A reflection on mixed methods research in adult education

Introduction

The Research Problem

The purpose of this paper is to offer one vision of developing a methodological theory of mixed methods research co-equal with that of quantitative and qualitative research. I use a case study of the US Army Command & General Staff College engaged in a redesign of its curriculum, its teaching practices and its design process itself in a period of revolutionary change while supporting a nation at war. I describe circumstances and worldviews in which I argue that only mixed methods research may be employed to simultaneously develop a deep appreciation of uncertainty, improve decision making through an appropriate gathering, mixing and analyzing of quantitative and qualitative data, and applying “learning in action” as a strategy to manage success.  I contrast the view of research  as a process of increasing knowledge for control  with a worldview of research as a learning-in-action that allows for deep appreciation of complexity but without the assertion that appreciation and research can lead to prescriptive measures of control.  I examine the merging feedback system of the CGSC curriculum redesign as a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data. The concept of “Voice” that emerges from the CGSC action research process will be described, along with a multi-phased, multi-year research plan that demonstrates the practical development of an interactive dynamic research plan that is also adaptive to interim and periodic results. The paper  reflects a pragmatic worldview as it focuses on practical outcomes inside an organization concerned with real-world results, but acknowledges the importance and utility of the other 3 worldviews described by Creswell (2007, p.6), namely advocacy/participatory, post-positivist and constructivist.

Waldrop (1992, 2008) described the emerging science of complexity in a rich description of the inter-disciplinary work developing at The Sante Fe Institute. Sixteen years later (Waldrop, 2008) he found that the pioneer days of complexity research had evolved into a rich diversity of programs in major and minor universities worldwide, with lines of business and cognitive domains each finding ways to apply the ideas of emergence, uncertainty and complexity in new and profound ways. What remained unchanged from the origins of the research were the questions of what next and so what and how much more is there and what does it mean to apply an appreciation of complexity to everyday problems and opportunities.  The field of education is only beginning to appreciate how complexity and uncertainty may change the dynamics, structure, content and practice of adult education (Siemens, 2004). Professions in particular will be challenged by educating for complexity, since deep, profound, and reliable bodies of knowledge are at the center of professional practice. Educators, themselves members of a profession, are examining what it means to educate, teach and instruct in light of an emerging awareness of complexity.

The US Army Command & General Staff College (CGSC) is a self-described “learning organization” (Senge, 2000), engaged in a revolutionary re-design of curriculum and teaching practice, with a mission to educate 1500 US Army Majors for uncertainty and complexity, while engaged in a global war on terror and in direct combat in Iraq and Afghanistan (Long, 2009). This provides an opportunity to examine reflective learners and practitioners in action (Schon, 1987) using mixed methods research and using multiple worldviews (Creswell, 2009; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007).

Past Research on the Problem

Edmondson and McManus (2003) propose a structured approach to selecting research methods that fit the state of theory in a given field. Their 3 archetypes of the state of theory: nascent, intermediate and mature  are connected to qualitative, mixed methods, and quantitative research methods, resulting in an appropriate methodological fit that aims to meet the needs of researchers worldwide. Creswell(2009) offers a systematic approach to analyzing: researcher worldview, research purpose,  research questions, the state of theory, data collection, populations and situations to be studied, and data analysis in order to further refine the methodological fit  and better connect purpose with practice across all 3 methods. Creswell and Plano Clark (2007, p.8) offers a functional working description of the state of mixed methods research, which proceeds from a deep review of current field practice, establishes a superb framework for classifying current choices of mixed methods research design and the means by which methodological fit may be refined, but stops at the boundary of developing a deep theory of mixed methods of research.

Deficiencies in past research and Need for Mixed Methodology

Conventional professional education processes have been adapting at an increasingly frequent rate as a consequence of Army senior leader directives and direct field feedback. The adaptive processes and decisions to date have been single issue, single iteration problem solving exercises inherited from an environment in which incremental change was the norm and most appropriate. These processes are less and less suitable as rates of required change increase and the relevance of existing processes and curriculum are increasingly called into question (Long, 2009)

Audience

The audience for this research include: staff, faculty and students of CGSC; educators of military professional schools; curriculum developers in graduate schools and organizations engaged in preparing leaders for uncertainty; scholar-practitioners of mixed methods looking to adapt practical field methods of for mixing qualitative and quantitative data; scholars examining the deep theory of the methodology of mixed methods.

