Under Construction - MHWA Retreat

True, Charlie ~

Actually, though I would agree with Warped Sanity on checking out recent academic journals for a typical study, a thesis is a unique animal. They won't help you.

First... iluvhorses , you might find it helpful to go to your uni's library and find resent theses completed by people in your college/dept/program. THAT is the best indication of what's expected. Even then, it's a bit iffy, depending on your committee. BUT it will help you get a proposal together for your committee chair/advisor.

As for methodology... I'm relatively well-versed there. Obviously, I've been training many times over in quantitative methodologies, and MY thesis is qualitative... a hybrid at that... phenomenological case study.

The very first thing you want to do... a literature review. Have you done that? Do you know how to do that? If you need help, let me know. Reviewing all of the literature in the area and selecting 15 or so that seem foundational (but recent) will get you familiar with the topic. The synthesis (i.e. not a recitation of a bazillion studies but distilled) of this research also forms a chapter of your thesis. It will help you identify gaps in the current research. What haven't other researchers done? Is there an angle that could be explored further? Or perhaps there is a study that needs replication and could be done within your time frame?

So... once you've found your gap (and trust me... the stronger the gap, the easier time you'll have defending your choice of research)... you can write briefly... like one page... on what the problem is. Follow that with your research question. The actual WORDING of the research question is indicative of the type of research, so be sure to word it carefully and be sure you can tweak it if needed. I think mine went through about 12 revisions before I nailed it down, but the vibe was similar:

v1. What is the relationship between training and the retention factors of motivation, satisfaction, and socialization for nonprofit HS volunteers? The word "relationship" is usually quantitative. I had to change that.

v2. What are the lived experiences of volunteers in nonprofit HS organizations with respect to orientation training programs and their potential influence on motivation, socialization, and satisfaction? Changed by my ESL and not at all concise former chair. Ugh!

v5. What are the lived experiences of volunteers in nonprofit HS organizations with respect to training programs and their potential influence on (a) volunteer motivation, (b) socialization, and (c) participation satisfaction? Insisted on "participation satisfaction" as opposed to "satisfaction"... which implies "job satisfaction"... which volunteers DO experience, but there was no changing his mind. Also insisted on "volunteer motivation" as a term... totally redundant.

v8. What are the training experiences of volunteers in nonprofit HS organizations with respect to (a) motivation, (b) socialization, and (c) satisfaction? My first rewrite after kicking my chair off my committee.

v9. How does the nonprofit human service volunteer training experience relate to the retention factors of (a) motivation, (b) socialization, and (c) satisfaction?

v13. How does training help or hinder the retention of nonprofit human service volunteers?


As you might expect, I didn't have to rewrite my proposal at all until I got to this last one. I decided with the help of my committee that really focusing on all three retention factors would be too much. BUT while exploring retention and intent to stay, I could touch on those elements and support my future research.

As for how this relates to the literature review... The factors were discovered by ME. That was the synthesis of the research... almost all of it fell into these categories with a bit of overlap, so they are three interrelated factors that together promote retention. What wasn't in the literature? How these really relate to training. See how that works?

So, this is how I'd start. The actual methodology depends on your lit review, problem statement, research question, scope, assumptions, limitations, etc. What do you know about these other elements, love?