I am writing this while sitting in McDonalds working on some homework. I have come here many times as I wait for my son to do his high school program. This McDonalds has a group of “older” men who come together every weekday morning for coffee. They have a specific table they sit at and obviously have known each other for longer than I have been alive. Generally they are a very pleasant bunch who discusses sports, weather, and farm crops. Today they cover a topic that caught my ear – President Obama and the economy.
There was a general consensus that the economy was bad (no, that is not what drew my attention), and that the government was considering another stimulus package. The general disapproval for this initiate was not very surprising, but what did make me put down the books was when one of the guys started talking about Japan in the early 1990s and their efforts at stimulus. So I was beginning to think that I had run into a well informed bunch, and my ideas of their simple conversations (and by default their thoughts) was incorrect.
I was about to berate myself for being judgmental and something of an academic snob until one of the guys started to talk about economic theory. He explained that if you took all the money in the world and divided it up equally among all the people, within 5 years the current wealthy would again have 90% of the money (and they were talking about wealth not cash, so don’t bark at me about that). This collection of wealth was due, in their opinion, to the natural (read God given) talent and intelligence. They continued by saying that the poor of this country were poor because of a “lack of smarts.” The people with money have it because they know how to manage their money. The people who are poor are poor because they don’t know what to do with their money.
At this point a couple of the other “older” gentleman started to list reasons poor people were poor. They cited drugs, “all the things they do to their cars”, not investing anything or saving money, and just not working hard enough to have any money in the first place. Another one indicated that poor people make bad decisions and money is near the top of the decision list. Yet another one added that these “people” just have too many children, “children they cannot afford.” To top the whole list off this group came to the conclusion that poor people just won’t work hard enough to be wealthy.
At this point the men realized that I was listening to them, as I was unconsciously shaking my head and laughing at them. So they lower their voices and moved on to greener conversational pastures. These people vote!
On a side note they have returned to louder voices and are talking about weather assassinating president Obama would be a good thing or a bad thing. God bless the first amendment. By the way, their bad part of a dead president would be martyrdom and all the commemorative statues they would have to see.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Who would want a job, I want a Pay Check,?
My son, now 18, is struggling with the big questions of the universe. You might ask, What great question is he wrestling with: What should I do with my life? What will make me happy in this world? What is my relationship with God? Or even, what is the meaning of life? If you guessed any of these you would be wrong. He is struggling with the great and powerful question, “How do I avoid getting a job, but still make people think I am trying?”
In this economy it’s pretty easy to not have a job. Point of fact nationally, if you select ten random people and ask them if they have a job, more than one of them will be without a job. That means to me that it IS hard to find a job, but in my son’s case it is impossible.
We were on our ride to school today, because he decided it was impossible for him to put in the effort to complete high school, when I had to tell him that because of a schedule change I would not be able to take him to school tomorrow. It should be stated that he does not have school tomorrow. His school open Monday through Thursday, and he has to be there for ten hours during the week. He has been doing two four hour days (the longest he can in a single day) and a 2 hour day. For the past 10 week that has translated into me getting him up and driving him 16 miles to school. As I don’t hang around, that results in an investment of 64 miles a day (1920 miles so far). My frustration is multiplied in that we drive right past the high school every time.
On this particular morning as I was explaining how Friday had become complicated, and I would not be able to pick him up until three hours past when he would be through (taking a test). He came back at me with how it is impossible for him to get a job because we were so undependable. Taking offense to his comment I told him that he does not want a job. If he wanted a job as badly as he indicated he would be willing to spend time waiting for a ride. This turned into his exclamation about how he is not going to be sitting around from 10am (or whenever he got done with work) until 11pm at night to get a ride; and he would just be hanging around in the restaurant (which is the only place he can envision himself working), as the people would be getting sick of him. I responded that he was mind reading, as he is a wonderful young man and people love to be around him.
At that point he got so upset that he refused to go to school and I should turn around. Being 18 and all, we returned home. He was giving up on everything because he was challenged on his job search. It is also worth mentioning that his level of anxiety was raised sufficiently that on the ride back he told me that when he gets a job he is moving in with his mom. I just told him I would miss him.