Purpose

Purpose of the study, and reasons for a mixed methods study

The purpose of this study is to examine the CGSC curriculum redesign project and the emerging feedback system that guides design decisionmaking, which incorporates both quantitative and qualitative data. The project can be described as intermediate theory in the Edmondson  and McManus ontology, and therefore suitable for mixed methods research since I am introducing an emerging concept (“Voice”), focusing on the exploration of theoretical propositions (the theory of mixed methods), the availability of sets of rich theory that inform the research (adult learning, decisionmaking, complexity, design, learning organizations, narrative inquiry and action research), and incorporating multiple data types and analysis (Edmondson& McManus, 2007, p.1165).

Research Questions and Hypotheses

Quantitative Questions

H₁: Student satisfaction measured on the Noel-Levin Adult Learner Satisfaction Survey is not different than their reported overall satisfaction

H₂: Student education priorities measured on the Noel-Levin Adult Learner Satisfaction Survey are not different than those of faculty and college leadership as measured on the same instruments

H₃: Student education priorities measured on the Noel-Levin Adult Learner Satisfaction Survey do not vary through time in the course of the academic year

H₄: Student education priorities measured on the Noel-Levin Adult Learner Satisfaction Survey do not vary after graduation and reassignment to field units

H₅: Student satisfaction measured on the Noel-Levin Adult Learner Satisfaction Survey do not vary from satisfaction as measured by existing CGSC Quality Assurance  surveys

Qualitative Questions

What are the dominant and subordinate narratives that emerge from focus group discussions on educational priorities and practice and environment within CGSC?

How does the curriculum design decisionmaking process respond to similarities and differences in narratives that emerge from groups of students, faculty and senior leaders?

Describe the development, emergence of the construct of “Voice” from the CGSC PAR cycles, and how this prototype construct is evolving and being applied by various sub-groups within and associated with CGSC, by applying various interpretive methods of the narrative inquiry tradition.

Mixed Methods Questions

1. To what extent are qualitative insights generated from PAR cycles, focus groups, and individual interviews supported by quantitative data generated from surveys and actual use data of digital communication and collaboration mediums?

2. How are various organizational narratives constructed by sub-groups within the CGSC curriculum design process in order to make sense of quantitative data?

3.  What insights are offered by the application of  various narrative inquiry traditions? Which traditions are favored or overlooked or rejected by curriculum design decisionmakers?

4. What happens within CGSC when students and faculty are given opportunities to exercise “Voice”?

Philosophical Foundations for Mixed Methods Research

Quantitative research literature review

Student satisfaction surveys built on consumer theory (Watkins, 2009) are broadly applied in colleges and universities, and  treat students as  free-willed individuals that choose between alternatives for an educational institution and particular fields of study. They are seen as rational actors with definite expectations about what they want in their educational experience, and that satisfaction occurs when their expectations are met or exceeded. Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2006) note a decline in the attention being paid to the attitudes and behaviors of faculties, administrators, and the college and university environments as contributors to student success.(p.2.). These insights are related to the “college impact” model of student success. Applying the Noel-Levitz  Adult Student Priorities Survey leverages a robust, nationally recognized, validated research instrument whose dimensions reflect the areas of importance emerging from the CGSC Participatory action research  (PAT) study (Long, 2009) and enables  quantitative research into the existing database of historical satisfaction measures currently applied in the college’s curriculum design process.

Qualitative research literature review

The James, Milenkiewicz and Buchnam (2008) application of Participatory Action Research (PAR) develops measureable action steps that can lead to  revolutionary transformations within educational institutions.  The use of measureable qualitative and quantitative data gives power and legitimacy to the insights it generates inside an organization that values rigor and validity, while respecting the intuitive insights of qualitative research.  Prasad describes many techniques of Narrative Inquiry that offer many techniques for interpreting and making sense of qualitative and quantitative data.  Reason & Bradbury, (2008) and Clandinin, (2007), describe these disciplines and crafts of action research and narrative inquiry as having a relatively mature foundation of theory and best practices, with enough variation between sub-disciplines as to create real and significant choices for researchers . Various methodologies in each discipline can be characterized according to their own logic that connects their particular world view (Creswell, 2009), ontology, research technique, data requirements, classification and analysis protocols, and strategies for sense-making of the results of inquiry. The combination of PAR  and narrative inquiry offer a robust set of strategies for generating insightful qualitative data with connections to quantitative data sets, which make them especially useful and practical to mixed methods researchers.

