Last night and up until 3 p.m. today, I retyped my prospectus into a second draft narrative outline (first paragraph of each section) to tighten my focus on the research topic: exploring first year students' perceptions on writing pedagogy as significant learning experience. While printing out both the "Research Approach Defense/Second Draft Prospectus Narrative Outline" and "Data Collection Questions," I hurriedly drank a protein drink to boost my energy after "wee hours in the morning" nights as of late. I then drove to Gadsden Center on this blissful Saturday where football reigned except for Auburn, who is not playing today. I am glad for that because I do not want to miss an Auburn game. WAR EAGLE! And I respectfully support Alabama.
At Gadsden Center, I arrived just as Dr. Webb finished teaching his class. I smiled at him as I pulled out copies of the latest dissertation work for us to refer to while discussing how my idea of doing an exploratory pragmatic qualitative research case study approach with phenomenological and autobiographical overtones can be workable, since I am no longer fixated on doing autoethnographic analysis due to Dr. Major's concerns that I would not receive committee support for that.
After I explained how I would conduct a traditional Interactionism and Chicago School pragmatic type of research for Introduction, Lit Review, Methodology, Data Collection, and Data Analysis, I would then give a twist to my PQR study with phenomenological and autobiographical overtones by inserting a researcher positionality and data interpretation chapters.
To do a researcher positionality chapter will call for autobiographical experiences that I desire to share in order to explain my purpose of choosing this research topic to study, to share how I experience the phenomenon of writing pedagogy when I was a student.
Then in the data interpretation chapter, I want to apply the themes (that have been drawn out and explained in the data analysis chapter) by juxtaposing my own perspectives with students' written perceptions on writing pedagogy as significant learning experience.
Dr. Webb suggested that if this research approach is approved, I would then need to explain which type of phenomenology I will use as an overtone. Hermeneutic, transcendental, or even this new upcoming third type by Vagle. I can do either Vagle or transcendental.
As for the researcher positionality chapter, Dr. Webb suggested that I get the Charmaz book (which I did buy but returned, then I will have to buy back again) for its excellent chapter on researcher positionality chapter. Earlier, I had explained to Dr. Webb that I was inspired by Dr. Gilchrist's own dissertation where she did an entire chapter for researcher positionality. He then suggested that Dr. Gilchrist to come to the prospectus meeting for her own experience.
Hopefully, others will agree to Friday, October 3rd to do the prospectus meeting. I just emailed Dr. Major an update about this meeting with Dr. Webb, and now I am waiting to hear from her about what to do next, when to schedule the prospectus meeting.
And I am feeling good especially due to my being able to retype the prospectus into a second draft narrative outline. I can see what the dissertation books are strongly recommending to get that zero draft done in order to actually move on a bit faster and more confident.
P.S. Dr. Webb told me something I had not known or heard of before, when a doctoral student uploads the dissertation to the institutional database or wherever that is, there would be a prompt for purchasing one or more hardback bound copies. He recommended that when I finish and upload my dissertation, go ahead and purchase a copy for the chair and all committee members. Any professor who has served either as chair or committee member should receive a copy to add to his/her library. He said that I should go to Dr. Hardy's office and see for myself the vast collection of dissertation books in there.
What Dr. Webb strongly recommended makes sense, it is a tangible form of thank you for serving as chair or committee member, to give time to read and be "constructive and fair" in helping another individual achieve the echelon of intellectual achievement, the doctorate.