When writing your dissertation…

Please have an FAQ-kind of list of the Google Group postings regarding resources and information on research and writing of Chapter 2

digital resource sets available through MnPALS Plus

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/10/21/digital-resource-sets-available-through-mnpals-plus/ 

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[how to] write chapter 2

You were reminded to look at dissertations of your peers from previous cohorts and use their dissertations as a “template”: http://repository.stcloudstate.edu/do/discipline_browser/articles?discipline_key=1230

You also were reminded to use the documents in Google Drive: e.g. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7IvS0UYhpxFVTNyRUFtNl93blE

Please have also materials, which might help you organize our thoughts and expedite your Chapter 2 writing….

Do you agree with (did you use) the following observations:

The purpose of the review of the literature is to prove that no one has studied the gap in the knowledge outlined in Chapter 1. The subjects in the Review of Literature should have been introduced in the Background of the Problem in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 is not a textbook of subject matter loosely related to the subject of the study.  Every research study that is mentioned should in some way bear upon the gap in the knowledge, and each study that is mentioned should end with the comment that the study did not collect data about the specific gap in the knowledge of the study as outlined in Chapter 1.

The review should be laid out in major sections introduced by organizational generalizations. An organizational generalization can be a subheading so long as the last sentence of the previous section introduces the reader to what the next section will contain.  The purpose of this chapter is to cite major conclusions, findings, and methodological issues related to the gap in the knowledge from Chapter 1. It is written for knowledgeable peers from easily retrievable sources of the most recent issue possible.

Empirical literature published within the previous 5 years or less is reviewed to prove no mention of the specific gap in the knowledge that is the subject of the dissertation is in the body of knowledge. Common sense should prevail. Often, to provide a history of the research, it is necessary to cite studies older than 5 years. The object is to acquaint the reader with existing studies relative to the gap in the knowledge and describe who has done the work, when and where the research was completed, and what approaches were used for the methodology, instrumentation, statistical analyses, or all of these subjects.

If very little literature exists, the wise student will write, in effect, a several-paragraph book report by citing the purpose of the study, the methodology, the findings, and the conclusions.  If there is an abundance of studies, cite only the most recent studies.  Firmly establish the need for the study.  Defend the methods and procedures by pointing out other relevant studies that implemented similar methodologies. It should be frequently pointed out to the reader why a particular study did not match the exact purpose of the dissertation.

The Review of Literature ends with a Conclusion that clearly states that, based on the review of the literature, the gap in the knowledge that is the subject of the study has not been studied.  Remember that a “summary” is different from a “conclusion.”  A Summary, the final main section, introduces the next chapter.

from http://dissertationwriting.com/wp/writing-literature-review/

Here is the template from a different school (then SCSU)

http://semo.edu/education/images/EduLead_DissertGuide_2007.pdf 

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When conducting qualitative data, how many people should be interviewed? Is there a minimum or a max

Here is my take on it:

Simple question, not so simple answer.

It depends.

Generally, the number of respondents depends on the type of qualitative inquiry: case study methodology, phenomenological study, ethnographic study, or ethnomethodology. However, a rule of thumb is for scholars to achieve saturation point–that is the point in which no fresh information is uncovered in response to an issue that is of interest to the researcher.

If your qualitative method is designed to meet rigor and trustworthiness, thick, rich data is important. To achieve these principles you would need at least 12 interviews, ensuring your participants are the holders of knowledge in the area you intend to investigate. In grounded theory you could start with 12 and interview more if your data is not rich enough.

In IPA the norm tends to be 6 interviews.

You may check the sample size in peer reviewed qualitative publications in your field to find out about popular practice. In all depends on the research problem, choice of specific qualitative approach and theoretical framework, so the answer to your question will vary from few to few dozens.

How many interviews are needed in a qualitative research?

There are different views in literature and no one agreed to the exact number. Here I reviewed some mostly cited references. Based Creswell (2014), it is estimated that 16 participants will provide rich and detailed data. There are a couple of researchers agreed ‎on 10–15 in-depth interviews ‎are ‎sufficient ‎‎ (Guest, Bunce & Johnson 2006; Baker & ‎Edwards 2012).

your methodological choices need to reflect your ontological position and understanding of knowledge production, and that’s also where you can argue a strong case for smaller qualitative studies, as you say. This is not only a problem for certain subjects, I think it’s a problem in certain departments or journals across the board of social science research, as it’s a question of academic culture.

here more serious literature and research (in case you need to cite in Chapter 3)

Sample Size and Saturation in PhD Studies Using Qualitative Interviews

http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1428/3027

https://researcholic.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/sample_size_interviews/

Gaskell, George (2000). Individual and Group Interviewing. In Martin W. Bauer & George Gaskell (Eds.), Qualitative Researching With Text, Image and Sound. A Practical Handbook (pp. 38-56). London: SAGE Publications.

