Doctoral Research Research Articles

BRAZILIAN RESEARCH IN STATISTICS, PROBABILITY AND COMBINATORICS EDUCATION: A LOOK AT THESES

In this article, we first analyze the situation of statistics education in Brazil, within an international context of interest for this discipline. Secondly, we aim to answer the following research question: How has doctoral research in statistics, probability, and combinatorics education evolved in Brazil? For this purpose, we analyzed the Brazilian doctoral research production from 1994 to 2021. We identified 102 completed dissertations in doctoral programs over the last 28 years. Within this research context, we analyzed the graduate programs, advisors, research themes, grade levels and participants studied, theoretical frameworks, and the data analysis methodologies employed. Even though doctoral research has developed slowly and irregularly, there has been an increase in the number of studies, driven by the growth of graduate degrees offered in the last few years.

Facilitating pura medicina

In this article, based on my doctoral research, I discuss the appropriation of religious elements from South America by Finnish ‘mystical tourists’. The plant medicine ceremonies are approached as spiritual commodities. Imagining local beliefs and practices as ancient cultural heritage, essentially and authentically spiritual, Finnish mystical tourists adapt these practices for their own therapeutic uses. They are accompanied by singing prayers to various plant spirits. Among the appropriated elements are the ceremonial ingestion of imported organic cacao, sacred tobacco and ayahuasca, as well as praying by singing to plant spirits understood in terms of animism. My findings indicate how the appropriated cultural elements are given therapeutic functions in collectively created musical and ritual spaces for individual well-being. I analyse appropriation in categories introduced by Richard A. Rogers (2006) and understand the ceremonies to provide ‘mystical tourists’ with a role as a racially privileged group over the subaltern indigenous peoples through processes of commercialization, where reimagined cultural elements become spiritual commodities to be bought and sold in commercial networks on the basis of access. I argue that the associated forms of cultural appropriation align with the individualistic spiritual well-being needs of the Finnish participants and are related to the theme of ‘sacralization of the self’.

Purpose-driven oral examination: insights from doctoral viva examiners

Despite the importance of the PhD viva in assessing the quality of doctoral research, how examiners approach the PhD viva remains underexplored in the Global South. This study fills this gap by investigating the conceptions of doctoral examiners in Malaysia, shedding light on how they approach the PhD viva and what they believe its key purposes are. Through qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with twelve examiners, this study reveals that examiners place a significant emphasis on the quality of the research thesis, empower candidates to demonstrate mastery of the research subject, initiate dialogue for research engagement, and foster socialisation within the disciplinary community. The study contributes to the conceptualisation of the purposes of the PhD viva, encompassing gatekeeping, empowerment, dialogue, and enculturation, which can provide valuable guidance for examiner practices. The implications of these findings are discussed, highlighting the facilitative role of examiners in the examination process.

Care does not just belong at home: inclusion in doctoral supervision for a student with traumatic brain injury

This paper presents an examination of the first author’s experiences and unique positioning as a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI hereafter) survivor in doctorate supervision. Autoethnography was used to connect her personal to her cultural experience in this environment where the voices of both supervisors and student enrich doctoral supervision practices. We explore the complex intersections of the first co-author’s experience relating to neurodiversity, disability/ability, care, assumptions and disclosure. This paper illustrates that while being personally embodied, her experience also intersected with overlapping external factors which prevented or supported her inclusion. This paper demonstrates that it was necessary to perceive, trust and appreciate the care being offered before being able to fully disclose and progress successfully with her studies. Oppong’s (2014) integrated model of human action and conditions offers the use of an integrated approach to explain her experience to the reader and proposes a more respectful approach to inclusion. Points of interest This article is written from a stand -point perspective and explores the experiences of the first author as a person with TBI navigating the increasingly neoliberal environment of higher education (HE). This article illustrates how inclusive policies within the HE system that advocate inclusion, in reality, neurodiverse students are not fully understood, and their needs are not adequately met. An ethics of care and empathy are advocated that recognizes the individuality of the first author and understands the complexity of her experience. Disclosure was a reciprocal process in this supervision process. Higher education needs to be more inclusive of disability by providing a more flexible approach to doctoral supervision, while not reducing the standard of a doctorate. Universal design for Learning (UDL) principles may offer a useful framework for making doctoral research more accessible.

