Wednesday, September 22, 2010

THIS is research?

Enter graduate school and, sooner or later, you will run across a research piece that leads you to question who thought it would be a good idea to study the obvious.  I ran across one such article in a Public Relations Theory class, an article that upheld the Curmudgeon Theory.  That is the one that demands each generation to think poorly of the one that succeeds it.  In this case, PR practitioners of the Baby Boomer variety do not think highly of Generation Y, or Millenials, if you prefer.  

This distaste was based on the elders' belief that Millenials enter the workplace with out-sized senses of entitlement and self-importance.  Gee, now where do you imagine those who have those things got them?  Couldn't be from being reared by members of the same generation that is doing the complaining, could it?  All those "spoiled" kids are the result of an atmosphere in which everyone got a trophy, score was not kept, high schools had multiple valedictorians, and all kids were treated as future kings and presidents.  The remarkable thing isn't that the older set views the younger with a jaundiced eye, it's that the Millenials are able to function as well as they do.  Few generations tried harder to ruin childhood than the same Boomers now whining about young 'uns. 

The predictability in the study is that EVERY generation gripes about the one that follows it, whether the "problem" is tastes in music, hairstyles, clothing, or friends.  And, this works both ways; young people like to think they're getting over on their parents.  They're not; just like the youth of my day did not invent rebellious behavior, and neither did my parents.  Or their parents.  The bar of permissibility has changed but, again, whose fault is that?    

I have high hopes for the Millenials, partly because I have two sons and two step-daughters in their ranks and partly because I am surrounded by them all day.  These are not brats-in-waiting; they are sharp, motivated people.  Sure, they're different from my generation but they are supposed to be.  Their experiences and the things they have been exposed to are different, as those things were different in my childhood as compared to my parents. 

The one surprising thing (at least to me though I am probably wrong) is that Millenials were found to be averse to conflict, a bit startling considering that their parents' generation practically invented youthful conflict.  Then again, those same parents likely overcompensated, so busy wanting to be their children's friend that they ignored being mothers and fathers.  The real study here may be that more Millenials are not in need of therapy.  Good thing.  My retirement years depend on their productivity.   

Friday, September 17, 2010

The ABCs of APA

It is not that APA writing style is particularly difficult, it is that this method is complicated, particularly for a newcomer.  On each of my first two papers, I may have spent as much time on the stylistics imposed by APA requirements as with the substance of the actual writing.  Yes, I get the point; these are research-based works and citation of sources is necessary so anyone curious about a particular point that is made can easily track that information down.  Still, it is quite foreign when compared to anything else I have ever written and, like so many other things associated with grad school, has taken some adjustment. 

The one aspect of APA that practically leaps off the page at both reader and writer is how seemingly everything, no matter how innocuous, is treated as worthy of citation with author, publication, date, and page number.  I half expect to find a paper that includes a source to justify the claim of the sun rising in the east.  Shouldn't some things be considered public knowledge, facts established beyond any hint of doubt? 

For example, I recently did a literature review on envy between siblings.  Every article I looked at included a citation for stating that a sibling relationship is usually the longest-lasting relationship any of us has.  That seems obvious, doesn't it?  The age difference puts a limit on one's relationship with parents; even the best of marriages won't start until a person is over 20; and, friendships also have built-in chronological limitations.  Apparently not good enough.   

Can't help but reminisce on occasion about the relative freedom of writing a 750-word column where the only requirement was  writing something that others would actually want to read and, if all went really well, be moved enough by it to write a letter to the editor to either hail the piece or condemn it.  I have had folks do both and have no particular preference as to which tack readers take.  Both are satisfying in that 1) people took the time to read something I wrote and 2) took a bit more time to think about it and formulate an opinion of their own.  

To a degree, I suppose APA sets the tone for similar results among academics.  They read another's published work, see where material and information came from, scour through the actual piece and possibly some of the sources, and find themselves intrigued enough by the subject matter to attempt to move the discussion further along by doing their own study.  None of this is meant as a complaint; it is simply an observation from someone new to the style.  I'll get better at it and fully expect to be able to justify each of its requirements as more assignments are completed.  A former colleague of mine may have been thinking of APA in saying "learning never ends, but will time?"