The whole job hunting process has been an ongoing nightmare. He has had three jobs since he was 14, the longest was for 4 months. The first was in a restaurant, but he had some difficulties with authority and quickly decided to search for another job. This first job was some 24 miles from our house, but yet we were able to get him to every shift. I also spent a number of hours waiting in the restaurant (doing work/homework) so that he would be able to leave the moment he was done. Although I was not thrilled with the time I had to invest in his job I felt it was worth the effort. His problems at work exploded when 14 weeks into the job he was accused of stealing from fellow employees. In response he found another job, this one as a cook in a local bar. He was fired from this job for not performing his duties well. The following summer his biological-aunt found him a grounds keeper job at the nursing home where she worked. He attended this job exactly three times before telling me that he quit. (Yes you read that right, he told me he quit, not his boss.) He indicated that a summer job would not fit into his schedule of seeing friends and that he would get another job when school started – when he was less busy. That was two years ago and he has not worked a day since.
We have tried to help him find work. We have had numerous job hunting trips. These include running around all of God’s creation to pick up applications. My wife and I quickly learned that we had to wait for him to fill out the applications at the location and turn them in, because more than once my son collected a huge stack of applications and they just sat in his room. We also put together a quick reference guide to application. This included his work history, references, school address and all kinds of phone numbers; you know all the stuff that goes on an application. We had to do this because otherwise the applications would get about 20% filled out and turned in. My beloved wife, bless her heart, even filled out and returned about 10 applications for him.
With applications turned in we needs to call these places back, but apparently this is a step that is just too hard. We help him remember, as he asks us to do so, but when he has the chance to call he doesn’t. He lies about calling places. So what is a concerned father to do?
To wrap this very long story up, we came home today and my son was slamming doors and calling his borderline girlfriend, but eventually came to me and said that he called two places back and they didn’t even have a hiring manager there. The implication was that he has done EVERYTHING and he still can’t get a job. I asked him when he was going to call back and he looked at me like I had grown an extra head. “I have no idea.” He exclaimed, “They didn’t tell me when the manager would be in.” I replied that I thought that was an excellent excuse for not getting a job, there was no way he could be expected to know when these people work so how is he to know when to call back. There was just a little too much sarcasm in my voice, but it worked. He called both places back to find out when the manager would be in!
Well that was about 40 minutes ago, he came back to me and wanted to know when after lunch was.
In this economy it’s pretty easy to not have a job. Point of fact nationally, if you select ten random people and ask them if they have a job, more than one of them will be without a job. That means to me that it IS hard to find a job, but in my son’s case it is impossible.
We were on our ride to school today, because he decided it was impossible for him to put in the effort to complete high school, when I had to tell him that because of a schedule change I would not be able to take him to school tomorrow. It should be stated that he does not have school tomorrow. His school open Monday through Thursday, and he has to be there for ten hours during the week. He has been doing two four hour days (the longest he can in a single day) and a 2 hour day. For the past 10 week that has translated into me getting him up and driving him 16 miles to school. As I don’t hang around, that results in an investment of 64 miles a day (1920 miles so far). My frustration is multiplied in that we drive right past the high school every time.
On this particular morning as I was explaining how Friday had become complicated, and I would not be able to pick him up until three hours past when he would be through (taking a test). He came back at me with how it is impossible for him to get a job because we were so undependable. Taking offense to his comment I told him that he does not want a job. If he wanted a job as badly as he indicated he would be willing to spend time waiting for a ride. This turned into his exclamation about how he is not going to be sitting around from 10am (or whenever he got done with work) until 11pm at night to get a ride; and he would just be hanging around in the restaurant (which is the only place he can envision himself working), as the people would be getting sick of him. I responded that he was mind reading, as he is a wonderful young man and people love to be around him.
