Masters help for mears

[mears]

This is a question for those of you out there who have completed a masters course part time.

I have completed up to the point I need to do my 20,000 word dissertation. Unfortunately I took a break for a year and nearly opted out altogether. I just found I could not get focussed to progress my research proposal due to work and family commitments.

Anyway, I have picked it up again and need to have it completed by Sept 2007. Will probably need to beg for an extension from the programme panel.

The question is. How likely is it that I can achieve completing within the year?

I am planning to send a questionnaire to women seeking their views on their waterbirth experience. Still have to totally formulate research proposal and design questionnaire. I think that will be less time consuming than interviews. Is interview actually better?

I really am running around like a headless chicken trying to get a handle on all this. Meeting my tutor this afternoon but I thought your experiences might help.

Anyone?

think a questionaire would be better
although it depends if you're better with qualitative or quantitative research, and then you have to consider finding existing research (perhaps) that supports your own work

it is doable, can you set aside time every week just for this, just for you? I did mine prechildren so had time, must be harder fitting it around family committments!

I had a waterbirth with DS1 - can I help?

if you do a questionnaire, I'll fill one in for you

I reckon it's definitely do-able to complete by September, as long as you are able to set aside some regular time each week to focus on it.

How about sending out a load of questionnaires, collating those results, then following up with a few interviews to bulk out the body of the dissertation - eg picking up on any issues of particular interest.

and with a questionairre type thing, you can set the deadlines when you want them back , then pour over and analyze etc etc in your own time. Interviewing process can take a v long time
maybe send out questionairre to x amount and then from that lot, interview maybe 10% of respondants?

Mears, it is doable (sp?) - I did my dissertation after ds was born, and completed when he was 10 months old (went back to work ft when ds was 5 months old too).

I found that I had to be really disciplined with myself, but was able to do it, if I did my work when ds was napping during the day. DH also did his bit, by looking after ds completely for several days. It's not a period of time I would repeat - very stressful, but the feeling of achievement I got from completing it was superb!

FWIW the questionnaire / interview thing really depends on what the scale of the research is. You could do a questionnaire, and interview a sample of respondents ...

sorry, rambling now, will stop ...

good luck.

ejt

Would there be time for that merrily?

Thanks for the offer of filling in questionnaires but I think I will need to focus on women using our unit. I did use information from mumsnetters in one of my previous pool assignments

I have started a thread just to get a feel for things.

I have so got to get this done - have had a stern formal letter from my tutor.

ejt1764 - well done! I have got 4 children but they are older. Am working full time but have secures a day a week study leave.

Will need to think of what to put in questionnaire. Don't want to put crap questions in it.

I suspect a questionnaire will be quicker. ITO ideal, it really depends on what you want. The 'standard' viewpoint is that you can get more depth of info with interviews, as you can follow up on what people say more, rather than being hidebound by the questionnaire. I suspect that would be less of an issue in this case as it's such an emotive subject/woment would WANT to talk about it. PLUS ime, quant seems to go down better academically...
LIke merrilys suggestion - that way you could follow up in depth on any issues that surpirse or interest you - put something on the bottom of the questionnaire for people to agree to be recontacted (& bear in mind you could talk on the phone rather than f2f if needbe...)

I work in qual research & I know there are other quallies on here (& very happy to help you with designing a discussion guide if you go the interview route), but there might also be some quant researchers who could help you with questionnaiare design?

Ruby - micro deadlines sound good

hana - like that idea about interviews with some.

Would need to gain consent for both at outset though.

I am not sure when best time to ask women to complete questionnaire - itself a really stressful time post delivery and it is a lot to ask. Waiting till 6 weeks is a delay - immediately afterward's doesn't give time for reflection possibley.

What do you think?

thankyou funnypeculiar.

Am off to do some other work and will report back once I have seen my tutor later this afternoon.

This thread is making me feel more positive already

Well I am back with some micro deadlines. One of then being to write a 2 page proposal by the end of the week!

I have a couple of people who would be happy to fill in the questionnaire for you as well Mears.

If there's anything else then ask (not onto my masters yet... just completing the degree)

For what it's worth........ I think you can do it! You go girl!

I'm in the process of dissertation writing at the moment (March 27 deadline).

I keep everything under control by setting myself strict deadlines. I work 4 days a week, so on day 5 I take dd into school then go to the library. I have targets I have to meet each day, otherwise I just faff around wasting time. I work late at the library that day and I also work 12-4pm on a Saturday. Any other work is done after the sluglet is asleep.

In terms of the dissertation itself, I find it helpful to set out the bare bones, chapter headings, section headings etc on a document using Heading 1, Heading 2 formatting etc. I then have a document map to fill in. References go straight into the reference section as soon as I've read them, otherwise I just forget what I've used. Things get shuffled around, rewritten and changed, but at least I can see it growing and taking shape.

Mears, I did it this summer in about 8 weeks. You can do it. You will need help to make time, I did it pretty intesively (about 4 weekends in a row both days for example) and towards the end was working on it every night. but it certainly doesn't need to take years and is totally doable in the time you have.

Interviews will give you a more qualitative and depthier base for your dissertation. you could just do a limited number of half hour interviews (five or six) to back up the results of the questionnaire???

My dissertation was 36K in the end (min 25K).

you can do this.

Not a Masters but I did an OU Management Diploma a while ago whilst working fulltime (no children tho!) The first book tackled time management and how you were going to fit studying into your life, what would give etc. Gave me a realistic idea of what I was taking on and lots of ideas of how to plan.
If you want I could dig it out but have a feeling its in the roof of my rented out flat so it may take a while.
Let me know.

Thanks everyone - am beginning to feel positive. I am poppoing into the library to request a dissertation to be sent that someone else did on the subject over 10 years ago just to if there are any things I could use.

I am getting a bit excited about it now actually.

Am going to go with questionnaire and probably a limited number of interviews.

I hope that the poor newly delivered mums can be bothered helping me

feetheart I have raed a few time management strategies in my time - still crap at it. Thanks for offer antway

Dear Mears, I had a similar experience doing my MA part-time and thought that I would never complete my dissertation. I would fall to sleep mumbling bits of it and it really drove me mad. I didn't have children at the time but was working very long hours. I used a mixture of interviews and questionnaires but actually found the interviews more productive because I got my feedback there and then. I taped each interview (with permission) which really helped me to transcribe them. With the questionnaires, there was a huge range of quality in terms of the written responses and several were unusable. IME, people gave me a much greater depth of information verbally than they did in writing.

In the end I made myself accept that it would not be everything I had hoped, but that I would finish it. I was granted a short extension due to my work commitments and in the end I just aimed at completing it rather than making it the 'ideal' piece of work which I had hoped it would be. This really helped me - I set aside a certain number of hours per week and stuck to it, otherwise it took over every spare moment.

Good luck with it all, get a bottle of port/whisky in so that you can reward yourself with a dram after each session! I think that dissertations are very isolating but it is a fantastic feeling when you get that certificate!