You Know You Are A Geek When...

You know you are geek when you happen upon a scholarly journal article, utter a little bow-tie exclamation to your illustrious self, "oh my! I wonder what this article has to say?" and then print it out just for reading.

Yes, just for reading.

Not reading to write a paper; not reading to teach a class; not reading to publish another article.

J u s t f o r r e a d i n g.

- g e e k -

(I really ought to invest in looking geeky so that there is more congruence between how I think and how I look.)

For Peggy

Peggy asked for more on my previous post. Sorry Peggy, I'm writing this because I'm feeling bored and frankly, a little negative. So here's a barrage of thoughts.

To do full justice to what I wrote in my last post, I would have to offer some quotes from Barney himself. But I am too tired at this point to make my post into another academically-sound piece of writing. In fact, I don't even know if "vested social interests" is what Barney called it. But I do remember that it pertained to the understanding that academics are more interested in their own work, their own theories, their own language, and the advancement of their own careers than they are in the pure pursuit of knowledge. To protect their interests, they create a culture where in order for you to "advance" in academia, you have to play by their rules. If you don't, you are ostracized.

I came to this stark realization after having some really good and deep conversations with a visiting professor. After getting to know hir well, s/he told me the "secrets" to scholarly achievement. Scholars playing the game, so to speak, will only pay heed to another scholar if the other scholar has credentials behind hir name. And to get those credentials, you need to abide by the rules of the game: publish in the right journals, cite the right people, be cited by the right people. For many scholars (perhaps American ones in particular), what you have to say is less important than how well you've played the game. You could say something brilliant, but if you don't have the right credentials, it doesn't really count. It's as if you're not in the club, so your opinion doesn't matter.

I saw this "in action" last week with my own eyes. The speaker was saying some really brilliant things, but because s/he did not play the academic game, scholars in the club discredited hir. "We would have to know who s/he was first before we'd be willing to hear what s/he has to say."

Excuse me? Should not the content speak for itself?

I like academia, and I still think there is much good--and many good scholars--in it. Especially those who are older, accomplished, and really bored with the game people in academia play. I greatly admire true thinkers. The rest of those [us?] career-vested academics are, I'm afraid to say, fooling themselves (and those who are wow'ed by anything PhD) to think that they are really contributing to knowledge in any significant way.

I am thankful for people like Barney who have taught me not to be so small minded as to limit the periphery of my vision to see only what I have been socialized to see.

I will end this post with The Professor Song which I made up one day when listening to my children's Flea Fly Song (sung to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic):

One professor published behind a second professor's back

The second professor published behind a third professor's back

The third professor published behind a fourth professor's back

The fourth professor published behind a fifth professor's back

They were only playing te_____nure

They were only playing te_____nure

They were only playing te_____nure

When the one professor published behind another professor's back!

The moral of the story? Learn to play the game, but don't get your mind muddled in the muck.

The Simpsons Understand

Conference in Resort City in the Americas

Remember how I struggled to get my dissertation abstract to be sent in to a conference since December 4th?

Well, I heard back right away from the evaluation committee, and surprise, surprise, they were not taken aback by my orthodox grounded theory methodology.

And so, I received the doctoral scholarship, and I will be flying to Resort City in the Americas (RCA) to present my emerging work in April 2010.

Hopefully, I will be able to have my dissertation fully completed by then.

Question: to bring wife or not to bring wife along to RCA? :-D

---

Edit (Dec 19): It turns out that I didn't receive a scholarship yet, my dissertation was only accepted. Twenty over doctoral dissertations were accepted, and only five scholarships will be given out, to be announced later. A proposal using classic GT methodology winning a competitive scholarship? I have my doubts. :-/

Hand-Coding Hardware

I was advised that sorting and memo-ing would be more easily done by hand. But I was not told as to the mechanics of that process.

After two days of trying out different things, I came to this:

• Export codes from MaxQDA into Excel
• Edit Excel file so that the relevant information fits onto a regular sized paper (make sure there are lines drawn between codes)
• Print on card-stock paper (I used regular paper the first time, and found them too flimsy to handle)
• Cut out each code into a separate strip (that's where the lines come in)

Then do the sorting/consolidating thing by asking these classic GT questions:

- What is the data a study of?

- What category does this incident indicate?

- What is actually happening in the data?

- What is the main concern being faced by the participants?

- What accounts for the continual resolving of this concern?

It was relatively easy to re-categorize them into higher level categories. (Except I'm not sure if that is what I am doing exactly.)

Then, I needed more hand-coding hardware. I took large envelopes and made little envelope strips out of them into which I inserted the various categories of codes.

I took a picture of a handful for "show and tell":

Ta dah! Clever, ne?

Well, now, I'm stuck. How do I go from my hand-coding back into software-coding? Because I still have a lot more data to code.

As they say in France, "zut alors!"

My Proposal Progress

So, I've been up all night for 8 nights in a row, sleeping around 5-6am. When I awake (around 1pm), I work. And then, I eat. And then, I work some more. And I eat some more. And so on.

There was not a day night that I did not think I would be done with my proposal by the next night. But with each night that passes, something new arose and I had to spend hours editing and editing.

