Until there are permanent full time jobs available I'm very wary about continuing as a full time researcher.

Not only is there no job stability for researchers but, more importantly, research is not being fully implemented. I am in the social sciences and am aware of a project in my department which made suggestions about how practice could (and should) change. The funding body, although pleased with the findings, did not fund these implementations. Really, what is the point of conducting research which is not implemented??? Very demoralising.

The answer is for permanent positions which allow researchers to follow projects through to implementation stage.

oo, also, at my uni there is an internal temping agency. go for it!

my dad on the other hand did long distance lorry driving at the weekend or nights (not when he was doing a phd but msc). pays really good and your brain gets to relax in comparison to reading non stop etc during the day.

i'd recommend talking to your supervisor. mine said when i started that if i ever needed extra cash he'd find something for me (he is high up in the school though) because he'd rather i worked there than at tesco. i personally think it's just so he can keep a closer eye on me but he says it's so that i'm not pressurised into working more hours than i can manage.

however, i am ignoring my sup as i need some practical experience outside of research!

if it makes any of you feel any better i wish i'd worked yesterday. instead i spent £100 i haven't got on clothes i don't need...would have been much better working on my literature review...

hello!

i haven't actually done grounded theory but i have done modules on it and read a fair amount on it.

seminal text - glaser and strauss 1967.

be careful when reading articles which say they've used grounded theory as quite a lot actually use the "constant comparative method" which is part of grounded theory but not the whole thing.

good luck!

completely lost, what is a tier 1 conference????

i second the working from home/library/bit of grass outside

i see my once a week in term time and feel like that doesn't give me enough time to move on! i feel your pain...

i use mixed methods because it's what makes the most sense for my phd. any chance of this?

i do think that this should be one of the make or break points. you have to be confident that you will hand in a phd on time without an extension (especially at the beginning) and if you think that using a qualitative methodology jeapodises your chances of finishing you phd on time then you have to let them know. at the end of the day, all they care about is that you hand in a finished thesis, of good enough quality to pass within the required time frame.

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jouri, i think it really depends. i have gone straight the way through education, i.e., gcses, a levels, bsc, msc, phd all with out a break. if i'd have taken a break before the phd i'm not sure if i'd ever have gotten my motivation back.

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I applied for a named (i.e., i didn't write the proposal) and funded phd in february 2007, was interviewed and offered the post in march 2007. handed in my msc dissertation on a friday and started my phd on the monday. originally they wouldn't release my funding until i gave them my results but then my supervisor agreed that even if i had failed my msc they weren't going to kick me off/take the offer back so they released the money. it was internally funded though (of sorts). not sure the same would apply with research councils.

my advice, start looking now! funding applications can take 1 year+.

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freak out! i love that. now i'm going to have "le freak, c'est chic" in my head all day!!!

yes jouri, but both myself and missspacey make it clear that, although you can't do that, there are other options. no point in just knocking someone, offer potential solutions!

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i'm not so sure it's so clear cut. i read in a "how to..." book about writing a thesis (can't remember the name) that some institutes allow the use of a copy editor. so, you'd have to write a version of your phd and then they would correct spelling and grammar (which is not the same as what you ask, but perhaps an option). however, i'm not sure if this is applicable to the uk and, if it is, which institutes allow it.

check with your grad school.

one of my supervisors is a medic. massive cliche, but they have the medics handwriting! i just ask them for clarification and wherever possible they use track changes on word to give feedback. perhaps your sup just isn't aware of their terrible writing!

on point 2, i'm sorry things are working out that way...either they're right and you need to simplify it or you need to, as you put it, emancipate yourself.

good luck

olivia, don't panic!!! it doesn't meant your field is tiny, just others are bigger. if you think about things like drug development where there is lots of cash to be made of course there's going to be more interest generally in those areas (because of the money to be made) and therefore those journals are going to have higher impact factor. 0.5 in a field where 0.7 sounds just fine.

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