Mixed methods research literature review

Creswell and Plano Clark (2007) provide a broad yet detailed overview of the current state of the art of mixed methods research. They offer a working definition of the field derived from a survey of practice which proceeds from a deep understanding of high quality methods of practice, through choices of design and point to potentials  for the development of deep methodological theory. They offer mixed methods as an appropriate research strategy as a way to improve on the use of either qualitative or quantitative research alone.  In their view, mixed methods are more comprehensive, can answer more  types questions, encourages collaboration  and the deliberate incorporation of more than 1 worldview and is especially well suited for situations where practicality and pragmatism are prized (Creswell & Plano Clark 2007, p8-11).

Methods

A definition of mixed methods research

Creswell and Plano Clark (2007, p.5) define mixed methods research in the following way:

“As a method, it focuses on collecting, analyzing and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or series of studies. Its central premise is that the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach alone”.

The type of design used and its definition

In this section I will briefly describe the theoretical shortcoming of treating mixed methods merely as a practical solution to improving upon either the qualitative or quantitative approach alone, and why a broader and deeper theory of mixed methods is appropriate for developing deep appreciation of complexity and uncertainty. I will briefly describe two different designs that would pass the test of the Creswell and Plano Clark ontology of mixed methods designs. With appropriate development, either would be approved for research within CGSC.

Comparison table  (adapted from Creswell & Plano Clark (2007)

	Design 1	Design 2
Choices	Explanatory	Exploratory
Theoretical Description	A 2 phase  design, where qual helps explain or build upon initial quan results (p.71)	2 phase design where qual results help develop or inform 2d phase quan inquiry
Description of application to CGSC	Round 1: the Noel-Levitz Adult Learner Satisfaction Survey is applied to a population, and results are tabulated, analyzed, compared against national  graduate student norms and in  a time series from the beginning, midpoint and endpoint of the academic year. Insights are developed   Round 2:  A series of focus groups and individual interviews are used to develop qualitatitive insights to  make sense of the quantitative findings	Round 1: a  set of participatory action research cycles identify areas of pressing concern to leaders, faculty and students within the college. A grounded theory is developed and constructs are defined by the community of practice, informed by theory from PAR outsiders.   Round 2: A quant survey is developed to explore deeply into issues and constructs developed by the PAR teams to cross check for validity, to confirm or deny, to support or modify the emerging grounded theory and provide the basis for future inquiries as selected by PAR teams. (Note: this is s summary of the actual process used at CGSC as the basis for this case study. The various tangents deriving from the initial rounds of inquiry generated my epistemological concerns with the pragmatic assumptions of mixed emthods)
Design notation	QUAN->QUAL	QUAL->QUAN
Justification	Needs qual to help explain significant, , non-significant, outlier or surprising quant results	Exploration is needed because:   1. no existing instrument 2. unknown variables 3. immature theory or framework Well suited for exploring a phenomenon or when researcher wants to generalize to other populations, test emerging theory or classifications (p. 75)
Variants	1. Follow-up explanations (quan results, insights need additional explanation)   2. Participant selection  (where a sampling of representative outliers are selected for follow-on inquiry)	1. instrument development model   2. taxonomy development model
Strengths	Straightforward implementation   Feasible for single researcher 2 section report of results Supports both single and multiple phase studies Appealing to quan researchers	1. easy to design, describe, implement and report   2. although initial emphasis is on qual, the quan phase makes it easier to appeal to quan audience 3. both variants supports multiphase studies well
Challenges	1. Time consuming   2. Decisions on which individuals to use by phase w/justification 3. Difficulties with IRBs 4. Deciding which results to explore 5. Specifying criteria for follow-on inquiry (before or after results?)	1. time consuming   2. difficult to specify phase 2 construct for IRB prior to phase 1 results 3. deciding up front which individuals to use in phase 2 4. which data to use in phase 2 instrument 5. deciding relevancy of phase 1 results for phase 2 taxonomy
Timing	2 phase sequential model	2 phase sequential model
Weighting	I think the QUAL(quan) model is more likely. This design relies on at least a mature enough state of theory to allow for initial quan inquiry, but we are more concerned with the interpretation and application of insights than in model or theoretical validation	the equal weighted choice is more logical; the desired outcome is an improvement to state of theory (quan) by either a better instrument or by an improved taxonomy (ontology). Yet the reliance on initial qual inquiry as a guide makes it at least co-equal to quan.
Mixing the data	Either Merging or Connecting is more likely than embedding.  Embedding implies a single phase, whereas this is defined as a 2phase design.  The improved explanation of initial quan findings is how the design could be “connected”. If the interpretation or meaning making is intended to create “rich description” then either variant of merging is logical	Connecting is by far the most logical design choice, as the 2 phases are explicitly linked; quan follows qual and the connection is either an instrument or a taxonomy.   There is a distinct “manufacturing or processing” aspect to this design, which does not seek to produce a rich description that is a blend, but rather produces a better quan framework as guided by the initial qual inquiry

