Statistics galore

I recall that early in my graduate career SPSS was the bane of my existence, mostly because my undergraduate experience did not include much practice. A slightly uncooperative instructor worsened this by suggesting that no practical manuals existed and thus sent me into a panicked tailspin. Of course, resources did (and do) exist especially in the form of Dr. Andy Field's "Discovering Statistics Using SPSS", my current bible. Since discovering the delightful Dr. Field my stress levels have dropped dramatically and I find that I'm pretty good at this stuff. So today has been all about finishing my major stats.... one chi-square test, one repeated measures mixed ANOVA, and planned contrasts. Only one to go.... a 2x2x2 repeated measures ANOVA. And the great thing? I know what these are, what they're for, what their assumptions are and what their weaknesses are.The chi-square is for comparing frequencies of things, the mixed ANOVA is for comparing averages of things in different categories, the planned contrasts are to show differences between individual categories and the 2x2x2 is to show how three variables relate to one another. Yippee! Next step.... effect sizes. Once these are done the Chapter Four results section can be polished. Hmmmm..... while this may be boring to most, it sure does help me to keep track of what I'm doing.:)
On the emotional front, today is a relatively good day. Work is being accomplished in the steady and plodding manner that is a requirement for succeeding at this. Finding that steady groove is one of the biggest challenges of this process. My friend S speaks of dancing one's way and to keep that analogy, the steady groove is like reaching the place in a dance where you have acquired the choreography and are preparing to tweak the details. Gives one a feeling of accomplishment, however fleeting.
More soon....

PhD processing

ok.... so I'm not very good at blogging.... or 'journalling' etc. but I suspect that now could be a good time to use it as a motivator. So I'm going to record the latter stages of my PhD process as a sort of therapeutic measure. And of course, as a way to limit procrastination (the idea being that I will be more likely to move forward with writing if I publicly share what I am doing). I have watched several friends/acquaintances going quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) mad while engaged in all of this. To counteract this potential madness I'm trying everything to 'dance' my way through it as my friend S would say. If you want a beautiful and accurate description of the writing process try reading the tiny but brilliant book "The Unstrung Harp" by Edward Gorey . This was given to me by me stepdaughter E yesterday - a timely and beautiful gift that prompted me to try blogging again.

http://www.amazon.ca/Unstrung-Harp-Edward-Gorey/dp/0151004358

Today the plan is to finish drafting the results section of Chapter 4..... more on my progress tomorrow.