Pham, I need your help to graduate!

[Gabriela]

Pham, I will not graduate without your help!

As most of you know, I’m a doctoral student. For my dissertation, I’ll be interviewing priests about preaching. It’s now time to find the priests. I cannot do this alone, and if I don’t find ENOUGH priests, I cannot graduate! So I’m begging your help to find priests who are:

1. Diocesan, not religious

2. In the United States (whether they’re native born-American or not)

3. Active preachers (so, not working in an office somewhere they never preach, but retired preachers are okay)

I know that Phatmassers are a force to be reckoned with. If all of us contact all the diocesan priests we know and ask them to participate in this study of priests as preachers, I’m betting we can recruit enough priests very, very quickly. And that would be a God-send, because we all know that, once Advent hits, no one’s going to be talking to me for months, so if I don’t have enough priests by December 1st, I’m not likely to graduate! 

That being so, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take the blurb I’ve written below and send it to all your diocesan-priest friends and acquaintances, and then “gently encourage” (i.e., MERCILESSLY NAG) them to participate!

Of course, if anyone—you or your priests—has questions, feel free to contact me (either by posting here, or PMing me, or emailing me, or whatever you prefer). I will of course, as usual, make the final paper available to any and all on Phatmass who want it (just as I did with my Master’s thesis).

Thank you all, and God bless you!

[Also, Boss, please don’t ban me for posting this in so many boards! I didn’t post it in any of the “sacred” boards, and I know some people only visit one board and none of the others. So, sorry if it annoys anyone, but I need as much help as I can get!]

 

BLURB FOR SENDING TO YOUR PRIESTS:

+ Hello, Father!

My name is Jenni Sigler and I’m a doctoral candidate in communication at Purdue University. I’m also a daily Mass-going Catholic, so for my dissertation, I’m interviewing priests about their preaching work. In particular, I’m interested in how busy priests balance all they have to do with “waiting on the Holy Spirit” in preaching. There’s very little empirical research on Catholic preaching at present, and my own past research has indicated this particular question is an important one. So the goal of the study is to add to what we know about how priests do preaching work, and hopefully find out some things that could help make that work easier, faster, and better.

If you’re a diocesan priest working in a parish in the United States, I’d love for you to participate in this study. Interviews will last about an hour and can be scheduled whenever they’re convenient for you and conducted via Skype or telephone. To get an accurate picture of what I’m studying, it’s important that I talk to priests from many different dioceses and seminary backgrounds, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch even if you’re in Alaska. And international priests: If you’re working in the United States, I’d like to hear from you, too!

If you’re interested in participating, or want to find out more before committing, feel free to contact me at jsigler@purdue.edu or (765) 441-2136 (texting okay). Or contact my advisor Patrice Buzzanell (technically, the lead researcher on this project, since I’m still a graduate student) at buzzanel@purdue.edu.

Thanks, and God bless you, Father!

Jenni

[Spem in alium]

Unfortunately I can't really be of much help beyond praying for your success. I don't live in the USA and the one priest I know in America is a religious. 

[graciandelamadrededios]

Sorry, I am in the Philippines, so I wont be able to help.  If you're here, you can interview as many diocesan priests as you can!

Have you tried contacting  each Roman Catholic Archdiocese/Diocese around the US via email.  I noticed that majority have their own websites and its really neat!

God Bless you!

[Gabriela]

44 minutes ago, graciandelamadrededios said:

Have you tried contacting  each Roman Catholic Archdiocese/Diocese around the US via email.  I noticed that majority have their own websites and its really neat!

It's on my list of possible approaches to recruitment—as a very last resort. I mean, that would be really, really labor-intensive, and probably I can get enough priests just by asking friends/family/phamily to go nudge their priests. Fr. Z posted my recruitment text on his blog, too, which got me a lot of participants, which was totally amesome.

So, hopefully, it will not come to that!  

Pray for me from the Philippines, though, yeah? 

3 hours ago, Spem in alium said:

Unfortunately I can't really be of much help beyond praying for your success. I don't live in the USA and the one priest I know in America is a religious. 

Well, that's okay. Just pray for the research!  

[graciandelamadrededios]

1 minute ago, Gabriela said:

It's on my list of possible approaches to recruitment—as a very last resort. I mean, that would be really, really labor-intensive, and probably I can get enough priests just by asking friends/family/phamily to go nudge their priests. Fr. Z posted my recruitment text on his blog, too, which got me a lot of participants, which was totally amesome.

