Actually working on my dissertation!
Woah. It has been SO LONG since I last actually posted something about my dissertation program, the whole reason I started this LJ in the first place! Yesterday was Blake's first day of work, and so it was my first day of getting back on the ball and starting things rolling again.
For a research fund request I had to make a timeline of what I'm going to be doing until completion, which I am hoping will be the end of July. Seeing it all laid out like that, it seems like only a few short months, and I don't know how I'm going to get it all done in time!
2007
Feb. 1 - 28 Contact school district personnel for research permission
March 1 - 31 Conduct observations and interviews with high school and middle school students, teachers and parents
April 1 - 31 Transcribe all interviews, analyze responses with NVivo7, develop themes and categories
May 1 - 31 Complete first draft, follow-up on interviews (member check), give first draft to advisor and get comments back
June 1 - 30 Rewrite and polish final draft, give final copy to committee
July 1 - 6 Get comments back from committee members
July 9 - 27 Schedule dissertation defense
July 31 Complete dissertation program
As it stands now, my advisor has written to the principal of the Lawrence school district, who is happy to allow us in to interview students. The final thing we need to do before we can visit the schools is to complete the research application for the district - and we are waiting for the research person to get back to us with that form. I want to get through this process as quick as possible so I can do all my interviews in March.
After freaking out a bit over how little time I have, I am determined to get all of the Introduction, Literature Review, and Methods/Procedure out of the way in the next couple weeks. Once I start interviewing I'm going to be up to my ears in audio tapes and transcribing all the quotes. I don't even want to start thinking about the analysis part of it - I just need to get through the bare bones first before I can think about my Results section.
I walked to the library today and it really did help to be sitting in a different environment that was not my house. There are too many distractions here with television and house cleaning and all those little things that seem so much more important the minute you try to sit down to write. Since the weather has taken a turn for Spring, I am hoping to make it a regular routine to get some exercise and walk to the library as often as possible.
For a research fund request I had to make a timeline of what I'm going to be doing until completion, which I am hoping will be the end of July. Seeing it all laid out like that, it seems like only a few short months, and I don't know how I'm going to get it all done in time!
2007
Feb. 1 - 28 Contact school district personnel for research permission
March 1 - 31 Conduct observations and interviews with high school and middle school students, teachers and parents
April 1 - 31 Transcribe all interviews, analyze responses with NVivo7, develop themes and categories
May 1 - 31 Complete first draft, follow-up on interviews (member check), give first draft to advisor and get comments back
June 1 - 30 Rewrite and polish final draft, give final copy to committee
July 1 - 6 Get comments back from committee members
July 9 - 27 Schedule dissertation defense
July 31 Complete dissertation program
As it stands now, my advisor has written to the principal of the Lawrence school district, who is happy to allow us in to interview students. The final thing we need to do before we can visit the schools is to complete the research application for the district - and we are waiting for the research person to get back to us with that form. I want to get through this process as quick as possible so I can do all my interviews in March.
After freaking out a bit over how little time I have, I am determined to get all of the Introduction, Literature Review, and Methods/Procedure out of the way in the next couple weeks. Once I start interviewing I'm going to be up to my ears in audio tapes and transcribing all the quotes. I don't even want to start thinking about the analysis part of it - I just need to get through the bare bones first before I can think about my Results section.
I walked to the library today and it really did help to be sitting in a different environment that was not my house. There are too many distractions here with television and house cleaning and all those little things that seem so much more important the minute you try to sit down to write. Since the weather has taken a turn for Spring, I am hoping to make it a regular routine to get some exercise and walk to the library as often as possible.