At that point he got so upset that he refused to go to school and I should turn around. Being 18 and all, we returned home. He was giving up on everything because he was challenged on his job search. It is also worth mentioning that his level of anxiety was raised sufficiently that on the ride back he told me that when he gets a job he is moving in with his mom. I just told him I would miss him.
The whole job hunting process has been an ongoing nightmare. He has had three jobs since he was 14, the longest was for 4 months. The first was in a restaurant, but he had some difficulties with authority and quickly decided to search for another job. This first job was some 24 miles from our house, but yet we were able to get him to every shift. I also spent a number of hours waiting in the restaurant (doing work/homework) so that he would be able to leave the moment he was done. Although I was not thrilled with the time I had to invest in his job I felt it was worth the effort. His problems at work exploded when 14 weeks into the job he was accused of stealing from fellow employees. In response he found another job, this one as a cook in a local bar. He was fired from this job for not performing his duties well. The following summer his biological-aunt found him a grounds keeper job at the nursing home where she worked. He attended this job exactly three times before telling me that he quit. (Yes you read that right, he told me he quit, not his boss.) He indicated that a summer job would not fit into his schedule of seeing friends and that he would get another job when school started – when he was less busy. That was two years ago and he has not worked a day since.
We have tried to help him find work. We have had numerous job hunting trips. These include running around all of God’s creation to pick up applications. My wife and I quickly learned that we had to wait for him to fill out the applications at the location and turn them in, because more than once my son collected a huge stack of applications and they just sat in his room. We also put together a quick reference guide to application. This included his work history, references, school address and all kinds of phone numbers; you know all the stuff that goes on an application. We had to do this because otherwise the applications would get about 20% filled out and turned in. My beloved wife, bless her heart, even filled out and returned about 10 applications for him.
With applications turned in we needs to call these places back, but apparently this is a step that is just too hard. We help him remember, as he asks us to do so, but when he has the chance to call he doesn’t. He lies about calling places. So what is a concerned father to do?
To wrap this very long story up, we came home today and my son was slamming doors and calling his borderline girlfriend, but eventually came to me and said that he called two places back and they didn’t even have a hiring manager there. The implication was that he has done EVERYTHING and he still can’t get a job. I asked him when he was going to call back and he looked at me like I had grown an extra head. “I have no idea.” He exclaimed, “They didn’t tell me when the manager would be in.” I replied that I thought that was an excellent excuse for not getting a job, there was no way he could be expected to know when these people work so how is he to know when to call back. There was just a little too much sarcasm in my voice, but it worked. He called both places back to find out when the manager would be in!
Well that was about 40 minutes ago, he came back to me and wanted to know when after lunch was.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Choke the Smurf
My son has come to me several times in the last few months asking to have a rocking chair, which he purchased for $5, added to the living room. We have told him no because the addition of a chair would make the space very crowded, as the chair would have to sit in the center of the room, and within that arrangement it would be very ugly. Not to even mention that the chair is upholstered in electrical tape or a dark duct tape. His “retort” to our (gracious) explanation (because we don’t have to explain any decisions about furniture and decorating our home) is to get angry. Indicating that there is no place for him to sit and watch TV. There is a significant lack of seating in our living room. We have only two small chairs, but one or both chairs are almost always available.
Let me explain the reason why the chairs are frequently open. First, I am a graduate student and as such spend a great deal of time either away from home or in my office where I do my work. Second, my wonderful wife is a nurse who is currently working 4 (yes, FOUR) jobs, hence she is frequently away from home. Now before anybody goes on a rant about absentee parenting let me add that my son is 18 years old and has a significant aversion to spending time with “the family.” Finally, when my wife or I watch television we are (nearly constantly) criticized for the programming we select. Sorry to anybody over the age of 30 who thinks that Jackass, Bleach, or music videos are quality programming. As a last aside, I would like to add that we have TiVo (and we love it), so it’s not even like he is missing his choices.
The idea that we do not have enough seating is rather stupid. The reaction to our decision is even worse. Here we are, as home owners, and we are being railed against for the way we choose to decorate our house, from a person, with no job, no vehicle, no high school diploma, and who won’t do household chores without being paid.