Diagrams:

Research model 1: Explanatory:

Research model 2: Exploratory:

Analyzing the data:

In both models of mixed methods design the quantitative data would be subjected to power analysis, tests for relationship and causality.  The quantitative hypotheses are framed in the form of null hypotheses in order to determine if there were differences that could be attributed to a difference in instruments and what they are measuring (existing survey vs the Noel-Levitz survey); through time series tests to see if there is a treatment effect, and with the samples subjected to control variables to examine the effects of demographic, career experience, educational goals and faculty specific effects on the measures of satisfaction and importance.

Qualitative data would be subjected to thematic analysis according to the practices of the grounded theory, narrative inquiry and PAR traditions/  Narrative inquiry traditions are especially important here as outlined in Boje (2001).

Analyzing the mixed data would be drivcefn by the specific design selected as noted above.

Theoretical analysis of the consequences of choice in mixed methods design

Both designs would be interpretable as providing a deeper insight and understanding than a study restricted  to either of their individual qualitative or quantitative components. The functional definition of mixed methods (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007, p.5) would lead decisionmakers, particularly of the pragmatic worldview, to ‘receive the wisdom of experts” and seek to straightforwardly apply the insights based on a justifiable belief that they now knew more about what was going on, and had in some fashion reduced the amount of uncertainty about the world around them. My central argument is that there are situations so complex and uncertain that no amount of research and conclusions drawn from best practices of the traditions of both quantitative and qualitative inquiry, and the best practices emerging from mixed methods as described by Creswell and Plano Clark. In fact my use of the word “situation” in the preceding sentence, is an implied assumption that there is such a thing in the real world as a definable “situation” or problem set  which may be bounded and contained by a problem solving, decisionmaking entity. While this construct is the basis for the post positivist tradition, which has endlessly proven its utility in countless settings, it is normal for pragmatists to conflate utility with reality.

It can be argued that there is could be a tacit agreement between constructionists and post-positivists to allow each other the primacy of method and interpretation based on typical problems, and indeed much work is being done to increase cross-discipline understanding, cooperation and integration. The common assumption between these two worldviews is that the end product of such effort is a measureable increase in our knowledge of the world as it is, from which we may exert more control and prediction by having reduced the amount of uncertainty by some amount. This tacit shared assumption I submit is expressed through the research practice of pragmatists who are “naturally” drawn to the mixed methods designs and practices described so well by Creswell and Plano Clark. Given the fertile and as yet only partially explored areas best suited for mixed method research it would be natural for the deeper philosophical theory or theories of mixed methods to be postponed, much as Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2006) found a willingness for researchers to revert to their preferred and more easily measured  research domains and begin to neglect the messy and challenging issues of environmental factors affecting student success. One is reminded of the story of the man who’d lost his key in a dark alley but was searching for it under the streetlight because the light was better there.

