Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph.

D
Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

Suggestions for Writing a Dissertation

1.0:

Model Chapter One of a Dissertation

Title: Chapter One: Overview of the Study

Introduction This should be a one or two page lead-in to the problem or topic of the study. E.g., suppose your study were a study of the results of the first two administrations of the MCAS for Special Needs Children. In your introduction, you may want to provide an abbreviated history of the policy and legislative initiatives that brought special needs children into the mainstream of public education, and how their presence in the mainstream is qualified by many complex systems of support. You may then wish to chronicle the history of recent school reform initiatives, with their attendant high-stakes assessments, and the immediate concern over the assessment of special needs children. You may then want to review the provision of various safeguards and alternatives available to special needs children in the state assessment procedures. All of this is a lead-in to the positioning of your study. Focus of the studyStatement of the ProblemTopic of the Study Any of these subtitles or variations on them will do. The purpose of this section is to clearly and concisely state what your study is about. Using the above example, you might want to say that your study is an attempt to document what the state wide scores were for special needs children, broken down into the percentages of special needs children scoring in each of the four categories (or however they score the exams of special needs children). Usually a dissertation involves more than simply providing columns of descriptive statistics, so your study might want to go into some comparisons and contrasts. Your study might want to compare the results of the statewide scores of special needs children (the percentages falling in each of the scoring categories) with the results of the general education population of children in the state, comparing the percentages scoring in each of the scoring categories. Your study might also want to compare those similarities of percentages or differences of percentages falling in each category with the per pupil expenditures for children in various school districts representing differing levels of per pupil expenditures. You may further wish to make comparisons and contrasts among school districts on the basis of average class sizes, and availability of teacher aides or teaming with special education teachers, to see whether this made any difference in the similarities or disparities of percentages of children scoring in each category. Research Questions Here is where you break down you focus of the study into very specific questions. The questions do not have to be many. Usually three to five should get the job done, although Ive had dissertations with but one or two questions. You may state your questions in the form of hypotheses or null-hypotheses, or simply as questions. In the case of the special needs childrens assessments, you may wish to propose the following hypotheses: 1) the statewide percentage of special needs children in the lower two scoring categories will be significantly larger than the percentage of general education children in the lower two scoring categories; 2) those

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

communities at the top ten percent of per pupil expenditures will have special needs children whose score distribution reflects significantly better score distribution than those communities at the bottom ten percent of per pupil expenditures; 3) Those school districts with lower (18 or lower)class sizes will have special needs children with score profiles significantly higher than school districts with large class sizes (25 and over). Those school districts which provide additional teacher aides and special education teachers to work alongside of the general education teachers in every classroom will have special needs children with score profiles significantly better than those school systems that do not provide such supports in every classroom; 5) Those school districts which reveal all of the above supports for their special needs students, namely, they are in the top ten percent of per pupil expenditures in the state, their class sizes never exceed 18, and they provide teacher aides and special education teachers for every classroomthose districts will show the highest score profile of special needs children in the state. Theoretical Rationale This is perhaps the most demanding part of Chapter One. And it is the part best served by wide reading around your topic. Here is where you cite the research on the relationship between per pupil expenditures and school achievement, and its attendant research on community taxable income, education of the taxpayers, and their willingness to spend extra money for high quality education. (and the attendant involvement of the school board to see that the schools provide it). Connected to the per pupil expenditure research one would expect to find the research on the effects of class size on achievement scores, as well as the effect on achievement scores of special education children who attend mainstreamed classes where there is both a special education teacher and a general education teacher. There should also probably be some review of the research on time-on-task effects on achievement, since the argument would suggest that smaller classes and more human and instructional resources would enable youngsters to spend more focused time engaged in the learning tasks. The argument would then suggest that the cumulative effect of all of these supports would be associated with the highest achievement score profiles for the special education population. The purpose of the Theoretical Rational section is to bring interpretive frameworks to bear on the phenomena you are studying. If you expect to find certain things in your study, this section answers the question, why? It provides the landscape of intelligibility that stands behind the study. In chapter five, when you are discussing your results, you will go back to your theoretical rationale and be able to say, as the theory and research undergirding this study would have predicted, our results show that blah, blah, blah. Or, if your findings did not come out as the theory had suggested they would, you then go on to comment on how your findings are distinct from previous research, and you go on to discuss what might account for this difference. There may be some contextual variables in your study that were not in any of the earlier studies. For example, one of your schools may have had a low per-pupil expenditure, but employed a lot of peer tutoring and cooperative learning between general ed and special ed kids, and so that may account for the higher than expected achievement scores of this special ed sub sample in your study. One question that always arises is how much detail to go into here without turning this section into what is supposed to be in Chapter Two, namely, the review of the literature. My response is

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

to provide enough of an exposition of your theoretical argument, with references to the literature included, so the reader has an initial sense of the foundations behind the study. A more elaborate treatment of the literature will follow in Chapter Two. Significance of the study Connected to the theoretical rationale, this part of the first chapter answers the so what? question. Lets say that you set out to find something, and you find it. So what? Whats the value to the field of your findings? The significance may be, in the study above, that although comparisons have been made of the achievement of special needs children and general education children, no one has studied the comparisons in score profiles across a whole state that has engaged in high stakes testing. Or, although studies like this have been conducted in Kentucky, for example, their scoring rubrics involve a spread of eight categories instead of four. The significance of your study may be to show the advantages to special needs children to having an eight categories of scores rather than four categories. The significance issue may have several dimensions. Your study may indicate the need for a revised or new policy regarding the testing of the type of children in the study; it may suggest a new set of policy implementation guidelines are needed; it may suggest a revised form of instructional treatment more closely aligned to the test, or indeed the provision of more diverse items on the test. In other words, your study should have some anticipated benefit for the field. Even if the anticipated results in your study are not forthcoming say, that none of the variable you included in your study made any differencethe study would still have considerable value, for it would now challenge the accepted wisdom of the field.