So here is my solution. If you want to add a tape upholstered chair to MY house, in a place I don’t believe it should go, you get to pay for this privilege. Additionally, I am not going to ask for money because I believe that any money he makes should be saved to purchase a car. For the rental of the center of my living room I would ask that you pay me in chores. Here is a simple list of things that I would expect: keep your bedroom picked up; vacuum the house once a week; put your dishes in the dishwasher (when empty); if the dishwasher is full – empty it; stop stealing soda from me; mow the lawn 3-4 times a month; help take the garbage out. This is a list of six simple things that you do not do, that you could do to rent a space in the middle of my living room. I thing this is a generous offer, as I am not very often in the living room and these are things that most people are required to do just to live in a home.
The real problem I have has nothing to do with a recliner-chair or TV watching or even the chores themselves. My real problem is that this “Boy” of 18 is a total bloodsucking leech, but believes that he has a rough life. I might agree that he has had a rough past, but not now. I might agree even if he had outside obligations like a job or school, as his “special” high school is only 10 hours a week and has NO homework. I just can’t bring myself to cut him slack here. At any rate, my real problem, is that despite my (and my wonderful wife’s) best efforts we have not been successful at teaching him to be a good person to live with.
I could list his flaws (excessive pot smoking, lack of a job, lack of attendance/participation in high school, rudeness, stealing, general disrespect…), but as I make this list I feel like an even bigger failure. I have failed to teach him even some of the most basic things. You should believe me when I say we tried. We spent years and much energy trying to instill in him the principles and morals that we believe in. Long hours were spent discussing methods and means by which we could instruct him. Countless time was spent trying innumerate interventions. All of which were somewhat successful.
When I indicate that there were “somewhat” successful you start to gain a picture of what an uphill battle we have been fighting, but it still feels like I am SO desperately short of our goals.
Sitting and feeling sad I was just struck with a question. What does it feel like to have healthy children? What is it like to have a “normal” or stereotypical parenting experience?
Let me explain the reason why the chairs are frequently open. First, I am a graduate student and as such spend a great deal of time either away from home or in my office where I do my work. Second, my wonderful wife is a nurse who is currently working 4 (yes, FOUR) jobs, hence she is frequently away from home. Now before anybody goes on a rant about absentee parenting let me add that my son is 18 years old and has a significant aversion to spending time with “the family.” Finally, when my wife or I watch television we are (nearly constantly) criticized for the programming we select. Sorry to anybody over the age of 30 who thinks that Jackass, Bleach, or music videos are quality programming. As a last aside, I would like to add that we have TiVo (and we love it), so it’s not even like he is missing his choices.
The idea that we do not have enough seating is rather stupid. The reaction to our decision is even worse. Here we are, as home owners, and we are being railed against for the way we choose to decorate our house, from a person, with no job, no vehicle, no high school diploma, and who won’t do household chores without being paid.
So here is my solution. If you want to add a tape upholstered chair to MY house, in a place I don’t believe it should go, you get to pay for this privilege. Additionally, I am not going to ask for money because I believe that any money he makes should be saved to purchase a car. For the rental of the center of my living room I would ask that you pay me in chores. Here is a simple list of things that I would expect: keep your bedroom picked up; vacuum the house once a week; put your dishes in the dishwasher (when empty); if the dishwasher is full – empty it; stop stealing soda from me; mow the lawn 3-4 times a month; help take the garbage out. This is a list of six simple things that you do not do, that you could do to rent a space in the middle of my living room. I thing this is a generous offer, as I am not very often in the living room and these are things that most people are required to do just to live in a home.
The real problem I have has nothing to do with a recliner-chair or TV watching or even the chores themselves. My real problem is that this “Boy” of 18 is a total bloodsucking leech, but believes that he has a rough life. I might agree that he has had a rough past, but not now. I might agree even if he had outside obligations like a job or school, as his “special” high school is only 10 hours a week and has NO homework. I just can’t bring myself to cut him slack here. At any rate, my real problem, is that despite my (and my wonderful wife’s) best efforts we have not been successful at teaching him to be a good person to live with.