Prospects and Challenges of Extracting Scientific Publications from a Doctoral Thesis in International Economic Law: An Academic Excursion

Africa produces less than one per cent of the total global research outputs. This is despite African institutions having been involved in producing knowledge for millennia. The centres of learning of Alexandria in Egypt, the ancient universities of Timbuktu and the monasteries run by Christian organisations in the third century BC are notable instances of research and knowledge production on the African continent. Today, Africa is lagging behind in knowledge production, including knowledge about Africa and Africans themselves. As a response, African universities, particularly in South Africa, have adopted strategies to increase knowledge production. Amongst the approaches taken is the growing trend to demand co-authorship between supervisors and their supervisees, ensuring that portions of the postgraduate Doctoral research eventually feature as a journal article or a book chapter. The other approach has been for some universities to demand that the student must publish two chapters or one chapter from their thesis before they are permitted to graduate. While both these approaches are commendable, the fact remains that universities are not doing enough to equip these emerging researchers to transition from mere students to published authors in peer-reviewed accredited journals. This article interrogates the challenges and prospects brought about by this academic demand, the causes of some of these challenges, and how students who are registered for international economic law can successfully navigate these barriers. The article draws from the author’s personal experience in converting her Doctoral chapters into published journal articles.

Patient attitude towards disease as a predictor of its course and outcome

According to a significant amount of scientific research, it is known that the deterioration of public health and the tendency towards certain types of disease cannot be explained only by conventional factors. It has been proven that a patient’s attitude towards their disease determines their response to the pathology and their adaptation to their new condition. The aim of this work is to analyze research, views, and beliefs of doctors and psychologists on the influence of a patient’s perception of their own illness and their attitude towards it on the course of the disease. This review presents an analysis of numerous scientific works aimed at identifying types of attitudes towards disease that are characteristic of various nosological forms, both mental and somatic. As a result of the literature analysis, a set of conditions and factors that determine the nature and intensity of the influence of attitudes towards disease on its course and outcome were identified. These include the volume and nature of information about a specific disease, which is understood by the patient according to their intellectual and psychological readiness to perceive and interpret it; the way in which a doctor provides information about the course of the disease, possible outcomes, and planned treatment methods; age and gender; the nature and severity of the disease itself, as well as the mental health of patients.

How to be reflexive: Foucault, ethics and writing qualitative research as a technology of the self

ABSTRACTThis paper explores reflexivity in qualitative research, challenging conventional perspectives that revolve around the binary of ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ positioning. While traditionally reflexivity has been understood through the lens of a researcher's socio-historical positionality, we argue for a more dynamic understanding, emphasizing that academic self-formation is an ongoing process of self-creation. Drawing inspiration from the ancient Akadēmía, where writing was a method of self-reflection, we recontextualize reflexive qualitative writing, aligning it with Foucault's interpretations of Ancient Greek and Renaissance concepts. We posit that writing, especially in doctoral research, is not just a tool for communication but a means of self-formation. This perspective redefines reflexivity as a transformative intellectual and existential process. The paper critically examines the prevailing insider/outsider binary in the research literature, suggesting that researcher identities are fluid and constantly shaped by interactions. By integrating Foucault's later work on ethics, we explore the ethical dimensions of reflexivity and the formation of the ethical subject. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the academic discourse on reflexivity, offering a more fluid, transformative view of the doctoral process and reflexive writing in qualitative research.

The entangled becoming in humanities doctoral education

Purpose Institutional framings of doctoral education mostly do not recognize the existential dimension of doctoral experience. This paper aims to offer an expanded understanding of experiences of doctoral researchers in the humanities with the concept of entangled becoming. This concept is developed through an existential lens by using Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophy – particularly his emphasis on emotions such as passion, anxiety and despair – and Denise Batchelor’s derived concept of vulnerable voices. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual framing is used for an empirical study based on ethnographic interviews with 10 doctoral researchers and supplementary observational notes from fieldwork at a university in Denmark. Two of the interview cases were selected to showcase variation across lived experiences and how doctoral researchers voice their entangled becoming. Findings Common experiences such as loneliness, insecurity(ies), vulnerability(ies) or passion for one’s research were identified across the interviews. On the other hand, this study shows that each doctoral journey in the humanities envelops a distinct web of entanglements, entailing distinct navigation, that makes each case a unique story and each doctoral voice a specific one. Originality/value Combining an existential philosophical perspective with a qualitative study, the paper offers an alternative perspective for doctoral education. It connects the humanities doctoral experience to the broader condition of human existence and the sophisticated uniqueness of each researcher’s becoming.

