You are right to be angry but more than that your girlfriend should be as mad as hell. 

I know its difficult being new, is this the norm of the Uni ? Is everyone there til 10pm.. what on earth are they doing ?    Have none of them got families etc ?

She really needs to set some ground rules around this, she has to speak up and leave at a reasonable time. If she needs to have an excuse she could state public transport timetable or something.. but that is awful and will only continue if its not stopped now.   You wonder if its some sort of test to see what she's made of.. like some olde school initiation caper... unforgivable, especially when they'll know how she'll be keen to fit in..  God I'm angry now too.  Put simply, its bullying.

Please help your girlfriend by being angry together,  come up with a plan. I fear / suspect others on here may have experienced something similar and be able to come up with concrete advice. 

All the best, Chuff

Gulp.

ok, clutching at straws now...

you made a comment about not knowing if your application got read at all.

I don't want to know what it is .. but thinking around your first sentence / paragraph on your CV is it a grabber? (so to speak) 

Say i'm Prof Plum - why do i want to read this, another application ?  

Have you chatted to your sup and asked their advice, is there approach that gets you in the club ?  There is such a clan culture in academia, collegial in more ways than one, is there a way to get in the door ?

I hope others can add to this as i'm getting down for you.. such a tough climate out there these days.

Keep positive though, Chuff

Down...  not surprised your down.. good grief.

I make this suggestion with much respect ... acknowledging that you've done everything else.. and what else is there... but something struck me.

practical experience.. do you have any ?  voluntary work ?  Something you've set up yourself ? collaborative work ? Your achievements ( from the scant detail here admittedly) sound very singular, individual and i know that's just the PhD experience and i am in no way criticising but this may just add a new dimension to your application experience.  

I wish you all the best.   Chuff

Congrats Sue.

NO corrections ! that's amazing. Very well done.

New Year, new Sue by the sound of it... all the very best with your adventure.

Chuff

Hi Murt.

I sympathise with FT work / PT phd - me too.  Its a case of managing your own expectations, be realistic,  set yourself time scales or goals but don't beat yourself up when life comes at you. I get up early do some work before work.. then come home and pretend i'm still at work for a couple of hours before switching off.  So its an extended working day.  

If you're doing qualitative research you can't go far wrong with starting to read Denzin and Lincoln's tome - the sage handbook of qualitative research. 
Its quite a door stop but is a really lovely read, talks about a range of methods and approaches. 

I also read Blaikie - Approaches to Social Enquiry as a background / paradigm / ontology guide...

Stick with the forum, you're not alone on here.

Chuff

Hi Andie,

If it were me..  I'd thank my lucky stars i noticed it now.

Prepare an explanation for the error...  i.e. a correction ... stick it on the facing page of your annotated thesis (the one you'll be taking to you viva)

So, you're ready.

If its mentioned you can produce said explanation, acknowledge mistake and provide correction.

If its not mentioned... don't mention it.

If you can amend in your final version, just for completeness then do so... 

All the very best for your viva.

Please come back and let us know how it goes.

Regards, Chuff

======= Date Modified 15 Jan 2011 13:58:57 =======
Hi Sneaks.

"good" to know someone else is working too.

I've been reading your posts, you've been up against it.. bet you're knackered.

Why are you writing something boring? :p

Who are you writing it for? Can you go with any format, theme etc you like?

Hi Jun480

top of head stuff here but there seems to me that you could link them in considering them both forms of persuasion.

Managers spend a great deal of their time trying to persuade the 'workers' to behave in a certain way.. one tool they use is to try and invoke commitment to organisational goals.

Social determinants of health - health policy, certainly in the UK, appears to be moving towards the social / community / citizen marketing of healthy behavioural options. This could also be said to be linked to behavioural persuasion and policies are being developed to invoke a commitment to own health, social welfare, overall community need ... being a good citizen (whatever that is)

I hope i haven't added more confusion and i hope that others will add to the mix. It sounds like a really interesting project , well done for getting the funding.

All the best.  Chuff

You wouldn't go far wrong with just expanding upon what you've said in your initial post here.

You could ask for February or early March but the sooner you do it the better, diaries will be filling up every day.

Hope it works out for you, and all the best for your viva.

Chuff

Hello.

Fab thread Cate but just had a brainwave.. I must start by confessing to not being an IT whizzo but ..

what about someone who is an IT whizzo ;-) creating a postgradforum delicious account ( or other site) and putting all the useful links on there..  then we can all add to categories if we have the password and go to the site for links from wherever we are.  One for literature review, software, supervisors, despair ... you know all the usual topics :-)

Is this possible / feasible / sensible ?  sorry to gatecrash Cate. 

Good weekend everyone. Chuff

Guess eavesdropping is not always a good basis on which to take a view.  Who knows what they'd said beforehand .. it could well have been a demonstration of office politics.. they were desperate to fail it but even the blinking method was a contribution.

Minefield is the word...so many hurdles.

Hope things are all going in the right direction for you all.  Thanks for your views.  Chuff

Hi all.

Thinking on W's comment... clearly if the PhD is substandard this should preclude a pass but if, for example, you have proposed three contributions to knowledge one of which is a method, which has been published (conf or journal) as an advance.. could you then fail ?

I suppose put broadly do your examiners have to agree all your proposed contributions ... yes i know one would be nice ;-)

C

Firstly many congrats KB. 

Secondly, can i be controversial ?   I don't agree with your sup in the way she made you feel but i can understand her point. You can have it all but at a price and many women seem to me to nearly kill themselves in trying.  When kids come along the main childcare does typically impact on the mother.. even if its just 51% of it. So her reaction is undoubtedly her fear that maybe your potential will be impacted by having kids.  I think in her apology she recognised the effect of her reaction but I think it was well intended. She seems to want you to fulfill your potential without wearing yourself into the ground.  You seem to have a great relationship with your sup.. and lovely that she apologised for her response, that's nice.

You could, of course, time your child reading around your Professorship then maybe take reduced hours.. for the same money ... sorted ;-)   

Chuff  

======= Date Modified 11 Jan 2011 19:18:50 =======
Hello all.

I unashamedly eavesdropped on a conversation the other day, yes i lurked even though I know its bad manners but ...

the two characters were academics from a Uni.. and they reckoned that if a PhD has a contribution to knowledge as an advancement in a method that they can't fail the PhD.. even if the main question, the results or others aspects are doubtful.

What do you think ? I mean i can see the sense in it.. be interested to know if my eavesdropping was worthwhile

Regards, Chuff

Hi Sheryl.

I'm unable to add much more than Joyce has suggested.  From my limited knowledge i think anti-depressants can take a little while to rebalance your system so its great that you are feeling a bit better and it is hopeful that you're heading in the right direction.

Have you been back to see your GP?   You need to talk this through with him / her and ask to get referred for counselling or other therapy.. there are a lot of support systems out there so use them. You sound like you have a great personal network with family, friends and supervisor who are all on your side, have you discussed this with them?

With regard to your question..  you mention your feeling of hopelessness is due to your "inability to be satisfied with my progression".   I wonder whether your expectations are too high for yourself.. so you're beating yourself up?  I've read a lot of posts on here and a lot of us have felt aimless for a long time with a PhD those that are "lucky" expected to feel that way .. knew it was part of the journey we keep being told about.. and so when we were lost .. absolutely totally lost ... it was fine, expected, and we knew we'd find a way out. 

How does your supervisor assess your progress?  or others who know your work ? As Joyce said getting feedback from a paper will give another view and may help you appreciate that you have something useful to add to your academic community.

I wish you all the best on your return to good health,  you're on the way back.

Chuff