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Article Excerpt
This article contributes to the research training environment literature by presenting a method to guide the development of a dissertation research question. The method relies on 2 essential components: (a) informal doctoral student research team meetings to provide a mentoring environment in which conversation and discussion about dissertation questions takes place and (b) an inverted triangle visual to identify specific steps in the question-development process. The first author's experience and that of 3 other participants with this method are chronicled to illustrate its efficacy.
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As doctoral students move toward completing their course work, they are expected to develop a research question that is in an area of particular interest to them. An additional source of pressure for these students is the requirement to write and defend a dissertation. A majority of doctoral students have minimal, if any, experience in conducting research when they enter a program of doctoral study. Two essential factors that contribute favorably to doctoral students' research interests, productivity, and their experience in the process of conducting research are the research training environment and faculty mentoring (Hill, 1997; Hollingsworth & Fassinger, 2002).
In their article on using research teams to enhance competence in counseling research, Stockton and Hulse (1983) maintained that research problems cannot be resolved without individuals' commitment to the process of research inquiry. These problems may be in the areas of research question development or in the logistical, theoretical, and methodological areas of a chosen topic. More recently, Hollingsworth and Fassinger (2002) examined the role of faculty advisers in the research training of doctoral students. Their findings indicated that the relationship between research environment and research productivity is mediated by doctoral students' mentoring experiences, which are an important predictor of research productivity. The authors suggested that a "research mentoring relationship is the vehicle through which the training environment has greatest impact on individual students' research production" (Hollingsworth & Fassinger, p. 327). Other researchers have proposed that the research training environment influences students' interest in research (Bishop & Bieschke, 1998; Kahn & Scott, 1997) and is also directly related to research self-efficacy (Kahn & Scott, 1997). Gelso, Mallinckrodt, and Garrett (1986) examined the research training environments in graduate programs and the impact of programs and environments on students' attitudes about research. They found that programs that had a positive influence on students' research attitudes also had faculty members who cared about whether students were interested in research. In such programs, faculty members organized early research experiences that matched their students' level of training.
Stockton and Hulse (1983) believed that graduate students lacked positive experiences at the time they were introduced to the research inquiry process. To remedy this situation, those authors proposed that future doctoral-level professionals be provided assistance in their training as potential researchers. Doctoral students often do not know where and when to begin the research process, what steps are necessary, which step comes first, and what activities need to be completed before the actual writing process begins (Walton, 1982). In addition, students may avoid research when they discover that much of the research that is conducted has minimal application to practice (Hill, 1997). They may lack sufficient knowledge, self-understanding, and experience to make sound decisions and choices pertaining to research inquiry and may feel pressured to declare a research topic that is not within their scope of interest and training. Mentoring is a vital tool for student success (Hurte, 2002). According to Johnson, Koch, Fallow, and Hume (2000), most graduates of doctoral programs who were mentored rated their mentoring favorably and regarded it as tremendously important in their doctoral training. Barkley (1982) and Gelso (1979) recommended that in addition to the required classes in research methodology, students need to be actively engaged in a creative research process. This problem was addressed by Stockton and Hulse (1983), wherein Stockton developed an apprenticeship-type training program that stressed the collaborative efforts of students and professor. Early participants have recognized and appreciated Stockton's model while noting the influences of research training experiences on their work as researchers, subsequent authors, and dissertation advisers (Hulse-Killacky & Robison, 2005).
The purpose of this article is threefold. First, we describe how informal doctoral student research team meetings provide a setting in which conversation and discussion take place about dissertation questions. Second, we introduce the inverted triangle visual to assist students in developing a dissertation research question. Third, the first author chronicles her experience with this team approach and documents her effective use of the visual. Also presented are the reflections of three other participants regarding their experience with the model.
Method
Although counselor education faculty would naturally collaborate with students and support their research interests at various stages of the research process, there is no model or framework that provides a faculty- and peer-supported environment to facilitate the dissertation process for students, especially one that brings together students who are at different stages of the dissertation process. Although Stockton and Hulse (1983) focused on a two-level program--Level 1 for beginning students and Level 2 for students who are working on their dissertations--we discuss the purpose and process of an informal doctoral student research team in which members vary in their level of ability, knowledge, and awareness...
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