Using Technology in Research Pearls for Your Dissertation

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Using Technology in ResearchPearls for Your
Dissertation

• Dr. Jan I. Fox
• Vice President for Information Technology/CIO
• Marshall University

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Todays Objectives

• Accessing Literature
• Writing Tools
• Bibliography Creation
• Gathering Data
• Organizing and Managing Data
• Statistical Analysis
• Presenting Your Results
• Technology for Collaboration

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Accessing Literature

• Searching Online Resources
• OPAC
• Databases
• ERIC
• FirstSearch
• Dissertation Abstracts
• Virginia Tech Online Dissertations and Thesis
• EbscoHost
• Search Engines
• CarlUncover Document Delivery

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Writing Tools

• Word Processor
• Templates
• Spelling Check
• Grammar Check
• Specifying Writing Style
• Automating the Table of Contents
• Sections
• Importing Graphs and Data Tables
• Back-up.Back-up. Back-up
• Adobe Acrobat Writer

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Bibliography Creation

• What is Z.3950 and why is it your friend
• Tools
• ProCite
• EndNote
• Organizing and Saving Your Literature
• By Variable
• Searching for that reference (No more needle in
  the Hay Stack)

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Gathering Data

• Issues with Automating Surveys
• Must have Human Subjects Clearance
• Using Existing Instruments and Data Sets
• IPEDS
• Methods to Gather Data
• Paper
• OCR
• Web

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Organizing and Managing Data

• Coding
• Sub Groups (make sure you can compare to others)
• Collect Enough Detail
• Sorting
• Data Types
• Merging
• Labels

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Statistical Analysis

• Tools
• Excel
• SAS
• SPSS
• Importing Data
• Data Delimiters
• Filters
• Copy and Paste Tables
• Exporting for Graphing

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Presenting Your Results

• Selecting and Personalizing the Template
• Automating the Presentation
• Importing Pictures
• Taking it to the Web
• Linking to Your Data Sources
• Print Options

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Technology for Collaboration

• Sharing Chapters with Committee
• Comments
• Online Collaborations)
• Email
• Threaded Discussions
• WebCT
• Audio Links
• Video Links

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