Vet Transition Stories: Pilot Study
Monday, October 16, 2006
11th question: disjointed after enlistement?
Here’s one based on my own experience, and I always wondered if others felt the same:
For at least a couple years after my enlistment, I felt “disjointed” in a way—detached from the world, stuck in a sort of limbo between the military culture I left and the civilian culture I was re-entering. It’s hard to describe the feeling fully.
¶ 10/16/2006 07:00:00 AM 0 comments
For at least a couple years after my enlistment, I felt “disjointed” in a way—detached from the world, stuck in a sort of limbo between the military culture I left and the civilian culture I was re-entering. It’s hard to describe the feeling fully.
- Write about any similar feelings you may have had when you returned to the civilian world and how that may have affected the new work and personal roles you were assuming.
- If you didn’t feel “disjointed,” discuss why the transition may have felt smooth and natural (or however it felt) for you.
¶ 10/16/2006 07:00:00 AM 0 comments
10th question: job(s) held after enlistment
Describe your first and/or current job after your enlistment ended.
¶ 10/16/2006 06:00:00 AM 0 comments
- What did you like or dislike about your work as a civilian compared to the work you did in the military?
- How similar or how different is your civilian work compared to you military work?
- How might this similarity or difference in your work (including the work environment) affect your perception of having either a "smooth" or "rough" (or somewhere in between) transition back into the civilian work world?
¶ 10/16/2006 06:00:00 AM 0 comments
Monday, September 25, 2006
9th question: first jobs considered after enlistment
Now that we explored your initial experiences after you returned to the civilian world, we will now explore your first job and or jobs you considered and applied for (by the way, you may consider school as your job as well).
Use the following questions to help guide your stories:
Due Dates: We are still sticking with the same due dates as we did for question 8, so, once again, responses to questions 9 are due 1 week after the question is posted, and at least one comment to someone else's response to question 9 is due 1 week after the responses are due:Your response for question 9 is due Sunday, October 1, 2006. Your comment(s) for question 9 are due Sunday, October 8, 2006.
¶ 9/25/2006 06:00:00 AM 0 comments
Use the following questions to help guide your stories:
- Talk about the jobs you first considered after your enlistment ended.
- How did you go about finding those jobs?
- How did your military experience served as an asset or as a hindrance to the kind of job you wanted?
Due Dates: We are still sticking with the same due dates as we did for question 8, so, once again, responses to questions 9 are due 1 week after the question is posted, and at least one comment to someone else's response to question 9 is due 1 week after the responses are due:
Monday, September 11, 2006
8th question: experiences immediately after seperation
Our focus will now be changing as we begin to focus on your life experiences after your enlistment ended and you returned to the civilian world.
This first post-enlistment question deals with your experiences and feelings immediately following your return to the civilian life.
Consider the following questions as you tell your story:
We need to start speeding things up a bit, so we will now return to the original posting schedule (i.e., responses to the questions are due 1 week after the question is posted, and at least one comment to someone else's response is due 1 week after the responses are due). Your response for question 8 is due Sunday, September 17, 2006. Your comment(s) for question 8 are due Sunday, September 24, 2006.
¶ 9/11/2006 06:00:00 AM 0 comments
This first post-enlistment question deals with your experiences and feelings immediately following your return to the civilian life.
Consider the following questions as you tell your story:
- Talk about your first couple months of your life after your enlistment ended. How did that feel?
- What kind of things did you do?
- When did you start thinking about getting a new job?
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
7th question: tranisition programs and tranferring job skills
These next questions are informed by some of more reoccurring and important topics many of the you have been writing about in your blogs: 1) military transition programs and 2) how the skills you learned in the military "transferred" to skills required of jobs outside the military.
- Discuss the military transition program that may have been offered to personnel in your military branch as they were on the verge of separating.
- Discuss your personal experiences (whether through participation, word of mouth, or otherwise) with your branch's transition program.
- Also discuss how "transferable" you felt the skills you learned in the military were to the skills you need for jobs in the civilian world.
