All But Dissertation (ABD)
By Boyd | June 17, 2009
ALL BUT DISSERTATION (ABD)
Are you at the ABD destination in your program?
There are two types of Ph.D. candidates that fall into this category:
1) The “just arrived” and anxious to move forward.
2) The “been there for awhile” and think they will never move forward.
While both types might require help to move on, it is the latter that is likely to derive the most benefit from this article and become motivated to complete, perhaps, the most important event in their life.
You are intelligent enough to have come this far, there is no reason (from an academic stand point) to linger in the “ABD Zone.” The longer you are there, the more difficult it becomes to pick up the pieces and move forward.
Many Ph.D. candidates seem to hit a brick wall and feel disarmed when called upon to work on the “methods” and “results” section of their dissertation. This is the point where many students diligently search for help calling on their mentor, peers, university assistance and even Google. This is also the time when the student may ask themselves the question “HOW MUCH HELP IS TOO MUCH”?
Surely no one will deny that having your dissertation written for you is very wrong. On the other hand, it is not unusual for doctoral students to get help on specific aspects of their dissertation (e.g. APA formatting and editing). It is also not unusual for advisers to encourage students to seek outside help with the statistical aspects of their dissertation.
A qualified and experienced statistical consultant who works with Ph.D candidates understands the special circumstances that can lead to ABD status (e.g. hectic fulltime job, family, and other personal issues). The question is how do you find a qualified statistician?
The best way to get started is with a phone call to a statistical consultant and ask the question: “How can you help me move beyond the ABD level and complete my Ph.D. program”? This is also the time you need to evaluate the consultant and answer the following questions:
1) Does the consultant have an advanced degree in statistics.
2) Will this person answer the phone and personally talk to you every time you call.
3) Can you reach this person when you need to. (Evenings and weekends).
4) Will this person be available all the way through the defense.
5) Will the consultant give you a fixed price quote up front so you will know your costs ahead of time?
6) Will the consultant give you a money-back guarantee the results will be correct, you will fully understand them,
and they will be accepted by your committee?
7) Will you get unlimited email and phone support until the day you graduate?
Caution: Make sure the consultant actually has an advanced degree in statistics, rather than having a degree in some other subject and is simply “good at statistics”. Where the difference really shows up is when a committee member asks lots of technical questions or you have a problem defending.
For many doctoral students, the most rigorous parts of a quantitative or mixed-methods dissertation are:
1) Methods Section
* Study Design
* Research questions and hypothesis formulation
* Development of instrumentation
* Describing the independent and dependent variables
* Writing the data analysis plan
* Performing a Power Analysis to justify the sample size and writing about it
2) Results Section
* Performing the Data Analysis
* Understanding the analysis results
* Reporting the results.
If you are a distance learning student it is almost essential you seek outside assistance for the methods and results section of your dissertation. The very nature of distance learning suggests the need for not only outside help but help from someone gifted in explaining highly technical concepts in understandable language by telephone and e-mail.
The ideal time to begin working with a statistical consultant is once you have a topic and you have done some preliminary literature review. Otherwise, you run the risk of unnecessarily complicating your study. This could result in the consultant being unable to help you, unless you are willing to start over with the problem statement, purpose of the study, research questions, instrumentation and data analysis plan.
As stated above, many students hit their dissertation “brick wall” when they encounter the statistical considerations. Frequently, a student will struggle for months before they seek a statistician’s help. This often leads to additional tuition costs and missed graduation dates. The number of Ph.D candidates not completing their program is staggering. If I were to name a single reason why a Ph.D candidate, doing a quantitative or mixed-methods study gets off track in their program, it is the statistics and their fear of statistics. So, the question is whether or not it is ethical to get help at all. If so, how much help is too much?
I don’t know if there has ever been a survey of dissertation committee members who were asked this question, however, I know many advisers take the following position when they suggest or approve outside help: To a large extent the process is self controlling. If the student relies too much on a consultant, the product may look good; however, the student will be unable to defend their dissertation.
It takes a committed effort on the part of the student and the consultant (resulting in a collaborative/teaching exchange) to have the student responsible for the data and thoroughly understand the statistics. This is not accomplished in just one or two emails or a single telephone conversation. It is a dynamic process; one that calls for unending patience on the consultant’s part and perseverance on the student’s part.
The day the student walks in front of the committee to defend, there should be no question as to their understanding of statistics. It is the consultant’s job to see to it this occurs.
When their defense is successful, the question ”was the help too much” is answered.
Boyd
If you are a Ph.D candidate and would like additional information, you may wish to review the referenced sites below:
Reference sites:
http://www.statisticallysignificantconsulting.com/Statistically-Significant-Ethics.htm
Topics: PhD Student Experiences | 1 Comment »
When Should I Start Working with a Statistician?
