One of these things is not like the other ones...

After reading Lester's (2010) methodology section of her dissertation proposal, it was evident that she had access to the Kilbourne (2006) rubric for scoring the lit review. I do believe that we discussed that in class last week, that she (Lester) had it "next to her" when writing. She scores highly on all aspects (all 3s). This is extremely well-written, carefully constructed work. I know we've discussed that there are going to be those of us with "good" dissertations and those of us who will have "great" dissertations. Although I believe all of us want to be "great", personally, at this moment in my existence in this program,space, and mental capacity, I may be okay with just being "good". It states in Lester's proposal that she spent two years gathering, organizing, sorting, discarding, and synthesizing literature. This dedication and knowledge of topic clearly is advantageous in dissertation writing (Certainly in proposal writing). From a personal standpoint, I am unable to know exactly what my topic will be, as I am not going to get through my initial study that was to inform me of my dissertation topic and research questions. I will be working on my comps in the summer. I will have a proposal in the early Fall semester--this gives me quite a bit less time to gather relevant pieces of literature that will be as thorough as one who has been able to spend two years on the same task. I am not complaining (though it does sound like it). I guess I am justifying to myself why being "good" is okay. I've never truly done anything of low quality in my entire school career, save this semester. I am very glad to have other dissertations to use as reference points or models, but this is one that I feel may be out of my reach. Although at this point, I may be selling myself short, as my self-efficacy is at an all-time low, and my retention and attention span is equatable to that of a gnat. Regardless, I do have a question regarding the type of qualitative dissertation one writes. None of them will look the same. I have read quite a few ethnographies, and they do not have the same discourse as the dissertation read to compare to the Kilbourne (2006) rubric. I do need to find an ethnographic dissertation (or two) and look at Kilbourne's(2006) rubric against that lit review and see what I come up with. Lester's (2010) dissertation proposal is the perfect example of how different qualitative research is and the many forms it takes. My dissertation will be qualitative as well, but it will look nothing like this, nor will my proposal. I was impressed by her positionality statement. She does well academically defining her positionality, and that type of rhetoric is what I am longing to attain. On that note of attainment--I am sad to say that I have barely gotten through one of the 7 methodology books for my own research and for our workshop circle tomorrow night. I read, Ethnography for Education(Pole & Morrison, 2003) and I found it straightforward, accessible and a possible "keeper" in my quest to find the "top 5" of ethnography methodology and methods. I will have a brief summary and reflection for my group and the book will be on hand for further examination.