A PGCE is possible for post-compulsory education, as I have one (although i did it before embarking on a PhD)

120 interviews????!!!! Blimey - how many are you intending?

Its certainly worth emailing with a friendly hello to start the ball rolling, and maybe suggest meeting for a coffee? (well, thats what i did)

Hiya
If you stick up your email, i can forward you the pdfs.
Zeld.

I know a couple of great papers referring to qualitative research in psychology - is that your field?

Cheers Nimrod - It is indeed very helpful!
PS What are you doing up at 4:58 am???

If i can put my twopenneth in, D2I, I really think you should just get rid of her. She sounds totally unprofessional, and I think you might be better off having only one decent supervisor, than one who seems to be sabotaging you. Can you explore this possibility, with your good supervisor or with the head of research students? (if such a person is around?)

Blimey! You guys are all living in the 21st century! Unfortunately, my dept is not. When i asked for a recorder, they plonked down this 1970's enormous brown thing (remember, with great big buttons, about the size of an armchair?).
Anyhoo, I managed to borrow a digital recorder from a friend, which makes life easier, but I think asking for a pedal-thingy would be like asking for the moon on a stick.
Dan'B', I do have to transcribe them myself, partly cos of confidentiality, as I promised my participants I would, but also because my supervisors said I should so that i am fully 'immersed' in the data. But I'm so immersed I'm drowning!

In a similar vein to 'writing-up nightmare', is anyone in the social sciences yet at the most mundane bit (so far)?
And, if so, any tips?
I'm finding its taking me an hour to transcribe about 7-minutes worth of dialogue, and I'm feeling like I'll never get out of this phase - there's just sooo many hours of interviews waiting to be transcribed..............it's soul-destroying.

Thanks Juno. Yeah, he is a tosspot. Took me months to recognise it though!

My problem is that theres a lecturer at my Uni who never stops enjoying telling me that PhD students are the lowest of the low and, although they of course dont deserve it, its just how it is. But he's the only one who says this to me, and no-one else treats me like a second-class citizen - except for him tellling me that i should be! Its done under a veil of concern but always feels quite manipulative to me.

Mine lasted an hour, although they told me when i got in there that I'd passed. But the questions were PhD research-oriented - why choose that methodology, why that number of Ps, picked up a couple of ethical problems, whats my Plan B for recruitment.... i found the questions challenging but not unanswerable....(social sciences, by the way)
Hope that helps!

I agree with pea - just go for it - youve given them ample time, and the worse thing you can do is risk it not going in on time when youve done all you can. And it was you that worked hard writing it, after all.

Do you have any choice in the matter, as it seems a lot to take on in your first year?

hmmm, thanks MistaG, that certainly puts things into perspective!
It makes me therefore wonder if anyone out there has gathered too much qualitative data in their PhD and wishes they'd only done 20 interviews at 20 minutes apiece..........?