Go With the Gap
Hi Doctoral Students, I am
gerontologist and professor Dr. Jan Vinita White. I believe that students
should begin thinking about their dissertation topic at a macro level from the
first day of the program. At least start thinking about a topic in broad terms.
I wanted to research aging and I thought I “should” use a quantitative
methodology because I bought into the myth that qualitative was not rigorous
enough. Many novice researchers share this bias.
Because my university did not
offer a doctoral degree in my specialty, gerontology, I chose Human Services
and they approved a customized program in gerontology. It required me to
write every course project paper with an aging focus. Whenever possible,
I wrote my class discussions about aging. At my first residency, my
academic advisor made a suggestion about making a research stash that would
eventually become my exhaustive literature review.
All of the scholarly research
for those applications/papers/discussions went into a "research stash,” my
research-specific email account. By sending the .pdf to myself at that email
address, I began compiling my literature review at the beginning of my program.
Because I had to take comprehensive exams [written and oral], my comp
exams also provided an opportunity to add to my stash. It also helped me
when I wrote my comps because I had research documents already in my
stash. This method really saved me a lot of time.
Later in my doctoral program, I
realized I had no dissertation topic and I continued groping around and trying
to come up with something. It was really agonizing. I went back
through the "stash" and read all of the abstracts and most of the
articles. Sometimes, it is a good idea to get away from the literature
review for a couple of weeks and then come back with fresh eyes. This is
how I found my topic, by reexamining the literature I had compiled. This
is known as an “exhaustive literature review.” As you know, the primary
purpose of the literature review is identifying the gap. Accredited universities require the identification of a gap in the research. This doctoral
requirement is ESSENTIAL for demonstrating scientific merit. Scientific
merit MUST be demonstrated and that is why passion alone is not sufficient for
a topic. Nor is "canvassing the community."
Here is what I found when I
reexamined my literature stash. I realized that grandparent studies were
flawed. I found that the bulk of aging research on grandparents was conducted
using grandmothers yet they were called, "grandparent"
studies. Then I found that, out of convenience, the majority of those were
conducted in cities. Okay two gaps: No grandfathers and no rural studies.
Third, the majority of grandparent/grandmother research did not use scholarly
protocols. Most of them did not even have theoretical frameworks! Yikes! Three
gaps! I was also sad and frustrated because I did NOT want to examine
this topic and I tried to figure out how to get out of it and ignore these
findings.
I shared my identified gaps
with my committee. They were actually excited! They could not
believe that I found three gaps! After careful deliberation, I knew this
was my focus but I remained “underwhelmed.” Because scant research
existed on rural grandfathers, phenomenology was recommended,
as that is where researchers start when a topic is rarely studied. Now, I am a
city gal, born in Hollywood and raised in Orange County. I have never
stepped one foot on a farm. I doubted that I could appropriately examine
rural grandfathers when I knew nothing about rural life. My committee
told me that my urban and suburban background was in my favor, as I was going
into this tabula rasa, as a “blank slate.” I knew nothing about
rural life and that was actually a plus.
As you can see, my topic found
ME. I did not want to study rural grandfathers but the exhaustive literature
review revealed three gaps and I knew that I HAD to investigate that topic. It
seemed as though those rural grandfathers were almost calling out to me!
It would not have been ethical
to ignore those gaps and it took me a couple of days to reconcile it and give
up my dream of “saving the world.” When people asked about my research and I
explained that I was examining rural grandfathers, I initially felt ashamed, as
if my degree were a “joke.” But then, when I got into it, oh how those
grandfathers turned my world upside down! I STILL get excited telling
people about my grandfathers and their amazing lives. They all stepped forward
to help me with my research and I will always be grateful to them. They
say that the doctoral degree is a "journey of self-discovery."
Oh how true!
While my research on rural
grandfathers did not “save the world” as I had initially hoped, it added to the
existing body of research and was my vehicle for obtaining my doctoral
degree. It turned out to be an AMAZING experience!
I hope I have illuminated the
importance of demonstrating the gap and how to go about identifying it. Go with
the gap- that is my best advice. Second, trust your committee. I could
not have conducted my doctoral research on my own instincts. Remember,
you are a novice and they are experts. They will keep you on the right
path. And if you start to stray away from the path, they will help you
get back up and forge ahead. Best of
luck to you! Dr. White
© J.V. White Dec 2009
