Dissertation

Sometimes we need to report on something just to keep ourselves honest, focused, and on track. My dissertation is one of those things.

I finished collecting the data for my dissertation back on November 12, 2007. Tara had Zion on November 16, 2007 and so I decided to take eight weeks off from both work and my dissertation. Well eight weeks turned into 12 and the next thing I knew I was getting a call from my one of my co-chairs asking how much progress I had made. The answer was a big fat: NADA!

So in February 2008 I started working on my dissertation again and now, three months later, I can truly say that I am deep into the analysis and feel like I am getting somewhere. The data has been cleaned up, transformed, and summated. Additionally, I have had to re-read many of my texts and articles to just "bone-up" on many elementary statistical terms and definitions in preparation for what comes next. The greatest help as been Statistics in Plain English by Timothy C. Urban, 2001.

Last Friday I took time off from work to attend a seminar by my co-chair, Dr. Brian Miller, on the focal point of my analysis: mediated moderation, a form of multiple regression. Mediated moderation will allow me to examine the practical and statistical significance of the interaction of my independent variables (e.g., credit card attitude, locus of control, parental involvement) with my moderator (personal credit literacy), and my mediator (total credit card debt) with outcomes such as stress, hours worked, risk aversion, relationship conflict, and withdrawls from school. After the seminar Dr. Miller and I examined my work thus far and it seems as though I am actually beginning to understand a little of what I am attempting to analyze.

Well that's all for now, Zion is crying and Phoenix is jumping on the bed. Hopefully I will be able to report more on my progress as time goes on. Just to let you all know, I plan on defending my dissertation in late summer or early fall, if all goes well.

Much Love and Respect, BLM

Sin