Research Design Some dissertation mentors entirely exclude this section from the first chapter, since it will be treated at length in the Third Chapter. I suggest its inclusion in a very abbreviated form in the first chapter, so the reader has an initial sense of how you will carry out the study. The section begins with a reference to the research questions or the hypotheses being tested, and simply states the overall research methodology: Quantitative (descriptive statistics; survey of attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values, in order to study of correlations among variables of race, gender, age groups; program evaluation using pretest and post test data; quasi experimental with a control group and a treatment group; more complex statistical analysis using national data bases); Qualitative (case study, qualitative program evaluation, comparative case studies, critical ethnographical, participant observation, participant action research on a change process, etc.), Historical study of one event, using multiple sources of evidence: longitudinal historical study comparing an institutional characteristic as presented over several decades or several centuries), Theoretical (comparing and contrasting two or three theoretical positions around the same topic, providing a commentary and elaboration of one theoretical position, analyzing varying interpretations of one theory over two or three generations). There could be a one or two sentence explanation of why that approach was deemed the most appropriate for studying the question or hypothesis under study. A one or two sentence on the projected sample involved and a one or two sentence statement of the data analysis procedures.

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

Limitations of the study This section would not be included in the first chapter if the prior section on research design were not included. It would be included toward the very end of Chapter Three in that case. I like to see it in the first chapter, since it indicates that the researcher has already begun to critically evaluate the legitimacy of his study according to explicit research standards. This section provides a series of disclaimers a scholar would make ahead of time indicating various shortcomings of the study, both actual and possible. Some of these shortcomings would involve the size of the sample (and hence the limitation on potential generalizations), the sample selection process may tilt the outcomes in a certain way (as in purposive sampling, or the use of outlier samples, for example), the first use of an instrument (and hence the need for further reliability and validity tests), the difficulties encountered in administering the survey, etc. One of the probable limitations in most studies is the bias of the researcher. Researcher bias inescapably creeps into all studies, so it is always good to acknowledge it up front. There will also be response bias (the respondents giving answers they think the researcher wants to hear). Usually, your mentor will be a good source for suggestions in this section. Definition of Terms Some mentors insist on a definition of key terms in the study, some do not. In the example we have been using on the testing of special education children, those definitions would probably include the legal definitions of children considered as special needs children, the definition of the test the state was using, as well as a definition of the four categories used in scoring the tests. There would probably be a definition of a special education teacher, as distinct from a special education aide. Per pupil expenditure would need to be defined since different school districts report that figure differently, some including costs of transportation, and administrative overhead; some use a definition closer to the amount spent on instruction, or the amount spent within the school (but not for the central office support resources). Overview of the Study This is a kind of pro forma section at the very end of the chapter where you tell the reader what will be treated in each chapter of the dissertation. So, the First Chapter will provide an introduction to the study. The Second Chapter will provide an overview of the relevant bodies of literature which have influenced the direction and design of the study. The third Chapter will present the overall research design, indicating the various methodologies employed in gathering relevant data, rationale for using those methodologies, sampling techniques, pilot studies (if employed), Methods of data analysis and reporting the data. Chapter Four will present the findings of the study. Chapter Five will summarize the findings, discuss the findings in the light of the theoretical rational and the relevant literature, and make recommendations for policy, practice, and further research.

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

1:2:0 Model Chapter Two of a Dissertation

Chapter Two presents a Review of Related Literature, and should be so titled. The chapter should begin with an introductory paragraph or two which provides a road map for the reader, indicating the major bodies of literature (both research literature and the theory literature) that deal with or are related to the topic under study. In the example used in Chapter One about the state wide testing results of special needs children in relation to spending, class size, and multiple professional resources available for classroom instruction, one would certainly want to refer to the appropriate policy literature which mandates the mainstreaming of special needs children, even up to involvement in state testing procedures. One would also want to cite research that deals with the testing of special needs children, and the exemptions to which they are entitled. One would also want to refer to the research on high stakes testing in terms of its practice, its efficacy, its negative effects, and its impact on instruction. There may be recent literature on the relationship between achievement scores and per pupil expenditures, between achievement scores and class size, between achievement scores and additional professionals in the classroom. There may also be some longitudinal studies on achievement scores rise and decline over five or ten year periods, especially in relationship to the consistency of school renewal efforts, and the resources available over time for professional development of teachers in the state curriculum standards. There should certainly be a search for any studies that resemble the present one, and if there are, then it should be stated how the present study differs, if at all from those previously published studies. At the end of each major section of the review of the literature, the author should take a paragraph to indicate which studies are most apropos for the present study and why. Then, at the end of the chapter, there should be a concluding paragraph or two indicating how the various crucial texts in the review have helped to shape and nuance the present study

1:3:0 Model Chapter Three of Your Dissertation

Chapter Three: Research Design / Design of the Study (either will do) Introduction This should be a brief road map for the reader, indicating the major parts of the chapter. Research Question (s) or Hypotheses Here you restate the research question which you will be studying. Research Methodology Here you indicate the methodology you will employ to generate the data which will answer your questions or support your hypotheses. You should now go into some detail on the type of methodology you will employ and explain why this methodology is a good/ the best methodology to use. (There are a number of books on ed research which 5

