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SEE the writing

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Savin-Baden, M., & Major, C. H. (2013). Qualitative Research: The essential guide to theory and practice. New York: Routledge.

Savin-Baden, M., & Major, C. H. (2013). Qualitative Research: The essential guide to theory and practice. New York: Routledge.

The most crucial dissertation text to have and live by...

June 29, 2014

This is it. The most important text on doing qualitative research. And it is excellently written.

The organization flows as a dissertation should be organized, allowing me to prepare each step in the right order. My understanding on how to conduct qualitative research, in my case pragmatic qualitative research, increases the more I read. I take notes in order to insert my own research intentions as I read along.

Any lingering doubts on which ONE book on doing a dissertation (specifically in qualitative research)....this is the one. Do not argue; just go ahead and buy this. You will thank me for recommending this. And thank the authors, Dr. Savin-Baden and Dr. Major, for their work. 

 

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Sharing Post-thoughts about my dissertation journey

SEE the Writing -- has multiple meanings.

SEE are the initials of my former married name (Sarah Elizabeth Eiland), and even though the marriage chapter in my life has ended, I still carry "See the writing" perspective lens into what I believe about writing and its effectiveness for my teaching style.

It is during my marriage that I taught Orientation 101 at Gadsden State Community College (2008-2015). Thus, I conducted research with the intent to see what students thought of my writing pedagogy, the writing prompts, as an all-encompassing tool to succeed both in the classroom and in life.

On a side but very important note, I am hearing impaired. Subsequently, I share how writing helps with my reaching out to the students sitting in my classroom.

Autoethnography is the research approach used to explore how writing over time has helped with the development of my pedagogical content knowledge.

Lee S. Shulman's (1986, 1987) pedagogical content knowledge is the theoretical framework for my autoethnographic research. Not only do I refer to PCK, I also touch on several other theories including Dee Fink's (2013) taxonomy of significant learning, Schlossberg's (1989) theory on mattering vs. marginality, Mikhail Bahktin's theory of addressivity, and Jacque Lacan's theory of interconnectedness.

I concluded my autoethnographic research with five findings:

1) individualism within diversity

2) variability

3) persistence

4) competence

5) responsiveness.