Dissertation worries...

If you've been following my status updates on Facebook, you know that I've been counting down interviews that I'm doing for my dissertation research. As of tonight, I've done 34 interviews and have 6 left to go. I've got to have a minimum of 40 interviews for this to work, according to my committee. I've been providing mp3s of each interview to a medical transcriptionist who I'm paying to transcribe these interviews. I pay her by the hour and based on what she's done so far, it's going to cost me about $3,000 to have them all transcribed. But, I think she'll have them all done for me by Christmas or New Year's and it will save me a ton of time. I think it'll be totally worth the money.

I've got this niggling doubt in the back of my head that makes me wonder if I'm getting the information I need from these interviews. I've got to get information from the students I'm interviewing that will allow me to assess what developmental stage they're in and I'm not completely sure I'm asking follow-up questions that are really challenging them to the point of being able to pinpoint that stage. If I have to do these interviews over (which will actually mean finding 40 different students, because I won't really be able to ask the same students again), there's no way I'll be able to graduate in May. I think I've got what I need from the interviews, but I also think this sinking feeling is required of all doctoral students. At least that's what I've heard from a few people. I don't know...

Once I get all these transcriptions done, I've got to start analyzing the interviews. Plus, each person does a short survey that I'll have to look through. Then, I've got to do the part that really scares me...the statistical analysis. I am so horrible at numbers and just thinking about the statistics almost make me begin to hyperventilate. When I'm to that point, I'm going to have to identify some strong support systems.

Earlier in November, I got a letter from the University saying that I'm officially a candidate for my Ph.D. It included an analysis of my transcript and they reminded me that I've got two courses with Incomplete grades. They were both seminar courses that are like Independent Study, so I've got to come up with what I should do for the credit. My advisor says that it's got to be something that could theoretically be publishable. So, basically, I have to write two publishable research articles. I don't have to actually submit them for publication, but that would be kind of cool. However, I'm not sure that I have time for all that. I'm hoping to get one article done in the next couple of weeks while I'm in the process of analyzing the first few interviews and waiting for the remaining transcriptions. I'm starting to narrow down topics for my first article, but I'm not too sure about what the second one will be.

Right now, I've got 5 interviews scheduled for this week which leaves me to figure out one remaining interview. I've got emails out to about 5 or 6 different people asking them to help and they won't respond at all. I wish they'd at least tell me that they aren't interested. That would help to have them tell me that they don't have time. But, I can't really go seek out other random people with the way I've set up my research question, so I'm going to have to be really annoying and keep asking until they say yes or no. This last group has been asked 3 times already. Frustrating...

I still think I can get all these done before the students start their finals week on Dec. 14. Well, there's all my worries about this dissertation thing. It helps just writing them down.