I am arguing that there are situations where even mixed methods are properly and rigorously applied, and interpreted in best professional practice, that the insights may serve only to help decision-makers appreciate the vastness of what they do not understand, and better act within an uncertain environment, humble in their ignorance, yet moved to action from values and on the basis of principles informed by the best practice of inquiry.

It is my contention that in those situations described so aptly as “wicked problems” by Rittel & Webber, (1973) that a  deep theory of mixed methods may be developed that is co-equal to that of qualitative and quantitative methods. I argue that mixed methods not only are useful in solving less-than-wicked problems, as described by Creswell and Plano Clark,  but most appropriate to engage with uncertainty and complexity for the express purpose of appreciating deeply the current situation. The deep theory of mixed methods I anticipate would require explicit inclusion of all 4 world views, since there is no a priori basis for excluding any of the 4. I thinkit quite likely that a reasonable assumption of a deep theory of mixed methods in fact could require an explicit inclusion of the best practices of each world view in some fashion, details to be determined, of course.

The shift in epistemological  perspective seems important to me,  and which should be developed in tandem to the directions for improvements in design and pure method described by Creswell and Plano Clark.  Checkland’s application of soft systems methodology,  artfully describes  “learning towards success” in a satisfying way (Checkland & Poulter, 2006).

The best expression of the theoretical stance towards irreducible complexity intersecting the human need for the state of nature or through any objective criteria (Boje, 2001) and in the work of Hayden White (1987) concerning the relationship between narrative discourse and the historical representation. These insights are causing me to reflect deeply on my own essentially pragmatic worldview and its underlying assumptions, and lead me inevitably back to the proposition that we need the methodological theory of mixed methods developed simultaneously with that of its design choices and specific methods.

References

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Beltyukova, S. & Fox, C. (2002) Student satisfaction as a measure of student development: Towards a universal metric.  Journal of College Student  Development (Mar/Apr 2002)

Checkland, P. & Poulter, J. (2006). Learning for action: A short definitive account of soft systems methodology and its use for practitioners, teachers, and students. West Sussex, England,  John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Clark, M. & Rossiter, M.  (2008). Narrative learning in adulthood.  In S. Merriam (Ed) Third Update On Adult Learning Theory (pp 61-70). San Francisco,  Josey-Bass.

Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (Third ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

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Edmondson, A., and McManus, S. (2007). Methodological fit in management field research. Academy of Management review 32: 1159-1176

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James, E. A., Milenkiewicz, M., Buchnam, A., (2008).  Participatory action research: Data driven decision making for school leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

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Long, K. (2009). Participatory Action Research pilot study notes. Ft Leavenworth, KS: CGSC (unpublished).

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Prasad, P. (2005). Crafting qualitative research: Working in the postpositivist traditions. Armonk, New York, M. E. Sharpe.

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Profitable ETF Trading Strategies: Trading From the Zero-State

One of the most important qualities of the professional trader is the ability to manage your psychological state.

Psychology is such an important component of shorter term trading that it can make all the difference between success and failure.

In my own trading, the essential state of mind I must be in to trade at an optimal level is what I call the “zero-state”.

For me, it represents an emotionally neutral state that is neither happy nor sad, neither overconfident nor fearful. The adjective “calm” starts to come close to what I mean but there is an important difference. “

Calm” is part of an adjective pair, whose partner has precisely the opposite meaning. “Stormy” is usually given as the antonym. For me, this moment is one that may not be contained in a conventional adjective that describes a state, because I associate adjectives as being part of a word pair, with its opposite on the other side of the continuum whose exact center I think of as “zero”, as on the number line.

Conceptually, the Japanese term “mu” comes fairly close to this idea, having been variously described as neither yes nor no, but a state in-between that does not acknowledge the question being asked as one that may be answered by wither yes or now, with the answer existing in a different plane of reality.

Serenity is a word that describes a state that comes even closer than calm, because it suggests for me something more like a timeless eternity of “no-emotion”, where I am not connected to the outcome in a personal meaningful way.

For me the pure form of the act of trading is to achieve a timeless correctness, to take actions or to refrain from actions in perfect balance with the needs of the market t that moment, to be nothing more or less than that which is required ideally.

