FINALLY making dissertation progress

Although I'm still nowhere close to where I wanted to be at this time, I finally feel like I am making progress with my dissertation. I have conducted two interviews, and I have expanded the eligibility criteria to include divorced fathers. My hope is that the expanded criteria will allow more therapists to refer their clients to the study. I had spoken with a number of therapists who said that they had a few fathers who might participate, but the father was divorced. I originally required that the father be married to and/or living with the mother of the child in therapy in order to minimize the effects that family structure might have on father engagement and the co-parent relationship. After discussing my recruitment problems with committee, I have determined that I can still answer my research questions as long as I address the effects that this might have on the findings. It is a small change, but it might make a large difference.

Additionally, the two interviews that I conducted recently gave me a wealth of data that I am eager to analyze. They helped confirm my commitment to this research and the value that I see in it. Although I will not finish before graduation in May, I should be able to finish in time to defend the dissertation in August. That is great news, and really gets me pumped to dive into it all. I know I will continue to encounter obstacles as this journey continues, but I believe that if I can overcome the recruitment problem, everything else will fall into place.