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

explain why one type of methodology is appropriate in some cases, and another is more appropriate in still other cases, so feel free to quote two or more of these authors as favoring your choice, given the questions you are asking. Sample Here you want to go into some detail about your sample from which you will get your data. You should indicate the criteria of selection into the sample, criteria for the size and make up of the sample. You should also indicate how, in fact, you got your sample. You should deal explicitly here with issues of consent, confidentiality, anonymity and ethical issues around protecting human subjects in research. Pilot Test Here you indicate whether you conducted a pilot test of your interview protocol or survey instrument or experiment, whatever. Not all studies require a pilot test (e.g. an historical study, a program evaluation that employs protocols used elsewhere). But if you had a pilot test, you should describe it, and indicate how you used it to shape/improve/modify the present study. Data Gathering Procedures. Here you should try to describe how you intend to actually gather your data, step by step, beginning with getting the necessary permissions to conduct your study. This part of the chapter usually has to be rewritten after the data has been gathered, because there is usually one or more glitches in the procedures (e.g. you had intended to present your study to the teachers at a faculty meeting, but instead the principal did, and did it in a very authoritative way, and that may have affected the percentage of returns of your survey.) Method of Data Analysis In this section you describe how you plan to analyze your data. In quantitative studies, you would indicate the statistical procedures you would employ to manipulate your data into various categories for analysis. In qualitative studies, you might employ one of the software processes for combing through interview and other types of qualitative raw data. Other types of qualitative analysis involves coding the data under various rubrics and looking for patterns and relationships that begin to appear in various coded clusters of data. This section is often rewritten after the data has been analyzed, since other methods of analysis may have been introduced which you hadnt foreseen when you were writing this chapter. Thats ok, since the proposal is just that: a proposal, not a finished study. In most dissertations, All three chapters of the proposal are usually rewritten in the light of how the study actually turned out. Formats for Reporting the Data In this section you attempt to indicate your plans for reporting the data. Will you use a lot of charts and graphs? Summaries of narratives in sequence?Thematic selections from all of the narratives? Again, this represents your best guess at the most appropriate way to report your findings. You may change your mind, or modify your plans after you have massaged the data many times. This is simply your initial plan. Again, having to think

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

about this early will sometimes influence the kind of data you gather, and the kind of parameters you set around your data gathering procedures. Frameworks for Discussing the Findings Many dissertations, if not most, do not include this section. I recommend that it be included so that the author is forced early on to recognize that an important part of his or her study is the discussion in the final chapter. This usually forces the author to go back to the theoretical rationale behind the study. Were the assumptions in the rationale actually born out? Also, in the lit review, did your findings contradict or agree with earlier studies, or suggest a new interpretation of older studies? The Chapter should conclude with a nice transition into Chapter Four, the presentation of your Findings.

1:4:0

Suggestions for Chapters 4 & 5

This material is a continuation of materials that I've been asked to share with BC Ed Admin Faculty and doc students on the writing of dissertation chapters. It is not, by the way, Divine Revelation, so be assured that I fully realize that what follows is not necessarily the perfect way to compose a dissertation. Rather, after years of directing Ed Admin dissertations, these are my notions of how to do it, especially for students who intend to remain as practitioners in the field. I fully expect that it will be modified and adapted by some, carefully followed by others, and discarded by still others. For those who would like them, I also can attach exemplary chapters 4 & 5, culled from dissertations I have directed or read. Chapter 4 FINDINGS Before getting into the composition of chapter 4, it might be helpful to comment on the hard work that precedes the writing of ch 4. After the dissertation proposal (first three chapters ) have been approved, the actual gathering of data will begin in earnest. Here, the plan outlined in ch 3 for conducting the research swings into action. Surveys are sent out, interviews scheduled, observations of crucial events begun, experimental and control or comparison groups are involved in the treatment., the effects of which are the unit of analysis. More often than not, things do not work out as planned. A crucial liaison person at the site goes on medical leave, unanticipated problems with the teachers' union crop up, the principal at the site fails to make the necessary accommodations for interviewing staff and the staff are put off, a gang war among the student body has broken out and disrupted the climate and daily running of the school such that your data gathering efforts are impeded--the list goes on and on about all the unanticipated messes that interfere with your data gathering. But do not despair. Your situation is normal, not abnormal in the carrying on of research. You

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

simply go back to chapter three after the study is over and record how the data was actually gathered (despite unanticipated obstacles). After the data is more or less gathered. The novice researcher stares in stupefaction at the boxes and boxes of survey forms, transcriptions of interviews, computer printouts of thirty five statistical manipulations of the variables, field notes of observations, documents gathered in the effort to triangulate the data. This might be a good time to go back to Sharan Merriam's Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education (especially pp. 155-168) for reminders for those doing qualitative dissertations, or to texts dealing with quantitative data analysis. Now comes the arduous work of pouring over the data and organizing it into some sensible piles under major categories. Coding of the data becomes important at this point. Some will use software for data analysis, but that still requires coding the material as you put it into the computer. Some will start out with the field notes from the observation episodes and see what categories emerge from the notes, what repetitions of activities, rituals, metaphors, political exchanges, what relationships between important variables seem to be evident, patterns of association, references to power sources, enemies, past history of failures and dashed expectations, etc. Once the field notes have been coded, the analysis can go back to the piles of data sorted by codes and ask questions of these data: Why is this always related to that? Why is it certain actors get to take charge and other do not? What is the symbolic weight of the story about the fire in the locker room that is referenced in five of the six visits to the teachers' lounge? Who exercises the informal leadership in the various episodes I observed, and do they represent union sentiments or board sentiments? If the field notes do not yield enough data for answering those questions, they can still be noted for later questioning of other data sources. The researcher moves on to the interview data, again coding for relationships, themes, repetitions, patterns, striking metaphors. Since interview questions are usually designed to get at the research questions indirectly so as to avoid leading the subject to give you the answer the question suggests, the coding will also be directed to the large issues implied in the research questions, such as the frequency of teachers' conversations about student work, or the positive impact on the adoption of new instructional protocols brought about by a specific professional development process. When the interview responses are coded and put into their respective piles, the researcher pokes around some more and asks questions of the data piles: are there two or three different interpretations of student success in this pile of responses coded as "student success"? What is the culture of teacher autonomy revealed by this pile of responses labeled "resistance to change"? There are three different kinds of pull-out programs at these schools; do I need to put this pile of responses labeled "pull-out programs" into three distinct piles? The researcher also looks for congruence between impressions garnered from field observations and interviews. Which impressions from one data source is echoed by the other data source? Also, do the questions that surfaced from my earlier reflections on the coded field data find clues among responses in the interviews, and vice versa? Or, do the field observations seem to be quite at variance with the responses to the interviews? What could be the source of the variance?

