Maybe I am really dense, but I am baffled that someone could be in the
'final stages of completing' their doctorate at the same time they are just
sending out e-mails to their acquaintances to recruit women for an internet
based survey which is part of their doctoral research. Recruiting
participants by way of e-mail contacts in the breastfeeding cybercommunity
presents a paritcular set of sources of bias for the research and I am
curious about how these problems will be dealt with in the survey now underway.

This is definitely not how one gets a doctorate in my part of the world. 
The research is done *first* (usually preceded by a Master's degree in a
related field) scientific articles based on the research are written and
submitted for publication along the way, and when the work is all done and
the doctoral candidate's grandchildren are old enough to attend the
celebratory banquet without chaperones, the degree is finally awarded after
a live defense of the work in front of an audience, and it is not a given
that the candidate will pass scrutiny even then.

Caveat:  I have not yet read anything about Lenore Goldfarb's research
except what was posted by Marianne today on Lactnet.   

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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