I have anonymised all my participants' names but use their first name pseudonyms only. I think if you are arguing that they have been co-participants, it's their voice etc etc that using their surnames weaken this argument. Also first names distinguishes them from the academic commentators you have used; to use all surnames - academic and particpant - I think would confuse.

I get the same feel pre 07.00 am; everything quiet, just me and the dog. I always feel time moves so much slower very early in the day than late at night. I'd sooner get up at 05.00 than work past midnight, that feels to me like sand has been thrown in my eyes. I'm just about ready to wrap it up for the night but am feeling very virtuous as I created a table and a diagram today that I have been putting off for absolutely ages. Don't think I was going to get away much longer with "put table 2.1 about here". In the end they weren't half as bad as I thought they were going to be:-)

Happy night working Naturalme(up)

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the uni-post office at my university does both spiral and gum bound theses. It only takes a minute or two per copy and in the greater scheme of things it's really cheap.

I meant to post earlier - best of luck with the viva Corinne, you sound very prepared despite your misgivings. I really hope it goes well for you.

on its way

I think your circumstances would be described as compelling so if you feel that you would be able to do your viva via video link I think you should do that if you all will agree. Does your supv team know your dire straits? You're between submission and viva so there seems little point you staying around doing nothing 'til it's viva time. Perhaps contact the International office in your current uni and ask them for advice although having said that the Intl Office in my university isn't great.

Have you costed what it would cost to fly home 'til your viva and then return for the viva itself, including the cost of accommodation for those few days. Might that be less than what it would cost you to stay where you are now 'til your viva happens although the wear and tear on your body would be tough.

I have heard of people whose external examiners were on video-link so I think in some circumstances it seems fair that the student can facilitated in the same way.


Good luck Slowmo, it's a tough situ to be in. Let us know what you decide.

Not from my current lovely supervisor but from a past supv, I got a succession of capital letter emails, one of which said "WHY ARE YOU PERSISTING IN WRITING THIS RUBBISH?" and then another one with "WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG"

:$ (turkey)

Right, so I DO have access to Journal of Social Marketing but library only has digitised version of Volume 1, Issue 1. Vol 1, Issues 2 and 3 are in the library in hardcopy only. I checked another library but it only has the hardcopies, not digitised versions.

So still looking for Volume 1, Issue 3 electronically.


I did get Chococake another article from a different journal so am not complete failure!

looks like I do. It seems new, only 1 volume (2011), 3 issues, is that correct?

PM what you need, no problem if you need a good few. Still trying to redeem myself after the ProQuest failure!

A

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I am close to finishing tbh; supv has 2nd full draft for last three weeks and I think we are meeting next week. Thesis is okay I think except for the discussion bit which I think is a bit thin and reads like I ran out of steam-which I did really! Assuming I get it back next week I should be able to do what's required so as to be able to submit at the end of August. That's what I going to tell him. I have Table of contents, title and abbreviations pages done already and all my references are up to date. I'm doing acknowledgements today!

Re: examiners - internals should be okay. Supv suggested sliding scale of who could do it and all of them would be okay really. External I am disappointed with but there are alternatives, a couple of which are known to my supv so really that should be okay.

Sneaks, looks like you and I submitting pretty much the same time!

I had a particular external in mind and worked him nicely throughout my thesis (honest, it didn't hurt him that much!!) but when we came to contacting him re: viva he seems to have disappeared:-(, no publications in last five years so maybe he has retired or worse. Now I will have to shoe-horn somebody else's theories into my work!

Dunni, I know you're right but I can't help agonising over the viva. I didn't have to submit an intention to submit form (we don't have them at my uni) which does reduces pressure I suppose but also means that a thesis is never truly finished if supv and student can't agree. I am TELLING my supv next week I am submitting at the end of August.

in some ways I'm more afraid of my internal examiner than external. I think it'll be easier to speak to that person than somebody I already know. My viva isn't even sorted yet and I am having nightmares about it.

I find the discussion bit of my PhD, ie the bit that's most important, the least convincing :-(

I really struggled with the issue of relevance all the way through and constantly worried about 'what's the point of what I'm doing; I'm not exactly splitting the atom here, am I?' This bothered me to the extent that I have a whole sub-section on relevance in my intro. Ironically it is one of the few things my supv said he liked, without asking for any ammendments! My first stab at 'contribution to knowledge' in my PhD conclusion was frankly pathetic. My second effort was much better, so much so that I surprised myself that maybe, just maybe what I'm looking at and my findings are worth noting.

Try not to worry about it too much as it will all come together at the end. As Sneaks' says, 'baby steps' and it's all about adding to knowledge. I think if you're not in the pure sciences (which I'm not) it can be hard to see where you fit in, and how your work adds to knowledge. However, your supv seems to think you're on the ball so take heart from that. If you can do things he can't, those things alone could your contribution to knowledge, ie how you do things differently to how it's been done before.

If I can add to knowledge, anybody can!

...how difficult it is (or maybe it's just me) to write up the discussion of your findings. It's the bit of the write up that I have found really tough going.