By Steve Creech | October 9, 2008
I would like to emphasize that the sooner you start working with a statistician during the development of your proposal, the smoother things will go for you. Once you have a topic and you have done some preliminary literature review is an ideal time to start working with a statistician.
So many of my clients come to me only after multiple rewrites of the problem statement, research questions, data analysis plan etc. They could have saved themselves a lot of time, money and frustration by contacting a statistician sooner.
In addition, many of my clients come to me only after they fully approved proposal. Often times, a proposal is accepted even though the statistics are not clearly written and sometimes, their statistics are just plain wrong. This can happen if you don’t have someone with an advanced degree in statistics on your committee. When that happens, I am unable to do the analysis for them unless we first redo the statistics in the methods chapter.
Another thing that happens is, the student comes to me with a fully approved proposal and they want help with the analysis. The statistical aspects of their methodology are correct, but unnecessarily complicated that I am unable to help them due to the scope of the project being so large I could not fit the work into my schedule, nor could I do the work for an affordable price.
These are some of the reasons why you want to work with a statistician early in the development of your proposal.
Topics: About Statistical Consulting | 5 Comments »
My Proposal has been accepted, can you analyze my results?
By Steve Creech | December 12, 2007
Probably, but many doctoral students do not have an “actual statistician” on their committee. The methodologist on your committee surely has more experience with statistics than your other committee members, but that is very different than having someone with an advanced degree in statistics and 14 years or more of experience as a statistical consultant on your committee. The point is, I have seen many committee-approved dissertation proposals that have research questions that do not lend themselves well to statistical analysis.
Topics: About Statistical Consulting, PhD Student Experiences | Comments »
I Tried to Analyze my Data Myself, Can You Review my Results?
By Steve Creech | December 5, 2007
I have had a number of doctoral students call me with a question something like this: I purchased the student version of SPSS. I was able to calculate the mean and the frequency and percent for my variables, and I even tried to compare my independent and dependent variables with an ANOVA, but I don’t know if I did it right. Would you please review my work and see if I did it right?
Topics: About Statistical Consulting, PhD Student Experiences | 1 Comment »
Testimonials From Past Clients
By Steve Creech | December 2, 2007
Past clients who have something they would like to share with others about their experiences working with me.
Topics: PhD Student Experiences | 34 Comments »
Were You Advised to Hire a Statistician?
By Steve Creech | December 2, 2007
Many of my clients have reported to me that their advisor recommended they hire a statistician to help with their dissertation. I am curious to know how many of you out there have had this happen. In my view, statistical consulting benefits both the doctoral student and the mentor. Often times the mentor has limited experience with statistics.
Topics: Ethics, PhD Student Experiences | Comments »
How Did you First Go About Handling Your Statistics?
By Steve Creech | December 2, 2007
Once you got more heavily into the statistical aspects of your study (e.g. development of your methods chapter), what was the first thing you did? Many of my clients have told me they didn’t even know statisticians existed. They came to me only after many rewrites as a result of criticisms from their committee regarding their statistical considerations. I also have heard comments from clients that they had a statistics class or two several years ago and since have forgotten everything.
Topics: PhD Student Experiences | Comments »
When Did Statistics Start to Become an Issue For You?
By Steve Creech | December 2, 2007
At what point during the development of your dissertation did you begin to struggle with statistics? In my view, statistical considerations come into play almost as soon as you have developed a topic. For all practical purposes, a statistical consultant is probably not necessary until you have spent time developing the topic and doing some literature review.
Topics: PhD Student Experiences | Comments »
How Does Statistical Consulting Work?
By Steve Creech | December 1, 2007
I have helped hundreds of doctoral students in developing their research questions, hypotheses, survey design, data analysis plan, power analysis and sample size justification, and performing the statistical analysis of their data.
My clients receive a clearly written report that demonstrates how to interpret and report the results “AND” they receive unlimited email and phone support to answer any questions they might have, to ensure that they completely understand their statistics.
Topics: About Statistical Consulting | 3 Comments »
Choosing a Statistical Consultant
By Steve Creech | December 1, 2007
In choosing a statistical consultant, ask yourself the following questions:
1) Does my consultant have a graduate degree in statistics?
2) Is statistical consulting for doctoral students their fulltime job, or is this something they do in the evenings and the weekends when they have time?
Topics: About Statistical Consulting | 1 Comment »
Is Dissertation Statistics Consulting Ethical?
By Steve Creech | November 30, 2007
When I am asked this question, I like to respond with the following analogy. Surgeons do not usually perform their own anesthesia, because anesthesia is a highly technical and specialized field, and the surgeon would prefer to leave that to an expert. By analogy, most researchers do not perform their own statistical analyses, because statistics is a highly technical and specialized field, and they would prefer to leave the statistics to an expert. So, if writing a dissertation is about learning how to do research, then by working with a statistician, you are gaining real-world experience in how to do research. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Ethics | 2 Comments »