Dissertation Proposal...Lessons Learned

I just sent my dissertation proposal to my advisor for review before sending it to the rest of my committee. I'm hoping he will approve it to be sent out and not have any major revisions. I'm pretty sure I've stuck to the essence of what he and I have discussed in terms of the proposal and really, there's no reason to be super picky at this point anymore. It's well thought-through and the methods are clear. It's just the lit review that sucks. And I'm convinced it will suck forever so we need just to move past it!!!

I did learn some things writing this proposal:

1. The way I chose to take notes on the literature did not work. Previously, I typed my notes word for word from the article or book so I could then print an annotated bibliography and categorize my notes and paraphrase, insert quotes as needed. It worked for both of my comps, but I think getting the iPad made me feel like I could just underline as if I had hard copies of everything. But I couldn't keep everything straight that way and tended to not remember what I had read.
2. I don't read enough. I need to be consistently reading the literature. This is the only way to keep me in the loop and to really understand the methodology I'm using. I need to be immersed in this topic - it's the only way to be successful.
3. This process is a struggle and there's nothing I can do about it. I need to struggle through and that struggle makes the future easier. I was feeling very depressed by the struggle and so I avoided it altogether which was not the right strategy. As I pushed through because I had to in order to meet a deadline, I got through to the other side. The only way out is through they say and it was true. 
4. Related to #3, having a consistent habit of working on the proposal helped me to finish it. I didn't perfect this, but working on it everyday, writing at least a bit everyday instead of just reading or searching for things was helpful. 
5. I'm not an idiot. I know how to do this. When I sit down to write, good things come out. Writing helps me to think and process. This needs to be remembered.
6. Finally, I need to remember that I WANT to do this research. I'm excited about it. I was excited to talk about it at the conference and was inspired by the discussions. I wrote close to 12 pages on my proposal in two days after the conference. I have to remember this enthusiasm and why I'm doing this. 

Now that the proposal is out of my hands temporarily, I need to start on my IRB application and a strategy for selling the research to DHS in a way that they'll want to pay me for it - or at least for a portion of it.

In unrelated news, it was chilly in the house this morning.

I put the blanket on her, but she stayed like that for several hours.

The First One Flew the Coop

I went to a dissertation defense this morning of the first member of our cohort to finish. I'm super jealous but so proud of him!! I was kind of confused by his presentation, and bummed that only his committee and two of us showed up, but I'm really glad I went and could support him and congratulate him. He's off to bigger and better things - an awesome sounding professor position in Pakistan.

Someday that will be me, right???? Well, not the Pakistan part...

Light at the End of the Diss Proposal Tunnel

Yes, it's happening. My dissertation proposal is probably 90% finished. I have a couple of short sections of the lit review left, the chapter outline and schedule of deliverables, and I need a snappy title. Hard to believe that this hoop is almost jumped through! Going to the Qualitative Health Research Conference really helped to solidify my thinking and feel much more confident in what I'm doing for my research.

I'm also weirdly excited to start doing the grounded theory methodology. It really appeals to me to a) create a theory and b) become immersed in the data. It will be tons of work with interviews, observations, transcriptions, coding and memo-writing. But it seems like it's structured in a way that requires you to really be consistent and work on it every day rather than letting it pile up, which is a good strategy for me if I can stick to it. The hard part will be being in the field during the day, possible working at DHS as well as keeping up with the transcription and initial coding. Especially at the beginning when it will be so unknown and seem daunting.

I talked to one of my classmates yesterday for an hour about a phone interview she had for an academic position. This helped to light the fire as well because I have to keep my eye on the prize. The reason for all of this is to get an academic job and to have a research agenda moving forward.

Ok, off to a meeting with Tom and his other advisees. I can't believe a month has already passed since the last one!!

I don't like all text posts so here's a picture of me from fall of 1972. My Grandma Costello knitted that poncho. I think this picture just says FALL!!!

Surprisingly this picture is in better shape than it appears here. I scanned it with my iPhone.