Writing your doctoral dissertation - part 26 docx

Your inferences are data driven, based on your interpretation of what your data reveal.. You want to identify inferences which both are supported by your data and offer a comprehensive u

Analyzing and interpreting your data

interpretation are two sides of one coin, or reciprocal processes, each leading

to the other

It is your responsibility, from your in-depth familiarity with your data, to represent your data honestly and appropriately The more support you can provide, the more likely your readers will be to concur with your analysis Figure 12.1 graphically represents a cyclical process integral to the writing

of your dissertation Ultimately, there is a point at which you say, “Enough! I know what I’ve found.” That’s when you’re ready to write the final draft of your findings

Figure 12.1 A schematic representation of the typical recursive process in writing

a dissertation

Drafting and Editing

Your Dissertation

Towards the completion of it all, it seemed that a new world had opened up to

me I found that exhilarating

The accomplishment of completing a rigorous academic effort is quite uplifting

You are now ready to write up your findings in a polished state for public scrutiny And “scrutiny” is the operative term Expect that each of your

“findings” will be subjected to intensive study You will initially draft some organizational strategies projecting the potential contents of sections of your chapters You will place in these sections all the relevant materials you have collected and analyzed At first this will probably involve creating numerous files with scraps of papers, notes, transcripts, test scores, etc Eventually, you will distill this amalgam of papers, identifying the most important issues and highlighting these in your presentation You will constantly revise these as you proceed in presenting your findings In actuality, you are probably discovering what you found concurrent with writing this section Once a first draft is completed, you will be in a better position to revise your text, helping your readers to understand what you now know you have discovered Your chair may work with you in this process, or, more typically, will respond to drafts you provide As you progress, you will get a better sense of where information should be presented to facilitate your readers’ understanding of both the process and the outcomes of your study

As agreed with your chair and your committee, you will offer drafts for their review When you discuss their reactions and suggestions to your drafts, you should obtain clarity on confusing issues as well There is usually a healthy intellectual dialog which occurs in this process during which time your analysis becomes enhanced, and your committee becomes informed of your progress directing and guiding your thinking During these conversations, your committee may ask questions about your draft, to which you should be ready

to respond Look on these interactions as opportunities to explain what you have done, without being either defensive or docile You should be able to explain your rationale, based on others who preceded you, or based on your understanding of the specific situation in which you found yourself Regardless

of the basis, be prepared to respond If you believe your reader has misunderstood your meaning, be prepared to clarify your intent expansively

Presenting your findings

and then revise your written text so that it is clearer for all subsequent readers After you have taken a great deal of time thinking about issues, be prepared to defend your thinking while listening to alternative perspectives

As the researcher, it is your responsibility to explain in great detail what you found: what you discovered from your data; what new insights you have about such phenomena as, for example, the way that people write essays in class or the way that books are organized You serve as a guide to your readers, preventing them from getting lost looking at isolated trees, and helping them to see the forest the way that you now understand it, based on your intensive, careful analysis

You will need to discover what you “found” before you can create the final textual presentation of this section Most students find it useful to write many notes and drafts of this aspect of the research prior to polishing a chapter which reports on the findings Consequently, students frequently create tables and figures, then explain what these syntheses of their data mean in narrative form, and, finally, organize these sections into a cohesive and powerful chapter of their dissertation which explains the findings

Your data are the evidence supporting your findings Based on your systematic and intensive interrogation of these data, you will infer potential explanations for them Your inferences are data driven, based on your interpretation of what your data reveal You may make some inferences which are not supported by your data These you will need to discard You want to

identify inferences which both are supported by your data and offer a comprehensive understanding of your data.

