Work Hard, Play Harder, and Be Gentle with Yourself: Advice for the Beginning of Grad School and Beyond

I have a lot of thoughts on my mind as I wrap up my prosem on graduate education. I have spent a semester talking to young, hopeful, bright first-year graduate students about how to be successful in graduate school. I have also been supporting several students this semester who are currently on the job marketContinue reading “Work Hard, Play Harder, and Be Gentle with Yourself: Advice for the Beginning of Grad School and Beyond”

A Publishing Primer

One irritating thing about starting anything new, whether it is grad school or a job, is all of the jargon that no one seems to like to explain. So, in this post I  explain what publications are, and the publication process. What Academics Mean When They Talk About Publications A publication generally refers to aContinue reading “A Publishing Primer”

Professional Organizations: Why You Should Join Them, How to Get the Most Out of Their Meetings, and How to Avoid Going Broke Doing So

Professional organizations and their meetings are one of the best parts of academic life. You get access to important professional resources and networks. Conferences are in fun locations – some of my favorites have been Melbourne, San Diego, New Orleans, Lausanne – and once there, you get to hang out with a bunch of peopleContinue reading “Professional Organizations: Why You Should Join Them, How to Get the Most Out of Their Meetings, and How to Avoid Going Broke Doing So”

Do I have an effect? Definitions, Examples, and an Infographic on Causal Language

Causal language is a term that gets thrown around often in peer reviews because causal language irritates many seasoned reviewers. I knew when I started these posts on causal analysis, that I wanted to write something on causal language. I googled causal language and looked at what came up – and I could not findContinue reading “Do I have an effect? Definitions, Examples, and an Infographic on Causal Language”

How Structural Equation Modeling is Ruining Family Research

Look out readers! This is my first of a series of posts I am working on related to causal analysis. About two weeks ago, I attended the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) annual meeting. It is a long meeting – I usually get there on Tuesday, and don’t leave until Saturday. And, while atContinue reading “How Structural Equation Modeling is Ruining Family Research”

Where should I submit my paper?

When you are in an interdisciplinary department, deciding where to submit your paper is fun, and confusing. I already told you about the time my student and I rewrote a paper we had rejected from Demography for the Journal of Family Psychology (it was accepted). But, how do you decide which journal to submit to?Continue reading “Where should I submit my paper?”

How to Succeed in Graduate School While Really Trying

We are midway through the autumn semester, and I have been reflecting on my graduate proseminar course, which is essentially an introduction to graduate school. Some programs have these types of classes, and others do not. So, in this post I give you links to articles I assign and a few tips I give toContinue reading “How to Succeed in Graduate School While Really Trying”

Tools to Promote Grad Student Success: Writing Skills

Well, apparently I took the summer off from blogging. I wasn’t necessarily planning that, but I was really busy with grant submissions, travel, paper revisions, etcetera. I had a great time at the International Association for Relationship Research conference in Australia in July, and I also visited and gave talks at the University of NewContinue reading “Tools to Promote Grad Student Success: Writing Skills”

Don’t take my word for it: Crowdsourced Advice for Students Applying to Graduate School

I did a presentation a few years ago for prospective graduate students at the National Council on Family Relations annual conference. In preparation, I gathered advice for students applying to graduate school.  You can see the contributors below.  Do you agree with the advice? What is missing? Contributors: Elizabeth Adkins-Regan, Paul Amato, Mitchell Bartholomew, Alan Booth,Continue reading “Don’t take my word for it: Crowdsourced Advice for Students Applying to Graduate School”