hello. as most of you know, am a third year student experiencing a number of difficulties with my thesis. looks like I will have to spend longer on it. i have had a number of problems with my supervisors and i feel that i could do better changing them. i have a number of appointments lined up with prospective lecturers, and am preparing for them. the reason i want to change supervisors is because of our different research interests. my supervisors say my work is bad because it goes in a direction they are not familiar with. lecturers in my field who share my approach say its good. am thinking of getting one who agrees with my approach.

Has any of you successful changed supervisors 2.5 years into your thesis or later? what was your experience like? what did you tell them? did you look for the supervisor yourself and then speak to faculty later? what did you do with your existing supervisor.

all tips and experiences appreciated.

J.

its been a difficult week for me. i made the reccommended changes and my supervisor rejected my work and stuck to his opinion. i showed the work I had submitted to a couple of lecturers who reckoned it was good and am no longer sure what my supervisor's problem is - with me.

i've decided to look for a new supervisor. i think i've taken too much rubbish from my current supervisor.

am a holist. my supervisors prefer serialists and am having to learn to be one.

the same happened to me when someone stole money from my room.

i agree with clowning. being published is a great idea. as for the nature of it. i suppose it depends on examiners and on your attitude. if you see it as a discussion, it is likely to be just that. if you see it as a defence and become defensive it is likely to be just that. excuse me for the typos - not too sure about that word - defence - defensive.

for me... am definitely not staying in academia. i think i've taken too much and i don't think i want any more headaches. academia has shuttered my confidence. any extra year here will only break it further. there is more to life. (my view anyway )

today i had a word with some members of faculty and they agreed to keep me as a PhD, subject to some changes in the light of the fact that i have not been well and the supervisory problems i have had all the way. they agreed to allow me a year during which i won't be paying tuition fees. yeah!!! now i just have to work on my supervisor's guidelines. fingers crossed they accept my changes.

make your decision based on the supervisor - not ranking or familiarity. if you have a friendly supervisor who KNOWS your topic, then go for it. my mistake was I used ranking instead of familiarity with supervisor and i have had problems all the way. familiarity with the uni is irrelevant. you can always adjust.

i also mentioned that I had been unwell and got documentation for retrospective interuption of my studies so that i don't have to pay for next year. there is a meeting on Wednesday to discuss that. am keeping my fingers crossed and ploughing on. i want to hand in my new title and chapter at the end of this week, so am trying to focus on that instead of the many troubles in my life right now.

sorry guys. my internet has been down. the meeting did not go well. all he seemed to do was go along with my supervisors and completely not see my point.

he also added that i needed to pay tuition fees for next year as no one will be paying my supervisors next year to supervise me - i will not be funded next year - because am supposed to be have finished and am privately sponsored. anyhow, i told him that there was no way i was gonna afford that money.

shani - thanks for the handout. it has been most helpful, especially because am doing a case study. i have actually found thinking through things more useful than reading books. i haven't quite read much of the books because i have to act on it asap. however i will still finish reading them and incorporate whatever i get out of them.

thanks everyone for everything and every piece of advice which i will be tabling to my dean of school tomorrow.

wish me luck.

hello everyone. thanks...

olivia - true... am determined not to let them get away with this. adrenaline can work wonders! its either fight or flight. i have decided to fight this. its amazing, i get up so early these days and am so alert. i knew that my thesis was not perfect, but i didn't think it wasn't good enough to be a PhD.

hi guys. i've managed to figure out a new question and a theoretical framework that works and that retains most of my work. i just need to read more on it and start writing tomorrow. fingerscrossed my supervisor will like it. i plan to submit it this coming week. i've discussed it with a couple of people who think it's ok. hope your work is going well. am done for the night.

'determination all the way, determination in every way.'

thanks shani for that link and for your encouragement.

Olivia and Lara, thanks for the encouragement. here's the book title:

The Real Life Guide to Accounting Research by Chris Humphrey and Bill Lee.

i'll post more later when there are fewer people looking over my shoulder

hello all. am in the process of drafting the proposal for the revised topic making sure i retain as much of my work as possible. all is well. i did find out what a normative framework was and i have found a useful book on methodology. so fingers crossed. i plan to write down the framework today and start reading literature tomorrow - just to refresh my mind to be able to make my argument again.

thanks for all your support and encouragement.