a "doc" chronicle

I end this year working with the data of my dissertation research, a lot closer to end of this process. If all goes well, I should finish writing during this semester. For some time now, I have thought of March as the time to defend my dissertation project. I will keep working with this goal on my mind – I really want to finish by March. There is nothing special about this time, it is just a date I thought was good, based on the work I still need to do and the available time I expect to have.

There are many things going on in my life, and that is how life is. What I make of it, how I prioritize, how I take the time to do what I need to do to finish this project is what makes the difference. Saying I want to finish is not enough, I need to work on the project, I need to take the time to sit and organize and analyze and finally write, write, write … And that is precisely what I am doing.

I am lucky; I have the support of my love ones! They are encouraging me, supporting my decisions to take a day or two or three in a row to just work with my dissertation. Whatever the result of this project is not only my own, it is ours!

My last draft was accepted as a complete Chapter. This was a wonderful surprise for me. I know I had worked hard, but there are always new things that can be done, and new ways of looking at data ...

After I received the comments on the draft, I had the feeling of wanting to work more on my dissertation. I felt it was possible to complete, and that I was getting closer to the end. But the reality was that I had to wait until Christmas break to continue.

So now, during Christmas break I am working on the analysis of new data. The mathematics discourse model I developed through the analysis of the first month of data will be revised with data from two more months. Then I will review this second model once more to finish my analysis. It is a slow process, but I am finding new things to add to the first (the preliminary) discourse model. Hopefully, I'll be able to address most (if not all) of Gee's building tasks.

If I compare working on my dissertation with climbing a mountain, now that I had my first chapter of data analysis accepted, I feel I have reached the top already and are going down the hill. I still have a lot of work to do, but I feel it is all possible!!

Many thanks to my professors!

Happy Holidays!

Labels: data analysis, Gee