The May Workshop

So another May Workshop has begun, and I am once again sitting in a dorm room in Carpenter Wells. I want to write for a bit about what I hope to accomplish while I am here. Time is short, and time is long. I hope to make the most of this time.

I am on the verge. I am near the point where my research will come together, but I have a lot of work yet to do. Let me chart out what I see that I need to do with my grounded theory analysis.

1. I need to define my categories, properties, and dimensions.
2. Then I need to analyze slice 5 with these "more consciously defined" categories
3. I will then need to process this analysis along axial lines
4. See if some core category truly emerges? 
5. Recode previous slices along axial lines to further clarify my sense of a core category and densify my categories and emerging theory
6. See at this point if I need to do more coding

If I can get this far this May, then I will feel truly accomplished. I may only get through item 4, but that will be OK I think.

Since I can't code the whole time, I thought at the same time (probably in the evenings) I would work on my methodology section. I may not be able to do all of the methodology because I have not finished my actual coding and thus reached the end of my coding, but I can at least pull together my rationale for this methodology better.

I have a few steps I think that this will involve. I can't quite see the sequence, but here are the tasks:

1. Review previous drafts of rationale and methodology description
2. Review other dissertations to see their description of the methodology and see what goes into a methodology section
3. Review other readings I have related to GT to see what other kinds of rationale I can use
4. Begin drafting/redrafting the chapter

And that should keep me pretty darn busy.

While I am here, I also want to get a good sense of what my real lit review chapter would be like. I have a section that seemed to be moving in a direction that would work in the dissertation, so I want to get some feedback to see if that direction is a good one to go in.

So I have three main goals
--GT analysis
--methodology drafting
--double-checking direction for lit review

Accomplishing these things will all need to be done, but it will position me for the summer work much better if I have managed to get this far. We shall see how it goes.

I will update along the way.  In the meantime, it is a beautiful day outside with a clear blue sky, and I am still in my dorm room inside.