We share our experiences with the doctoral study process from the views of both students and professors. In a linear fashion, we offer our perspectives on the various decision points and pain points inherent in the modern doctoral dissertation, with an eye toward the strategies, resources, and personal touches that made it work. We conclude with…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused qualitative researchers to use virtual platforms more extensively than they had done in the past. This case study discusses how doctoral students who were completing their dissertations used the Zoom platform to conduct research that focused on social justice issues in education. It provides a historical backdrop of…

My PhD explored the professional development needs of teacher educators--the people who teach teachers to teach. In this case study, I discuss my experience of using mixed methods: semistructured interviews, an online survey, and a focus group, with a community of teacher educators in the southeast of England. I wanted to identify the professional…

This case study provides an account of my experiences and lessons learned in designing and implementing a survey research. The research was part of my doctoral thesis in educational measurement and quantitative methods. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a Completely Structured Training compared with Partially Structured…

In this study, 11 doctoral students and I as the course instructor employed a narrative framework to uncover our perceived truths about our experiences as we interacted, studied, pondered, and journeyed through a qualitative research methods course. Data were my chronologically ordered notes documenting my thinking and perceptions about my…

Based on my 5 years' experience that spanned the period 2002--2007 as an academic developer responsible for students and staff development, I realised that creativity was generally marginalised in undergraduate studies. In 2008, I enrolled for my PhD with the purpose of finding out whether advanced undergraduate classrooms supported students'…

In January 2012, I accompanied 5 doctoral computer science students to Nicaragua where they embarked on an action research study to assess and evaluate the usage and conditions for 300 computers that had been donated to a nonprofit, InnerCHANGE WORKS for schools, libraries, health centers, and prisons in Nicaragua. The students worked under the…

The research design of a study involves continual refinement through experiential processes. This case study demonstrates the importance to novice researchers of conducting a pilot study to test the feasibility of the study's research design and practice data collection (in this instance, interviewing skills). The case study is based on an…

This case study details the methodology of a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design and explores the experiences of a productive cohort research team consisting of six individuals in a counselor education doctoral program. In 2014, the cohort began researching the impact of technology on the process of building cohesion in group counseling…

This case study provides an account of a 3-year research project that examined expectations of online graduate students. The two goals of this case are to explore opportunities and challenges of engaging online doctoral students as student co-researchers in the journal publication process and to describe how to conduct qualitative research using…