Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/970581
Chair: Okay so you have used one of your filters in the funnel and you are now at the 5,000-meter level. However, there are a lot of elephants in Africa. Can you break the groups down further? Mentee: Sure! In my initial research I found out that there are actually two kinds of African Elephants. There are Savanna Elephants and Forest Elephants in Africa. Chair: Hey that is great stuff. You know what you just did? Mentee: I just went down a layer and filter in the funnel? Chair: Spot on! Let's say you are at the 1,000-meter level now. Mentee: Cool, this is not as hard as I thought it would be. Chair: Learning to think this way takes practice. Once you get the hang of it, it is not hard. Let's keep going down the funnel. What studies have you read on these two different kinds of elephants? Mentee: Oh hey, I just thought of a bunch of articles I read on Savanna Elephants in my course work. I think I have 15 or 20 of them. Chair: Tell me a little about what you read. Mentee: Well, the researcher covered a lot of the characteristics, habitat, endangered condition, and preservation techniques. Chair: Did you find any unanswered questions noted by the researchers or see any recommendations for future research? Mentee: Yes, I did. I found two researchers who talked about a group of elephants in Kruger National Park in South Africa. They said these elephants had purple toenails. Chair: Well, unless the elephants are getting pedicures I would say that is a problem and an identified gap in the literature. Have you found any studies on these purple toenailed elephants? Mentee: No, I haven't found any at all. I looked when I was taking my classes, but I never found any. Although, the elephants and the purple toenails were mentioned in three studies. Chair: Well, guess what? It sounds to me like you have figured out how the funnel works and how to narrow down your topic. You started at 10,000 meters and you are at the bottom of the funnel at the 1-meter level with a study to explore what is causing the purple toenailed condition for a population of elephants. Mentee: Yeah, I guess I did. Chair: Of course, the next thing to discuss is your approach to the research. However, let's save that for our next conversa- tion. For now, I would like you to use the template provide at www.dissertationrecipies.com and create a draft problem statement. This will not be your final problem statement, but it will give you a place to start. You will send that to me as your first week's assignment. Mentee: Okay, so I work on the problem statement and then send it to you in the classroom and you will look at it there? Chair: That's it. We may have to send it back and forth a few times, but that is how we will start. Once you have a solid problem statement, we will set up another meeting to talk about research questions, hypotheses and methodologies. Mentee: Okay, that will work. Thanks! Chair: You are most welcome.