ABSTRACT
My most ardent piece of advice is to seek out and surround yourself with people who trust and support the organic and often ambiguous nature of what you are trying to do. I consider myself extremely fortunate in that my committee is made up of women who believe in taking risks when it comes to issues of social justice, something I admire and want to emulate in my research endeavors. They offer the encouragement and support for me to, as one member often says, “take risks from a position of strength.” (Kelly)
The first three chapters of this book include many conceptions of support when undertaking qualitative research for the doctoral dissertation. Committee members, chairs, and advisors have helped their students throughout the experience. Faculty members from other institutions have made their services available to novice researchers and faculty members less familiar with alternative methodologies. The annual Qualitative Research in Education Conference sponsored by the School of Education at the University of Georgia is a third means by which doctoral students and faculty members can find support. To address this important topic more thoroughly, this chapter begins by providing references to the books and authors the correspondents found useful while contemplating and doing their studies. Because I include this information within the text of their letters, the appearance of the references is neither alphabetical, categorical, nor exhaustive of all books available. Additionally, because I believe it may be useful to have this information in context, and in order to save you from
searching the bibliography in the back for each individual text, I conclude this chapter with the full citations of each of the books the correspondents mention. The bibliography section at the back of the book, therefore, contains only the material that is either directly cited elsewhere or which directly influenced the writing of this book. Although reviewers suggested I “update the bibliography,” I have found more than several useful websites, numerous recently published books and a plethora of chapters and articles about qualitative research that can easily be obtained. Additional resources include publishers’ flyers for new books, qualitative research course syllabi, and bibliographies of completed dissertations. Most of the books mentioned herein have stood the test of time.
