A series of slide shows have been uploaded for beginning researchers.  These materials have been supplied because beginning researchers at Manukau Institute of Technology have requested access to materials to which they were introduced during a series of guest lectures delivered by Dr Jens Hansen.  "I enjoy these sorts of sessions and I'm happy to make my materials available to others - especially if they can ignite a passion about research."  Dr Hansen suggests that there is a useful sequence for looking at these slides and he also suggests that the accompanying notes for slides shows four and five should be read so that a fuller understanding of research processes will be developed.  "It's not a course that I'm teaching all of but it might be quite useful for students to have a look at these materials so that they begin to understand what is involved in the research process".  

To access the slide shows and the various sets of notes, click here.  » Read More

Although doctoral theses can be started at pretty well any time in an academic year, it's far more common for candidates to begin their work at the beginning of a semester.  And that's generally the case for masters thesis writers as well.  For that reason, it's now very timely for staff at the Woodhill Park Research Retreat to offer another one day workshop for up to ten thesis writers (honours, masters, doctorate) and that workshop will be held on Saturday August 14th from 9.00 a.m - 4.30 p.m.  This workshop will cost $200.00 plus GST per person and will include morning and afternoon tea as well as lunch but as per previous workshops, we invite candidates to bring their supervisor with them for free (providing that the supervisor focuses on the student's work and not their own).  It's the last time we will be able to hold this workshop at this cost level because from October, due to government levies, the cost of GST will rise.  So consider beating the GST price rise by enrolling now. 
 
Previous workshops have stressed matters which can help candidates ensure that they successfully complete their thesis/dissertation and this workshop will similarly traverse important matters such as time-management, gaining realistic family and employer support, zeroing in on your topic (so that it becomes achievable).  We'll also introduce parpticipants to ways in which they can use a range of software packages effectively so that they begin to work smarter rather than harder.  In addition, we consider how to develop skills which will enable candidates to effectively gather, manage, interpret and assemble academic and scholastic materials.  Thesis writers need such skills in order to write a robust critique of reviewed literature .  

During the day, we also consider strategies for dealing with ethics challenges, gathering managing and interpreting data and, most importantly, writing about findings, results and thoughts so that they can be examined to provide a successful outcome for the thesis writer.  Our experience has repeatedly demostrated to us that candidates who attend a thesis writers' workshop develop a sound but realistic appreciation of what their thesis work should entail and they also gain a host of practical scholastic skills. 

For details about our approach to thesis supervision, please click here and for further specific information about this one day workshop, click here.  

We had the pleasure of working with Philip Harkness as he prepared his PhD thesis on the lay magistracy in New Zealand.   His doctorate has been confirmed but not yet conferred and Philip now awaits September for his stroll across the stage.

We have decided to upload a copy of Philip's work and this means you can freely access the thesis by clicking here.  We have done this in order to make Philip's work readily accessible to the rank and file members of Justices of the Peace and the lay magistracy as well as anyone else from the judicial system who may have an interest in this topic. 

We wish Philip all the best for his graduation and happy reading to those who decide to immerse themselves in his work. 

It's been a busy catch-up period for people associated with the Woodhill Park Research Retreat.  Five separate abstracts from conference presentations have been uploaded.  In one case a comprehensive research report has been made available and in four other instances, the relevant accompanying slide presentation has been made available. The abstracts can be accessed by visiting the Conference Material category which appears in a blue box near the top right hand corner of this screen.  Recent conference items include:

1. An abstract from the New Zealand Counselling Association Research  Conference at which Andrew Connolly and Dr Jens Hansen described the differing roles of being evaluated and doing evaluation (An abridged copy of the recent evaluation research report on the activities of the South Kaipara Men and Family Centre has been included and you can click here to access that report).
2. The abstract of a keynote address given at the seventh Manukau Institute of Technology Early Childhood Research Symposium has been uploaded and a PDF version of the presentation can be accessed by clicking here.
3. The abstract of the paper presented by Rose Penn and Dr Jens Hansen on the importance of involving Aiga in the education of Pasifika peoples is available as is a PDF copy of the slides used.
4. The abstract of the paper on how action research and appreciative inquiry can be fused into a new form of methodology called "Action Development" has been included as have the associated slides.   That paper was presented by Chris Jenkin from AUT and Dr Hansen.
5. Finally, the abstract and the slides from a presentation by Jo Perry and Dr Hansen are also available.  Their paper questioned the manner in which learning stories are teacher driven as opposed to being truly collaborative.

All-in-all, these abstracts and presentations attest to a busy year for the community of scholarship that is flourishing at the Woodhill Park Research Retreat.

It took more than a year to complete the evaluation research that was undertaken in order to achieve a stock-take of the effectiveness of the South Kaipara Men and Family Centre.  But now the Lotteries Commission sponsored research has been completed and two versions of the report are available.  Dr Hansen especially commended the work of Wiki Ratima and Kim Gordon who were research contributors.  He noted that they had helped devise the survey and they had also made sure that a reasonable sample of respondents was achieved.   

One of the two reports is very detailed and has been described by Dr Jens Hansen, the principal author, as an academic and research tome full of details.  "Such details are important because they tell others about what we set out to do, how we did it and what we found", said Dr Hansen.  "What's more", he added, "things like theory, which helps with making sense of the findings, become included in these sorts of detailed reports".

A smaller and more compact report has also been produced for general consumption and Andrew Connolly, the Director of the South Kaipara Men and Family Centre has commented that this report will be widely distributed and it validates the work and worth of the centre.  "We've made an impact and people need to be able to read about our services," he said.  "It's our form of accountability."  That report can be accessed by clicking here.

Mr Connolly and Dr Hansen recently presented a paper about the evaluation research findings to a research conference of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors. 

