Overwhelmed

Reflections on Thursday’s class

Thank you, Ann and Ginny for showing us two ways to transcribe using ATLAS.ti and Inqscribe.  Since I am planning to go deeper with Atlas for my second skillbuilder, I plan on using it for transcription.  I imported a voice file from my digital recorder prior to class on Thursday, and I had no trouble with the file.  It was an mp3 file, which Ann stated that that type of file was the easiest to import into Atlas.  I was also excited because before connecting my digital recorder to my laptop, I downloaded software for my digital recorder thinking I would have to convert the file, but not at all—I did not even have to use the software.  I do like the capabilities of both tools, but my intent is to work with Atlas and learn it.  I found the functions surprisingly user-friendly for a first encounter, and I am glad that I can keep the audio file along with the written transcription in one place.  I realize this can be done with Inqscribe, but I can also access other documents in ATLAS.ti, such as my highlighted and memoed articles to support my findings, my IRB, and my research notes/journal.  I feel fortunate to have such knowledge and experience surrounding me in this course.  Without this exposure and a ‘safety net’ (I know that Dr. Paulus, Ann, and Ginny get emails with technical questions at all hours), I would be much more intimidated by these tools.  I do not feel intimidated at all, in fact, I am more excited about some of these tools than I initially thought I would be.  I believe it is because I am just beginning my own research process, and I see the benefit of these tools for my own use.

 

My current research/work process

Many things have happened in the last few weeks.  I have been given my comprehensive exam questions, and I am reading and searching for articles.  I am also working on an IRB for a small pilot study that I hope to conduct during the fall semester, and I have been accepted to co-present at the Literacy Research Association in December this year.  I have stated prior that taking this course has been synchronous with my current point in my doctoral studies, yet I am feeling slightly overwhelmed.  I am grateful for Evernote, as I am attempting to incorporate it in my everyday life, be it school or otherwise, for ‘real time’ notes during class that I use in my blog posts, ideas, lists, and tasks to complete.  I am also fortunate to have the allowance to find citation management software, in my case Mendeley, to help me keep all of my articles together and hopefully expedite the process of writing.  I am looking forward to my practice with ATLAS.ti.  Unfortunately, I am still struggling with finding my academic voice.  Thanks to the syllabus, I have enrolled in Dr. Keene’s ENG 462, Writing for Publication, for the upcoming fall semester.  I am hoping this assists me in learning this process.  I am also enrolled in an independent study with another qualitative research professor in order to complete my prospectus this fall. Admittedly, I feel frustrated (and slightly embarrassed) as a former English teacher to have writing issues, but I believe much of my problem is that I do not allow myself enough time to write and rewrite.  My writing process is not thorough (I do not practice what I preached for so many years—I do not brainstorm, I do not outline, I do not write more than two drafts, I edit as I write, and I can rarely find a peer editor) and I am all too aware of this negative practice.  It reflects poorly upon me, and I am trying desperately to break this habitual occurrence.  I believe that disciplining myself to carve out time for me to write daily would be extremely beneficial and ease my frustration.  This is part of doctoral work, to become an independent researcher, and for me, it is difficult.  I am easily distracted by other things in my life—my children and their schoolwork/activities, daily chores/routines, and attempting some sort of exercise to keep me sane.  I will have to keep rearranging my schedule (and my priorities) in order to become successful.

 

Reflections on readings

Paulus, Lester, Dempster (2013), has got to be one of the most useful texts I have read.  I realize that this text was borne out of Dr. Paulus’s EDPY 604 course, and it should mirror what we are learning (which indeed it does).  I also realize how much I sound like a ‘brown-noser’ by writing this previous statement.  I do not say things to make people feel good unless it is warranted.  I cannot describe how much I appreciate this book, and how many more times I will reference this text during the remainder of my enrollment at this university.  In chapter 7, the authors clearly show the affordances and constraints of ATLAS.ti 7, MAXQDA 11, and NVivo 10, along with a brief history of CAQDAS and the (inaccurate) belief that its use could influence the findings or was only useful for ‘grounded theory’ qualitative research.  Having said that, seeing a demonstration of NVivo 10 by Ann in class, and working with ATLAS.ti on our own and in the class, I can see why some researchers could be unimpressed by these types of software packages, as stated that the user may not be aware of all of the possible functions of them.  I have only one question—in MAXQDA, they have “emoticode” figures for coding data.  I was wondering how those are used, as I am not even practiced in coding with words. 

I only realize how much more I need to learn after reading Konopásek (2008).  Although I see his point about how ultimately it is the researcher who does the work and finds/chooses the outcomes, not the computer program, I realize how unfamiliar I am with grounded theory, though I have heard it on multiple occasions, and I am planning to refer to Paulus, Lester, and Dempster (2013) in order to learn more about other methodologies and methods of qualitative research, then go to those references to find more.