In Cartesian coordinates the point (0,0), is called the origin and is central to all subsequent mathematical operations. It is the point from which all action begins and where excursions are grounded for reference. It is the ultimate reference point that links together individual cases .

Reflective learning and Self Talk

At our trading workshop this weekend, wr reviewed a numbver of what I consider to be milion dollar ideas:  ideaswhich, over the course of a lifetime should produce a net value add greater than a million dollars in trading performance.  While we  were doing that in the middle of our assembled traders and institutional money managers, the idea of reflective learning came up several times.  here is a key insight.

When you are viewing charts of previous trades and you suddenyl see a pattern or a technique that was not apparent to you the first time, it is easy to classify the failure to see it and act upon it as a “mistake”.  Think about the power of the words we use to characterize these kinds of events.  If you call it a mistake then you are basically treating your reflective learning as an opportunity to beat your self up.  Is it really healthy or useful to feel terrible about missed opportunities that you only discover by opening yourself up to the possibility of learning? No wonder we hate school.

Its not fair to label the person we were in the past in the heat of the moment of trading, sitting here in the comfort of our ivory tower, no stress and with the perfect insight of hindsight.

Look at the excellence all around you; Where’s yours?

No generation of people has had more things available to get in the way of finding excellence in the moment.

We are so busy and distracted by our lifestyle that we are never in the moment. We are always somewhere else. 

When we are at work, we are thinkiing about dinner. At dinner we are thinking about the game tomorrow.

On vacation, we are thinking about work. Watching TV we are thinking about vacation.

Our cell fones and iPods and gamestations all create a pseudo-reality around us and take our attention away from where we are and what we are doing.  we dont attend to the food we are eating, and jam calories down our throat. On the exercise bucycle we are distracted by earphones and  TV screens so that our heads are effectively disconnected from our bodies.

We talk AT our children like objects at a distance, and are advised by experts to schedule time for family meetings and get togethers.

Should I need an agenda to talk to my kids about anything?

I was in line to get a sandwich when I experienced excellence in person in a very visceral way today. It reminded me to seek connection in each and every moment to what is going on, to turn off the chatter and the attention traps that divert the senses.

The nice lady at the counter in our college cafeteria  was not very well educated, nor very polished in appearance. She was surrounded by movers and shakers of higher education studying deep, profound theory. They were so caught up in thinking elsewhere they had no time to see her and the quality of her work. She was eager to please and was committed to providing the best customer service she could possibly provide. She was fully engaged and ciommitted to her task. She knew what questions to ask and wasted neither words or motion in preparing sandwiches. Her skill and economy of motion were art in motion.

Not wanting to engage with a member of the great unwashed, the ladies in line in front of me made it a point to blurt out their order in a single complex thought-paragraph, fighting to get their words in edgewise so that the lady would not ahve an opportunity to intrude into their headspace. They couldnt wait to get back to their own conversation. The sandwich maker was unfazed and was perfect in creating their sandwiches which they took without a hint of acknowledging they just shared time and space with another human being. They never saw her.

When it was my turn, she had the opportunity to ask me every questions she want ed to ask. I let her guide me throughour process of building a sandwich together. When it was done i thanked her and remarked that she’d done one heck of a job during this lunch hour madness and that I appreciated her service. We shared a smile.

I never enjoyed a sandwich as much as I did this afternoon. I turned off the monitor, unhooked the phone, and just ate the sandwich and attended to every bite and taste. It was perfect.

The nice lady in the sandwich shop reminded me today about where to find excellence in the world. It’s all around you, if you will look. Where is your excellence? How do you express it everyday and in every way? Are you open to it in the here and now or are you planning to get it tomorrow or wherever else your attention has wandered?

The path to mastery, with emotional intelligence

 The studies in the Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance  describe  the path to mastery as:

(1) Deliberative Practice 

(2) Time spent at Deliberative Practice 

(3) Assistance from a mentor. 

Deliberative practice can be broken down to:

(1) Identifying a long-term outcome 

(2) Breaking down the skills that lead to that outcome into its component parts. 

(3) Engaging in practice sessions that: 

     (a) Have their own predefined goals 

     (b) Have benchmarks to measure progress and 

     (c) Have immediate feedback. 

