Qualitative researchers often describe the ambiguities and complexities of extracting meaning from ambiguous and complex data. Although methodological literature provides useful frameworks and heuristics to guide the process of transforming field data into credible findings, learning to analyze and interpret qualitative data also involves a…

The idea for this project developed in a doctoral seminar taught by Caroline Helton, a white faculty member in voice at the University of Michigan. In a presentation on the performance practice of singing spirituals, Emery Stephens, an African American graduate student in the seminar, concluded by encouraging everyone in the room (all white with…

In this article, the author relates the big role of computers in his life as a writer. The author narrates that he has been using a computer for nearly twenty years now. He relates that computers has set his writing free. When he started writing, he was just using an electric typewriter. He also relates that his romance with computers is also a…

Between 1980 and 1993, only 19% of medical school graduates chose faculty appointments with research responsibilities. Women and minorities represent only a small fraction of these, despite their growing numbers. The authors' goal is to study the effects of human agency, particularly self-efficacy, on the career development of physician…

This paper reports on a study of the development of information searching expertise by 12 postgraduate research students. Six of the students were studying education, and six were studying engineering. The paper focuses on the students' perception of the importance of searching skills and the growth of their knowledge with these skills as they…

This case study explored the perspectives regarding graduate dissertation supervision held by professors and graduate students in a university science department. Expectations and personal relationships within the graduate dissertation supervision process are discussed in order to establish better supervision practice in a climate of expanding…

The violence of any literacy acquisition in the contact zone between the powered, the disempowered, and the empowered is never clearcut. But, nevertheless, calls to theory literacy from the late 70s and early 80s have been answered with a rush. Michael Berube writes that "graduate school in English seems to have a very bad effect on people…

This study examined three questions about measures of accomplishments--notable attainments that have been publicly recognized: their pseudoipsativity, the correspondence between quantity and quality scores, and their dimensionality. Comparable samples of graduate students described their accomplishments on a questionnaire or judged the similarity…

In one sense, it has never been easier to be a feminist in composition studies. In another, it has never been harder. While the variety of scholarship is rich and the role models plentiful, there are forces at work that are making it difficult to maintain connections. Among feminists, lately there has been an impulse to define theoretical…

Two professors provide a duography of their former faculty-student relationship that confronted existing mentoring practices. They explore duography as an arts-based form of qualitative research to extend ways of thinking about and practicing the mentorship of graduate students. Duography is defined as a retrospective written account that two…

The formation of a doctoral dissertation support group can prevent feelings of being overwhelmed and offer valuable material and strategic resources for those pursuing an advanced degree. Doctoral programs are designed for students to collaboratively create a professional product--a dissertation--making use of their dissertation committees'…

As part of a districtwide follow-up study, California's Sacramento City College (SCC) surveyed 2,075 former students from 1993-94 to gather information on student outcomes and characteristics. This report presents findings for the college by academic program. First, a brief discussion of survey methodology is provided, indicating that surveys were…

Effective schools research affirms that good principal managerial and leadership skills are important to motivating teachers. A literature review reveals that early organization-behavior theory was dominated by the scientific-management movement in which the worker is a passive instrument of management. This was followed by increased concern with…

A study of graduate students in education and forestry explored their preferences and perceptions of cooperative learning strategies. The study examined strategies derived from the work of R. Slavin and D. Johnson including the following: think-pair-square, think-pair-share, jigsaw strategies, and cooperative group investigation. Of the 208…

This document presents a review of the literature on salient ethical issues in marriage and family counseling. Issues addressed in the paper include: (1) defining the client and the welfare and rights of individuals versus those of the family system; (2) issues of informed consent and manipulative therapeutic interventions; (3) issues related to…