' and then the 'was' in an instant." Therefore as interviewers, we are interested in the participant's "is"- recognizing that it may change in the future. 

Consider that in most of life we are seeing the world from our point of view, which may be quite different from how others view it. In phenomenological interviewing, the goal of researchers is to set our own beliefs about the world aside and understand the world from the interviewee's viewpoint. We will never fully understand their view, but we must strive to come as close as we can. 

Researchers emphasize that a phenomenological approach focuses on the "lived experience" of others. What does "lived experience" mean? It means that both the interviewer and interviewee step back and reflect on the reconstruction of what the interviewee felt during the phenomenon of interest. Interviewers strive to guide the interviewee to recreate mentally their lived experience- trying to make the "was" into the "is." 

Finally, a phenomenological approach emphasizes the meaning of experiences. A basic assumption is that the meaning people make of their experience affects how they live that experience.  By asking participants to reconstruct their experience and reflect on it, researchers are asking people to give meaning to it. It is the context of the experience: their feelings, rationale, and thoughts about the experience, which gives it meaning. Therefore, understanding the person's words that he or she chooses to use become very important; clarity of meaning is the goal. As an interviewer, you must put the experience into the wider context of the person's life. For example, knowing a woman is currently a dissertation student only becomes understood when you understand what that means to her in the context of her life. 

Next time I will consider doing a three interview series for 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 

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