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

After messing around with the interview data, the researcher moves on to any quantitative data and statistical analyses. What trends are evident there? What significant correlations appear? What data confirms my research hypotheses, or answer my research questions? Which suggest, on the contrary, a negative relationship rather than the positive one I was looking for? Again, the researcher looks for congruence between the observations, the interviews, and the quantitative data. Are all three data sources confirming one another? Where are the surprises and discontinuities? Similarly for the document analysis: do they confirm or disconfirm my hypotheses, or answer my research questions? Are there relationships between the dates of the documents and observed changes in the administrators' behaviors? Do the observations contradict what the documents proclaim about the mission of the school, or about the therapeutic effects of the suspension program? Is the prologue to the teachers' contract about teamwork and generosity given the lie by the observed political infighting between the union and the administration, or is the assertive, in-you-face behavior of both administration and faculty simply a manifestation of a larger urban culture, underneath which there is a sense of teamwork and generosity? As you can see, this is hard work, requiring the lonely asceticism of the cloistered scholar who descends to the bunker for whole days of uninterrupted picking through the data sources, trying to bring intelligibility out of the debris of human testimony, putting aside interesting stories of mischief and malice and humorous intersections of unlikely partnerships which the data reveal, but which have nothing to do with the focus of the study. The focus has to be relentless, like a detective searching through a crime scene for clues that lead to the perpetrator, casting aside other interesting observations about the scene that have nothing to do with the crime or the criminal (the victim used Calloway golf clubs, or wore such and such designer clothes, or drank Pepsi instead of Coke, etc.). This will be the most tedious aspect of doing the dissertation, although for many the tedium will be punctuated after a while with bursts of satisfying insight, as the data begins to speak back with an emerging clarity. Periodically, however, the gaunt, blearyeyed scholar will need to emerge from the bunker for a holiday from the tedium, so as to return to the bunker and the data sets with fresh eyes and rested cognitive searchlights. All this work is an example of what has been recently labeled a constructivist approach to learning (and you used to think constructivist learning must be a lot more fun than passively memorizing the teacher's lectures). All this before you can write Chapter 4. Later on, you may go back to Ch 3 and provide more information about how you processed the data once collected (how you constructed knowledge!). For now, however, get on with the happy task of reporting your findings in their recently rationalized packaging. Introduction to Chapter 4 As you begin Chapter four, put in a clear introductory chapter that tells the reader how you plan to divide the labor between ch 4 and ch 5 (If you have a complex study brimming over with information that clamors to be shared, then you might have two chapters of findings, with your 6th chapter providing the commentary and

Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

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recommendations. Because some researchers spend a lot of time presenting the data under the organizing principle of the research questions in ch 4, and some do more of this in ch 5, it helps to let the reader know what you're putting in ch 4 and what your saving for ch 5. There is no necessary or required way to present your findings. Some would say you present the findings in ch 4 and the interpretation of the findings in ch 5. But as should be obvious from the dreary narrative of the cloistered scholar above, the findings are already the result of a lot of interpretation of the data. From my perspective, there is no such thing as an "objective" finding. All findings (even dates) are presented in some form of humanly constructed framework of intelligibility within which the finding has meaning, a meaning that is further nuanced by other categories of intelligibility that precede and follow the finding. (the finding that "Columbus discovered America in 1492", or "The North won the battle of Getteysburg" are considered objective statements about an historical reality, but only , I repeat, within humanly constructed (and humanly distorting) frames of interpretation. I prefer to say that you present your findings in ch 4 and you discuss or comment on the findings in chapter five. But even there, sometimes the presentation of findings with some needed commentary can go in ch 4 and additional commentary can come in ch 5. However it works, tell your reader at the start of ch 4 how the next two or three chapters will proceed. (You will have already done this, you recall, at the end of chapter 1, when you provided a brief overview of the study, giving us an outline of the chapters to come.) A second paragraph or two in the Introduction should provide a clear road map to chapter 4 for the reader. This road map will include, at least, the major headings in the chapter and, where deemed necessary, the subheadings. Later in the chapter, when you get to those major parts of the chapter, signal to the reader, perhaps with a bridge paragraph from the previous section to the new section, saying, in effect to the tourists you are leading, "We are just leaving such and such an area, which as you know was the place where., and we are about to enter this other area which differs from the previous area but is another important part of this whole site.:" So you provide the map at the beginning of the chapter, and you refer to it explicitly at appropriate times of transitions to new parts of the chapter. Remember, by this time you know your data backwards and forwards; it's there teeming in your mind. The reader, on the other hand, is entering the forest of your data clusters for the first time, unsure where the path is leading. To change the metaphor: You are the chef. You've cooked the data and basted it, sauted, tenderized and seasoned it. But your reader is encountering this feast for the first time. So at the beginning your provide a menu, and then as the feast progresses you help the reader know what they are about to taste in each of the major portions of this banquet filled with yummy data delicacies and surprising syrups and sauces of data syntheses. So the guests can smack their lips and say, "Oh how clever to mix the standard coefficients with the disaggregated regression analysis!" or "How tasty this morsel of classical political conflict when mixed with street-level racism!" In other words, give your guests a chance to recognize what you are serving them. Major Divisions of the Chapter Depending on your study, there are any number of ways to organize your findings. As the researcher, you should have reasonable autonomy to lay out the findings in the way

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Rev. Paul Pudussery, csc., Ph. D

