Dissertation Methodology

[Lyra33]

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Hello everyone,
I apologize if there is another post like this on here, but I did a search and did not find anything. I am getting ready to match to my dissertation chair and begin working on my dissertation, but I had a couple questions regarding methodology. I have two main research interests, and one of my topics would be a definite quantitative dissertation, whereas the other one would be qualitative. I am very interested in both topics, but my concern is if I were to complete a qualitative dissertation I will not be as competitive for the internship match process. If anyone has any suggestions or opinions on the methodologies I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[Doctor Eliza]

I made a multitude of mistakes in my grad program. However, the one thing I did right was keep my dis methodology simple. I asked questions that could be answered by straightforward stats. I had some friends who were asking interesting complex questions that were so complicated that they needed to take additional courses on to understand what they needed to. Also, their chairs were unable to help them because their stats were so complex. It slowed them down terribly.

Also, if there is any way to test your theories on a college population, do it! Subject recruitment can really slow things down.

Maybe things are different if you want to be an academic. By the time I got to my dis, i just wanted to get out of my program with my life, the last shreds of my sanity, and my PhD! My career goals had changed and I wanted to be a clinician. I knew that I would never try to publish my dis and it was not going to change world with it. The dis was a means to an end.

As for your question about internship, most sites seem to care very little about your dis. Maybe that is different if you want to go to a research heavy internship, but those are sort of the exception rather than the rule.

Dr. E

 

[RGirl]

Definitely echoing what Dr. E says above. As someone who wants to become a clinician, but somehow ended up doing a three study dissertation and now just wants to be done with it all, I'm definitely wishing I had kept it a little simpler.

With regards to internships, my impression was that sites cared very little about the details of my research, to be honest. Some asked me some general details, but they were more focused on the broader topic or my overall progress-- and some didn't ask me a thing about my dissertation. This is probably the exception for research heavy sites, of course, but as long as you can speak about your research with some confidence, I don't think quant vs. qual will play a big role in matching.

 

[docma]

Internships sites (with some exceptions) will be interested in 1) progress on the dissertation and evidence that it will be done, ideally before internship and (perhaps) 2) relevance of topic to their population/treatment setting, etc. And 2) would probably be only at the point of differentiating among candidates already under consideration for other reasons as well. So, for example, someone who has studied schizophrenia in a college population would be preferred over someone who had studied social media dating techniques, if the site was a CMHC.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Definitely echoing what Dr. E says above. As someone who wants to become a clinician, but somehow ended up doing a three study dissertation and now just wants to be done with it all, I'm definitely wishing I had kept it a little simpler.

With regards to internships, my impression was that sites cared very little about the details of my research, to be honest. Some asked me some general details, but they were more focused on the broader topic or my overall progress-- and some didn't ask me a thing about my dissertation. This is probably the exception for research heavy sites, of course, but as long as you can speak about your research with some confidence, I don't think quant vs. qual will play a big role in matching.

This. As my advisor/chair has told me many times in the past, "it's just a dissertation, you don't have to win the Nobel Prize with it." And even then, I've likely gotten more complicated with it than was necessary.

In general, internship--and later postdoc--sites (as mentioned above) were more interested in the progress than the topic, the latter of which came up fairly often for me only because my dissertation is in an area that not many adult-oriented practitioners tend to want to focus.

 

[Milk Milk Milk]

This. As my advisor/chair has told me many times in the past, "it's just a dissertation, you don't have to win the Nobel Prize with it." And even then, I've likely gotten more complicated with it than was necessary.

In general, internship--and later postdoc--sites (as mentioned above) were more interested in the progress than the topic, the latter of which came up fairly often for me only because my dissertation is in an area that not many adult-oriented practitioners tend to want to focus.

Yup. The best dissertation is a done dissertation. Stick to a feasible idea with clinical applicability.

 

[Lyra33]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it!

 

[paramour]

I made a multitude of mistakes in my grad program. However, the one thing I did right was keep my dis methodology simple. I asked questions that could be answered by straightforward stats. I had some friends who were asking interesting complex questions that were so complicated that they needed to take additional courses on to understand what they needed to. Also, their chairs were unable to help them because their stats were so complex. It slowed them down terribly.

Also, if there is any way to test your theories on a college population, do it! Subject recruitment can really slow things down.

Maybe things are different if you want to be an academic. By the time I got to my dis, i just wanted to get out of my program with my life, the last shreds of my sanity, and my PhD! My career goals had changed and I wanted to be a clinician. I knew that I would never try to publish my dis and it was not going to change world with it. The dis was a means to an end.

As for your question about internship, most sites seem to care very little about your dis. Maybe that is different if you want to go to a research heavy internship, but those are sort of the exception rather than the rule.

Dr. E

Yep.

Our dept denied a student in our program the opportunity to apply for internship this year because of the "complexity" of the stats required for the individual's dissertation. The student's adviser was unfamiliar with the stats (nor was anyone else on the student's committee or in the dept familiar with them), so they expected the student to need "extra time" to process the results and obtain additional consultation--even though the individual had completed all course requirements, practicum requirements, and absolutely everything else that could possibly be considered of an individual prior to applying for internship.

Other students have stuck around extra years for recruitment issues due to using populations outside of the university psych pool (or they've returned after internship to finish up and recruit "a few more folks"--although this is usually an absolutely last resort and one that they try not see happen). I may be stuck in this quagmire soon enough, but I'm well-aware of it and okay with it for the time being. 😳