So, hopefully, it will not come to that!  

Pray for me from the Philippines, though, yeah? 

Well, that's okay. Just pray for the research!  

I will surely include you in my prayers and will ask my **Nun-friends to pray for you too!  

**Discalced Carmelite Nuns and Pink Sisters

[TheresaThoma]

I will pass this around to a couple of priests I know. Is it ok if they are newer priests?

[Gabriela]

8 hours ago, TheresaThoma said:

I will pass this around to a couple of priests I know. Is it ok if they are newer priests?

Yep, absolutely. I need them from all stages of the vocation.

Thanks, TT!

[DominicanHeart]

How many do you expect to get?

[Gabriela]

38 minutes ago, DominicanHeart said:

How many do you expect to get?

I have no expectations so that I cannot be disappointed.

Srsly: There's no fixed number. I'm using what's called "data saturation", where I interview until I just start hearing the same thing again and again, so I know at that point I've heard it all.

[truthfinder]

1 hour ago, Gabriela said:

I have no expectations so that I cannot be disappointed.

Srsly: There's no fixed number. I'm using what's called "data saturation", where I interview until I just start hearing the same thing again and again, so I know at that point I've heard it all.

Is this a real thing? Historians aren't exactly known for their methodology - are there articles on this, because I would find this super useful.

1 hour ago, Gabriela said:

I have no expectations so that I cannot be disappointed.

Srsly: There's no fixed number. I'm using what's called "data saturation", where I interview until I just start hearing the same thing again and again, so I know at that point I've heard it all.

Is this a real thing? Historians aren't exactly known for their methodology - are there articles on this, because I would find this super useful.

[katherineH]

1 hour ago, truthfinder said:

Is this a real thing? Historians aren't exactly known for their methodology - are there articles on this, because I would find this super useful.

Is this a real thing? Historians aren't exactly known for their methodology - are there articles on this, because I would find this super useful.

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

1 hour ago, truthfinder said:

Is this a real thing? Historians aren't exactly known for their methodology - are there articles on this, because I would find this super useful.

Is this a real thing? Historians aren't exactly known for their methodology - are there articles on this, because I would find this super useful.

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

[truthfinder]

1 minute ago, katherineH said:

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

 

Excellent - thank you! I don't interview people ( I focus on the "yep they're definitely dead and so are any immediate relatives") but I'm interested in any methodological theory that can help me explain what it is I actually do. 

1 minute ago, katherineH said:

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

 

Excellent - thank you! I don't interview people ( I focus on the "yep they're definitely dead and so are any immediate relatives") but I'm interested in any methodological theory that can help me explain what it is I actually do. 

[Gabriela]

4 hours ago, truthfinder said:

Excellent - thank you! I don't interview people ( I focus on the "yep they're definitely dead and so are any immediate relatives") but I'm interested in any methodological theory that can help me explain what it is I actually do. 

LOL. "Yep, they're definitely dead!"

If anybody wants some articles on this topic, PM me with your email address. I had to justify the use of it in my prospectus, of course, so I've got some articles I cited. I've also got more articles on population size in qualitative research (thematic analysis specifically) for anyone who wants to read a little more widely on the issue.

4 hours ago, truthfinder said:

Excellent - thank you! I don't interview people ( I focus on the "yep they're definitely dead and so are any immediate relatives") but I'm interested in any methodological theory that can help me explain what it is I actually do. 

LOL. "Yep, they're definitely dead!"

If anybody wants some articles on this topic, PM me with your email address. I had to justify the use of it in my prospectus, of course, so I've got some articles I cited. I've also got more articles on population size in qualitative research (thematic analysis specifically) for anyone who wants to read a little more widely on the issue.

4 hours ago, katherineH said:

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

Fusch & Ness is one of my cited articles, btw.  

4 hours ago, katherineH said:

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

yes it's a real thing! I used it in my thesis.  It works best with qualitative methodology. And like most qualitative methods, there are rigorous standards to ensure that it is carried out properly; you want to avoid creating loop holes for laziness (i.e. "I'm tired of interviewing people so I'm just going to say I've reached saturation.")

Here is a nice summary of the methodology http://tqr.nova.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fusch1.pdf

Fusch & Ness is one of my cited articles, btw.  