 

 Discover (November 2008 )  has an excellent interview with Antonio D’Amasio,  a neurologist who asserts that robust decision-making involves our emotions as much as our reasoning capacity. His thesis can be found in the quote from the interview: “It’s not that I am saying the emotions decide things for you. ..It’s that the emotions help you concentrate on the right decision. You (your cortex) still have to do some of the work, but the emotions give you a head start.”

D’Amasio says our reasoning depends on a supply of ’somatic markers’ to make a decision. ‘Somatic markers’ are past emotional experiences that serve as a guide. He believes that his studies of brain-damaged patients demonstrated that:  ”where emotional experiences are not present, then there are no somatic markers i.e. no foundations for the decision-making process. This process includes what shame, stress etc feels like.”

His work contradicts the idea we make our best decisions as emotionless robots. Hethinks not only is emotionless decision-making not possible, it would not even be desirable. Somatics have an essential role to play in the decision-making process.  Emotions warn us long before reason when danger lurks. Sometimes however, they may react to ‘danger’ not present in reality but rather in our imagination. To employ our emotions emotions, the keys are when feeling strong emotion:

(1) to become aware of them. 

(2) to question whether their source is valid i.e. is it a real and present danger or an imaginary one; and 

(3) to act in accordance with (2). 

It may be that the best way to manage our emotions productively is with thorough preparation which includes visualization. Since our mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and imagined, a mental rehearsal will blunt a possible traumatic event so that we can deal with it effectively should it occur.

Finally in the interview,  D’Amasio suggests that because somatics take time to form,  the speed of 21st century life blunts our conscience. And, when that happens, – when our reason is cast adrift from our emotions – we are left free to justify any act.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it” (Y. Berra)

Professor Roubini is the new ”it” guy for economists, a pretty interesting character.  he says the following, which is full of win. The government finds itself in the position of trying to coax people back into the same behaviors that they were engaged in before, so that all the people who earned their livelihood on supporting these bad behaviors can maintaintheir accustomed lifestyle and pay their tithe-multiple to the government to misallocate in search of votes.  But now that there is no money willingly being spent in these bad behaviors, government is conscripting money from the people in order to prop up the enablers. We dont rise up in outrage because we are some combination of:

1. sheep 
2. convinced that a little more misbehavior now will be better in the mythical long run
3. unaware that we are mortgaging the lifestyle and freedoms of our children andother future generations by saddling them with our debt
4. aware of 3 above, but unconcerned because we want what we want

in fact those 4 items probably are a working definition of “people = sheep”

What’s needed? a reorientation to do things which need to be done: find goods and services that people need and are affordable for them based on the value they create within their own circle of activity: ie live within your means in your community doing important things for our common good and get the spending under control. Care for your family and fellow man and dont pawn that social responsibility off on your government who will simply use your money to do a worse job while keeping a pile of it for their own purposes, which are usually counterproductive.

Or, keep trying to sustain an unsustainable system with borrowed money until the next crash makes us more desperate.  The seed corn that must be preserved is the individual responsibility, inijtiative and gumption that in the end will make us buck up and do the right thing. If you believe that’s inside you,  all is well and we’ll be fine and let’s get on with it. If you believe it’s in Washington in the head of the Savior and his Harvard educated circle of experts, please be prepared to relearn the lessons of history and central planning.

Meanwhile, here is Professor Roubini, as promised:

“A severe global recession will lead to deflationary pressures. Falling demand will lead to lower inflation as companies cut prices to reduce excess inventory. Slack in labour markets from rising unemployment will control labor costs and wage growth. Further slack in commodity markets as prices fall will lead to sharply lower inflation. Thus inflation in advanced economies will fall towards the 1 per cent level that leads to concerns about deflation.

“Deflation is dangerous as it leads to a liquidity trap, a deflation trap and a debt deflation trap: nominal policy rates cannot fall below zero and thus monetary policy becomes ineffective. We are already in this liquidity trap since the Fed funds target rate is still 1 per cent but the effective one is close to zero as the Federal Reserve has flooded the financial system with liquidity; and by early 2009 the target Fed funds rate will formally hit 0 per cent. Also, in deflation the fall in prices means the real cost of capital is high – despite policy rates close to zero – leading to further falls in consumption and investment. This fall in demand and prices leads to a vicious circle: incomes and jobs are cut, leading to further falls in demand and prices (a deflation trap); and the real value of nominal debts rises (a debt deflation trap) making debtors’ problems more severe and leading to a rising risk of corporate and household defaults that will exacerbate credit losses of financial institutions.”