Adopted from the class notes of Jerry Starratt

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that seems most appropriate to you. Let me describe some ways it has been done in my experience. Whether your study is a quantitative or a qualitative study, you may want to provide andintroductory description of the site and the major characters of your study. If your study is an evaluation or a case study of a project at the school, you may want to provide a brief overview of the project, with references to the unit of analysis for this study. Assuming that you have agreed to provide anonymity and confidentiality to the subjects of the study, you may wish to give fictitious names to the school or school system and indicate that your study involved a school or school system in Northeastern United States, or New England, or "on the East coast". If your study involves an interview of five to ten superintendents, you may wish to provide and introductory description of each of them, ("Superintendent X rose quickly from behind his desk cluttered with numerous stacks of files and computer print-outs and greeted me with a genuine smile. Though looking somewhat disheveled, his mind was anything but that as he incisively and confidently responded to my questions." "Superintendent Y met me in the student cafeteria of the school he was visiting that day. He introduced me to the table of students with whom he was sharing a meal and invited me to join them for lunch. He explained to the students that I was from the university and was coming to study the process of curriculum mapping the teachers had been involved in for the past two years. The students seemed confused and unsure of how to speak to a visiting scholar, but the superintendent tried to put them at their ease by talking about their stirring victory over their cross-town rivals in volleyball that week." These descriptions can be clustered all together at the beginning of the presentation of the findings, or introduced as vignettes at the start of a section dealing with each interview. If you are doing a case study situated in one school, then you can write an introduction to the school, providing enough detail for the reader to get a sense or a picture of the school ("located on a hilly campus surrounded by oak and maple trees in a newly developed part of the town, this one story, white-bricked structure spread out in a y-shaped pattern, providing a pleasant view of the landscaped campus from every classroom"; or on the contrary, "this four storied hulk of red brick, long coated with city soot, grime, and pigeon droppings, looked out on a cement parking lot, a cement playground, a twelve foot high fence surrounding what was euphemistically called a campus, and graffiticovered walls of nearby public housing. In contrast to its foreboding exterior, however, the interior walls were brightly lit and covered with tropical pastels, displaying posters of national heroes and inspirational sayings associated with them, and bulletin boards exploding with student art designs, student science demonstrations, photographs of laughing faces, and photos taken on city outings." You get the idea. In a study reporting the findings of a survey, the findings can be organized according to each question on the survey, presenting the responses in terms of descriptive statistics (frequencies, means and percentages). After the responses to each question of the survey have been presented, the researcher may wish to highlight demographic features of the

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population who sent in survey responses. The researcher may also do some correlational analyses of variables around gender, age, years in the job, union affiliation, degrees, and so forth to see whether groups of respondents under various categories differed significantly from other groups of respondents. There may be findings under one or two questions that closely mirror the findings of one or two other questions, where the logical connection seems apparent, and these may be represented in a figure that stacks the responses along side one another. Speaking of figures, it is helpful to use many figures to represent quantitative data sets in a summary fashion. These figures give the reader an eyeball view of the variables being quantified. However, each figure should have a prose exposition of what the numbers signify. Some will organize their data chronologically. For example, in presenting the findings of a change process, the data may be organized according to the initiation phase, the implementation phase, and the institutionalization phase. Within those phases, the researcher may report what the triangulated data reveal--data contained in field notes of observations, data from interviews, and data from documentation or from initial quantitative measures. After the chronological presentation of the findings, the data may also be presented using additional analytic perspectives on change, such as Fullan's distinction between re-culturing and restructuring, or Bollman& Deal's analysis using cultural, structural, human resource and symbolic frames for analyzing what was going on during the three chronological phases. One study I directed presented quantified pre and post treatment student test data after studying the change process for a year, and then presented an analysis of the change process itself. The analysis of the change process helped to explain why the outcome data showed no significant testable change in student learning. That is, the findings on the processes employed to conduct the change showed how substantially flawed the process was. This researcher used Miles and Huberman'scategories on what is needed to institutionalize change to show how many crucial variables were ignored in the process. This was a good example of a mixed method reporting of findings, where the qualitative data helped to interpret the quantitative data. In another dissertation, since the researcher had done all his field observations first, followed by interviews, and then followed by document analysis, he presented his findings under subtitles referring to these three methods of data collection, reporting the findings in the chronology in which he collected the data. This enabled him to write a small summary of his findings at the end of each section : a summary of the patterns of relationships (student to student, student to teacher, teacher to teacher and teacher to administrator, administrator to civic leaders) he observed during the various times he visited the school to observe what was going on.; a summary of themes and similarities in the stories emerging from the interviews; a summary of the themes, metaphors, organizational arrangements, and political alliances to be found in the memos, letters, newspaper accounts, board minutes , etc in his document review). After finishing the presentation of his findings for all the sections, he concluded ch 4 with a large summary of the convergence of findings from each section. At the very end of chapter 4, he presented a large map of significant events which had led from the initiation of the project through its implementation towards its institutionalization, with arrows and

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symbols indicating strong or weak or negative relationships between events (similar to those maps found in Miles &Huberman'sQualitative Data Analysis). The map provided a visual summary of the findings he had reported throughout chapter four. The map provided a helpful segue to chapter 5, where he wrote an extensive commentary on various crucial elements illustrated in the map, referencing those elements to earlier studies that had reported similarly crucial events at that part of the change process. As you can see, in the reporting of the findings the researcher presents data as providing evidence of a "finding." "Findings" are not data; they are generalizations offered more or less tentatively about what the data you have collected and coded signify, what you think they mean. The findings present charts and graphs of data, summary tables or clusters of data from interviews and observations which are used as evidence that support what you call a finding. For example a finding might be that fourth grade student reading scores went up after the school tried a certain intervention. As evidence of this finding, you present the quantitative data of pre- and post-treatment test scores. The test scores are not findings; they enable you to report a finding that students improved or did not from one test to another. Your finding may be more carefully nuanced by an analysis of the sub tests on the test that deal with vocabulary, logical reasoning, story analysis, expository writing skills, showing that the increase in the total score on the test was due to advances on two or three sub tests, but not on all of them. Thus your finding in this case can give a more refined interpretation of the data. Let's look at this distinction from another perspective. Imagine a fourth chapter that simply provided you with the transcripts of ten interviews. The transcripts are not findings; they are more or less "raw" data. Findings derived from those interviews would represent interpretations of the relative uniformity of opinions and attitude and accounts which the interviews revealed to the researcher who was trying to find out these two or three specific things through the interviews. Selected examples of the interviews might be lined up under a finding that "all of the subjects reported a continuous experience of sexism in their dealing with the administration." Once the findings have been presented in chapter four, they may be marshaled into clusters of findings that respond to the major research questions you have set out to study. In some dissertations, this bringing of the findings to answer the research questions is handled toward the end of chapter four. In other dissertations, the author prefers to summarize the findings in relationship to the research questions in chapter five, where the researcher can more visibly show herself or himself in the interpreting role rather than the supposedly more objective reporting role adopted in ch 4. In the process of summarizing the findings significance relative to the research questions, the author in chapter five may feel more comfortable in providing a running commentary of how the author sees connections between various findings that seem to point to a rather conclusive response to each research question. On the other hand some researchers would rather conclude chapter four by putting the research questions to bed, leaving chapter five more open to a wider ranging commentary, comparing this study's findings to other research findings, rummaging around in the theoretical rationale to come up with possible explanations of why the findings came out the way they did, why the surprises in the findings appeared, what new questions the findings raised that would need further

