I never had to do a transfer/upgrade report but have done quite a few progress reports. In the literature review section I always write in the third person, as per the final thesis. Any other bits of the progress report such as fieldwork to date, conferences presented at and so on, I have written in the first person.

See what others say but no harm asking your supervisor for guidance if you feel comfortable doing so.

I have a friend who is being co-supervised by professors in two universities, in two different European countries. Having said that she is registered in just one and her PhD will be awarded from just one.

I tried three universities' electronic catalogues but access in all three starts at 1996 - possibly the package universities are buying? A few people on the forum seem to have really good access so hopefully somebody else can help.

I did find Cornwell, C.J. at St Louis University, you can get his email via their people finder http://www.slu.edu/peoplefinder - could be worth a shot??

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Thanks for the offer Olivia but I wouldn't ask you to do that. I can barely stand looking at my Bibliography sometimes and I'm pre, not post submission. The Suddeby article (I read it today:-) ) pointed me to three specific articles (recommended by Suddeby himself) where the authors are transparent about how they did things and per him, also presented their findings really well and crucially (for me) very clearly.

Thanks again for the help

A

Note to self: must stop [over]using brackets!! :$

My understanding of a 1+3 (at least in my university) is that it is a way for a person to go direct into a PhD programme straight from their undergrad. Therefore, although they are registered as a PhD student they are more like a masters student in the first year (taking appropriate modules, [for credits in my uni's case]) and then the '3' years is their PhD. May be different elsewhere though.

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I officially am based in a large PhD room (c25 people) although I work from home most days. This did become an issue in our room. One person asked their supervisor, who is pretty high up in the institute, to circulate an email to everybody. She was tactful but nevertheless reminded everybody that if they wanted to chat etc, they should do so away from our office. She also said that it wasn't the place for impromptu meetings. It took a couple of emails but the problem has been resolved to a large extent.

We were all doing PhDs though - those on the other side of your screen don't sound like they are - that could make the problem more difficult to resolve. I agree you shouldn't have to relocate but if the problem persists, I would.

I also think you sound as if you're doing okay. I agree with Sneaks that I wouldn't completely park the PhD 'til after your RA work finishes in April. What if it doesn't? I would try to do something, however small, most days so that come April you won't feel that you are behind and have masses to catch up on.

Reading 9-5 each day for me would be an impossibility. However those times when you are sourcing articles, downloading, sifting and sorting are all part of the process. I think people who refer to it as a 9-5 job mean that they look at it as a job and come 5 o'clock, they switch off. They don't tend to work weekends, bank holidays unless a deadline is looming. For lots of us that's not possible. Your background in Communications where you say you are well used to juggling between multiple projects is in fact a description of the typical PhD! It is a juggling act between PhD work, information sourcing, other work commitments and real-life.

I only recently started using the tomato technique as well. Work for 25 minutes, then take a break for 5. There is no reason why I couldn't organise my time myself into blocks of 25 minutes but there is something about seeing that red tomato that makes me focus. Have a look, it might help you see how much you actually are doing - http://mytomatoes.com/

I don't think you are in danger of falling into that evil pit - you sound like you're doing grand (up)

As always Olivia, really good recommendations (up)

I have Kathy Charmaz's book and am now reading through her 'writing the draft' chapter. I have just downloaded Suddaby's article but it looks familiar. Sure enough, I found it in my 'TBR' pile of articles. I must have downloaded it before - but have no memory of that :$ I WILL read it today!

Thanks Sneaks, I'll do that, it's worth a try. I hate this foundering feeling :-(

Thanks SarahLouise and Chuff - yep it's a lot of data all right :-(. I do feel that I know it pretty well and even now looking back over the names of my interviewees I can remember being in that sitting room or that kitchen etc even though some of them took place over a year ago. A friend of mine told me once that "you know your data best" and to be honest I do - it's just a bit daunting. I have grounded theory guiding me overall but then I will also have to incorporate some additional layers of theory about particular aspects of my research and I'm a bit all over the place. GT allows for that; it's just that none of the text books advise how to present it!!

I've given myself a metaphorical kick and aim to get myself sorted by the end of this week, to start writing by next week, to have a draft of this done by Easter. That would be all my PhD written save for my conclusion chapter so that's incentive enough.

:-)

Hi All

I am just about to start writing my 'presentation of findings' chapter. I used grounded theory for data collection and analysis and did 10 non-participant observations, followed by ~60 semi-structured interviews. I'm trying to get a feel for how best to present my findings and then the analysis but inspiration seems to be sorely lacking today. I've skimmed through some theses online but am feeling a bit overwhelmed :-(

Any advice/tips/ideas - gratefully received - even from those not using Grounded theory. How to present qualitative findings in an interesting way, or is it just me who feels lost????