Female early-career scientists have conducted less interdisciplinary research in the past six decades: evidence from doctoral theses

Interdisciplinary research is a driving force of transformative and innovative science, yet it remains unclear how early-career scientists pursue interdisciplinary research paths. Analyzing data from 675,135 doctoral theses of U.S. Ph.D. graduates who graduated from 1950 to 2016, we study the development of interdisciplinary doctoral theses in the five scientific domains of behavioral sciences, biological sciences, engineering, health and medical sciences, and mathematical and physical sciences. We propose an indicator to measure the degree of interdisciplinarity embedded in the doctoral research by employing co-occurrence matrices of subjects assigned to doctoral theses in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database. This study finds that interdisciplinary doctoral theses have exhibited a growing trend across different scientific domains, and universities of varying research intensity. Since the 1990s, interdisciplinary research has played a dominant role in doctoral theses within the five scientific domains. The results of multivariate regression models suggest persistent gender disparities in the interdisciplinarity level of doctoral theses. Specifically, male-authored doctoral theses demonstrate a higher level of interdisciplinarity than female-authored doctoral theses. In addition, this study suggests that being supervised by female advisors may amplify gender disparities in the interdisciplinarity level of their students’ doctoral theses. The findings indicate the potential underrepresentation of female scientists in pursuing interdisciplinary research at the early stages of their careers. Given that funding agencies have promoted interdisciplinary research and its potential benefits, the lower level of interdisciplinarity in the doctoral theses of female students may hinder their career advancement. Furthermore, our findings indicate that offering increased support to female faculty members may not only directly benefit their career development but also hold considerable significance in promoting future generations of female scientists. The findings of this study have important policy implications for advancing the careers of female scientists.

Doctoral Contribution to Nursing Science in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Document Review.

Nursing science is at serious risk of extinction. The lack of funding for research, absence of healthcare policies underpinned by nursing science, and general lack of understanding of nursing metaparadigms all contribute to the stunted growth in nursing science. Doctoral research is a platform for the development and refinement of nursing science. The purpose of this qualitative retrospective document review was to describe the doctoral contribution to nursing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Electronic dissertations for doctoral degrees in nursing within a 5-year period from universities in SSA were included. The extracted data comprising the purpose of the studies, the models used in the studies, and the studies' contributions to nursing science were analyzed against a knowledge contribution framework. In total, 166 documents were included, mostly from South African universities, with a predominant focus on developing models, frameworks, and strategies within nursing practice. Only 17% of the studies applied grand nursing theories or models, with the rest of the studies applying theories from other disciplines. The contribution to nursing science from the doctoral studies was poor. The low uptake of nursing models in doctoral research in SSA may significantly contribute to the lack of refinement of nursing science within SSA. Structured approaches focused on integrating the nursing metaparadigms, theories, and models and fundamental underpins for doctoral education in Africa are essential to influencing the refinement of nursing science.

Alternative Arrangements

Alternative Arrangements is a series of works that have emerged from my doctoral research at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. This practice-based research asks how architectures and landscapes of the contested border on the island of Éire (Ireland) tell the stories of its pasts and presents. It uses ‘topographic practice’ – a term I have been developing through the course of my PhD building on Jane Rendell’s ideas of ‘critical spatial practice’ (Rendell, 2006) – to unpack architectural and landscape historiography as a form of artistic output; seeing the methods, practices and outputs as sites themselves, ones that build a multi-layered topography – a landscape of practice – to respond the specific characteristics of each place. Here doing so through ‘bordering practices’ (Hafeda, 2019) that aim to break down the binary of the border.  This third and final project of the PhD consists of film, photography, site-specific installation, and texts to be read in association with key locations, histories, and materials of the border; which in the process of ‘alternative arrangement’ have become intentionally ‘polysituated’ (Kinsella, 2017). In each site these installations act as allegories to create an uncanny double-take that seek to reconfigure the power dynamics of the centre by engaging with architectures, landscapes, and histories of the periphery. My PhD research began with border in sight – both conceptually as an object of study and practically in the relentless early years of the Brexit process – but ending here with the border perhaps disappearing entirely, or at least creating the imaginative space for it to do so. 

Centring the voices of survivors of child sexual abuse in research: an act of hermeneutic justice.

Survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) are known to hold silence and create distance between themselves and service providers for self-protection, as groomed behaviour or to protect the listener from vicarious trauma. Silence for many survivors has also been reinforced as a beneficial action by previous experiences of disclosing and being rejected, challenged, or disbelieved. How can researchers be sure the same dynamic is not playing out in research interviews? Generating reliable research data is an imperative and an act of epistemic justice that enables CSA survivors to testify to the suffering caused by abuse and subsequent trauma distress and to contribute to social discourse for change. Fricker, however, notes that the precursor to testimonial justice is hermeneutic justice. Hermeneutic justice pivots on the dual action of accurate understanding and interpretation, but CSA experiences may be beyond the comprehension of untraumatised listeners because their own frame of reference renders them unable or unwilling (even if unconsciously) to entertain the truth of such human depravity and cruelty. If survivors are not understood, their testimonies can be misconstrued or oftentimes excluded from the generation of epistemic knowledge, leaving the survivors unable to make sense of, and process, their experiences. These are crucial issues for researchers in the field of CSA and other crimes of sexual and gendered abuse. This study considers the operationalisation of a participatory research approach held within a lived experience research paradigm. Such methodologies advocate for peer involvement, which is becoming more widely recognised as supporting testimonial justice and the accurate understanding and interpretation of survivors' testimonies. The issue of validating the methodology and methods is considered, exploring a rigorous data audit and researcher reflexivity as contributors to trustworthy data. Peer and participant safety when researching through lived experience is addressed. Data from a doctoral research study are used to illustrate this article.

An equity‐driven ecological model for internationalizing doctoral student research training

AbstractThe global academic community is increasingly connected, which has implications for the internationalization of doctoral education. In our previous work, we presented a theoretical approach to doctoral student research training using an ecological theory that provided considerations for individual and programmatic practice. Though our proposed model for doctoral research training is still relevant and valuable, we recognize there is missing a layer of criticality in that framework that would allow for more nuance in doctoral research preparation for international contexts. In this chapter, we apply an equity‐driven lens to our model that accounts for a critical global perspective that was absent in our previous writing. We argue that power and privilege are inherent in all relational aspects of ecological theories and must be included in doctoral research preparation. Thus, we offer recommendations for addressing these issues for the individual doctoral student as well as the faculty and programs that train them and guide their research endeavors.Practical Takeaways Inequities are ingrained in all aspects of higher education; thus, we must critically examine how we approach research and scholarship through each system in the ecology of doctoral education. Faculty have a responsibility to prepare students to respond to global challenges, including how racial, colonial, political, and economic hierarchies inform current international research practices. We advocate for the application of an equity‐driven lens to an ecological model for doctoral student international research training. We recommend an equity‐driven, global ecological perspective in approaches to doctoral education broadly, including discipline‐specific courses, mentoring relationships, and graduate assistantships.

Theses of excellence as a reflection of doctoral and postdoctoral research in the Republic of Moldova

Designating doctoral theses as of excellence is a common practice worldwide. In the Republic of Moldova, the competition for doctoral theses of excellence has been carried out since 2010. The analysis of doctoral theses of excellence in the Republic of Moldova for the years 2009–2022 revealed different characteristics of these theses and trends in the defence of postdoctoral and PhD theses. It was established that theses of excellence are more often carried out in large institutions and doctoral schools, capable of ensuring critical mass, where there are long research traditions and by candidates who often benefit from international collaborations. Doctoral theses of excellence reflect quite well the major features of doctoral and postdoctoral research. The feminisation of this research and the maintenance of a high weighting of social sciences and economics are confirmed. At the same time, it has been proven that the scientific fields with the highest international recognition are favoured and encouraged when referring to the in the competition for doctoral theses of excellence.

Fringe renewal. Enhancing urban and peri-urban fragile areas

This doctoral design-driven research investigates the spatial renewal and urban regeneration of four areas of the case study Eastern fringe of Milan. Each design experimentation focuses on peculiar topics related to urban fringes' renewal which were selected due to the specificities of each area within the broader urban fringe, which is strongly characterized by the presence of different infrastructures – the Lambro river, the railways and the A51 highway ‘Autostrada Tangenziale Est'. Design approaches illustrated in the following visual essays are based on surveys and datasets; they test design strategies through specific toolkits aimed at enhancing spatial relations and urban quality and reacting to climate change through mitigation and adaptation actions.

