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1. Choosing the Right Study to Conduct
2. Choosing the Right Statistic
3. Planning Presentation of Your Results
4. Sample Size and Tests of Power
5. Defending Your Proposal
6. How to Save Time and Graduate Sooner

Choosing the Right Study to Conduct

Asking a good question starts the path to graduation.

I will help you ask a high quality (defendable) scientific question, starting with what you want to measure and why. Early pre-planning can have you running the study you actually want to run instead of settling for whatever might get you past your unstable committee. As you become clearer on what you want to measure and who you want to measure, the study design becomes clear, the choice of statistics becomes clear, and the wording of the hypotheses becomes easy.

Choosing appropriate measuring instruments is easy - once you know what you want to measure. Every quantitative study needs a measuring stick (or two) to serve as the dependent variable and I will help you to determine the best measures to use for your study, whether a survey or a biological preparation. Part of choosing the appropriate measuring stick is identifying what is available and learning how to quickly assess the quality of the tool. Once a choice is made, the write-up regarding the validity and reliability of the measuring instrument is easy - with a little guidance.

After you have your design and analysis plan in-place, I will help you frame your study, then show you tricks and short-cuts to building a defendable literature review that leads the reader directly to your study methods.

Testing theory is all about clarity. I will help you to cut through the confusion. You should understand your question so clearly that you can explain it to a random 10 year old in one or two sentences. Then you are ready to defend your proposal.

Choosing the Right Statistic

Choosing the right statistic is a crucial step in getting your proposal approved. The right statistic matches the design of the study with the quality of the data to answer your target questions. Designs may be between-subjects, within-subject, or mixed. Your data may require frequency statistics (Chi Square, McNemar's test, logistic regression), scale statistics (t-test, correlation, ANOVA, MANCOVA, linear regression), or ordinal statistics (Spearman's correlation, Mann-Whitney U, Freidman's test, ordinal regression). Most dissertations will require a small number of different statistics to handle the demographics and the hypotheses. The design and the data quality define our choices for statistics.

But it all comes down to the right match. For example, if you are testing mediators or moderators, then multiple regression is the right match, either linear logistic, depending on whether your outcome is a scale (strength gain) or categories (wins and losses). But if you’re merely showing that your groups were similar at baseline, something as simple as a t-test is perfect.

Key: if you understand your primary study question, your study design and the appropriate matching statistic will become increasingly obvious - with a bit of mentoring.

Translation: the choice of stat will be easy. It always is. And if there are two legit ways, we will show both.

I will help you match the right statistics to test your hypotheses. You will own the basic reasoning, the proper wordings, and the appropriate scholarly references. Because you will understand your choice, if challenged, you can and will defend your work with honor.

And don't stress on the software. The software is powerful. Your stat will be completed in a microsecond. SPSS, SAS, Stata, MiniTab, JMP, S-Plus, SyStat all work basically the same. I'll show you how to run the stat, interpret the stat, and maintain a results workbook to speed an error-free write-up. The software isn't magic. The software merely provides the result. The magic is all about asking a good question, running a quality study, setting up the data, and properly interpreting the outcome. Also, there's magic in presentation...

Planning Presentation of Your Results

Tables and figures can tell a story better than mere words. Tables and figures can also confuse a story. I will help you choose the best tabling and figure presentations. The data tells a story and our job is to make that story easy to understand. It's actually fun.

Editing and APA formatting can have your committee groaning or smiling. A brilliant idea poorly communicated helps no one graduate. I will show you how to become a good writer, a lifelong skill. The declarative style wins the dissertation game. Bonus: It’s actually the easiest way to write – if you know the rules.

To speed your path to graduation, never hand-in work that isn't formatted like a finished product. The APA rules are easy. Word software is fully capable. And I know the short-cuts to making the proposal or dissertation look beautiful. Plus, whether it’s a three-chapter proposal or and oral defense of your completed dissertation, you’ll learn how to present your plan effectively, which is a very portable skill in any field.

Sample Size and Tests of Power

Calculating sample size is important towards getting your proposal approved. The basic concepts are simple, but there are trap doors if you are not careful.

Choosing the right sample population is the most important step in determining sample size. Whether the study question requires two groups or four groups, it is way more important that those groups map-on to the purpose of the study than to have lots and lots of (possibly messy) data - because clarity wins when you have to defend your work. I can help you identify the right sample to test your hypotheses.

Re sample size to propose, here's the trick: know that tests of power are built on guesses and assumptions. You can't possibly know how big your treatment effect will be. If you can know in advance, you wouldn't have to run the study!

So start with the practical side of life. How many can you reasonably get in a reasonable timeframe? If the answer is 1000s, I can help you fill-in the required verbiage in the text, but you have no sample size worries.

If sample is hard to come by, we start by identifying what is actually do-able. Then we work backwards to declare assumptions that (a) justify your sample size and (b) are supported with scholarly references. You will be ready to defend your proposal.

Defending Your Proposal

I love helping candidates prepare for their oral defense. There are tricks and techniques for handling committee questions, starting with appreciating that many defense questions aren't really questions at all. Sometimes it's just a stream-of-consciousness comment, but it's worded in the form of a question - and now you feel on the spot. That's because the oral defense plays by jeopardy rules: it must be worded in the form of a question. I will prepare you for your oral defense so you will be at your best. A top-drawer PowerPoint will guide you through a professional defense - even if you are not at your best. A poor presentation raises questions for the committee needlessly, while a professional defense PowerPoint will convince your committee that you know what you are talking about, which can greatly reduce the grilling. If you are properly rested and prepared, your PowerPoint can steer your committee towards a broader discussion of the topic rather than an endless torture of harsh inquiry.

Remember: this is a degree of significance. If you are professional, that 'halo effect' builds trust and they will look the other way rather than hassle you over small things. Look the part. Be the part. And show up with a fine PowerPoint presentation.

How to Save Time and Graduate Sooner

To save time and graduate quickly, there are pitfalls and trap doors you can easily avoid. Some candidates get caught-up for months or even years at a time. I’ll show you how to make a winnable plan to satisfy your committee all the way across the finish line.

The dissertation is an iterative process, back and forth round after round with the chair and the committee. I will show you how to minimize the rounds by maximizing the product. I will show you how to organize your focus towards project management, so work gets done and the dissertation moves forward to completion with minimal sideways energy. I know what the committee is looking for and I will show you how to get graduated briskly, so you save time and end up with your education in addition to your degree.

Call for a free consultation (951)659-3589. Now is a good time. I will personally take your call. And you WILL graduate!

I provide assistance with statistical analysis, design & data modeling from biomedical to social science, theoretical or applied, simple or complex, anova, regression & non-parametric methods. I've helped over 291 individuals and counting either pass their dissertation or reach their business goals, and I can help you too!