Comparative Failure in Science

Originally published in Science, 143(3610) (March 6, 1964): 1012-14 Barney G. Glaser, Ph.D., Hon. Ph.D. Besides degree of clarity, another aspect of a demotion is the relative failure which it indicates. The clearer the forms of comparative failure, the more painful they are likely to be. However, a certain degree of failure may indicate nothing more than the lack of outstanding success, while indicating moderate success. A perennial problem for some scientists is their feeling of comparative failure as scientists. This problem becomes clearer if we consider two major...

Overcoming Obstacles: Opportunities of academically talented women in ...

Shahla Alborzi, Ph.D.; Mohammad Khayyer, Ph.D. with the assistance of Tina L. Johnston, Ph.D. Abstract The aim of the present research was to study the lifetime obstacles and opportunities of academically successful women working at Iran universities. Successful female academics in Iran are concerned about the social and personal barriers to pursuing successful careers in academia. These women continually work to overcome these barriers in an ongoing process called overcoming obstacles. This basic social process has five stages: perceiving inequality, conflicting,...

Stabilising of Life: A substantive theory

Aino-Liisa Jussila, Ph.D. Abstract The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore how families live after one parent has been diagnosed with cancer and to develop a substantive theory to explain how families solve the main concern in their lives. The study design was prospective using 32 joint couple conversations with parents of 13 families (N=26) during different stages of the cancer trajectory as well as 26 hours of observations of five families, including ten parents and nine children (N=19), collected during a boarding course on psychosocial rehabilitation....

Pushing For Privileged Passage: A grounded theory of guardians to midd...

Tina L. Johnston, Ph.D. Abstract This grounded theory research identified conflict over decisions about placement into high ability mathematics classes. A theory termed pushing for privileged passage emerged from data collected from parents and educators in the Northwest United States as well as international literature. Pushing occurs following a break down of trust among parents and/or educators over various facets of the school and over student abilitygrouping decisions in mathematics specifically. Subsequently they try to circumvent the system to gain advantaged...

Eliciting Spill: A methodological note

Alvita Nathaniel, Ph.D. Classic grounded theory is an inductive process that focuses on the experiences and perceptions of research participants (Glaser, 1978, 1998). Although grounded theorists may utilize other types of data, most are likely to gather information through qualitative interviews. The theorist seeks to understand what is going on as people resolve their main concern in a given substantive area. People know what is important to them and most want to tell their stories. They feel encouraged to talk when they recognize that their stories are valued. Once the...