thinkPhD

Have you ever thought about how does social change happen? I recommend reading an interesting story called “The 100th Monkey” and below that, “The Hundreth Monkey Revisited.” Is there a short cut to social transformation? Can “one monkey” really make a difference in a society?

Are you willing to be that “one monkey”? Will your education make a difference to all the monkeys around you?

I challenge you to create change for good in your own life and then to show that to others. Let’s make a change in our social fabric. Choose good things today.

My friend D shared a helpful resource with me and I think you will appreciate it as well! Have you ever needed to include a website reference in a paper, but you did not know how to cite it? Download this file and now you will know!

The basic reference format has four positions: A, B, C, and D. For example, if the title of the webpage is missing, your solution will be to describe the document inside square brackets. In Position A, you will put the author, then in position B – the date, in position C you will describe the document [inside square brackets] and then in position D – add the URL.

I have a three-ring binder of APA help documents, and today I am adding “How to Cite Something You Found on a Website in APA Style: What to Do When Information is Missing.”

Enjoy!

1. He had only one major publication.
2. It was in Hebrew.
3. It had no references.
4. It wasn’t published in a referreed journal.
5. Some even doubt he wrote it by himself.
6. It may be true that he created the world, but what has he done since then?
7. His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.
8. The scientific community has had a hard time replicating his results.
9. He never applied to the ethics board for permission to use human subjects.
10. When one experiment went awry he tried to cover it up by drowning his subjects.
11. When subjects didn’t behave as predicted, he deleted them from the sample.
12. Some say he had his son teach the class.
13. He expelled his first two students for learning.
14. He rarely came to class, and he just told students to read the book.
15. Although there were only 10 requirements, most of his students failed his tests.
16. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountaintop.

shared from http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~pinto/god.html

A recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek entitled Occupy Our Business Schools (by David L. Ikenberry and Donna Sockell) posed some interesting thoughts about MBA programs. Most programs do not include social accountability studies. Rather, the stress is on finance, marketing, and management with the view that only these add value to our society. Indeed, value is received through products, services, buying, selling, and creating worth, yet there is an obvious lack of focus on the human element. Is “value” simply immediate and ephemeral, and without lasting and significant impact on tomorrow?

Corporate social responsibility includes sustainable actions, i.e., using resources and creating value in society today that does not bankrupt future generations. An easy example is designing a toy that all children want to have, but choosing to use lead paint becuase it is cheaper. The toy manufacturer added value to society (according the MBA model) by creating worth through a product. Yet, parents will SCREAM about the health risks of the new toy. Did the toy manufacturer managers and engineers consider all of the implications to society, including the future implications, of distributing that toy?

Our MBA programs (and BS/BA programs, for that matter) must contain studies about the ethical and social implications of actions today, so that we protect our tomorrows. I don’t think we need separate social responsibility courses. Corporate social responsibility studies must be fully integrated within each course so as to prepare our next generation of business leaders.

That is, if we have a next generation.

You should approach each course with the end in mind – in other words, as you do research for your coursework assignments, carefully review the “implications for research” sections at the ends of journal articles. This will plant seeds in your mind about potential topics for your future dissertation.

In about my third core class, I started a Word doc in which I simply copy/pasted some of the statements I found. I also added some that I found in texts and developed on my own. Then, when it came time to pick a topic, I had hundreds of potentials. I deleted those that did not interest me, and found a “golden thread” among the others. My dissertation topic ended up being something that interested me, but also something that had not been done before.

Well, it has been a week since I defended, and it still seems unreal. I figured out how many years I was in school:

Kindergarten: 2 years
Grades 1-12: 12 years
Troy University, BS degree: 2 years, 7 months
Troy University, MBA: 2 years, 3 months
Northcentral University, PhD: 5 years, 7 months

24 YEARS, 5 MONTHS

Gosh that is a lifetime! I think I qualify for “lifetime learner”!

At work, they are calling me “Doctor” and my boss recognized me at a staff meeting. My work friends have been so very nice and supportive. It still feels odd not to be working on my dissertation when I come home from work. I read it through again last night and was very tempted to do some more editing.

I have a friend who defended this week, and some more friends who will be defending soon. In my PhD journey, I have met some really fantastic people, with whom I have a lot in common. We are all learners for a lifetime. What about you?

A dissertation topic is like a hole in the ground.

A poor dissertation topic hole is easily dug – it is wide and shallow, and never goes past the top soil. Just any ol’ shovel will do, and most anybody can dig this one if he has enough time. This dissertation hole is a hundred miles wide, and it doesn’t tell us much about what’s under the surface.

In contrast, a good dissertation topic is like using a borer to drive a hole in the ground – deep, deep, and deeper. It is difficult to drill and goes through layer and layer and layer, down through the bedrock. It will take longer to drill this hole. Sometimes the drill point struggles and groans and shakes. The hole on the surface is deceiving because it looks small, but this dissertation hole is a hundred miles deep, and it gives us lots of information about what is truly under the surface.

Now consider your dissertation topic: is it wide and shallow, or narrow and deep?

If you are having difficulty with your topic, perhaps you are not digging the right kind of hole?

Yep – PHinisheD! I defended my research today and am happy to say that I survived and live to tell the story!

Thanks to everyone who listened in, sent notes of encouragement, or called to wish me well. A special thanks goes to my proctor GB, who also happens to be my boss. This journey has been long and hard, and it is good to know that the light at the end of the tunnel really does exist.

You know, it is ironic that I started on this journey on my birthday in 2006, and I PHinishedD on my husband’s birthday (today) in 2012!

Quite a coincidence, don’t you think?

Happy New Year to all my readers and friends! As you make your new year’s resolutions, don’t forget to add scholarship and learning to your list.

You might be thinking about returning to school, or taking some extension classes. Maybe you are wavering on deciding to step into Masters’ or PhD waters. You might be discouraged about your PhD or DBA path, after getting back some disappointing red-lined RSH or DIS assignments. Maybe that degree you are working on seems so far away, you cannot even see the light at the end of the tunnel right now.

I understand; been there, done that.

Take it from a battle-worn veteran; YOU CAN DO THIS. Step back and prepare a plan of action. Collect supportive folks to encourage you in your journey. Shake off the disapointments you have drug along with you; they are too heavy to bring into 2012. Find that inner strength that no one believes is within you, but I know is there.

Regardless of your circumstances, your personal self-investment in learning and education is yours forever. It cannot be taken away, stolen, forgotten, or lost. It becomes an eternal part of you. It makes a better “you” and as a result, it makes a better “us.”

So, add learning and scholarship to your 2012 resolutions and your “to do” lists.

Think living, think learning, thinkPhD.

“Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.” – John Dewey