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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by cubic_me on December 28, 2004, at 9:57:10
I've got to start my dissertation in psychology by February. I'd like to look at suicide/parasuicide or self injury, and possibly something to do with interactions about these issues online, but I'm not sure that there is a simple way to go about this.
So far I've thought of doing a survey of people who talk about su or SI online - but I find these a bit 'wishey washy' and hard to analyze. There isn't much research out there and I was wondering if you had any suggestions.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 1, 2005, at 17:18:40
In reply to My psch dissertation, posted by cubic_me on December 28, 2004, at 9:57:10
Nope :-)
Sorry, I don't really know anything about surveys, or experiments etc etc.You got a supervisor yet?
Posted by gardenergirl on January 2, 2005, at 12:18:42
In reply to Re: My psch dissertation » cubic_me, posted by alexandra_k on January 1, 2005, at 17:18:40
Sounds like an interesting idea. Surveys can be seen as a "weaker" method, but if you get a large sample, and you have a well-constructed survey, that can overcome statistical weakness.
Online research is really taking off. I'm sure there are articles out there about using the internet to conduct research. I've participated in a number of studies online as well. You might want to check out a good textbook on doing psychological research and look at the section on survey research. Check out the references for texts specifically about surveys and perhaps look at some of those. While it's not too hard to construct a good survey, it depends somewhat on your topic. It also helps to do a small pilot test of the survey to test it for weak questions or other construction problems.
You probably already know, but there are also websites out there that will put your survey up for you and manage confidentiality. One is surveymonkey.com
Hope this helps, and good luck. Do what I say, not what I do...don't procrastinate on this. It'll turn into an ugly monster that will haunt you, and it's not worth it. ;)
gg
Posted by cubic_me on January 2, 2005, at 16:11:56
In reply to Re: My psch dissertation, posted by gardenergirl on January 2, 2005, at 12:18:42
Thanks GG, that's really helpful info, I'll check out the site too. Last night I was musing the idea of researching academic performance of depressed students compared to 'normal' students - I've yet to look inot it tho. Maybe I'll do that now - medline and psycinfo here I come...!
Posted by cubic_me on January 2, 2005, at 16:53:49
In reply to Re: My psch dissertation » cubic_me, posted by alexandra_k on January 1, 2005, at 17:18:40
I've not got a supervisor yet - I have to choose my topic first. It's a vicious circle!!
Posted by alexandra_k on January 2, 2005, at 20:23:27
In reply to Re: My psch dissertation » alexandra_k, posted by cubic_me on January 2, 2005, at 16:53:49
Indeed!
Hey, what kind of thing are you thinking of. I mean, if you are planning to do a survey of people who talk about SI online, then do you have any idea what it is that you would like to find out?
This is the end of the thread.
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