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

They said it would happen

And, they were right.  "They", in this case, being professionals warning of the tangential effects of caring for someone with mental deterioration.  The 'effect' this time was my brother, spurred into an inquisition of mom's care after her dementia made a couple of incoherent phone calls that left him upset. 

Fair enough; prior to moving to Auburn, I had also gotten such calls.  They leave the recipient feeling helpless and confused; they usually do NOT leave one feeling hostile or accusatory, which was the course my  brother chose to take. 

His belligerence stirred the Col. Nathan Jessup that lies in all of us.  Jessup, if you recall, was the character played by Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men", the one whose signature line was telling the Tom Cruise character "you can't handle the truth".   Not only is my brother unable to handle the truth about mom, he is denying its existence.  

I will not go into details other than to say, unless you are with the deteriorating person every day, you are in a woefully weak position to judge those who are.  My Jessup sentiment was along the lines of "she has to be cared for and her peculiarities accepted.  Who's going to do that?  You?  Not so far.  You have the luxury of not knowing what I know.  You get to sleep and rise knowing that she is taken care of yet have the audacity to gripe about that care is given.  Frankly, I would prefer you just said thank you.  Otherwise, take up a shift and see if your perspective doesn't change a bit."  

Books on this subject are filled with tales of intrafamily strife and the theme is consistent - those on the outside have little clue as to what the inside looks and feels like, yet want to play some sort of directorial role.  Look,  circumstances happen in every family where one sibling or another is precluded from being an active participant.  Such is the case with my brother and I don't begrudge him that.  My opportunity to go to grad school was knowingly coupled with returning mom to her home; I am neither a martyr nor seeking canonization.  But, reality is what it is and it cannot be seen from 300 miles away. 

Fortunately, there is a vast repository of literature available, and his email and regular mailbox will fill up with both.  He can choose to read them and modify his approach, or take a second pass on the path of confrontation.  The latter is guaranteed to not only fail but to potentially cause irreversible harm.  He's a smart guy who works in health care, no less.  It is not like he lacks for resources.  This should be easy to figure out.  Should be.  Nathan had his exercise for the week but he is manning a post.  

Sunday, September 5, 2010

The First Assignment

"Do not overthink this".  With those words, the class and I were dispatched on our first writing assignment of the semester.  Don't overthink it; easy for the professor to say.  No one will be grading her work.  Besides, who likes writing?  No, wait; I do.  I love writing.  But, this is for academia, the kind of writing that makes one think of stuffy language, stodgy vocabulary, and stiff syntax.  Isn't this exactly the sort of thing one is supposed to overthink? 

It's not like the assignment snuck up on me.  Reading and writing are as common to grad school as polls and pundits are to politics.  The past month's volume of reading has topped that of the previous few years, without a single box score or opinion column.  Still, as that noted wordsmith Dan Quayle once said - "how terrible to lose one's mind, or not have a mind at all", or words close to that.  He took a catch phrase about a mind being a terrible thing to waste and absolutely butchered it.  I want to avoid anything similar on this writing assignment. 

I have already violated the professor's commandment.  Repeatedly.  But, it is a thought piece, so what else does one do except think, right?  Maybe if there was no grade involved, but I checked.  There will be.  Seems they don't give trophies to everyone just for being on the team; they actually keep score.  Hmmm; the folks in K-12 are not going to like this.  They specialize in avoiding any hint at the malicious truth that all students are not created equal, to the point of having multiple valedictorians at some high schools, which totally defies the point of the word 'valedictorian'.

But I digress, which is not a part of the assignment but does provide a break from thinking about it.  Now, however, I am thinking about it again - writing and re-writing witty intros, snappy transitions, and a clever ending.  If I can only get those components to actually address the topic of the assignment, this will be easy.  And, I can stop thinking about it.  Until the next assignment.    

Totally unrelated note - was anyone else embarrassed that during Saturday's game the athletic department was pushing tickets for the remaining schedule?  Really?  This schedule has 5 home games that are sure-fire national television attractions and we can't sell out the stadium?  Sorry; I don't like it.  Tennessee regularly fills up a larger venue with lesser teams; Bama has a waiting list on season tickets; and, even South Carolina has more people wanting in than seats in which to put them.  If you want to be taken seriously, you have to act like you are serious.  The players and coaches are doing their part.  I have season ducats; do you?