Hi Lily, are you sure you need to write your chapters in chronological order. For example, if you have collected your data, you could start with with your methods chapter. Are you transcribing data (and/or analysing) as well as that sort of thing is good to do close to data collection, even if you then really fix it up later. All of the writing is in draft form-so don't get hung up on perfection, just write and polish and tune later.

How is the literature review? This chapter (in my masters), I began as a distinct chapter in its own right almost at the start, then I had to refine it and link it back to my introductory chapter (which really had to be rewritten at the end as well so that it all fell together). In actual fact, while I wrote my very drafty draft statement of purpose and all of that initially at the beginning, the final version, completed after data, analysis and discussion, was really quite different.

Abolutely agree with everyone else who has said, you just have to sit down and do it! Planning and chunking and scheduling is really mandatory. With this sort of writing, don't wait for inspiration to hit-it is more like a work task than a recreational one-once you get to the business end of a thesis. The inspiration comes in funny little moments and often not when you are writing. For me it is currently occurs in quite rare and random little thoughts, when I see a fine thread or little insight, as to how the topic relates to something I hadn't thought of.. I can't always put this insight into the writing-it just sort of fuels my purpose.

Also the writing has to be logical, clear and to some extent, while fluent, very academic and technical. Don't be put off by this aspect though. In the end, the writing came out all right. Your writing will as well.

Congratulations Dr Pineapple! (Sort of sounds good doesn't it? Dr Pineapple...Gives the old Pineapple moniker 'respect'! :)
I am truly very happy for you. This news made me smile today -so well deserved and always encouraging news for the rest of us to hear as we toil onwards...
Have a fantastic week and well done!

Hi Boo,

I also took from the 24th to Jan 1st off. To be honest my work (not phd) kept me busy until the 24th and then I just needed a break. But because i need to really make some inroads into parts of my lit review this summer holiday (in Oz), I also began work on the 2nd and have spent from between 1-4 hours regularly ever since trying to get my head back into phd space.

I head off for an interstate holiday for one week tomorrow-which will not involve work of any sort!!) and when I return, I will need to clock up a regular 4-6 hours on the lit review, if I want to make sure I make some progress before the school holiday ends and I (and about 550 enthusiastic Middle School students) all start up the new school year in Australia. My children thought I was crazy as well but if I had not spent those hours over the last week, I would not be ready to really focus on my return.

Basically it is the sucky part of the phd-and once Ive acheived this wretched Grad Cert Research (this September-it is an essential part of the 3+1 at my uni) and the Phd in a few years to come NOTHING will make me go back for more! And I don't think writing articles, etc on top of work is the same as the PhD-so I stand by my choice. Happy to write journal articles and chapters and maybe even other types of writing-BUT WILL not be doing either Post Doc or further tertiary study of this kind again.

Cheers Boo-like the others I'm working at home at present but yes, still working...good luck all-and happy productive New Year.

Hi, Alice,

my daughter, for completely different reasons, needed to have a long distance relationship for 9 months or so, when her partner obtained graduate employment as an architect in Sydney but her own work contract needed to be completed in her home state of Tasmania (Island off the bottom of Australia-basically a chunk of wilderness and towns pretty much broken off Antarctica!)

They skyped, phoned, texted, facebooked, etc and planned three visits, two involved her flying to Sydney and one involved him flying back to Tasmania and, I am happy to say, are very happily planning their reunion and new life in Sydney together which will start in two days time.

It wasn't easy but they obviously loved (and love each other), discussed the issues fully, planned their catch up breaks well before his departure and saw it as a one off long break before they spent their lives together.

My eldest son is in the army and he and his fiance regularly have months apart when either one of them is on a temporary posting. They tend to manage in the same way and always plan some really wonderful holiday or weekend catch up trip as a reward when they return.

So I think the long distance thing can work really well, if you work at it and keep communicating and planning for those great shared experiences every few weeks or few months-depending on the circumstances.

The other issues, though, I don't really have any experience of so will only comment on the relationship aspect.

Hi Iseult,

from what you say, it sounds as if she is a very critical person. I can see how it seems as if the antagonism does tend to towards what you would see as personal. I get completely what you say about working best in a collaborative rather than competitive way-it is how I operate best myself.

However, she may be a hypercritical bitchy sort of person who is this way with anyone she sees as either in a student-teacher or employee-supervisor sort of role. So from her perspective-she might not see this behaviour as particularly 'personal' but just 'what you do' when people need to be 'directed' into better performance behaviour. People like this can be very difficult to work with, especially if you are a little more flexible and tolerant yourself. But it usually isn't personal as in it is just about 'you'-it is more that bossy and directive, hypercritical people just steam roller over people who they see as softer targets. They don't seem to operate under any code of ethics or values regarding this sort of behaviour (although they may be quite ethical and value driven in other areas).

They seem to believe that this is good for the person and they are being helpful. Talking about it with them can have mixed results. If the behaviour is part of who they are, they may or may not acknowledge it, they may be unaware of it, they may deny it, they may change occassionally and resent you for making them have to spend more energy on adapting their behaviour.

