Assistance Finding a site for my Dissertation

JG0311 · ‎08-01-2019

Good afternoon,

I am new to this forum and have been guided here by (ISC)2 when I reached out asking for assistance with site approval for my dissertation with Capella University. I am looking for a professional organization that will be willing to work with me regarding the below information. LinkedIn or similar groups are acceptable as well; I will just need permission from the site administrator. Below is my original proposal:

My name is Jon Guthrie and I am a doctoral student with Capella University, currently pursuing a Doctor of Information Technology degree with a focus in cybersecurity. I am interested in asking for your permission to reach out to members of your organization as a site for recruiting participants for my dissertation, which focuses on cyber-related threats in the U.S. banking system. I will be conducting a qualitative Delphi study in which I would like to send approximately two rounds of questionnaires to 20 cybersecurity professionals, or IT professionals that conduct cybersecurity duties for U.S. banks or financial services entities. The study will not collect proprietary information about the site where the participants work and all data will be made anonymous when published. I will also provide all participants and your organization with a copy of the published dissertation when complete. Capella University doctoral faculty, such as my mentor and dissertation committee chair person, and I will be the only personnel to have access to the completed questionnaires; as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), I will properly secure all organizational data and destroy the data at the appropriate timeline, per Capella University. I can provide a letter from my mentor/committee chair with a Capella University letterhead confirming I am a student in the doctoral program and conducting this research as a part of my degree requirements. I am an (ISC)2 member, but this endeavor is completely independent from (ISC)2.

Some personal background about me, I am currently a Department of Defense civilian, serving as the Deputy Chief Information Officer at a Naval Hospital and I am also a U.S. Marine serving in the reserves. My school email address is jguthrie10@capellauniversity.edu. Please consider helping me further the field of cybersecurity and help create a safer future. Let me know if you would like any additional information and I will get back to you. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Very Respectfully,

Jon Guthrie, MBA, PMP, CISSP

Cell: 520-249-4183 (Feel free to text and call)

**No U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Navy, United States Marine Corps, or (ISC)2 endorsement is implied, as I am a student in my personal capacity.**

dcontesti · ‎08-01-2019

@JG0311 wrote:
Good afternoon,

I am new to this forum and have been guided here by (ISC)2 when I reached out asking for assistance with site approval for my dissertation with Capella University. I am looking for a professional organization that will be willing to work with me regarding the below information. LinkedIn or similar groups are acceptable as well; I will just need permission from the site administrator. Below is my original proposal:

My name is Jon Guthrie and I am a doctoral student with Capella University, currently pursuing a Doctor of Information Technology degree with a focus in cybersecurity. I am interested in asking for your permission to reach out to members of your organization as a site for recruiting participants for my dissertation, which focuses on cyber-related threats in the U.S. banking system. I will be conducting a qualitative Delphi study in which I would like to send approximately two rounds of questionnaires to 20 cybersecurity professionals, or IT professionals that conduct cybersecurity duties for U.S. banks or financial services entities. The study will not collect proprietary information about the site where the participants work and all data will be made anonymous when published. I will also provide all participants and your organization with a copy of the published dissertation when complete. Capella University doctoral faculty, such as my mentor and dissertation committee chair person, and I will be the only personnel to have access to the completed questionnaires; as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), I will properly secure all organizational data and destroy the data at the appropriate timeline, per Capella University. I can provide a letter from my mentor/committee chair with a Capella University letterhead confirming I am a student in the doctoral program and conducting this research as a part of my degree requirements. I am an (ISC)2 member, but this endeavor is completely independent from (ISC)2.

Some personal background about me, I am currently a Department of Defense civilian, serving as the Deputy Chief Information Officer at a Naval Hospital and I am also a U.S. Marine serving in the reserves. My school email address is jguthrie10@capellauniversity.edu. Please consider helping me further the field of cybersecurity and help create a safer future. Let me know if you would like any additional information and I will get back to you. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Very Respectfully,

Jon Guthrie, MBA, PMP, CISSP
Cell: 520-249-4183 (Feel free to text and call)

**No U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Navy, United States Marine Corps, or (ISC)2 endorsement is implied, as I am a student in my personal capacity.**

Jon,

This is a public forum so not sure that anyone needs to grant you permission.....I think that is what you are asking for.

I suggest that you frame your request as a call for volunteers. A number of us have other contacts that we could also ask to step up and assist you.

If I have misunderstood your request, I apologize

Regards

d

CraginS · ‎08-02-2019

Jon,

For my dissertation research plan I needed to solicit survey participation across a wide variety of sources; it seems you are looking at the same need. In my case, I proposed a variety of social media environments for the survey solicitation. My committee members and then the university's Institutional Review Board (IRB) had to approve the research plan The IRB had me remove several of the groups from my solicitation list, saying the linkage was too close to personal contact with me. In general, if your committee and the Capella IRB approve how you contact participants, you should be OK.

Some organizations forbid employees taking part in surveys not approved by the company; my old employer did that. If you run into that situation, they will tell you.

Next, one of my doctoral classmates also worked at a Navy hospital, and used a survey for his dissertation research. He had to go through a formal Navy approval process for his work before issuing the survey. I recommend you double-check on whether that Navy regulation applies in your case. I realize it may not, but best to be sure.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have questions.

D. Cragin Shelton, DSc
Dr.Cragin@iCloud.com
My Blog
My LinkeDin Profile
My Community Posts

AppDefects · ‎08-02-2019

@CraginS wrote:
My committee members and then the university's Institutional Review Board (IRB) had to approve the research plan

Once you have IRB approval for your research study then invite the Community to take part. Please make participation completely anonymous.

JG0311 · ‎08-02-2019

Hi d,

thank you for taking the time to read my post and reply! ISC2 told me to look for participants here, but the thing is, Capella University has some paperwork that I would have to have filled out and signed by a site admin, so I do not believe ISC2 was willing to do this.

Since I have the email from the ISC2 rep, I will check with my committee chair if the email suffices for site permission. The IRB said an email from someone with authority suffices in lieu of the documents, so I will contact my committee chair and the IRB to make sure we are on the same page. If it turns out that this is the case, I will re-frame my request to ask members to email me directly.

Respectfully,

Jon.

JG0311 · ‎08-02-2019

Sir,

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and respond. At this particular dissertation milestone, Capella University wants some documents signed by someone with authority at a particular site, however, when I contacted the IRB last quarter, they indeed did say that a LinkedIn group or blog site admin may simply send an email stating that I may use the site for my Delphi study.

Since I have received an email form ISC2 informing me that I can use this forum, I will make another appointment with the IRB and my committee chair to see if I can re-phrase my initial post and have volunteers simply email me. Regarding using any DoD entities, I have been advised early on that I should not do so and I will be severely limited because our hospital only has a few cybersecurity-specific personnel. Thanks again and I really appreciate the advice!

Respectfully,

Jon.

JG0311 · ‎08-02-2019

Hello AppDefects,

Thank you for your assistance. At this early stage in my dissertation process, I only need someone with authority to fill out some paperwork authorizing me to use a site for my study; I am not quite at the IRB approval stage at this time. However, I did have an appointment with the IRB last quarter and notified them of my intent to use a LinkedIn Group or one like this and they said that would be fine; I would only need an email from the site admin.

I will reengage with my committee chair and the IRB and let them know that ISC2 did in fact direct me to use this site and to make sure I identify myself as an ISC2 member. I can re-post my initial request to simply ask volunteers to email me directly and I will absolutely keep all participants anonymous. Thanks again and please let me know if you would like any additional information about myself or my proposed study.

Respectfully,

Jon.