- Due to various delays in posting comments for question 7, I have been working to be flexible and follow the "flow" of when everyone has been able to post both responses and comments (for example, I've added an additional week--up to Sunday, September 10th--for us to post both our responses and comments for question 7).
- Form here on out, however (in order to speed the process along a bit), I plan to stick to. originally posted due dates.
- Your response for question 7 is due Sunday, August 27, 2006.
- Comments for question 7 are due one week after your posted response: Sunday, September 3, 2006.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
6th question: fears and/or feelings about returning.
This question is kind of an extension of the previous question, so while it may seem redundant in some ways, it has a more specific focus:
Discuss some of the fears you may have had about returning to the civilian world. If you didn't have any fears about this transition, describe how you were feeling about it and why.
Discuss some of the fears you may have had about returning to the civilian world. If you didn't have any fears about this transition, describe how you were feeling about it and why.
- Be sure to include what was informing your fears and/or other feelings about returning to the civilian world.
- Also discuss what kind of support, if any, the military may have offered to help alleviate your fears and/or other feelings.
- I've extended the comments deadline for question 6 by a week. The new deadline to post your comments for question 6 is Sunday, August 13, 2006.
- For now, we will still be sticking with the same time frame to post your response to the question (about 2 weeks): your response for question 6 is due Sunday, July 30 2006.
- Comments will still be due one week after your posted response: your comment(s) for question 6 are due Sunday, August 6 2006.
Monday, June 26, 2006
5th question: Last day of active duty, enlisted service
Describe the very last day of your enlistment.
- Try to be very detailed about everything that happened that day: the emotions you were feelings, describe the setting, the things you did, the things you thought about, etc.
- Like the first question, "paint" a picture of that day with your words.
Due Date Update:
- In trying to determine what kind of time frame works best for the group and for the study itself, I will experiment with changing the due date format for now (I may change it back after this question depending on how things go as well as everyone’s feedback concerning the change).
- You posted narrative response to each new question is now due 2 weeks (instead of 1 week) after the question is posted: Your response for question 5, therefore, is due Sunday, July 9 2006.
- Comments will still be due one week after the posted narrative responses: comments for question 5 are due Sunday, July 16 2006.
- After experimenting with this new time-frame, I would like your feedback concerning this extension via email: stalides at siu dot edu
Monday, June 05, 2006
4th question: Why did you decide to leave the military?
As the question suggests, tell us about your decision to leave the military and return to civillian life.
Note:
--I'm posting this question early in case anyone is eager to get started on the next question.
--The "official" post date won't begin until Monday, June 5th 2006.
--Posted responses for the 4th question, therefore, will not be due until Sunday, June 11th 2006.
--Comments to fellow veterans' post for question 4 are due by the end of the following week: Sunday, June 18th 2006. ¶ 6/05/2006 06:00:00 AM 0 comments
- Be sure to include all the circumstances that led to your decision to leave (family, work satisfaction, money, location, etc.).
- Also include any inner conflicts you may have had about leaving that may have tempted you to stay.
Update:
--I'm extending the comments deadline for question 4 by a week. The new deadline to post your comments for question 4 is Sunday, June 25, 2006
Note:
--I'm posting this question early in case anyone is eager to get started on the next question.
--The "official" post date won't begin until Monday, June 5th 2006.
--Posted responses for the 4th question, therefore, will not be due until Sunday, June 11th 2006.
--Comments to fellow veterans' post for question 4 are due by the end of the following week: Sunday, June 18th 2006. ¶ 6/05/2006 06:00:00 AM 0 comments
Monday, May 22, 2006
3rd question: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Now that you've described your job(s) in the military, tell us your general views concerning the work you did in the military--both the good and bad (try to include both).
- Did you like the job you held in the military? Why or why not?
- Were there some things you liked or disliked more than others?
- Did you feel it fit your personality well, or did it clash with who the kind of person you are—your values, your lifestyle, etc.
Monday, May 01, 2006
2nd question: specific jobs, duties, tasks, etc.
Tell us, in much more detail, about the various jobs and duties you held while you served. Be as specific as possible.
- Describe your specific job or jobs in the military?
