First Sample of Dissertation Design Study Presentation

1. Face-to-Face in a
Facebook World
Dissertation Study Design
Presentation, Mishe Harvey
October 20, 2011

2. Study Overview
• Purpose Statement:
• The dual purpose of this multiple-case study investigation is, first, to examine the nature of
association between mentor Social Perspective Taking Motivation and indicators of the quality of
mentor-mentee social bonds; and second, to understand the mentee’s experiences of the mentor’s
Social Perspective Taking attempts, or lack thereof, in relation to the development of the mentor-
mentee social bond in the elementary school based mentoring context.
• Research Problem:
• Research indicates positive youth outcomes from school-based mentoring (SBM) conducted in
mentor-mentee relationships with close social-bonds. Yet, not much is understood about how such
social-bonds develop in the SBM context. Social-Perspective Taking (SPT), the capacity to discern
another’s thoughts and feelings, is hypothesized to play a role in developing critical pathways for
mentor-mentee relationship development.
• Data Collection:
• A sample of eight mentor-mentee pairs will be selected for this investigation: four mentors who are
higher in SPT Motivation and four mentors who are lower in SPT Motivation (and their
mentees), sixteen total participants. Mentor surveys, mentor and mentee interviews and
observations of mentoring sessions will be collected and analyzed. The data will be initially coded
according to a theoretical taxonomy of SPT factors (Gehlbach, 2004), and pathways to mentor
relationship development (Spencer, 2006).

3. Proposal Research Questions
• 1. What is the nature of association between
mentor Social Perspective Taking Motivation
and indicators of the quality of mentor-
mentee social bonds?
• 2. Based on the way Social Perspective Taking
(SPT) is conceptualized and
operationalized, what are the mentee’s
experiences of the mentor’s SPT attempts, or
lack thereof, within the mentoring
relationship?

4. Design Framework

5. Primary Documents by Media Type

6. Primary Document Families:

7. Document Family:
Data Type Interviews

8. Codes

9. Code Family: Mentee

10. Code Family: Mentor

11. Code Family: Social Bond

12. Code Family: Social Perspective Taking (SPT)

13. Coding: A modest start

14. Memos: Just Beginning

15. Next Steps
• Continue Data Collection and analysis
• Import relevant literature and code
• Import supporting proposal documents
• Deepen understanding of associations within the
data set
• Write up findings
• Graduate and begin paying off student loans
• Write a book about my findings, and tour the
world.

16. Thank You
The end…or beginning..