I could list his flaws (excessive pot smoking, lack of a job, lack of attendance/participation in high school, rudeness, stealing, general disrespect…), but as I make this list I feel like an even bigger failure. I have failed to teach him even some of the most basic things. You should believe me when I say we tried. We spent years and much energy trying to instill in him the principles and morals that we believe in. Long hours were spent discussing methods and means by which we could instruct him. Countless time was spent trying innumerate interventions. All of which were somewhat successful.
When I indicate that there were “somewhat” successful you start to gain a picture of what an uphill battle we have been fighting, but it still feels like I am SO desperately short of our goals.
Sitting and feeling sad I was just struck with a question. What does it feel like to have healthy children? What is it like to have a “normal” or stereotypical parenting experience?
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Vacation!!!
School is done for the summer. I have a pseudo-break until they start up again after Labor Day. It's a pseudo-break because I have a few things to get in order to start my practicum. I am expecting that assignments will begin to appear in my inbox. Many of the instructors do a bad thing and send out stuff that is due on the first day of class.
Last year over X-mass an entire book was assigned. Need I say that I skimmed that one?
Last year over X-mass an entire book was assigned. Need I say that I skimmed that one?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Gives us all a bad name
If you don’t understand the psychological test you are giving, how can you do a meaningful interpretation of the results? In the WISC-IV if the VCI or PRI is 13 points different from the WMI and/or PSI you need to calculate a GAI, as FIQ is NOT an appropriate measure of the person’s abilities. I can’t tell you how many school reports that use the FIQ despite a huge difference in the index scores. I have to say 13 points is about the greatest difference, so I had to write about this one. Its worse with this case because there is already a diagnosis that influences executive functioning (and YES, they did know about it, it was in the first paragraph). Correcting for executive functioning impairment this client is totally a different picture. I am going to guess they see disruptive behaviors as willful and intentional, rather than deregulated related to organic neurological issues and impairment in executive functioning.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
What a day
To catch up. My son came to me and said that he was never going back to high school. After a few rounds of emotional soothing bits, he told me that he was willing to go to an HSED program. Of course this is after he had a little legal action taken to do with his absences.
I made the required arrangements and did the paperwork and went to all the meetings and got him enrolled (of course I needed the help of my lovely wife who also had to rearrange her schedule ).
In the doing, my wonderful son agreed that because he did not have his own transportation he was willing to wait for his mother and myself. Thus he was going to have to sit around, sometimes for hours. He agreed.
In the less than two weeks that he had been attending, he was able to find someone who was willing to drive him there. GREAT!!!!, but today this person was not going to go. About an hour before his ride would have been there she called and said he was screwed.
I don't know what is worse, his defense of her "call" as a nice gesture or my wonderful sons refusal to go to school.
I made the required arrangements and did the paperwork and went to all the meetings and got him enrolled (of course I needed the help of my lovely wife who also had to rearrange her schedule ).
In the doing, my wonderful son agreed that because he did not have his own transportation he was willing to wait for his mother and myself. Thus he was going to have to sit around, sometimes for hours. He agreed.
In the less than two weeks that he had been attending, he was able to find someone who was willing to drive him there. GREAT!!!!, but today this person was not going to go. About an hour before his ride would have been there she called and said he was screwed.
I don't know what is worse, his defense of her "call" as a nice gesture or my wonderful sons refusal to go to school.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Review and Revision Process
First things First, the review and revision process is invaluable. I get the important feedback that not only improves my report writing, but fosters my education in the professional field. The idea is that I submit a draft report, well before it requires date, so that it can be reviewed and commented on. This then comes back to be so I can make the needed changes and submit it again (before it is due). If my changes are in need of correction we still have time to make such adjustments. Then the report can go out the door and everything flows well.
Here is the problem. I am submitting reports and getting feedback on them, making the corrections, and then getting additional feedback on areas that were previously designated as needing no changes. Then when the second corrections are made, additional changes are requested, again in areas that were previously fine.
