How to handle an awkward conversation; please help!

[neveragain2]

Hello,

 

I am after getting myself in an awkward situation. As a first year doctorate student I am doing some research with a 4th year doctorate student.  After collecting the data, I had the luck to meet an expert in the area of research we are doing (and it is a very small area!). After getting some great advice from him on analyizing our qualitative data, he said he would gladly like to help us to analyize the data and write it up. I see this as a great thing! He is a very well published researcher in this area and, of course, I nor my colleague are.

 

But on telling my colleague about his offer she was not so impressed and does not want him to be part of our research. As she is the principle investigator this is her call and i respect that.

 

So, I must now contact the expert and let him know that we do not want him to join us.

 

So please, any suggestions as to how I could do this in a respectful way.

 

As I said it is a very small field I am in and I do not want to go upsetting anyone.

 

Thank you kindly for your help!

[Guest |||]

To some extent you must assume responsibility.  It was the other students paper, and to invite another member without first consulting was the wrong thing to do.

 

 

Personally I would also be a bit peeved, if I had the idea and had done the work, was going to do everything else, and then a well established person jumps onto the paper, it might make others believe the project was pioneered by them.  More so since as you said, you guys are new to the field.

 

 

In either case, I do understand you were only trying to help and I'm trying to show the possible perspective to why your fellow reacted the way she did.

 

 

 

 

There is though no easy solution, you will have to ultimately write back to the researcher and tell them that you stepped out of bounds when asking them to join.  You can try and word it softly, or place blame elsewhere (e.g. my lab doesn't want another individual, my PI does not), but I think the responsible thing to do is for you to take hold.

 

 

In the end, don't worry either, given a month or so this will be ancient news, maybe even a laugh.

[callista]

It is the PI's job to make decisions of this kind. However, without knowing the details, I'm not sure if you were really out of bounds or not.  If you didn't discuss the potential collaboration with the PI before accepting the expert's offer, then yeah, maybe that was a bit much. NicholasCage has good advice above.

 

I think it would be a good idea to talk with the PI about their boundaries/limits for potential collaboration in this case, too.

Edited March 22, 2013 by callista

[Eigen]

At least in my field, inviting another PI to a paper without an explicit discussion with my PI first would be crossing a huge line, and might be seen as trying to undermine my PI. 

 

And in this case, it's not even your primary paper as a grad student, so definitely out of bounds to ask someone to collaborate, or even to show the data around!

 

Maybe it's just my field, but there's so much worry about getting scooped that if a first year on my project showed our data around to an "expert" in the field without first OKing it with me and our PI, we'd both be quite upset. 

[callista]

Since the OP is talking about qualitative data, that indicates to me that they aren't talking about hard science, like chemistry!  Qualitative analysis can be something of an art, and there tends to be more... informal collegiality... in the social science disciplines.  Neveragain2, what kind of qualitative analysis are you guys doing?  Feel free to PM me if that is more comfortable for you.  In fact, I strongly suggest it.

 

I think people might be assuming too much in this thread.  Nowhere did this person say that they showed the data to someone else, or invited them to be a PI!  They talked; maybe they were at a conference or some reception or something.

[ANDS!]

Qualitative analysis can be something of an art, and there tends to be more... informal collegiality... in the social science disciplines.

 

I laughed. . .

[neveragain2]

Thanks all for your input and opinions! Like callista suggested the meeting with the expert I spoke of was purely by chance at a conference and it is common in those circumstances to discuss research that is planned/being done. I certainly did not invite his participation in the study! I realize this would have been crossing a huge line! His offer of help was out of the blue... but anyway it is all sorted now... It was one of those things that seemed a bigger deal than it was! Thanks for your help!

[callista]

Thanks all for your input and opinions! Like callista suggested the meeting with the expert I spoke of was purely by chance at a conference and it is common in those circumstances to discuss research that is planned/being done. I certainly did not invite his participation in the study! I realize this would have been crossing a huge line! His offer of help was out of the blue... but anyway it is all sorted now... It was one of those things that seemed a bigger deal than it was! Thanks for your help!

 

Great!