As you obtain confidence in the fit between your data and the inference(s),

you will explicitly state the inference(s) or general principle(s) which explain

your findings You may also want to identify any qualifications or limitations

on those general principles, such as age, sex, or context

This expansive presentation of your thinking will enable readers to follow your interpretation and ultimately accept your perspective when your explanation is reasonable to them It will also enable you to review your thinking consciously, and perhaps find weaknesses or omissions which need

to be remedied If your interpretation is thorough, clear, logical, relevant, and cautious, it is likely to be compelling to your readers And it will provide the opportunity for an informed discussion, along with an important contribution

to your academic discipline

Creating a Compelling Argument for your Findings

It is possible that your findings may contradict current thinking If your findings “surprised” you in some way, and this is one important phenomenon inherent in the research process, then your findings are likely to surprise others It is your responsibility to convince your readers at least to consider the accuracy of your analysis by providing sufficient information for them to make independent judgments This may take the form of quotations from

interviews, or test scores, for example These samples of your data, in combination with your narrative explanation of the inferences you are making, will position your readers to consider your interpretation along with their own, weighing any differences, and particularly focusing on the elements which you emphasize in your presentation There are several criteria which are useful in drafting a compelling argument:

a thorough interpretation;

a clear interpretation;

a logical interpretation;

a relevant interpretation;

a cautious interpretation

A Thorough Interpretation

A thorough interpretation of your data synthesizes the individual units of

analysis (e.g words, sentences, responses, test scores, weight, etc.) into a

more comprehensive context For an interpretation to be considered

“thorough,” it needs to account for all the major dimensions which you

studied, as identified in your research question You will lead your readers to focus on the larger issues, a perspective which you have from your intimate familiarity with your data Your ability to create a cohesive whole from the isolated bits and pieces of your data will be one factor in creating a thorough interpretation Your explanations of the potential meanings to be drawn from data presented in spread sheets, figures, photos, excerpts from transcripts, etc., should be multidimensional, suggesting multiple potential perspectives

on your data As you guide your readers, you create a compelling argument for interpreting your data in a specific way On the other hand, you may offer competing interpretations for your data The choice you make is based on your data If your data are clear cut, there is no controversy In some cases, the data are not that clear cut, requiring an honest researcher to offer competing interpretations

Your readers should have a sense that your interpretations represent an exhaustive search for meaning from your data They should also get a sense that you have included all the essential information, and that you have not arbitrarily excluded information relevant to the analysis Your honesty as a researcher is attested to by your comprehensive inclusion of all your data, even data which may challenge your inferences

Presenting your findings

A Clear Interpretation

A clear interpretation is easy to follow Information is presented systematically and predictably Symbols in graphs and within the text are explained Details are provided to enable an intelligent reader to understand the issues There is meticulous attention to getting the facts correct The information presented in a table should be consistent with the information presented in the narrative When there are discrepancies, the reader is at a loss to know which is accurate, and therefore may become disillusioned with the quality of the research being reported When transcripts are quoted, line references should be exact, directing your reader’s attention to the precise words on which you are commenting If a reader has difficulty following your argument, you jeopardize the possibility that your study will be misinterpreted or rejected Your careful choice of words will reflect your clear understanding of your findings

The organization of your information in a concise, flowing text evolves from a comprehensive and cohesive understanding of your findings, knowing which parts are subsumed under the key findings

A Logical Interpretation

Your reader will consider your interpretation “logical” if you organize your

presentation in a systematic and predictable fashion From your understanding

of your data, you decide which issue needs to be addressed first, and which follows naturally from that first issue You will also provide a sketch of the order in which you will discuss your findings, enabling your readers to create

a mental map of your presentation, and then to find that information as they peruse your text Your presentation should lead your readers to understand your findings as clearly as you do Usually, simultaneously with your writing of this section, your understanding becomes crystallized

A Relevant Interpretation

Your findings must be directly related to three components of your study:

• your research question and the theories and/or sources which contributed

to its identification;

• the data which you collected; and

• your data analysis

Information from other sources is irrelevant at this point Your interpretation must be focused on important issues Whereas there may be many details included in the data which you collected, and your analysis may have focused

on a multitude of elements, you now need to decide the most important issues You want to highlight the most prominent, and the strongest findings