- What was your primary duty? (Include your "official" title, but be sure to explain what it means.)
- What other duties did you perform?
- What specific tasks were involved in your various jobs and duties?
Monday, April 17, 2006
1st question: when, where, why and how long?
In this first question, tell us about the time period and place (or places) you served.
- Try and describe the setting and "paint" a picture of that place (or places) for us with your words.
- Also, give us good feel for the time period in which you served. What were the issues of the day? What was happening in the world at that time?
- Tell us how long you were in the service.
- And finally, discuss why you joined in the first place.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Introduction: a recap on how this will work.
As you all know by now, through this blog site, you will have the opportunity to write about your experiences as veterans of the United States military.
The focus of these stories will be the way in which you transitioned from your military job to your post-military job (or jobs). The aim of this study is to uncover the potential problems and successes veterans experience as they make this life-changing transition back in to the civilian work culture. It is important that you write about your own unique experiences. Don't try to write what you think I want to hear. Just tell YOUR story--for better or for worse.
It is important that you try to be as accurate and detailed as possible, but don't stress too much about it. Try and have some fun with this, and allow yourself to write whatever comes to mind. You are not being graded for correct grammar or anything like that. And, inevitably, there will be things you will have forgotten. That is fine. That point is, again, to write about your own experiences as you remember them.
As a refresher on how this process works, there will be specific questions for you to use as the starting point for your story. These questions will be posted every two weeks. They will be very general questions at first and gradually become more specific as the process continues.
I have several pre-prepared questions I plan to ask, but also, I want to follow the flow of your experiences; so in some cases, your stories may influence some of the questions. In any case, as I've said, answer the questions as accurately as you can, and try to phrase your responses as a story: the way you remember the events unfolding in your life. As I've indicated, you are free to say whatever you like and even go off on unrelated tangents if you wish (but then try and come back to the original topic). However, I do ask that you write at least one page, approximately 300 words, for each question. There is no maximum limit, so you are free to make your stories as long as you please.
During the two week interval in which new questions are posted, you should complete your own unique narrative (story-format) response to the posted questions one week after the question are posted.
Within the second week, you should read and comment on at least one fellow-participant's posted response to that same question. You can say whatever you want in the comment: maybe talk about the similarities or differences between your experiences, give advice, ask for clarification or elaboration on something that may have interested you, or even just comment on a simple recognition of someone else’s experience. (Don't worry if you fall behind "schedule" or if your posts aren't as long as they're "supposed" to be. Just do your best to catch up if you fall behind--and write your narratives and comments to others' narratives when you can.)
You are free to comment on whichever participant’s story you want, and your comments don’t have to be particularly long (maybe a short paragraph or two). But, like the narratives, you may make them as long as you wish. Additionally, you may comment to as many of the participants’ stories as you want. And you may comment on any post at any time. For instance, as we progress through this process, you may come across an older response that you may have missed or now find more interesting or relevant for whatever reason. Feel free to comment on that older response any time during the study.
And if you want to comment on someone's comments, feel free to do so. You can keep the back and forth dialogue about a specific question with the same person (or people) going as long as you like.
I may also contact you individually (through email or on the telephone) if there is something you wrote about that I feel needs some elaboration or clarification.
This study is designed to last a long time, approximately 5 to 6 months. Upon completion of the study, I will analyze the data individually for each participant and collectively for the entire group. I will contact each of you individually after I have finished with my analyses concerning your individual story to verify that my interpretation of your story is consistent with your experience (I will be open to any feedback you may have concerning your individual story).
Finally, I will present all the participants with a collective analysis of the entire group's "transition narrative," again to verify that my perceptions and interpretations are consistent with the group's. Like the individual narratives, I will be open to any comments or critiques that anyone may have of the final group analysis.
Feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding how this process will work. ¶ 2/19/2006 05:46:00 PM 0 comments
The focus of these stories will be the way in which you transitioned from your military job to your post-military job (or jobs). The aim of this study is to uncover the potential problems and successes veterans experience as they make this life-changing transition back in to the civilian work culture. It is important that you write about your own unique experiences. Don't try to write what you think I want to hear. Just tell YOUR story--for better or for worse.
