Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

Your Committee Wants to See This Comparison

13 May 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:55

In this instructional YouTube video, the speaker explains how researchers can compare different levels of a factor within a study to uncover nuanced effects. He illustrates the concept with several concrete examples: assessing the impact of a school lunch program on test scores across middle, elementary, and high school students; comparing outcomes between urban and rural schools; examining gender differences; and discussing the relative‑age effect where children born earlier in the year tend to outperform younger peers in sports. The presentation emphasizes the importance of breaking down a single factor into multiple sub‑levels to provide committees with detailed, actionable evidence. At the end, the speaker invites viewers to comment the word “help” to receive a link to a free dissertation‑help community.

Chapters

We can also look at levels, and by that I mean different versions of each factor. What if I go back to school lunch? What is the impact on middle school students? Now let's look at elementary school student test scores or on high school student test scores. Staying with schools, what about urban schools versus rural schools? And then within that, even let's look at gender, males versus female. I've seen research looking at date of birth in the year, showing in sports performance, for example, people born earlier in the year are considered better athletes overall at younger ages than people born later in the year. Because think about it, a 5-year-old who's born in January is much more developed than a 5-year-old born in December on average. Drop the word help in the comments below and I'll send you the link to my free dissertation help community.