Lieberson, Stanley 1991: “Small N’s and Big Conclusions.” Social Forces 70:307-20. (http://www.jstor.org/pss/2580241)

Savolainen, Jukka 1994: “The Rationality of Drawing Big Conclusions Based on Small Samples.” Social Forces 72:1217-24. (http://www.jstor.org/pss/2580299).

Small, M.(2009) ‘How many cases do I need ? On science and the logic of case selection in field-based research’ Ethnography 10(1) 5-38

Williams,M. (2000) ‘Interpretivism and generalisation ‘ Sociology 34(2) 209-224

http://james-ramsden.com/semi-structured-interviews-how-many-interviews-is-enough/

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how to start your writing process

If you are a Pinterest user, you are welcome to just sbuscribe to the board:

https://www.pinterest.com/aidedza/doctoral-cohort/

otherwise, I am mirroring the information also in the IMS blog:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/08/13/analytical-essay/ 

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APA citing of “unusual” resources

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/08/06/apa-citation/

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statistical modeling: your guide to Chapter 3

working on your dissertation, namely Chapter 3, you probably are consulting with the materials in this shared folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7IvS0UYhpxFVTNyRUFtNl93blE?usp=sharing

In it, there is a subfolder, called “stats related materials”
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7IvS0UYhpxFcVg3aWxCX0RVams

where you have several documents from the Graduate school and myself to start building your understanding and vocabulary regarding your quantitative, qualitative or mixed method research.

It has been agreed that before you go to the Statistical Center (Randy Kolb), it is wise to be prepared and understand the terminology as well as the basics of the research methods.

Please have an additional list of materials available through the SCSU library and the Internet. They can help you further with building a robust foundation to lead your research:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/07/10/intro-to-stat-modeling/

In this blog entry, I shared with you:

1. Books on intro to stat modeling available at the library. I understand the major pain borrowing books from the SCSU library can constitute, but you can use the titles and the authors and see if you can borrow them from your local public library
2. I also sought and shared with you “visual” explanations of the basics terms and concepts. Once you start looking at those, you should be able to further research (e.g. YouTube) and find suitable sources for your learning style.

I (and the future cohorts) will deeply appreciate if you remember to share those “suitable sources for your learning style” either by sharing in this Google Group thread and/or sharing in the comments section of the blog entry: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/07/10/intro-to-stat-modeling.  Your Facebook group page is also a good place to discuss among ourselves best practices to learn and use research methods for your chapter 3.

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search for sources

Google just posted on their Facebook profile a nifty short video on Google Search
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/06/26/google-search/

Watching the video, you may remember the same #BooleanSearch techniques from our BI (bibliography instruction) session of last semester.

Considering the fact of preponderance of information in 2017: your Chapter 2 is NOT ONLY about finding information regrading your topic.
Your Chapter 2 is about proving your extensive research of the existing literature.

The techniques presented in the short video will arm you with methods to dig deeper and look further.

If you would like to do a decent job exploring all corners of the vast area called Internet, please consider other search engines similar to Google Scholar:

Microsoft Semantic Scholar (Semantic Scholar); Microsoft Academic Search; Academicindex.net; Proquest Dialog; Quetzal; arXiv;

https://www.google.com/; https://scholar.google.com/ (3 min); http://academic.research.microsoft.com/; http://www.dialog.com/; http://www.quetzal-search.info; http://www.arXiv.org; http://www.journalogy.com/
More about such search engines in the following blog entries:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/01/19/digital-literacy-for-glst-495/

and

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/05/01/history-becker/

Let me know, if more info needed and/or you need help embarking on the “deep” search

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tips for writing and proofreading

please have several infographics to help you with your writing habits (organization) and proofreading, posted in the IMS blog:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/06/11/writing-first-draft/
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/06/11/prewriting-strategies/ 

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/06/11/essay-checklist/

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letter – request copyright permission

Here are several samples on mastering such letter:

https://registrar.stanford.edu/students/dissertation-and-thesis-submission/preparing-engineer-theses-paper-submission/sample-3

http://www.iup.edu/graduatestudies/resources-for-current-students/research/thesis-dissertation-information/before-starting-your-research/copyright-permission-instructions-and-sample-letter/

https://brocku.ca/webfm_send/25032

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