What you can do though-much harder but pays bigger dividends in the end- is change your beliefs and behaviours around this supervisor and her 'ordinary' ways at mentoring you through this process. For example you wrote, 'I can spend an hour on a single paragraph in a futile attempt to avoid the negativity'. Sometimes, we do spend an hour on a finicky little bit of the thesis but it shouldn't be just to avoid her negativity. What if you just thought to yourself,

"okay, she's a hypercritical, negative and bitchy woman-I don't really like her way of operating, and this is a good lesson to me in what not to do myself to people in the future-now given this-what can I do to help myself get through this without actually strangling her or alienating myself from the rest of the faculty and others." Then make up a mental list of the the things you will do and listen to and the things that you will disregard.

It doesn't mean that you don't listen to the helpful stuff she says or to disregard everything but be critical of it yourself and have some faith in your own discernment.

Good luck and have faith in your own good judgement-great & perceptive advice from Natassia as well.

Hi Nige, I am doing a PhD and am just a couple of years short of your age. However, at the time of finishing my Masters thesis I was awarded a 2.1, which meant that while I attracted the fee-free scholarship, I was not eligible at the time for living allowances scholarships. (Well I was eligible to apply but it would have been unlikely to have been granted one at the time given competition from all of those who had a 1).

So I decided to stay in my current work and complete the PhD part-time. I had my children in my early twenties, so they are now well and truly adults-which means that my spare time is actually my own-I don't have the guilt that often comes with managing a family, children, full time work and part-time study (have had it though in the past and always put the study last-family and work were more important priorities back then).

I originally really stressed about my age and the age of completion-but I find that I really don't care too much about this nowadays-my mindset has changed quite a bit and as I already have professional work, I see the doctorate as enhancing my professional status and credibility rather than competing with it.

What can be difficult though, is the constant work. You have to have a combination of grit and staying power-because there are times when even a topic that you are passionate about seems nebulous and boring, or someone else seems to be doing something similar. And sometimes that gritty staying power and determination can get you through, when the topic, the goal at the end and the competing demands from other aspects of your life all seem to conspire against you finishing it.

The other difficulty can be that friends often don't understand why you are doing this. And when you are tired and despairing, their response is luke warm-after all you are doing this to yourself. So the grit and determination have to help you get through this as well.

Finally, I know that I would not want to ever go back to being poor again -if I could help it- so the scholarship choice would not have worked for me at my present age. However, I have other colleagues who are fine with this. Some mature age colleagues have partners who are happy to supplement the scholarship income for a few years, and some without partners are willing to go through a short period of very moderate income for the goal ahead. I admire this but know that for me it would not have worked. But this is a matter of personality, opportunity and context-so I don't think there are any hard and fast rules to follow here. Good luck with your decisions.

Hi Derose,

I agree with Angelette in that your supervisor really sounds as if he is a poor manager-and they do exist inside and outside of universities unfortunately. Continue to copy in your second supervisor in your emails and as Angelette has advised-definitely keep the emails.

The reason it may seem worse with a supervisor-candidate relationship, is that the mentoring part often crosses over from the professional to the personal in the PhD-whereas, in a job, it can be easier to keep it strictly professional at work (then go home to vent to family or to other colleagues who are sympathetic).

I think that what you are doing is sensible-you are giving yourself some time, before making a decision but you have some options behind you, if you feel you can't cope any longer. As Angelette has recommended, talking to a counsellor may help you generate some more options or just assist with strengthening your coping skills.

The problem is in cases like this, that even though one person may clearly be more at fault and the creation of the problem-because it is a relationship, the other person has to take partial responsibility for the outcome-and this is probably why your Head has advised you to 'be nice to him and learn to get along with him'. This might seem incredibly unfair and can really make someone feel sick in their stomach at times, BUT, if you can improve your relationship with the difficult person-you will make things better for yourself-and that is what is most important in the long run.

The thing that has helped me most when having to deal with really difficult people in the past, is the knowledge that their difficulties remain with them. Even once the relationship has improved between you-and you can manage it more effectively, the difficult person will continue to have issues and then you feel more confidence in yourself and how you handled the relationship and situation-and sometimes (later on) you can even feel compassion for the person (when you see them have similar situations again).

I'm not advising you to go ahead with the MPhil, or to stay put, but instead suggesting that you give yourself a little bit of time to make the best decision for yourself and keep talking about your options with people you trust -including seeking some counselling if necessary.
Hope 2013 brings some good things your way.

Congratulations Pam-well done. Hope you had a great breakfast once you woke and found it wasn't just a dream...

Hi, I'm doing a PhD part-time while being a full time teacher and the Middle School curriculum coordinator at my school. It is hard but it is also possible. You have to use your holiday time really effectively and really pace yourself through various work tasks for both your work and the doctorate. Ive just finished two of the mandatory course work units for the Concurrent Grad Research Certificate that we have to do -so our degree is four years or eight years part time, but I think I will take around 6 to do it.

