Update on Dissertation Progress

On July 6 I sent in my draft copy of chapter 4. Yesterday I sent in a draft copy of chapter 5. This is a big milestone. There will be feedback from my advisers, and no doubt I’ll have to do some more work on these chapters, but it feels good to at least have the draft copies done.

I have sent the necessary copies of this material to two interviewees to get their feedback (a required step). I’ve received feedback from one of them, and he thought it accurately reflects the reality of the situation there. He also said it has been very helpful to them (I had given him insights into what I was learning before I sent him my written materials). I had to get chapter 4 translated into Spanish for the second interviewee. It was very expensive and I’m hoping MTW will reimburse me for it.

I have three advisers, and I just found out that my main adviser won’t be back in the office until mid August. He had originally suggested that I turn in my final version around August 5th. So now it looks like that date is being pushed back. I have sent the material to my second adviser and haven’t heard back yet. My third adviser has read both of these chapters and likes it. I should be receiving more feedback from him soon.

My time for finishing this dissertation is officially up at the end of this month. But somehow the university was able to get me a “continuing” status. I’m not sure what all that means or how long it lasts. There are a lot of things I don’t know. And there is still more work to do. So I’d appreciate your continuing prayers.