Morning! (Okay, it's not quite morning any more, never mind...)

I've been steaming through some data analysis this morning, started early and am making good progress. I want to get to the end of one section of testing by the end of the day, and if I could start writing it up too that would be great (but unlikely). My partner's not coming back home this weekend as he's got to work on Saturday, so I'm going to put in some long hours over the weekend too and hopefully crack a good proportion of my data analysis by early next week.

Good luck with all your work!

I can't believe how it's suddenly turned into summer!

Good luck with the presentation Button, and with your work Lindalou. I've got a bit of a disrupted day today as I've got someone coming round to give me a quote for removals costs and also a prospective tenant coming to look at the flat, so I need to get some packing, tidying and cleaning done before any of them arrive! But I also want to make a good start on testing my second theoretical model aaginst my data - dreading it, cos I think I messed up the design of my data collection and this will be the moment of truth. Yikes!

Hah, one advantage of being on campus is that my desk is nowhere near a window so I can forget about the weather outside! That has to be a good thing for my productivity. I am so looking forward to the PhD being over and being able to relax on sunny days - next summer will be amazing...

This summer, not so much. Oh well. Back to the analysis!

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Good luck with it, Skig, and everyone else!

Today I've come onto campus and have a long list of admin type things to do while I'm here and have unlimited internet access. But mainly I need to get cracking with my analysis - writing up what I've done so far and getting on with the next bit. I had a bit of a panicky wobble yesterday, convinced I'd screwed it all up, so hopefully I won't be crippled by that feeling today! My supervisors say the later stages of a PhD are all about the psychology of getting it done...

And on edit... Good luck with the writing Lindalou! You always seem to be surging ahead!

I think my supervisors are all gung-ho for having everything in place for as soon as I submit, so I doubt I'll have too long a wait, unless there's a delay with the examiners. But good luck with it next week - I'm sure you'll do great. Everything I've heard about vivas has always been how it's not as bad as people think, and easy to over-prepare for, so don't feel too panicked or under pressure!

I achieved very little today. I'm in such a bad mood, no idea why. Oh well, maybe tomorrow I'll wake up in a bright and cheery mood!

Thanks Skig, I'm looking forward to it! When's your viva? Hope the preparation isn't getting too intensive!

Hello everyone!

Once again I'm working from home so only have limited internet connection, so won't be around here much. Oh well. Today my plan is to write up the data analysis I've done over the last couple of weeks, and hopefully to make a start on the next stage of analysis too, if I get that far! And then I'll also do some packing ready for moving house.

Good luck today!

Morning!

I'm still working from home so have limited internet access, but I think I'm getting more work done because of that!

Today I'm carrying on with data analysis. I've made good progress over the last couple of days. Today I need to test whether my theoretical model holds for my third sample (it kind of does for the first two, yay!)

Good luck with it all, both of you.

Morning!

Today, I am continuing with my data analysis and also continuing to sort out my flat. I think my life is going to be exactly like this for the next few weeks!

Hello guys, and thanks for wondering where I got to!! :p I'm fine, just since they upgraded my laptop to a new version of windows I can't get online at home unless I physically take my laptop to the wireless router in a different room and connect it directly with a wire, which is just a pain. So last week I was stuck at home with a cold and trying to work through it and it was too much of a pain to connect to the internet. I could try to sort the problem out but I'm moving house in a couple of weeks so really can't be bothered!

Hope you're both doing well!

Today I am doing some data analysis and sorting my flat out. Moving has come at a bad time because I have so much to do, but I think at this stage of a PhD any time will be a bad time, so I'll just live with that!

Morning!

I wasn't planning to come onto campus today because there's a rail strike so there's only one train an hour running, but I'd forgotten about a training course this afternoon that I can't miss. So I'm here, after a slow and crowded journey. I've got a little under three hours before the training course, so I'm just going to keep working on figuring out the new statistical technique in the new software. Hopefully I can make some sense of it!

Good luck today everyone!

Now I'm in my third year I am getting a lot more negative feedback than I did in previous years - however, my supervisors do seem to know the value of presenting such comments carefully and positively, so they never feel like dire pronouncements. I agree with the otehrs who have said maybe your supervisors simply aren't as good at framing things in this way, or don't realise there's a need to?

Even if the comments do seem to be pointing to a bigger issue with the PhD, again, it's not necessarily a bad thing (even if it is gut-wrenching to face) - definitely better to address issues now, before they're woven deeply into a highly polished thesis, than at the viva and then face a major reworking to address the issues. I totally understand how sickening and heart-sinking such comments can be, but this is part of what makes a PhD so tough to get, and once the issues are dealt with you'll have learnt so much, and really earned the award. My supervisors talk about a PhD, particularly in the later stages, being as much about the psychology of the student as about the research itself - if you can find a way to face these criticisms head-on and see them for what they really are, that'll be a huge benefit to yourself and your work.

Good luck with it all anyway!

Oh, I hope Button's right, Linda, and it is feeling crappy that's making the feedback seem worse. I never can judge that sort of thing if I'm feeling at all under the weather.

Button, well done on the progress through your list!

I've made some reasonable progress on using the new software to do new statistical analysis, so tomorrow I can press on with that. Tonight I'm going to do some thinking about a journal article I want to write.

Yes, hope you feel better Linda. And good luck with the long list of actions, Button.

I've just dealt with various emails I needed to answer today, so that now leaves the day clear to get on with the new software and new statistical tests. I'm not quite sure how to approach this, so I guess my first goal is to work that out!

Ooh, congratulations on the house! (And also commiserations on the misery of moving!!)

Everything seems to be taking a long time today. I've only just finished my two funding applications, so now I have to look at friend's questionnaire, and by the time I've done that it's going to be fairly late to try messing around with a brand new statistical test in brand new software - I'd probably be better off starting that bright and early tomorrow. And that means I can spend some more time sorting my flat out for moving.