Did you know that adding up hours can turn into days?

Imagine that.

Tonight was IRB (Institutional Review Board, or Ethics Board). It took me 4 hours to go through the online training. Completely unexpected and frustrating to no end. Yet, it was good to learn, and it led me to further refine my methodology and write a more solid informed consent. Much better than the one I was trying to plagiarize from another dissertation. o . O

Anywayz...

I didn't quit after the IRB. I pushed and I pushed and... ladies and gentlemen, "it is finished."

Okay, okay, I lied. I still have two appendices to edit and the references need to be filled in and APA'ed. But really, can you blame a guy who has been proposaling for six months for wanting to celebrate a little early?

I think not.

Here's how exhausted I am: I discovered a nice little reference to support my methodology, and then found myself laughing my head off when I noticed the author's last name was Dick.

Dick dick, dick dick dick dick dick.

I need to go to sleep.

Nite all. I mean, good morning.

The New Electric Company

My kids LOVED it.

When asked what they thought, 7 year-old daughter said, "fantastic!" Even 5-year old son was riveted for the entire 30 minutes. Heck, I was impressed and I did not expect to be.

The new version has some great changes that really work for today's kids.

The Electric Company is a "club" of kids (played by 13-20 year olds) with special SKILLS to do cool things with words. Here they are.

There is an enemy group, Pranksters (I think) and the interaction between the Electric Company and the Pranksters forms a storyline.

The story is fast-paced and woven through a network with nodes that represent cool teaching snippets (not part of the storyline) emphasizing certain aspects of English words e.g. hard versus soft "c".

Those of you teaching English as an alternative language can show clips to your students. Although TEC is targeted towards children 6-9 years old, the ideas and special effects are engaging for kids of all ages. Check out the "Matrix.

My favourite is Music Man. He is the grooviest. Here's Music Man with his love of that silent "e."

The website is great too. It has games, video clips, and you can watch entire episodes on it.

So much creativity and resources put towards teaching and empowering kids. I love it.

The Bamboo

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality.... I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me.

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

"In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. The same in year four.

"Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.

Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant.

But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful.

"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high."

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned.

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

PhD Blogs on Wordpress

I just discovered a WHOLE bunch of PhD blogs on Wordpress here.

Wordpress has some nice features that make your blogging life much richer. I signed up there, I'm not sure I have the time to muck around with yet another new blog program.

What I like about it though, is the community of PhD bloggers there. Perhaps I can sneak peeks in between dissertating and make a comment or two. Who knows? I might actually meet a couple of like-minded individuals.

Beverages Welcomed

"You are welcome to bring beverages in covered containers into the study areas of the library."

Aren't those the most wonderful words you have ever read on a sign in a library?

Not only that, the desk is big (good for spreading out papers for editing), there is a nice yellow lamp creating a feeling of warmth, it's very very quiet (maybe because this is the hallowed halls of a seminary), and most importantly, there is a wall of windows offering a beautiful view to the outside and some sunlight to my soul!

This is what it looks like:


















Oh yeah, and I don't have to pay for parking. Sweetness or what?

-----

On a separate note, I attended my first dissertation support group hosted by the University counseling services this morning. I'm glad to report that it was a positive experience. More on that later.

I've Been Tasered. Come and play!

I have been tasered by the CEO (Career Encouragement Officer). The rules:

1. Provide a list of the books you’re currently reading.

a) Qualitative inquiry & Research Design, by John Creswell (1st and 2nd editions -- yes, I'm reading both editions, okay? :-P)
b) Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by Denzin & Lincoln (1st and 2nd editions -- like I said!)
c) Grounded Theory in Practice, by Strauss & Corbin, 1997.
d) Qualitative Methods in Family Research, edited by Gilgun, Daly & Handel, 1992.
e) Handbook of Interview Research: Context & Method, edited by Gubrium & Holstein, 2002.
f) ...
There is a lot more along the same vein, but I won't bore you to death. And yes, this is why I'm the lonely dissertator.

2. Pick up the nearest book.

Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach (by Joseph Maxwell, 2005, 2nd ed.). Look, it's important to specify the edition, okay? People have made important changes to their writing! I mean, really!

3. Open to page 123

4. Find the fifth sentence.

5. Post the next three sentences.

Here we go: The introduction to your proposal "sets the stage for your research, explaining ... what you want to do and why" (Peters, 1992, p.202). It should clearly present the goals of your study and the problem (s) it addresses, and give an overview of your main research questions and the kind of study you are proposing.

Ha! Perfect, exactly where I am now, soon to write the intro to my proposal!

6. Tag five more people.

I tag Fajita's Blog, Ceiling In My Drink, Wilful Sunflower, Sivin Kit, Scholar Wannabe, and Sherman On The Mount. These are fine folks, the kind that love to read and would never make fun of me for admitting that I read both editions of a book. Hmm... let me add one more to the list: Twwt2001. Hmm... that's seven people, isn't it? Good thing I'm doing qualitative research! :-D

-----

By the way, being tasered apparently is real problem. Some people have died from it. Here's a youtube video of a student getting tasered, and who's made famous the line, "Don't tase me, bro!"