you could do what i do and mix your methods. lots of people use both quantitative and qualitative methods, but few successfully mix these methods to come up with answers...if you're in health i think lucy yardley writes some really lovely mixed articles.

hattie - i don't think it's fair to lay into quants ("which due to the wonders of modern technology and advances in SPSS, requires few brain cells") if you're advocating the bps view that qualitative should not be "bad-mouthed" by quants. lets all just live in harmony and produce some top notch research which makes a difference.

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hi

i've used them in my MSc research and my PhD research. it's all good. MSc was set up by a very nice gentleman in the department. PhD was on my internal web pages at my uni although the next couple of stages will be i think on QM Perception which is available through my uni.

there are quite a lot of papers on this kind of thing in the social science journals.

also, i think this has been discussed before and some people mentioned some free websites you can use if your uni doesn't have available software.

have fun!

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hi

i went to a lecture on this a couple of months ago by mark shevlin at belfast. he said the seminal book on this really is:

Bollen, K.A. 1989. Structural equations with latent variables. Wiley-Interscience

so that might be worth a look at.

also just found this list for you:

http://www2.gsu.edu/~mkteer/bookfaq.html

have lots of fun!

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also, it raises your profile as a researcher, so, say you're ERSC, you're raising the profile of ERSC researchers. yeah?

i don't see why they wouldn't. they give maternity leave and this is like your baby right?

drwhoknows - obviously we know very different people. some of the people in my previous job were very openly hostile when they found out i was leaving to do a phd. the few people who know that aren't close friends (i now tell people i work at the university) said that they felt like i was judging them on what they were saying (that may also be linked to the fact that i come from a psychology background and people believe me to be psychic).

there is an element of snobbery linked to taking on a phd in my experience which is, in my opinion ridiculous. therefore, i get around people thinking i'm a snob by just not telling them. it's not important. i get paid by the university, i have an office in the uni and i have a supervisor in the uni. why on earth would they need/want to know that i'm a dr (or, at the moment, a phd student).

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i'd suggest getting a fairly up to date well written literature review of your general area and reading the discussion/conclusion. this is where they outline what further research is needed in the area. once you know what other people have said needs to be done you might find one of these areas interests you. or, perhaps, none of these are what you're after. in that case, what assumptions are the basics based on? is there some methodological flaw in previous research etc etc etc.

have fun!

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congratulations on your decision. it's always good to make a solid decision one way or the other.

i don't think there is any need to speak "academically" as such. all you need to do is make sure you can get your point across and preferably to the widest possible audience (i'm very pro open access and reports for non-specialists etc...i think all researchers should be made to disseminate their findings in a way that allows so called lay people to understand). i used to be very impressed by all these big articles with articles i could barely understand but now i realise, actually, they didn't do the job they set out to.

clear, concise and simple language...that's all that is needed.

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i don't think there's any shame in it i just think that if it's not relevant then why bother?

also, just for general information, and MD isn't a medical degree in the UK. all medical drs trained in the UK are awarded MB ChB. an MD is a higher research degree.

"MD (Doctor of Medicine)
This is a two year full-time or three years part-time course of study. You will go through a formal review process after 9 months. this degree is only open to people who hold a degree entitling them to any form of registration with the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom."

easily confused though! i believe MD is the qualification you get in the US when you train as a doctor. all goes back to the history of where the dr title comes from.

i think it's definately a cultural thing! my lovely MSc supervisor was from holland and when she was appointed professor recently the first thing she did was change her passport, then bank details, then driving license etc etc etc.

i think there's a risk of when you are using it in the uk it can sound like you're trying to show that you are better than those without those kind of qualifications...

because my friends, family and loved ones really couldn't care less. they wouldn't go about referring to themselves as employee of the month. they are proud of my successes but it's massively irrelevant otherwise.

this is something that really interests me. i do not intend to use my title anywhere other than professionally because,to be honest, it seems to make people feel uncomfortable and i don't see the point. also, i have an issue with the concept that people with more qualifications deserve some kind of special treatment.

second issue is, at some point i intend to get married. i am very keen not to change my sir name however, it looks like this may be the sticking point in the actual getting married procedure. so, i am thinking of completely compartmentalising my life so that i'm dr x and work and mrs y everywhere else.

a little like dr jekyll and mr hyde...mmm...

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oo, also, olivia, i'm confused by the trout recipes. where did that come from? i see them quite a lot. plus, can trout be substituted for other fish? are you doing a phd on the legality (i saw you were doing law) of fish in phd students diets? is it currently illegal for students to consume fish? i feel like i need more information here!

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oliva - no. but fantastic detective work...and the name does refer to my geographical location in some form.

aloha - i'm going to guess that people who are bothered about being identified won't give enough info to be identified and those who don't care about it will give as much info as they like. and, just as an aside, i do feel sorry for those who worry their supervisors lurk on here. my supervisors are wonderful brilliant people. i like them professionally and (as much as i know them) personally. but i feel for people who don't benefit from this kind of relationship.

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hey hey

i'm a116, intriguing name, no? i'm 23. i am at a university in the midlands, about to finish my first year, and doing a health psychology/health services research phd. hoorah for the nhs!

at work i thoroughly enjoy writing multiple words which attempt to in the words of the streets, "push things forward". i enjoy it even more when this is rejected by my supervisors and i'm told to be "less controversial".

outside of work i like to watch the same tv programmes again and again and again. i appreciate watching people roll around in mud at glastonbury and contemplating exactly how many baby wipes it takes to get clean from that and exactly what kind of worrying infections people get in their "naughty bits". i also enjoy not telling people that i'm doing a phd as, without exception, nobody believes me.

hoorah!

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