Still bashing away at my questionnaire draft. It is improving but is way way too long. Oh well. I want to send it to supervisors tonight so they have time to look at it before our meeting on Friday. That may mean staying on campus later than I want.... Gah!

What awful news for you. I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions, though it seems a lot of good ones have been made already - I hope they lead to something for you. Or maybe a funded PhD position will come up at your uni or another one nearby? I have no idea if that's practical or realistic, but I do hope something comes up for you so you can continue the PhD.

Good luck Star-shaped!

Once again, yesterday I failed to achieve everything I set out to do. I'm not downhearted though, because I did make some good progress. But today I'm going to be a little less ambitious in my goals and see how I get on.

So, goal 1 is to finish writing up the notes and vague ideas I have for my draft questionnaire

That's great news, Emmaki! Congratulations!

It's great that you're thinking about going back to university. It's exciting to be able to study. Postgrad is very different to undergrad in lots of ways, but most of all it's more stimulating and rewarding, in my opinion! The best place to start with Masters degrees is thinking about the subject you want to do and then looking at the course descriptions on university websites. They'll also tell you how to apply for the courses. There's no central system like UCAS, it's a case of applying direct.

24 is no problem at all - I started my Masters when I was 34, after years of working, and was nowhere near the oldest in the class (but very mixed age groups, with maybe a third of students coming straight from undergraduate and the rest spread over the ages). Obviously that may not be the case for all subject areas! Mine's very applied.

References - I got an academic reference from my university several years after I'd graduated - it wasn't a problem at all. Usually they ask for two I think, so the other one could be your more recent one. But at Masters level, if you're funding yourself I think they're mainly looking for evidence that you'll be committed enough and able enough to complete the course. Beyond that, it depends how competitive it is for places in your discipline and at the university you want to attend.

As to going straight to a PhD - if you got a 2.2 in your first degree, I would suggest you might need to do a Masters before a PhD. But maybe that depends again on the discipline/university. Also whether you're funding yourself or looking for funding for the PhD. Getting a funded PhD is very competitive, so you would need evidence of strong research skills etc - a good result at Masters level would help enormously.

Hope that helps!

Morning everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend.

This week, I'm going to achieve lots and make masses of progress. Fired up and ready to go!

Goals for today:
1.) Finish redraft of questionnaire
2.) Work on draft interview questions
3.) Read 2 or 3 journal articles
4.) Prepare for tonight's Annual General Meeting for a voluntary group I chair

Lots of non-PhD things to do today - stuff I've been putting off and now can't delay any longer! Oh well, if I get it done quickly enough I might have time to do some reading, but it's looking unlikely, as I have a dentist appointment this afternoon. Looks like I'll be working on Sunday to try to make up for it!

Good luck star-shaped! And - umm - remember to draw breath too!

Sneaks - sounds like you have a much better idea of all that stuff than me (to be expected, given that you're a lot further on with the phD!) - hopefully one day I'll know all this stuff too....

Made good progress this morning, feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with the design of my questionnaire. Going to tidy up the current draft a little then leave it and come back a little fresher tomorrow. This afternoon, I'll do some brainstorming of interview questions and then read some journal articles.

Ooh, great thread! And lots of great ideas, too....

I think I want to travel somewhere. I've always wanted to take the Trans-Siberian railway all the way from Moscow to China. And obviously I'd have to get all the way across Europe to Moscow first. I absolutely love really long train journeys, and that trip would just be amazing!

And read fiction, oh yes, definitely! I hardly ever get the time these days. I have a huge number of crime novels I want to read, and I also want to have enough brain power to read more literary stuff as well. A few days just lying on the sofa reading would be fantastic.

And play computer games too :$

======= Date Modified 13 Jan 2011 09:02:30 =======
oops, posted twice for some reason!

Sneaks - I see - I've only ever done PCA but I know I'm going to need to do some confirmatory factor analysis when I do my analysis. Do tell me how you do it if you work it out!

Morning everyone! I'm feeling fired up and ready to go - maybe because I ate a flapjack for breakfast and the sugar has gone to my head. Whatever the reason, I'm determined to get lots done today. Goals for the day:

1.) This morning, continue developing my questionnaire
2.) This afternoon, start thinking about questions for interviews
3.) Also skim-read 3 or 4 journal papers

Should keep me busy!

Aw Button, hubby-to-be sounds like a sweetheart!

Sneaks - no, I'm sure that's possible, isn't it? You mean like Principal Components Analysis? Or maybe I'm just showing up how little I know here!

Tusco, you don't sound bitter, more weary and worn-down! I have the feeling a lot of people feel that way at some point, especially towards the end of the process. Keep going - I'm sure you'll get there! Good luck with it!

Button, I've been going through phases like that too - don't worry, it will pass, just have a good break and start fresh tomorrow!

Just read other half's Masters dissertation to pick up on last-minute typos and so on - blimey, that was hard work! His discipline is computer forensics, and I have no interest in or knowledge of computing whatsoever.... But it's done now! Phew. I can confirm that he is Very Clever Indeed, though - it's all gobbledigook to me!

I was going to do a bit more work today but my head hurts after that reading, so I may take a break for some tea and see if I feel like doing any more later.