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exploration in future studies. As I said earlier, it is up to the researcher to shape what gets done in ch 4 and what gets done in ch 5.

1:5:0 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS

Introduction Again, in the first paragraph provide the reader with a map or a menu of what is to come . Summary of Findings Here is where the researcher reports (even though it may also have been done in the fourth chapter) what answers to the research questions the study produced. If the fourth chapter had reported on this, then this section can be rather brief. If not, this section may be more expansive, with some commentary and exposition woven around the summary of the major findings that answer the questions or confirm the hypotheses. By and large , this section should be crisp and concise. Then the fun begins. Discussion of the Findings At this point we find the mature scholar lighting up a pipe or cigar, pouring a favorite drink in a large snifter , fluffing up the cushion on the favorite rocking chair by the fireplace, striking the proper reflective pose, and murmuring, "Hmmm. Now let's see what we can make of all this." At this point the researcher knows more about his study than anyone else. Having worked on it so intensely, the researcher can let the study talk back to him or her as questions emerge out of intuitions and hunches that percolate inside the researcher's fevered mind. Here is where the researcher asks, " Is there anything new that I've discovered, anything different from earlier studies of this topic? What is the larger logic in my findings? Do my findings, if presented clearly with sufficient scholarly and rhetorical scaffolding, have the potential to change something very important to practitioners the field, something that will knock the socks off the posturing policy community, something that will cause a paradigm shift in the dominant theory? While few dissertations do this, some have, and it's worth asking the question. Sometimes the findings, while not exhibiting such dramatic significance, can nonetheless be significant enough to catch enough people's attention to be worthy of a book. Here is where the researcher makes the case for such significance From a more modest stance, the reflective scholar, gently rocking back and forth, chin in upturned hand, gazing into the flickering flames, should be asking, "How do my findings look against the landscape of various theories? What do those theories tell me I should ask further of my findings, or should have asked at the start but didn't? In this section of the chapter it is allowable, even desirable to speculate, to imagine yourself in a debate with some of the giants in this field of research, to ask how your study would appear to some of the most critical voices in the field. You may, in your professional work life, be a practical, detail-oriented administrator who has always criticized those university types with their heads in the clouds of theory, but here is a chance to let that role go for a while and to enjoy some speculation. After all, you know more than anyone else about this study, so you've earned the right to play the scholarly game, if only for ten to twenty pages or so.

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Sometimes it helps to jostle the reflective juices by posing the question, "Well, now you've finished. So What? Of what use is your study to any practitioners in the field? To the policy community? To other research scholars who are working in this area? What are the implications of my study for practice, for policy, for further research?" These are questions that should be answered in Chapter Five, and this part usually comes toward the end of the chapter. But asking them early may lead you back to some of the other questions, the more speculative stuff. Limitations to the Study After the scholarly blather ("On the one hand, finding X suggests that perhaps we may need to rethink Kornblaster's theory about .; on the other hand, finding Y makes one pause before endorsing out of hand Blasterkorn's policy recommendation that all students should. When we put findings M, N O and P together, we begin to see a new logic to the phenomenon of resistance to change) has been pretty thoroughly played out, you should have a section on the limitations of the study. You may have already outlined such a section in chapter one, but it is helpful to return to it in ch 5. Since ch 5 is where you will be touting the findings, it's important to forestall your potential critics who are always ready to point to the obvious limitations of your findings because of a) b) c) d), etc. By devoting a section of ch 5 to presenting the limitations of your study, you get there ahead of them and anticipate their criticism by outdoing them at their own game. Given those limitations, you conclude with all modesty, the findings, spectacular though they be, must be hedged around with reservations. You may wish to return to Merriam's discussion of validity and reliability in chapter ten in order to sharpen your comments that might relate to the questions of validity and reliability in your findings. This section sets you up for the section below that deals with Implications for Further Research. Implications for Practice Here is where you begin to answer the "so what?" question. You ask yourself why you wanted to do the study in the first place. It may have been directly related to some practice in the field which you thought was counter productive, or obsolete, or just plain stupid. Assuming that your findings confirmed your initial bias, here is where you get a chance to spell out in spades why your findings suggest doing things a different way. You findings may have also surprised you with some unexpected revelations about possible improvements to be tried in the field. A big caution here: put your recommendations for practice diplomatically. You don't want to come off as an arrogant know-it-all who has finally brought the light to all those misguided or malicious educators in the field about how they need to do things differently. Given the limitations of your study, you might phrase your recommendation in words such as " This study suggests that teachers might try practice Y, especially with bi-lingual students.," or "the findings of this study suggest that third grade reading teachers might try to modify practice X by placing practice Y in front of it as providing additional scaffolding" or "This study raises questions about the uniform application of zero-tolerance policies in vogue in many school districts, pointing, perhaps, to a need for more discretion on the part of administrators when dealing with children under six years of age," or " Though restricted to middle school males, this study about the effects of bullying-prevention interventions may offer possible courses of action for both secondary and primary schools, especially the practice of .," or "This study of the effects of class size, per

