Hi Hiccup

So sorry to hear that your little girl is not well these days. I don't know really anything about research council funding but at least the good thing about a PhD is that you don't have to clock in as you might have to in a 'real' job. Also if you're running late or she is just too ill for you to work, you don't really have to explain yourself to anyone so that is some sort of plus for continuing as well.

Would part time for a year really be so bad? What about looking to take a break away as Bilbo suggested or even going part time for six months or so? While your supv may be keen for you to finish in three years I doubt she/he has a sick baby daughter. Is your supv aware of your daughter's health issues? She is your priority along with your own health and sanity of course. Perhaps an unofficial timeout of a week or so would allow you assess things. See if you find it easier to manage her without studying. However, don't forget your PhD is something solely for you to focus on and it can be cathartic to have something just for you.

Your supervisor is pleased with your progress; maybe outline the situation to him/her a bit more and try to work out some sort of work schedule.

I really hope your little girl improves soon

A

Hi Katy

although not in law, I have a research masters and now am nearly finished my PhD - I did all my study, ie undergrad to masters to PhD as a mature student. I have four children, a dog and a hubby on shift work so I can vouch for saying that it's possible. Although I didn't have a part time job while studying I did teach a lot of tutorials, exam invigilation - you name it I did it! Best advice I can give is that you just need to be prepared to juggle and to be honest as a mother I think guilt is part of the package! Guilt that you're not studying enough, guilt that you're studying too much, guilt that the house is a mess, guilt that your children are not getting enough quality time... However in the end it all gets done. If you are working 3-days a week plus studying plus looking after your family you have to be prepared to work at your studies at odd times. You probably will have to study when your kiddies are in bed or at school or when your husband is out etc. At times you'll resent it but as you say it will be worth it and it sounds like for your particular area, it will certainly be worth it.

Keep all those balls in the air and multi-task (up)

Hi SB (welcome!)

I worked between home and uni due mainly to family committments. My preference is home and I have a sort of office set up there. However I went into uni a fair bit during my first two years and actually it's good to mix the two I think. There is a lot of tacit knowledge you pick up through interacting with your colleagues that you obviously don't get if you are isolated at home. That said, if you are able to work at home and can resist the joys of laundry, hoovering etc (sic) you can get a lot done. I did 95% of my write up at home. What I did find a pain was lugging my material (interview transcripts, articles, books etc) between home and uni. I can't tell you how often I lugged stuff up the stairs at uni in case I needed it only to bring it home again without having looked at it.

Anyhow I was between the two which is probably not that much help to you!

Um, now am officially mortified :$

I have tried and tried but can't get past the abstract or preview of the thesis Chococake wants, despite uni-library appearing to subscribe to Proquest dissertations and theses database. Can anybody else access full text dissertations?


Really sorry about that Chococake:-(

winging its way to you now :-)

I can get it for you, pm me your email id and I'll send on the pdf:-)

my supv pulled me up on not emphasising enough in my intro why I was doing what I was. Beyond saying 'eh, 'coz I wanted to...' I found it difficult to justify beyond what I had already done!

Hi Eska

Nothing hugely significant to add over and above what the previous two posters have so eloquently said. I feel pretty similar, totally running on empy as I head towards the end of my PhD. Maybe just try to keep ticking along, doing even a little bit each day and gradually bit by bit your workrate and umph for your research will increase. If you force yourself too much you are likely to burn out and totally resent it although I acknowledge the irony of me typing this at 22.10 on a Friday evening!

Good job about the conference though, that sounds confidence boosting (up)

======= Date Modified 15 Jul 2011 22:08:31 =======
update :-)

I've just gone back into it and put the title of the first article of that issue into google and got this pdf

Why is performance management broken? (O'Leary and Pulakos) http://www.obmnetwork.com/sites/default/files/Pulakos%20and%20O'Leary.pdf - seems to be the one you are looling for. Probably an earlier version but it seems the same one.

Tried the others but wasn't so lucky :-(, still one is better than nothing!

Hi Cherrycola

I can get into that journal from 2008 to 2010 inclusive via Wiley and EBSCO; both say a variation of "with a 12 month delay". EBSCO goes a bit further and says "full text delay due to publisher restrictions ("embargo)"

Sorry about that

I have a methodology chapter. It started to get unwieldy so I now have a meth chapter and a prelude to analysis chapter where I tie up all the loose ends before diving into my findings and analysis! I think it works, see how it goes come viva:-)

======= Date Modified 15 Jul 2011 16:23:19 =======
I've really struggled with the practitioner-oberserver side of things and have to conciously keep reminding myself during my write up to sideline the practitioner angle to a degree. However, I have spilt my recommendations into two; academic rec for future research and practitioner rec for improvements in the field. I've not submitted though I'm pretty close so hopefully I have gotten around any tension between the two sufficiently. I have also stated in my intro that part of my motivation for undertaking my study was to make recommendations for current policy and practice. Again we'll see if I'm convincing.

Six months of a break is a long break and conversly to say you have not made enough progress in four months is a very short period of time. Are your supv pure theorists; do they have experience in practice in your area? Would it be possible to have a practice-based supervisor onboard, even in advisory capacity?

Just my thoughts...

Hi Chococake

Looks like I do though I have never used it / pm me what you're after and I should be able to get it for you

A

That's a website that we managed to miss, thanks for that Bewildered, we'll check it out.

And you're right, it is a bit of a nightmare. No fees for EU nationals at postgrad level which is great but accommodation is proving nigh on impossible to find. Preference for accommodation is given to non EU people as they're the ones paying the fees which is fair enough trying to be fair about it! but where will my first born end up living? :-(

Appreciate the pointers, thanks again

Did it, def took less than 10 mins - Atishoo ;-)