[12814] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: support for research
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Susan K. Martin)
Thu Apr 1 20:09:38 1999
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 1999 17:56:32 -0600
From: "Susan K. Martin" <martinsk@gusun.georgetown.edu>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I've got to agree with Dan, and Howard also.
The worst part of my dissertation was getting my advisory committee to approve
the survey instrument; they found very legitimate problems with it, and it took
many months to work everything out so that I was getting the data I wanted in a
valid way.
I began to respond to this survey, and found that it was very difficult to do.
My first stumbling block was the already-mentioned issue of sending out the
survey to the world at large, and not knowing who the respondents are. As I
recall, there's a question about gender, but there isn't one about position in
the library, or whether the respondent is the decision-maker about filters or
merely reacting to a decision that has been made at a higher level.
It's an important issue, and I hope that the study can ultimately be carried out
effectively.
Sue Martin
Georgetown University
Dan Lester wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I'm sorry if you feel a lack of support. However, my whole point was and
> is that students should be learning to do things correctly. If the faculty
> aren't ensuring that students are doing things correctly, they should be
> taken to task. After all, the reputation of the students, the professors,
> and the university are all at stake.
>
> Just as one illegal practice in athletics can damage the reputation of an
> entire university, so can the public dissemination of examples of poor
> teaching the same university.
>
> Again, I'm sorry if you're having trouble dealing with the real academic
> world and with genuine, sincere, and appropriate criticism of your research
> efforts. But I guarantee you that my comments are mild compared to what
> you'd get if you submitted a paper based on this instrument to any
> reputable journal or if you used it as a part of a thesis proposal.
>
> cheers
>
> dan
>
> --
> Good, Fast, and Cheap: Which two of the three would you like?
> Dan Lester, 3577 East Pecan, Boise, ID 83716 USA 208-383-0165
> dan@84.com http://www.84.com/ http://www.idaholibraries.org/
> http://library.boisestate.edu/ http://www.lili.org/
http://www.postcard.org/