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pupil expenditure and combining special education teachers with general education teachers, suggests that lower class size may be the most influential variable on improved special education students' scores on high stakes state tests." Implications for Policy Again, diplomacy is called for. Some dissertations may have no implications for policy. On the other hand, a study of successful bullying-prevention interventions, or of the influence of class size on special education students' achievements, may have clear policy implications at the school and district level. Other studies dealing directly with state policies may generate findings with implications for modifying or initiating state policies. Implications for Further Research Going back to the limitations, you can generate all kinds of recommendations for further research that will add additional variables not to be found in your study (e.g., adding the variable of parental involvement with their children's learning to the study of influences on special education students' achievement on high stakes tests), replicating your study within different populations (doing the study in an urban district next time, or a rural district; doing the study with science teachers next time as well as language arts teachers, or doing the study with sixth graders and seventh graders next time around the variable of use of scaffolding to achieve readiness for learning; or comparing senior teachers(over 60) with veteran teachers (over 40-under 55), instead of veteran teachers with experienced teachers (more than 26 and less than40) around the variable of use of computer assisted instruction. Sometimes an unexpected finding will generate a recommendation for further research. Sometimes a noticeable differentiation between two sub populations of your study may suggest further study of these populations. Conclusion You want to end your dissertation somehow the way a classical composer ends a symphony. Sometimes that could be a personal statement of appreciation of the dedication, integrity, vision, compassion or whatever of the subjects of the study, without which American schools would languish in a sea of ,,,. Some will end it with a warning that, if the issues uncovered by this study are not attended to, the schools will drift into a crisis situation, blah blahblah. Some will end their study with a hopeful refrain, indicating that the findings of the study point to something very positive about schools, or about parents, or (glory be to God!) about school boards. What you do not want to do is end without a conclusion. Your reader has been with you now for more than two hundred pages; don't end abruptly, as though you were so happy to be rid of this job, that you could not find a satisfying way to round it off. Your reader would fall off the cliff into your silence, with a "well, I guess it's over," You want to leave the reader with a feeling that you are glad that you did the study, that it taught you something worthwhile, that it provided you a platform to understand some things, that the topic is worth continuing to pursue, that the study opened up new possibilities. If none of the above would be true, then don't lie about it; say something that is true that affected you in the study.

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Skeletal outline of Chapter 4

Introduction a) division of labor between ch 4 &ch 5 b) road map or menu of what is to follow in the chapter Introduction to the site, to the "project", to the subjects, to the unit of analysis First Major cluster of Findings with supporting evidence, charts, figures, diagrams and(perhaps) a brief summary of this section Second Major cluster of Findings with supporting evidence, charts, figures, diagrams and (perhaps) a brief summary of the section Third Major cluster of Findings etc. Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, major cluster of Findings, etc A summary of the cluster summaries (Triangulation, Convergences, continuities, discontinuities, surprises), with diagrams, figures, charts, maps and prose exposition Findings related to the Research Questions (in ch 4, or in ch 5, or in both) with or without additional commentary Concluding Summary to Ch 4

Skeletal Outline for Chapter 5

Introduction A Road map or menu of major sections of the chapter Summary of Findings, usually related to the Research Questions, with crisp exposition of the logic behind the findings. Discussion of Findings Relating the findings to the "Big Picture"; relating the findings to expectations from earlier research studies, from theoretical perspectives; relating the findings to significant debates in the field; speculation about connections between disparate findings, about surprises, and weird findings, etc. Limitations of the study Implications/Recommendations for Practice Implications/Recommendations for Policy

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Implications/ Recommendations for Future Research Concluding Statement

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2:0:1

Observation: An overview

Observation is fundamental to all the qualitative inquiry (Rossman& Rallis, 2003). In observation, the researcher takes field notes (Sanjek, 1990) on the behavior and activities of individuals at the research site (Creswell, 2003). My research site was the campus and I choose to observe through the dinning hall. This observation enabled me to draw inferences about students meaning and perspective (Maxwell, 1996) that I could not otherwise obtain by relying exclusively on an interview data. I choose to have two observations; in one case, I was a full participant at the dinning table discussing diversity and the possibility of having an Asian festival. In the other observation scenario, I was simply an observer (Creswell, 2003. Muncey&McQuillan) without being a participant in the conversation. The third option that I had in observation was to completely conceal my role as a researcher and be part of the process. Reflecting on the experience, I am little concerned about the ethics of such an observation process. Advantages of observation:The advantage of observation is that the researcher can obtain a first hand experience (Creswell, 2003) from his or her involvement with the participants. Through observation, the researcher can also observe the repeated pattern of behavior that people are unwilling to talk about in an interview (Rossman& Rallis, 2003).

My research will also explore certain uncomfortable aspects and stereotypes of anthropological diversity. This kind of observation will assist the researcher and the

participants to move beyond the selective cultural perceptions and clichs common to the public and enable them to construct meaning from certain consistent observable patterns.. Approaches to note taking:-

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How can one record these observations to ensure the validity of the research? These recording of researchers observations are known as field notes (Sanjek, 1990). Field notes are texts that document immutable records of some past occurrence. Field notes will enable the researcher to recreate the past with certain authenticity in order to dissect and to make quality assumptions that can be grounded on facts. Field note can achieve this by recording the lengthy accounts of the observed scenario, with its complex patterns of interaction, and by putting these accounts into journals, note books, audio types, and even videos (Stevens). Field notes can be described as systematic record of the researchers impressions, insights and emerging hypotheses (Rossman& Rallis, 2003). They need to be descriptive and concrete. It is important that the researcher write up the notes as soon as possible after leaving the field of research (class notes). The field notes need to contain time, date, location, facts, sensory impressions, personal responses, specific words that resonate special meaning, questions that arise in the mind, page numbers and so on (Class notes). One can develop a certain protocol for the sake of the observation. It will assist the observer in being consistent with the observation. Check lists are yet another way to record observation by checking off the items as they happen (Annenberg Institute, 2004) or not happen. This process makes the codification of the observation limited, but practical. Challenges of observation:The researcher may be viewed as intrusive. I felt that students were watching me as I was sitting at the dining table observing what was happening in the place. Sometimes I felt uncomfortable doing what I did. I felt that some students were wondering what I was