By popular demand and following the success of the workshop for thesis writers that was held in late February, a second workshop for candidates is to be held.  "The feedback from the previous workshop was fantastic and people have asked us to run another workshop so we're going to do so - but on a Saturday," said Dr Jens Hansen. 

Dr Hansen said that he looked forward to facilitating another workshop because he believes that participants come away with a far better appreciation of what is involved in preparing a successful thesis.  "People learn about what the process means for them and their whanau.  They also learn about a raft of computer tools and  discover a number of tips and tricks they can us.  These tend to make their keyboarding work become far more efficient and that frees up their thinking space", said Dr Hansen.  "We want to help candidates to work smarter, not harder which is why we invite supervisors to take part as well."  Dr Hansen added that so far, only one thesis supervisor has attended a course with their protege but other supervisors remain welcome.

Those wanting to enroll can do so by contacting Dr Jens Hansen at the Woodhill Park Research Retreat.  For workshop details click here.

Staff at Woodhill Park are offering a one day workshop for budding thesis writers.  The workshop will be held on Friday February 19th at the Woodhill Park Research Retreat in Waimauku.  The course is restricted to ten people although appointed supervisors may attend with their thesis candidate.

A feature of the day will be participation in a panel discussion at the end of the day by a number of people who have successfully completed their doctorates.  "It's important to hear words of wisdom from have those who have survived the experience and who have achieved a successful outcome" said Dr. Jens Hansen who will be facilitating the workshop.   

Dr Hansen pointed out that the scholastic community at Woodhill has enjoyed considerable success of late.  "Yesterday, I was told that Simon Martin is now able to be thought of 'Doc Martin' and just this afternoon, less than 24 hours later, Philip Harkness told me that he is now able to be thought of as 'Doctor Phil'.  They've each been told about their successful doctorates and within a 24 hour time-frame.  That's amazing and we're over the moon on their behalf."

Dr Hansen concluded that success such as that validates the very existance of the Woodhill Park Research Retreat and spurs staff into facilitating courses and workshops such as the one being held on Friday the nineteenth of February. » Read More

An NVivo 8 course has been scheduled at the Woodhill Park Research Retreat for Saturday June 20th, 2010.  The one day course will be facilitated by Dr Jens Hansen who has said that the need for training and skills development has become far more individualised as researchers seek to focus more specifically on their particular research task.  For that reason he has revamped the format of the workshop so that sessions are tailored to meet the learning needs of researchers who are quite often want to get started on their work very quickly.

Dr Hansen has found that there is a need for project focused workshop which goes beyond merely learning how to use the NVivo 8 software.  He says that there is a very strong need for people to learn about why certain approaches to using the software might be useful for them.  "We have shown people, for example, how they can link NVivo 8 to their literature and to EndNote which means both primary data and literature can become linked.  When this happens, you can literally see people's eyes light up because suddenly, they can envisage reasons for using software as a tool for thesis construction."  

Dr Hansen aadded that for this course, as for the previous three NVivo 8 courses he has facilitated, students could bring their supervisors along at no cost, or, supervisors could bring their student at no cost.  "The proviso" said Dr Hansen, " is that the pair must share a laptop with the software pre-loaded and they must focus on the student's work, not the supervisors."

Dr Hansen noted that only a limited number of places would be available and so intending participants were encouraged to make contact with Woodhill Park staff as soon as possible.

 

We've recently had an inquiry about conducting a survey.  At first glance, preparing and administering a survey seems relatively easy and the answers that arise give clear pointers to the future - right? 

Wrong!  There's much more to it than at first appears to be the case.  Here are three small considerations and there are bound to be more:

First consideration: You have to ask all of the right questions and in the right way.  For instance, if we ask people "do you want a library?" the answer will almost inevitably be "yes".  That happened for a territorial local government once in our city and so the politicians concerned felt, quite reasonably, that they had a mandate to build a library.  However, they then proceeded to locate that library in what was considered by their constituents to be an out-of-the-way place.  They had not asked all of the relevant questions, especially questions concerning where the citizenry might like their library to be located. 

Second Consideration:  You have to be careful about how you interpret data from surveys.  For instance, in one suburb, young girls were asked about their recreational choices and horse riding featured to such an extent that it was estimated that a herd of 800 horses would be needed to satisfy overall horse-riding demands.  What was missing was information about the level of commitment which those same young girls might display...  The reality remains, a number of years later, that some twenty or so, pretty tired looking horses, continue to satisfy the riding needs of that suburb.

 

Third Consideration:  You have to be very careful about what kinds of questions you ask and to whom.  A number of years ago, whilst they were at secondary school, two of our children were asked, as successive cohorts of social studies students, to survey members of the neighbourhood about free-time pursuits.  What was both tragic and fascinating was that members of our immediate neighbourhood potentially admitted to incriminating recreational behaviours.  (We lived in a salubrious domain, let me tell you!)  Ethical surveillance had not occurred and sadly, even though our children have now grown up, and moved on as have we, such procedures are still not in place at that particular school, and indeed, they're not in place within most schools in New Zealand.  

 

So what's this have to do with this news item?  Well, given the fact that we were approached for some advice about surveys, we've decided to make some of our resources available for public scrutiny and possible use.  We've developed a short article that delves into the vagaries of (and rants briefly about) ethics committees.  In so doing, it actually dares to castigate some of what such committees do, or don't do as the case may be.  (By the way, we'd be interested in any stories you have about the seemingly unreasonable antics of well intentioned ethics committees because there's a serious-cum-humorous book to be compiled about such matters.)

But notwithstanding such stories, we've made a slide show available about how to begin to think about developing a survey .  It's a simple slide show that you can work through at your own pace.  As they say so blithely in restaurants, enjoy!  

» Read More