I suppose I am no different than most any other PHD student. I need people to volunteer their time and take part in my study OR... I'm stuck in a holding pattern. I need 46 people to begin and finish all three phases of the study which consists of a pre-test, a questionnaire, intervention (game or no game), post-test, and final questionnaire. The problem, I believe, is that these phases are spread out over four weeks, therefore I run a high risk of participant drop-offs (which have happened).
Recruitment started October 2018. As of today, Feburary 19, 2019, 24 wonderful people who have completed all three phases!! I love those people!
Did I mention that recruitment only occurs two or three times a month during the new employee orientation sessions? While these brand new employees are hearing a ton of information in a 4-hour period, I ask them to volunteer their time to me! Crazy. But a few people have been eager to help out. I even had one lady email me and say she worked here previously (a disqualifier) but wanted to play the game anyway. She thought it was a great idea. Of course, I'm adding her to the game, but will not gather any data from her. That's the kind of excitement I like to see.
Other negative factors have been the weather (lots and lots of rain and cold), holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and coming up soon, Spring Break).
But this long wait hasn't been all bad. It has given me a chance to NOT read articles, NOT write, and just be a normal person. It has also given me time to reflect on the data coming in and sort through it. I've thought about the recruiting process: could it be better? How could the game activity be more enticing for future use? Why are people not interested in playing?
My research is purely quantitative. I wish I had included a few open-ended questions to allow for comments that may help answer some of these questions. I have written notes that will be used in my dissertation in the limitations section, so the time has not been totally wasted.
I think it is safe to say that I will NOT defend my paper in May like I had hoped. It will be first of August, at best, which means I will graduate in December 2020. One way or another, I WILL finish! I WILL earn my PhD credentials!!
Recruitment started October 2018. As of today, Feburary 19, 2019, 24 wonderful people who have completed all three phases!! I love those people!
Did I mention that recruitment only occurs two or three times a month during the new employee orientation sessions? While these brand new employees are hearing a ton of information in a 4-hour period, I ask them to volunteer their time to me! Crazy. But a few people have been eager to help out. I even had one lady email me and say she worked here previously (a disqualifier) but wanted to play the game anyway. She thought it was a great idea. Of course, I'm adding her to the game, but will not gather any data from her. That's the kind of excitement I like to see.
Other negative factors have been the weather (lots and lots of rain and cold), holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and coming up soon, Spring Break).
But this long wait hasn't been all bad. It has given me a chance to NOT read articles, NOT write, and just be a normal person. It has also given me time to reflect on the data coming in and sort through it. I've thought about the recruiting process: could it be better? How could the game activity be more enticing for future use? Why are people not interested in playing?
My research is purely quantitative. I wish I had included a few open-ended questions to allow for comments that may help answer some of these questions. I have written notes that will be used in my dissertation in the limitations section, so the time has not been totally wasted.
I think it is safe to say that I will NOT defend my paper in May like I had hoped. It will be first of August, at best, which means I will graduate in December 2020. One way or another, I WILL finish! I WILL earn my PhD credentials!!
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