- Professor Nouriel Roubini of New York University

The journey to wellness: asking for help is the first step

Most people who seek help dealing with emotional problems find relief, recovery, and healing. They don’t forget what they’ve been through, but they learn ways to make sense of their experience so that it doesn’t control their lives. More is known now than ever before about how to help people deal with the complicated feelings that may have come home with them from a war zone. These lessons can also help the rest of us that are suffering from stress from whatever source is troubling us too. Take heart and prepare to take the needed action.

Being tough: 

Our society values toughness, but also good judgment. It’s hard trying to help people see that there are times when even the toughest person may have a reaction to stress that doesn’t go away on its own.

Symptoms that this problem is not just going away:

• When weeks or months go by, and you continue to feel angry, sad, isolated, or numb;
• You keep having nightmares or flashbacks
• Your feelings begin to interfere with your work or your relationships

These are indications that you are at risk from stress.

No one suffers alone.

Getting help may also help family, friends, and co-workers who may see the difficulties you are experiencing but feel unable to help. All of our loved ones are affected by this condition and we owe it to them as well as ourselves to deal with the stress induced situation.

An example of just how hard it is to seek help:

Several groups of recent returnees from Southwest Asia took part in a study three to four months after their return. Most of these brave soldiers acknowledged that they were having problems, but only two out of five asked for professional help. This was even after receiving briefings and training on the importance of getting professional help. Can you imagine how much harder it is for your neighbors and friends to seek help?

There are some things we can do to make a difference though. These include:

• Addressing the problem early in order to prevent longer-term problems.
• Learning skills like communication, anger management, ,and conflict resolution. These can protect families and jobs while you work through your stress.
• Addressing individual stressors one at a tome may help you deal more effectively rather than trying to manage the whole load at once.
• Medicating yourself with alcohol or drugs is never a good idea (this does not include prescribed medications however).

Take the first step:

Making the decision to ask for help is difficult, but not impossible. And once you make that decision, each and every next step becomes easier and easier as you move back to wellness. Take that first step and let someone help you.

The journey of recovery: overcoming obstacles

Most people want to make changes to better themselves. Sometime these actions are in pursuit of a higher goal, but many other times, more challenging too, are the efforts to simply regain the peace of mind and inner balance we once knew before a time of stress and trauma. People making life changes often face a number of actual or perceived barriers that interfere with success:

 

• Poor understanding about how to change: urban legends, myths, and outright distortions abound.
• Lack of skills needed to change: we really dont have any training or education in those area until its after the fact.
• Poor self-efficacy (belief in one’s capabilities): the very need to seek treatment we often perceive as a sign of weakness.
• Ambivalence (mixed feelings) about changing: when you are inside the fishbowl sometimes it’s hard to see how much help you need.
• Cost of change seems to outweigh the benefits: treatment is not cheap, in terms of money but perhaps more importantly, in terms of time.
• Lack of resources to make changes-finances, transportation, child care: it’s rare to see employers fully fund these kinds of expenditures, which is all the more reason why this issue need more attention.
• Fear of change-sometimes things get worse before they get better. For example, sometimes substance abusers lose relationships with drinking or drug buddies when they get sober
• Concern about what others will think: Peer pressure doesn’t end in high school; it seems to be something we carry with us forever, if we are not careful.

 

The New England Journal of Medicine published a report in 2004 asserting that military service members report unique factors for resistance to seeking mental health services:

 

• Access to mental health treatment
• Stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment-concern about how they will be perceived by leadership and peers
• Confidence in mental health treatment

 

But it’s not just service members returning from a warzone that experience these barriers; they are often internally imposed. We must learn to be sensitive to our friends and loved ones to look for these signs and help them overcome the false stigma of receiving qualified professional help. Our understanding and sensitivity can go a long way towards helping them take their medicine.