I have an issue when I submit a report, get feedback, make the corrections, re-submit the report, and then get more corrections on things that were originally fine. This type of feedback results in a great deal of wasted time and energy. It also results in massive number of iterations of reports that tend to cause damage to self-esteem (e.g., I just made a bunch of corrections to this report, how can it need another round of huge changes?) The problem is compounded by a significant delay in receiving feedback. For example, an change in text may be requested 3-4 weeks after the report is submitted, but in that time frame 3-4 other reports have been submitted using the original (text of error), hence the same correction needs to be made repeatedly. This could be caused by a number of sources, so I will enlighten you as to the areas I have examined.
First, this could be caused by a hasty original review. Thus, some of the difficulties could have been overlooked. I would expect this type of issue to crop up from time to time, but if systemic there is a significant problem. If one assumes that errors are eliminated after one or two corrections, then it should be that the either the frequency of the issue decreases. Additionally, an overly hasty review should flag only a few items per review. Hence three review iterations with huge amounts of corrections would not be characteristic of such a process. Finally, even this process should result in an overall decrease in needed corrections. None of the symptoms have been observed.
Second, this could be caused by very poor report writing. I am willing to acknowledge that being thrown into a new situation as this is, I may have significant deficiencies in my writing. As I have been making acceptable grades and have been able to improve or make adjustments in my writing, it stands to reason that I could do so here. In this setting that would look like many needed corrections at first, but a gradual decrease in needed corrections over time. This has not been observed, as some of my very early reports went through many fewer iterations than some of the current ones.
Third, this could be the result of increasing expectations. In this case the writing bar may be raised (either continually or in from time to time). This would result in a greater level of scrutiny of the reports after a period of time, this could appear as more corrections needed on later reports after the bar has been raised. This does explain some of the feedback results, but not the multiple iterations problem. Additionally, this may result in poor overall performance as something may be integrated as acceptable then suddenly becomes unacceptable, thus resulting in confusion, frustrations, and potential misunderstandings.
Yet another possibility is that the reviewer wishes to make the most of the learning opportunities and thus make a number of comments whenever possible. This would result in the greatest degree of information being communicated back to me, but also runs the risk of being information overload or confusing. This would be especially problematic when the feedback is inconsistent and contradictory. This would have the appearance of multiple revisions and of significant quantities as we see, but when the changes are inconsistent or contradictory the advantage of maximum feedback is lost. This is being observed.
A fifth options, is that the review is somewhat fickle in their reviews. This is to say that the criteria or standards are being constantly changed. This would likely manifest as a section being acceptable one day and unacceptable another day. Hence multiple iterations would result in multiple corrections in diverse sections. When examining semantic problems in this option, text revisions will likely appear from draft to draft or between reports that make one version acceptable and the next unacceptable.
If one utilizes Occam’s razor then the fifth option is the most likely, as it most simply explains the results. As a social scientist I know that people are rarely single in purpose or design. Thus I am forced to conclude that all of the above postulates are significant. Additionally, there are likely a number of other factors also at work. This is what makes this problem so powerful. I have a percentage of the issue upon my shoulders, and I wish to limit or reduce the errors made. Thus I need to see fewer corrections upon my work, or in-lue-of that greater feedback on the process of becoming a better writer.
So here I am. I feel pretty bad about my situation. I keep reminding myself that I am getting lots of assessment experience AND report writing experience. Additionally, I have a prestigious name for my resume. I am a big boy and can deal with problematic feedback. I was just hoping for more!
Here is the problem. I am submitting reports and getting feedback on them, making the corrections, and then getting additional feedback on areas that were previously designated as needing no changes. Then when the second corrections are made, additional changes are requested, again in areas that were previously fine.
