Navigating in Unknown Waters: Proposing, Collecting Data, and Writing a Qualitative Dissertation.

Abstract

At the beginning of the dissertation research process, doctoral students cannot see the end, nor can they imagine how they will get there. For many like Elizabeth Graber of Homer, Alaska; Jenny Staben of Waukegan, Illinois; and Katherine Sohn of Pikeville, Kentucky, conducting the work of comprehensive exam preparation, proposal development, and dissertation research away from the host institution adds a multitude of challenges to the process. To achieve their goal of finishing the dissertation and earning the elusive PhD, each of them chose qualitative methodology which suited their individual purposes of describing particular settings and sharing particular stories of college literacy students rather than theoretical, philosophical, and quantitative approaches. Because qualitative research methods enlarge the vision of what counts as knowledge, who can have it, and how it is generated, challenged, and evaluated (Fleischer), and because interviews allow participants to express their "ideas, thoughts, and memories in their own words rather than in the words of the researcher" (Reinharz 19), all three chose to use interviews as a primary source of data collection. They each hoped that their research results might