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doing there. Some came by to say hi and wanted to know if I was looking for something or for someone. As a researcher, I may come across information that is not comfortable or private. I am sure parts of the discussion students had at the table can not be reported. An observer with this information, how can I be discrete and at the same time true to the subject I am researching? How much can I divulge? What are the ethical implications? How do I ensure the validity of the observation? How can I justify protecting or hiding some of the findings during the observation? The greatest challenge for me was to be attentive and open to all that was happening around me. There was so much that I could record. The following questions arise: How can I filter what I need to observe? How do I develop the skills of keen observation, coupled with note-taking? Field notes and observation is a task. It needs a great skill. Another challenge for a researcher, who is drawn to observation, involves dealing with the perceived intimidation felt by the group and his or her lack of acceptability with in the group. How do I observe these hostile circumstances? What are skills that I need to turn a hostile environment to a friendly one.

3:0

Consent Form

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Interviews (sample) Title of Study: WITHIN HIGH SCHOOLS - - INFLUENCES ON RETENTION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF NORTHEAST INDIA Name of Investigator: Pudussery, Introduction The study is prompted by a 78.97% dropout rate among the indigenous people of northeast India as reported in the selected educational statistics of 2004 -2005 (Ministry of Human Resource Development, 2007). This study will identify and profile the characteristics inherent in the teaching practices used by the teachers in educating a very low achieving subpopulation in India. Some schools in this region stand out as successful schools that are effective in working with the indigenous tribal children of northeast India. The presumption is that the best institutional practices for teaching, school leadership, physical facilities, school culture, class size, performance assessment, and teacher workload have an overall effect on student retention. Purpose of Study: Through this project, the researcher hopes to gain a deeper understanding of the practices that lead to a greater retention rate among the indigenous people of northeast India. Description of Study Procedures: It is the intention of the researcher to interview a sample of teachers from the three schools. The questions asked each teacher will focus on the teaching practices that characterize high schools with successful records for graduating indigenous pupils of Northeast India. It will also focus on how these teaching practices are affected by school leadership, physical facilities, school culture, class size, and teacher workload. All questions will be open ended. A sample question is as follows: What pedagogical techniques do you use to make learning relevant for students? Participation in this study will involve at least 90 minutes of your time. There are no risks for you from participating in this study. The interview will be recorded in audio format, which will be transcribed in English for subsequent analysis by the researcher. Benefits of Being in Study: You will have no direct benefit from this study, though indirectly everyone involved in education will benefit. Payments: You will be given a gift certificate to the value of Rs: 250.00 1/2 Costs: There is no cost to you to participate in this research study.

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Confidentiality: Your answers to the questions will not be seen by anyone but the people working on this study. Neither your principal, teachers, nor students, nor anyone else, will have access to your answers.All information obtained from this study will be confidential. All notes, tapes and documents linked to this specific study will be stored in safe custody and destroyed shortly after the study has been completed. Voluntary Participation/Withdrawal: All participants of this study do so voluntarily. Participants may choose to withdraw from this study at any given time. Dismissal From Study: If you do not follow the instructions you are given, you will be dismissed from the study.Likewise, If the study sponsor decides to stop or cancel the study, you will be dismissed from the study Contacts and Questions: This study is conducted under the direction of Dr. Robert Starratt, Professor at BostonCollege. Any questions concerning this study may be addressed to the researcher at pudusseryp@gmail.com , If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, you may contact: Director, Assam Don Bosco University Copy of Consent Form: You will be given a copy of this form to keep for your records and future reference. Statement of Consent: I have read (or have had read to me) the contents of this consent form and have been encouraged to ask questions. I have received answers to my questions. I give my consent to participate in this study. I have received (or will receive) a copy of this form. Signatures/Dates Study Participant (Print Name) : _________________ Date ______________ Witness/Auditor (Signature): _________________________________ Date _______

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4:0

Articles summery Sheet

Author and Year: Title: Larger Keywords: Field

Type of Study: (Empirical/Conceptual/Advocacy)

Research Questions:

Research Method : (Qualitative/Quantitative/Mixed Methods)

Research Strategies:

Analysis Strategies:

Epistemic or Paradigmatic Stance: [(Post)-Positivist; Relativist; (Post)-Structuralist; Constructivist)

Theoretical or Paradigmatic Framework: (Functionalist; Conflict Theory; Critical Theory; Behaviorism; Ethnic; Feminist; Marxist; Queer Theory; Anti-Racist)

Major Findings (for Empirical Studies) or Major Arguments (for Conceptual/Advocacy Pieces)

Generalizability/Power/Influence/Appeal/Contribution to Larger Field

Critique (implicit or explicit epistemic and theoretical stance; internal/external validity; reliability; appropriateness of generalizing to larger population; quality of inferences and analysis, unanswered questions, alignment of theoretical framework research questions research strategies findings)

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Components of a research study

Research Question

Theoretical framework

Research Methodology

Research Strategies (data collection and analysis)

Reporting format/representation

References Anfara,Vincent A. Jr., Brown, Kathleen., &Mangione, Terri . (2002) QualitativeAnalysis on Stage: Making the Research Process More Public. Educational Researcher, Vol. 31, No. 7, 28-38 Maxwell, Joseph. (1996) Qualitative Research Design. An interactive approach. Sage Publications. California. Creswell, John. (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Second edition. California. Sage Publications. Rossman, Gretchen & Rallis, Sharon. (2003) Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research. Second edition.California. Sage Publications.

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