Räl-manapanmirr djämaw - Collaboration in action

We are an intercultural research team studying intercultural communication. This article shares some of the research practices we used in a doctoral research project conducted collaboratively at all stages from planning to dissemination. We discuss how räl-manapanmirr djäma (collaborative work) supports researchers to connect and succeed in developing deeper, shared understandings of intercultural communication. We have been working to find a research pathway that connects partners from different knowledge systems while recognising, celebrating and learning from our differences.

Meta/morphosis

Meta/morphosis is a long-form poetry that acts as the rationale behind wider doctoral research as a practitioner-researcher, which uses performance research as a well-being intervention for young people with socio-emotional mental health conditions through the vehicle of mythology. The rationale behind my research – which explores the navigation of human emotion and aims to create pathways to new becomings () – creative writing felt like the only apt medium. The poem meanders around the original form of Ovid’s Metamorphoses – inspired by the way in which the intertwining internal monologues and visceral feelings of the characters were never too much and, in fact, spurred on. The justification for and exploration of this mode of writing takes the form of a commentary, as is commonplace for ancient texts in Latin and Greek to be presented with an accompanying linguistic commentary. The ‘commentary’ is cut together side by side to the poem as a praxis to emphasize the materiality of how the two ideas can touch and influence/change their form (; ; ; ; ). The poem was performed in 2022 – the exploration of this practice allowed me to fully immerse myself in the epistemology and methodology of what I am hoping to do; it gave grounding to now move forward and begin research with the epistemology, methodology, practice, theory and ethics intertwined.

Results of the Doctoral Studies of the Moldovan Government Members

Carrying out doctoral studies is an opportunity to develop useful skills not only in the academic career, but in any human activity: data collection, information analysis, communication, organization and decision-making. Considering this fact, the doctoral theses of 7 members of the Government of the Republic of Moldova who hold the scientifi c doctor’s degree were analyzed in the study. It is noted that the theses are defended in political science, law, economics, medicine and mathematics and that the current activity of the ministers has connections, for the most part, with doctoral research topics. In this way, doctoral studies can help members of the Government to perform their functional duties more eff ectively, including in the development of scientifi c evidence-based strategies and policies and the establishment of important domestic and international cooperations, and also generate hopes that the authorities will try to improve the situation of science in the Republic of Moldova, thereby reducing the gaps in this chapter compared to the European Union.

With all the talk of entry into the profession and the training experience, what about Black clinical psychologists post qualification?

The focus on how Whiteness and racism exclude racialised individuals from entering the profession, and adversely impact the experiences of racialised trainees, has led to an oversight of the experiences of racialised, specifically Black, qualified clinical psychologists. The doctoral research this article is based on aimed to address this gap by exploring Black Clinical Psychologists’ (BCPs’) experiences of racism and its discussion at work and in the profession. The accounts provided illustrate the ways in which Whiteness continues to permeate the professional context and remain a consistent feature of the lives of our Black colleagues following their transition into qualified life. Their testimony highlights the detrimental impact of Whiteness and racism on their emotional and psychological wellbeing, and willingness to remain within the profession and the NHS. In sharing their experiences, they remind us that, although the profession is keen to celebrate its efforts to tackle racism during the pre-qualification phase, the work of addressing Whiteness and becoming anti-racist is far from complete; our Black qualified colleagues continue to endure ongoing harm.

Factors impacting the ability of ‘EdAdvisors’ to support and enhance technology-enhanced learning and teaching in Australian Higher Education

Technology-enhanced learning and teaching practice in Higher Education is facilitated in different ways by ‘Third Space’ support staff including Learning Designers, Education Technologists and Academic Developers, broadly defined as ‘EdAdvisors’ – educator/advisors. EdAdvisors offer rich experience and expertise across both pedagogy and technology can be hampered by workplace factors that diminish their ability to have meaningful impact. The work that EdAdvisors do is increasingly represented in existing research but there less is known of the barriers to their practice, particularly across different role-types. This doctoral research uses a Practice Theory lens and mixed methods to examine the complex web of factors in Australian Higher Education that shape the practices of EdAdvisors, including cultural, epistemic, material, organisational and relational, in an attempt to identify problems and suggest solutions. One significant problem is that EdAdvisor roles are often poorly defined. This work adds clarity to the understanding of these roles by comparing core activities and knowledge areas associated with them and using this analysis to find distinguishing characteristics and areas of overlap. It contributes to deeper understanding of the ways that teaching is and should be supported in Australian Higher Education. Feedback is sought on the theoretical lenses and methodology