[Gabriela]

Hey pham. My recruitment for participation in the dissertation study was rockin' for a few weeks. Now it's stalled. What I've learned is that if I can get a Catholic blogger to post a statement about the research, I'll get about 10 priests actually carrying through all the way to the interview. (I'll get a lot more making contact but not scheduling, and way more seeing it, of course.) In other words, Catholic bloggers are the bomb diggity. But I've emailed a lot of them, and only gotten four to post, and now I'm kinda' desperate. Here's who I've contacted:

Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics (sent out on their listserv)

Catholic Leadership Institute (no reply)

Fr. Z (he posted)

Phatmass ()

Anthony Esolen (he posted)

Fr. Dwight Longenecker (no reply)

Fr. Pablo Migone (no reply)

Fr. Michael Duffy (no reply)

Heather King (can't do it)

Dr. Scott Hahn (can't do it)

Bishop Barron (no reply; he never replies )

Deacon Greg Kandra (he posted)

Daughters of St. Paul (Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble; no reply)

Elizabeth Scalia (she's on retreat)

New Advent (no reply yet, but just contacted him yesterday)

Monsignor Charles Pope (I think he's posting it today)

Homiletic & Pastoral Review (no reply yet)

First Things (about to contact)

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput (about to contact)

Who am I missing, pham? Who else can I ask? What I'm finding is that, if the person is SUPER famous, they just ignore me. If the person is well known with a large audience, but not hugely famous, they'll usually post, or at least respond. So, can you think of anyone else who might be willing to help me out with a short post?

[hep_rsb]

I'm not sure how much of a following she has (at least me) but Daria Sockey at Coffee and Canticles might help you out.

[Nunsuch]

What about various bloggers at Patheos and/or Catholic Answers?

[Gabriela]

2 minutes ago, Nunsuch said:

What about various bloggers at Patheos and/or Catholic Answers?

I think I've pretty much covered Patheos and Aleteia. Are there blogs on Catholic Answers? Whose?

The key, I think, is finding bloggers that priests might likely read. They often use such resources to give them ideas for homilies, so if there's a good blog out there that covers the weekly readings, it's a good target.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Gabriela

[NadaTeTurbe]

14 hours ago, Gabriela said:

Hey pham. My recruitment for participation in the dissertation study was rockin' for a few weeks. Now it's stalled. What I've learned is that if I can get a Catholic blogger to post a statement about the research, I'll get about 10 priests actually carrying through all the way to the interview. (I'll get a lot more making contact but not scheduling, and way more seeing it, of course.) In other words, Catholic bloggers are the bomb diggity. But I've emailed a lot of them, and only gotten four to post, and now I'm kinda' desperate. Here's who I've contacted:

Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics (sent out on their listserv)

Catholic Leadership Institute (no reply)

Fr. Z (he posted)

Phatmass ()

Anthony Esolen (he posted)

Fr. Dwight Longenecker (no reply)

Fr. Pablo Migone (no reply)

Fr. Michael Duffy (no reply)

Heather King (can't do it)

Dr. Scott Hahn (can't do it)

Bishop Barron (no reply; he never replies )

Deacon Greg Kandra (he posted)

Daughters of St. Paul (Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble; no reply)

Elizabeth Scalia (she's on retreat)

New Advent (no reply yet, but just contacted him yesterday)

Monsignor Charles Pope (I think he's posting it today)

Homiletic & Pastoral Review (no reply yet)

First Things (about to contact)

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput (about to contact)

Who am I missing, pham? Who else can I ask? What I'm finding is that, if the person is SUPER famous, they just ignore me. If the person is well known with a large audience, but not hugely famous, they'll usually post, or at least respond. So, can you think of anyone else who might be willing to help me out with a short post?

Sister Laurel, the hermit from Stillsong Hermitage ? http://notesfromstillsong.blogspot.fr/

The sister behind anunlife ministry ? http://anunslife.org/

[beatitude]

I only know one Catholic priest in America who isn't in a religious order, but I will give the study details to other people in the UK in the hope that they're better connected. One thing I found in my own research is that people are much more likely to follow through if they're recruited through snowball sampling, so if you ask priests for the details of priest friends who might participate, you may have better luck. It helps to have that personal introduction. Praying for you!

[Nunsuch]

Gabriela, it I think there is a pretty broad spectrum of bloggers on Patheos's "Catholic channel" that aren't included in your list. The Catholic Answers people can be found on their website. The group you have is long, but I think entirely on the fairly conservative end of things. If that is your intention, fine, but it's not representative of the entire Catholic priesthood. If I were doing a study like yours, I would select some dioceses and write to their offices of priest personnel, or I would get in touch with the relevant office at the USCCB.