We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2020-2021 Joan Eakin Award for Methodological Excellence in a Qualitative Doctoral Dissertation is Dr. Katie Mah, for her dissertation titled, “Freaked out” by Pediatric Concussion: An Exploration of Drawing and Interview Data Produced by Children ‘at risk’ of and Living with Concussion.
The Award Committee had the following to say about Dr. Mah’s work:
Dr. Mah’s dissertation is an outstanding submission. The research provides a critical examination of how children experience concussion using the post-structural theory of Michel Foucault and a critical qualitative arts-based approach, including participant drawing and semi-structured interviews. The argument for using a critical qualitative approach is compelling and highly productive in identifying how children achieve social competencies in relation to concussion. Dr. Mah’s reflexivity is a powerful example of the creative presence of the researcher. A clear and well written dissertation took us on a transformative journey; the account helped us to move beyond biomedical concepts towards an understanding of how discourses inhibit the way children experiencing concussion can think, speak, and act. The dissertation is sophisticated, timely and highly relevant.
Dr. Mah is currently a Postdoctoral Associate in the School of Occupational Therapy at Western University. You can follow her on Twitter.
The honourable mention of this year’s award goes to Dr. Tieghan Killackey for her thesis Advance Care Planning in Advanced Heart Failure: A Relational Exploration of Autonomy. Read Dr. Killackey’s thesis here.
The Award Committee made the following comments about her submission:
Dr. Killackey’s dissertation is a highly original exploration of advanced care planning (ACP) among patients experiencing heart failure using a framework of feminist ethical theory and relational autonomy. The study illuminates unexamined power relations that act as oppressive forces inhibiting an individual’s ability to exert decisional autonomy. The dissertation is a refreshing application of theory in cardiovascular research and points to opportunities to enhance individual agency in the face of existing constraint.
Dr. Killackey is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences at the Hospital for Sick Children. You can follow her work at tieghankillackey.com or on Twitter.
