Restarting Stalled Research

Paul C. Rosenblatt has a doctorate in psychology from Northwestern University and is Professor Emeritus of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. He has taught in university departments in family social science, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. His multidisciplinary background enables him to offer a substantial range of examples and illustrations in the book. He has advised 36 students through to the PhD and served on roughly 450 other doctoral committees. He has been a research consultant to university-based, government-based, medical-based, and industry-based research projects. Dr. Rosenblatt has mentored dozens of faculty members at his university and at universities around the world. He has fellow status in national professional organizations in psychology, anthropology, and the family field and has been and/or is on editorial boards of scholarly journals in psychology, sociology, anthropology, the family field, and the field of dying, death, and bereavement. He has published 13 books, including The Impact of Racism on African American Families: Literature as Social Science; Knowing and Not Knowing in Intimate Relationships (with E. Wielding); Shared Obliviousness in Family Systems; Two in a Bed: The Social System of Couple Bed Sharing; and African American Grief (with B. R. Wallace).

Introduction Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1. Problems in Deciding What the Research Is About When the Problem Is Conceptual If You Do Not Know What You Are Doing in Your Research When the Problem Is with the Model of How to Do Research When the Project Seems Outdated Chapter 2. Restarting Your Writing Writer's Block Dealing with Editorial Rejection or a Revise-and-Resubmit Editorial Decision Dealing with Unreasonable Demands for Dissertation Revision General Guidelines and Resources for Moving Writing Forward Chapter 3. Social Relationship Issues Connected to Research Being Stalled Problems with Research Collaborators Dealing with a Research Assistant's Dishonesty, Poor Functioning, or Incompetence Problems with Advisers or Committee Members If You Have Lost Your Adviser Who Owns the Data? Dealing with Powerful, Possibly Dangerous Gatekeepers Problems with People You Want to Study Stalled Because You Do Not Have a Research Peer Group Chapter 4. Self of Researcher If You Do Not Know What to Do Next on Your Research If You Have Lost Your Motivation If You Do Not Feel Good Enough about Yourself to Do the Work Getting Out of the Mental Rut You Are in About Being Stalled Chapter 5. Stalled Because of a Shortage of Resources If You Have No Research Funds Research Assistant Troubles If Your Records Are Not Good Enough When the Problem Seems to Be with Quality or Amount of Data Issues with Data Resources: Stalled When Working with Someone Else's Data Stalled Because of the Time, Focus, and Energy Demands of the Rest of Your Life Chapter 6. When to Quit Consider Consulting with Someone First Liquidating a Project Maybe Research Is Not for You Appendix. Advice for Research Consultants, Mentors, and Dissertation Advisers Helping Others With Stalled Projects References Index

"This book addresses common writing issues in a clear and matter-of-fact, but thoughtful and thorough manner. The author addresses issues often outside the control of the researcher-funding, ownership of data, collaborative relationships, student-chair and mentor relationships, and concerns about reputation after abandoning a research project. All need addressing and I applaud the author for doing so in a forthright manner." -- Roma B. Angel, Appalachian State University "I believe this text could be a helpful tool to assist dissertation students who become bogged in the research mire." -- William Figg, Dakota State University "Readers will find themselves in these pages, and find themselves attended to without judgment, without impatience, and without ridicule." -- Karin Lindstrom Bremer, Minnesota State University, Mankato