There are times when you will think you are absolutely crazy but when you achieve a chapter, or create an article or just have a really comprehensive understanding of an issue that comes from the study and impacts on your work as a professional, you will remember why you are doing it. Good luck. I think you will find that there are a few of us and most will say it is difficult but really worthwhile.

Completed-good luck. By the way, your disclaimer at the beginning was really professional-well done.

Hi Sophie,

my supervisor makes a note of what we discuss in meetings and checks it over
before we start the new meeting-so she can remember what we need to talk about.

However, if your sup is a bit too scatty to do this (or overworked or whatever), then why don't you minute the conversation and email it to him prior to each meeting:

"Dear overworked and scatty supervisor,

Last meeting we discussed 'beans on toast' by Heinz as a great metaphor for the modern dilemma of work, time and the quality of life problem. You told me to look at SPC's version of "Spaghettios' as another source to help me with my final analysis.

I am sending you a podcast of my 4 year old nephew's reaction to spaghettios and the consequent impact on his busy parents and childcarer to view, as I am not sure whether this verifies or challenges my conclusions, so could we discuss this, in relation to our previous discussion?

yours in organised happiness,

student/candidate"

PS I have started that article and am attaching the first section as an email, so would love to have your opinion on my opening section as well.

_________________________________________________________________
Is it fair that you have to do this? Maybe not. Will it help you? Hopefully, which is why it might be worth a try. I think it is a good idea to get publications before finishing your thesis if possible and most advice from academics at my university supports this.

You don't have to have your supervisor do much other than support you in the writing. (But their name still goes on as second author). The article and paper published from my Masters, has been really helpful and I pretty much did it without my Master's supervisor. It just had her name on it and everything was cc'd to her during the peer review and publication stage but it was pretty much all down to me to do-from the writing, to submission to rewrites after review to final publishing proofs.

I'm hoping to do another one by this time next year on an aspect of my new study, with my (different) PhD supervisor in a similar way. The supervisors have been there in a sort of 'cheer leader' capacity more than anything else, it seems. Which is what your supervisor sounds like-from what you have written.

Best regards, can imagine just how annoyed you are, so this is not meant to trivialise your moan in anyway.

I will be using bracketing but am using a phenomenological 'transcendental or psychological' methodology-after Moustakas-rather than Van Manen (for any one who might be into this). I will be using bracketing as epoche-catching myself, when I know I am being subjective-during data collection-knowing that to some extent this is still going to be a bit messy.

My understanding of the the reflexivity aspect is that the bracketing is for my thoughts, as I either talk to participants, or am transcribing data-so it is actually noting the thoughts, as I have them at the time, whereas, at a later point, I might reflexively develop those thoughts as a separate line of inquiry that sits alongside my participant case study data.

Not sure how niaive this might be though, as have put methodology on hold in order to scratch out a more developed lit review. I might think very differently about it this time next year.

Originally was planning to use constructivist grounded theory, which was supervisor's suggestion, but the more I looked into phenomenology, the more I believed that this approach would be a better fit with my overall topic and research questions. So it might be that epoche bracketing is still okay with phenomenology but not with grounded theory.

Hi Ants,

How are you going? Have things settled down a bit now, you've had some time to digest everything and work out a plan? Love to know how you are getting on.

My university's recommendation is to publish a series of articles from your PhD. It is more relevant, will cover a broader audience, and suits the general thesis more than necessarily trying to 'convert' a thesis. This seems to be the current trend over in Australian university's-my previous university and Master's supervisor also promoted the publication of articles from thesis chapters. You know, even back in the nineties, in my first undergrad degree, I don't remember professors saying this. It was more like 'well some people manage to get a book from their thesis, but in general, most theses don't suit this type of publication.....etc.

Thanks Xtiny for your encouragement. It's nice to have it, esp. when family and friends just glaze over at the mention of the thesis :)

I think I achieved my last goal just then. Ive put together pdf file letters and information to go out to the Principals of the schools, that I hope to collect data from-after having received both ethics permission and a permission from the Director of the system. I've activated my survey and embedded the link in the participant letter for the first round of data collection and case study participant recruitment.

So even though it is late in the year for Aussie teachers, I'm hoping that those who have lost their senior classes and have a bit of time before we break up, might have the time to do the survey. If not, I will send a similar one round early in February-but it would be great if I had some responses before the start of next year.

So Monday, I contact the personal assistants, get a bit of support and then send the email info packages off to schools-hopefully for the Principal to distribute and then I sit and wait in hope.

After that, it is back to work for three more weeks (employment that is) and then a solid month on getting the lit review sorted. So next goal (after Monday) is the lit review draft in earnest. But I will probably break this down into smaller goals -as are on concept map- and focus on these over Christmas and the summer holidays. Ive booked myself a 'desk' in the research office for a week over the holidays, just to become a little more of the community, while I have the chance.

Good luck to everyone else(up)