It is important that you try to be as accurate and detailed as possible, but don't stress too much about it. Try and have some fun with this, and allow yourself to write whatever comes to mind. You are not being graded for correct grammar or anything like that. And, inevitably, there will be things you will have forgotten. That is fine. That point is, again, to write about your own experiences as you remember them.
As a refresher on how this process works, there will be specific questions for you to use as the starting point for your story. These questions will be posted every two weeks. They will be very general questions at first and gradually become more specific as the process continues.
I have several pre-prepared questions I plan to ask, but also, I want to follow the flow of your experiences; so in some cases, your stories may influence some of the questions. In any case, as I've said, answer the questions as accurately as you can, and try to phrase your responses as a story: the way you remember the events unfolding in your life. As I've indicated, you are free to say whatever you like and even go off on unrelated tangents if you wish (but then try and come back to the original topic). However, I do ask that you write at least one page, approximately 300 words, for each question. There is no maximum limit, so you are free to make your stories as long as you please.
During the two week interval in which new questions are posted, you should complete your own unique narrative (story-format) response to the posted questions one week after the question are posted.
Within the second week, you should read and comment on at least one fellow-participant's posted response to that same question. You can say whatever you want in the comment: maybe talk about the similarities or differences between your experiences, give advice, ask for clarification or elaboration on something that may have interested you, or even just comment on a simple recognition of someone else’s experience. (Don't worry if you fall behind "schedule" or if your posts aren't as long as they're "supposed" to be. Just do your best to catch up if you fall behind--and write your narratives and comments to others' narratives when you can.)
You are free to comment on whichever participant’s story you want, and your comments don’t have to be particularly long (maybe a short paragraph or two). But, like the narratives, you may make them as long as you wish. Additionally, you may comment to as many of the participants’ stories as you want. And you may comment on any post at any time. For instance, as we progress through this process, you may come across an older response that you may have missed or now find more interesting or relevant for whatever reason. Feel free to comment on that older response any time during the study.
And if you want to comment on someone's comments, feel free to do so. You can keep the back and forth dialogue about a specific question with the same person (or people) going as long as you like.
I may also contact you individually (through email or on the telephone) if there is something you wrote about that I feel needs some elaboration or clarification.
This study is designed to last a long time, approximately 5 to 6 months. Upon completion of the study, I will analyze the data individually for each participant and collectively for the entire group. I will contact each of you individually after I have finished with my analyses concerning your individual story to verify that my interpretation of your story is consistent with your experience (I will be open to any feedback you may have concerning your individual story).
Finally, I will present all the participants with a collective analysis of the entire group's "transition narrative," again to verify that my perceptions and interpretations are consistent with the group's. Like the individual narratives, I will be open to any comments or critiques that anyone may have of the final group analysis.
Feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding how this process will work. ¶ 2/19/2006 05:46:00 PM 0 comments
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Important things to remember: concerning confidentiality
As I have told you over the phone, and as was stated in the informed consent statement you signed, participation is voluntary, and you have the right to drop out of the study at any time and have any information you may have already provided not be included in my final analyses.
This study is primarily a pilot study, sort of like a "dry run" before I begin the "real" study. However, it is possible I may find information from this pilot study useful for the real study, which may be published in a professional journal, thesis, or presented at a conference. Therefore, it is possible I may use your information, including things you may have written, in the real study. If I do use your information, I will never use your real name. I will only refer to you as you assigned codename (so no readers of my final write up will ever know your real identity). And I will be the only person who will ever know the actual identities of each participant, and I will keep the confidential codename list separate and locked away in a filing cabinet.
As we have also previously discussed, you may know some of the other participants in this study, and you may recognize who they are as you read and comment to their blog posts. This means it is impossible for me to ensure your anonymity. However, in order to maintain a semblance of anonymity, if you do "recognize" a fellow-participant, it is important that you do not divulge that information in your posts or in your comments to others' posts. Only refer to fellow-participants as their assigned codenames, and only comment on the things they have written in their narratives.
