This week I spent four hours reading for my dissertation. I am reading a study that Farzin suggested that I read in May. This study is exactly what I wish to do for my study so it was very helpful for me to read. It was a study done for a Pepperdine student and Vance Ceasar was the chair. The title of the study is: “Success Strategies of Iranian American Leaders”. It really gave me an idea of how my study could be done. Amin looked at leaders and defined in the study how she was measuring success. My idea is to look at Black males who have grown up in disadvantaged areas and see what success factors emerge. Why is it that I am pursuing a doctorate degree in some of my best friends who grew up with me are incarcerated or addicted to drugs. Are their strategies that have been employed and are there commonalities between those who have excelled even though they share a common community. Are there special challenges that must be overcome for the African American males. Amin's study suggest this is the case for Iranian Americans. I also started reading Creswell again and reviewing my notes to try and determine if my design would be phenomenology or narrative as a method of inquiry. My goal for next week is to get into the second study that Farzin provided. It is a similar study done on Hispanic women. I would like to research the story of those African American males who against the odds have succeeded. Do they have strategies in common? And if so, what are they? The title I have been thinking of is “Success Strategies of African American Males” or maybe “Success Stories of African American Males” if I use a narrative method of inquiry.