I have an issue when I submit a report, get feedback, make the corrections, re-submit the report, and then get more corrections on things that were originally fine. This type of feedback results in a great deal of wasted time and energy. It also results in massive number of iterations of reports that tend to cause damage to self-esteem (e.g., I just made a bunch of corrections to this report, how can it need another round of huge changes?) The problem is compounded by a significant delay in receiving feedback. For example, an change in text may be requested 3-4 weeks after the report is submitted, but in that time frame 3-4 other reports have been submitted using the original (text of error), hence the same correction needs to be made repeatedly. This could be caused by a number of sources, so I will enlighten you as to the areas I have examined.
First, this could be caused by a hasty original review. Thus, some of the difficulties could have been overlooked. I would expect this type of issue to crop up from time to time, but if systemic there is a significant problem. If one assumes that errors are eliminated after one or two corrections, then it should be that the either the frequency of the issue decreases. Additionally, an overly hasty review should flag only a few items per review. Hence three review iterations with huge amounts of corrections would not be characteristic of such a process. Finally, even this process should result in an overall decrease in needed corrections. None of the symptoms have been observed.
Second, this could be caused by very poor report writing. I am willing to acknowledge that being thrown into a new situation as this is, I may have significant deficiencies in my writing. As I have been making acceptable grades and have been able to improve or make adjustments in my writing, it stands to reason that I could do so here. In this setting that would look like many needed corrections at first, but a gradual decrease in needed corrections over time. This has not been observed, as some of my very early reports went through many fewer iterations than some of the current ones.
Third, this could be the result of increasing expectations. In this case the writing bar may be raised (either continually or in from time to time). This would result in a greater level of scrutiny of the reports after a period of time, this could appear as more corrections needed on later reports after the bar has been raised. This does explain some of the feedback results, but not the multiple iterations problem. Additionally, this may result in poor overall performance as something may be integrated as acceptable then suddenly becomes unacceptable, thus resulting in confusion, frustrations, and potential misunderstandings.
Yet another possibility is that the reviewer wishes to make the most of the learning opportunities and thus make a number of comments whenever possible. This would result in the greatest degree of information being communicated back to me, but also runs the risk of being information overload or confusing. This would be especially problematic when the feedback is inconsistent and contradictory. This would have the appearance of multiple revisions and of significant quantities as we see, but when the changes are inconsistent or contradictory the advantage of maximum feedback is lost. This is being observed.
A fifth options, is that the review is somewhat fickle in their reviews. This is to say that the criteria or standards are being constantly changed. This would likely manifest as a section being acceptable one day and unacceptable another day. Hence multiple iterations would result in multiple corrections in diverse sections. When examining semantic problems in this option, text revisions will likely appear from draft to draft or between reports that make one version acceptable and the next unacceptable.
If one utilizes Occam’s razor then the fifth option is the most likely, as it most simply explains the results. As a social scientist I know that people are rarely single in purpose or design. Thus I am forced to conclude that all of the above postulates are significant. Additionally, there are likely a number of other factors also at work. This is what makes this problem so powerful. I have a percentage of the issue upon my shoulders, and I wish to limit or reduce the errors made. Thus I need to see fewer corrections upon my work, or in-lue-of that greater feedback on the process of becoming a better writer.
So here I am. I feel pretty bad about my situation. I keep reminding myself that I am getting lots of assessment experience AND report writing experience. Additionally, I have a prestigious name for my resume. I am a big boy and can deal with problematic feedback. I was just hoping for more!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Policy: Do not take clinical materials out of the office. They may be needed by others and transport off site increases the risk of lost or unavailable materials.
Problem: Materials that were kept in the office are now missing.
Cause: “someone” went through the files and collected the notes for review, but then failed to return them. They subsequently were lost in a mountain of paper.
Result: I am being left on the hook for missing notes. I have to justify a diagnosis (atypical for this setting) without my notes. Granted I do have what I wrote up, but apparently this is not good enough.
Problem: Materials that were kept in the office are now missing.
Cause: “someone” went through the files and collected the notes for review, but then failed to return them. They subsequently were lost in a mountain of paper.
Result: I am being left on the hook for missing notes. I have to justify a diagnosis (atypical for this setting) without my notes. Granted I do have what I wrote up, but apparently this is not good enough.
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