To help protect you identity, I will have absolute control over the individual blog sights that were created in advance for you. All the individual participant blogs were created in my name, so if anyone tries to trace who created your blog, they will be directed to me. Also, complete control of the blogs will allow me to make sure nobody changes the formatting of the blog (which I intentionally formatted to protect your identities as much as possible); and it will allow me to screen any personally identifying information. I will simply provide you with the username and password so you can access your individual blog (if you forget or lose your username and/or password, just let me know, and I will get it to you again).
It is not my intention to censor you in any way. Please feel free to say or express yourself in any way you like. In fact, if you hold back, the reality of your experience will not be fully expressed, and I won't get accurate information concerning veteran to civilian work transitions. I will only change or delete information that could reveal the actual identity of a participant (and I will be sure to let you know if I make a change and why).
If you wish to continue communicating with a participant (or participants) after the study has ended, let me know. I will then contact the participant (or participants) to see if they feel comfortable exchanging personal information (such as name, email address, phone number, etc.). However, it is important to understand that any personal information shared through email may not be secure.
Finally, it is possible that recalling and writing about personal information that you may not have thought about in a long time may cause you to experience personal or emotional discomfort. If you experience any such discomfort, please contact me or my research supervisor ASAP, and we will be able to assist you in finding the most appropriate help.
On the other hand, writing about difficult personal experiences can also function as a healing process in itself. And the information you provide may contribute to enhanced understanding of the veteran to civilian career transition process.
If you have any questions regarding anything pertaining to this pilot study, please feel free to contact me at any time. ¶ 2/18/2006 04:38:00 PM 0 comments
This study is primarily a pilot study, sort of like a "dry run" before I begin the "real" study. However, it is possible I may find information from this pilot study useful for the real study, which may be published in a professional journal, thesis, or presented at a conference. Therefore, it is possible I may use your information, including things you may have written, in the real study. If I do use your information, I will never use your real name. I will only refer to you as you assigned codename (so no readers of my final write up will ever know your real identity). And I will be the only person who will ever know the actual identities of each participant, and I will keep the confidential codename list separate and locked away in a filing cabinet.
As we have also previously discussed, you may know some of the other participants in this study, and you may recognize who they are as you read and comment to their blog posts. This means it is impossible for me to ensure your anonymity. However, in order to maintain a semblance of anonymity, if you do "recognize" a fellow-participant, it is important that you do not divulge that information in your posts or in your comments to others' posts. Only refer to fellow-participants as their assigned codenames, and only comment on the things they have written in their narratives.
To help protect you identity, I will have absolute control over the individual blog sights that were created in advance for you. All the individual participant blogs were created in my name, so if anyone tries to trace who created your blog, they will be directed to me. Also, complete control of the blogs will allow me to make sure nobody changes the formatting of the blog (which I intentionally formatted to protect your identities as much as possible); and it will allow me to screen any personally identifying information. I will simply provide you with the username and password so you can access your individual blog (if you forget or lose your username and/or password, just let me know, and I will get it to you again).
It is not my intention to censor you in any way. Please feel free to say or express yourself in any way you like. In fact, if you hold back, the reality of your experience will not be fully expressed, and I won't get accurate information concerning veteran to civilian work transitions. I will only change or delete information that could reveal the actual identity of a participant (and I will be sure to let you know if I make a change and why).
If you wish to continue communicating with a participant (or participants) after the study has ended, let me know. I will then contact the participant (or participants) to see if they feel comfortable exchanging personal information (such as name, email address, phone number, etc.). However, it is important to understand that any personal information shared through email may not be secure.
Finally, it is possible that recalling and writing about personal information that you may not have thought about in a long time may cause you to experience personal or emotional discomfort. If you experience any such discomfort, please contact me or my research supervisor ASAP, and we will be able to assist you in finding the most appropriate help.
On the other hand, writing about difficult personal experiences can also function as a healing process in itself. And the information you provide may contribute to enhanced understanding of the veteran to civilian career transition process.
If you have any questions regarding anything pertaining to this pilot study, please feel free to contact me at any time. ¶ 2/18/2006 04:38:00 PM 0 comments
