The dissertation of Kelley, IHM, MS_________________ entitled ...
The dissertation of Kelley, IHM, MS_________________ entitled ...
The dissertation of Kelley, IHM, MS_________________ entitled ...
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Grief in Women Religious 28<br />
Ellison, 1982; see Appendix E). <strong>The</strong> measures were arranged in a counterbalanced<br />
order.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cover letter described the purpose and procedure <strong>of</strong> the study (see Appendix<br />
F). It also provided information on confidentiality, voluntary participation, risks and<br />
benefits involved in participation, and the person to contact if a question arose. <strong>The</strong><br />
cover letter also indicated that a doctoral psychology student at Loyola College in<br />
Maryland conducted the study. Additionally, the cover letter informed the participants<br />
that there was a 3-month follow-up study to assess the impact <strong>of</strong> social support and<br />
spirituality on the grief process in women religious. <strong>The</strong> demographic questionnaire<br />
included questions regarding age, years in religious life, level <strong>of</strong> education, ethnicity, and<br />
type <strong>of</strong> work (see Appendix G). Voluntary consent to participate in the study was shown<br />
by returning the consent form (see Appendix H).<br />
In order to perform the follow-up study and to maintain confidentiality,<br />
participants were asked to provide the researcher with contact information on a separate<br />
sheet <strong>of</strong> paper (see Appendix I). <strong>The</strong> number <strong>of</strong> packets distributed totaled 114 (Active =<br />
62; Contemplative = 52), and the number <strong>of</strong> responses to time 1 totaled 93 (Active = 53;<br />
Contemplative = 40). Upon return <strong>of</strong> the questionnaires, thank you letters were mailed to<br />
each participant with a reminder <strong>of</strong> the follow-up study (see Appendix J). Moreover,<br />
postcard or e-mail reminders were mailed to those who did not respond. Three months<br />
after the participant returned the first packet <strong>of</strong> questionnaires, packets containing the<br />
Texas Revised Inventory <strong>of</strong> Grief, the Social Support Questionnaire, the Spiritual Well-<br />
Being Scale, a consent form and a cover letter were mailed again to the participants. <strong>The</strong><br />
cover letter restated the purpose and procedure <strong>of</strong> the study. In addition, it again