Dunni is right Pink - concentrate on finding out about your family, the PhD can wait. I really hope as well that everything is okay - it must be tough being so far away.


Take it easy

Ax

======= Date Modified 12 Mar 2011 09:30:33 =======
SAE seem to have their own website and articles/books etc available direct through them - for a fee of course!

I can see your article Huhu but couldn't access the whole thing. I checked two university databases but SAE wasn't listed at all.

Their ref is: http://papers.sae.org/921622

maybe try the poor student direct approach and see will they email it to you!! Nothing ventured, nothing gained...;-)

======= Date Modified 12 Mar 2011 09:21:21 =======
RE: the 2nd one - from what I can see Political Methodology was the forerunner of Political Analysis. I've had a look back through Political Analysis but articles only go back as far as 1989. Political methodology/analysis both are part of the Society for Political Methodology so might be worth sending them an email. I did this with another journal and the paper was posted to me!

"The first volume of the quarterly Political Analysis will mark the 25th anniversary of Political Analysis and its predecessor, Political Methodology" in
http://polmeth.wustl.edu/analysis/vol/8/beck.pdf

Or somebody else might be able to get it for you!!

mix of 'this thesis' and 'this doctoral study' and occasionally for something different just 'this study'! When I'm talking about myself I call myself 'this researcher' and I think it looks and sounds awful :-(

per ScienceDirect looks like it's part of a book series so I couldn't access, I tried two libraries - sorry

I never use 'I' but was considering doing so for my thesis. I thought it would be particularly appropriate in the introduction when I was talking about the motivation for undertaking this study. To use the third person here seemed silly. I broached the subject with my supervisor but he was totally against the idea. He said it might annoy a more traditional examiner!

I decided to leave it but reading my introduction and methodology in particular I think sound clunky :-(

Frequently - am proofing two chapters at the moment and am finding it depressing. Did I really think I'll get a PhD with this load of ...(sprout)

I'm butting in a bit here...

A reserach methods course probably would be good but I wouldn't sign up for one 'til you have spoken to a potential university or supervisor. There are shorter courses you can do as part of some graduate education programmes and there are also summer and winter schools in various places which cover research methods. Also whatever PhD you eventually sign up for might require methods which may/may not be covered by a reserch masters. A long-winded way of saying contact a potential uni first in my opinion!

Good luck if you go ahead with it - I did the whole thing as a mature - BA to Masters to PhD, all done with four children, a dog and a husband! Tough but ultimately worth it. Having said that, I am looking forward to getting back to work, hopefully this autumn/winter.

Hi Natassia

I got the first one okay.

No joy on the second one I'm afraid. The third one I 'found' as a one-page pdf via Google scholar. It's a bit more than an abstract really, more like a poster. It's by the correct authors, same title - looks like they presented it at a conference - ISB XXth Congress - ASB 29th Annual Meeting July 31 - August 5, Cleveland, Ohio.

Pm your email id and I can send you what I have.

A

I agree with Batfink. It sounds to me like you need to pace yourself as you still have a fair way to go. You probably feel that you don't have time for any extra-curricular activities but in year two you do have time :-) start with a walk around college during lunchbreak, that would be a positive start.

To be honest I'm a firm believer that people not doing a PhD don't really 'get it' but why should they really? Even at the best of times I only have a tenuous grasp on what other people in my department are doing, and I'm doing a PhD myself!! Yes, friends and family hopefully are supportive but beyond that we are the ones doing the PhD, not them. It's a bit like Chandler in 'Friends', remember nobody ever knew what his job was - what did he do for a living?!?

Those 'suggestions' of your supervisor are just that - suggestions. It's up to you as the one whose PhD it is to hear what she says, critique it (and her to a degree) but then YOU decide what you are going to take forward and implement. If you have a good argument for rejecting some of her suggestions that's your perogative (sp??) as it's your PhD. You're first in and last out but you admit you're the one getting stressed. Unless you're mid-experiment, for a day or two try deciding at the start of the day what time you're going to finish and then wrap it up at that time.

Second year of what is essentially a four year programme is oodles of time to sort it all out (up)

A lot of literature on mixed methods -One link to look at, which will point you to others is
http://psychsoma.co.za/qualitative_inquiry_growt/2010/09/pragmatic-approach-in-mixed-methodology.html

Also this issue came up recently on the forum via these threads

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/threadViewer.aspx?TID=17517 and

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/threadViewer.aspx?TID=17583 - there's quite a lot of posts on these so work your way through them and see if things any clearer.

I'm wholly qualitative myself :-)

Hard luck about the art gallery job Pam. I suppose being fair to your supervisor he/she probably trying to suggest something and the traditional student occupation was waitressing. Things have moved on since then though and any job is hard to come by.

I too didn't get a job I applied for recently. "Due to the volume of applicants ... wish you best of luck in the future ...blah, blah, blah" Also didn't hear at all from another one I applied for a month ago so I presume that one is gone too. I did however manage to get my daughter's friend a job - waitressing in a local cafe! She has been looking for a part time job for ages but they're are just hardly any out there. One came up in a local cafe and I was waylaid to come up with a cover letter. She dropped in letter and CV and returned on Saturday to enquire, got the job and was told it was becuase of her really good cover letter! She started the very next day. Finishing her first shift on Sunday she was told again "great cover letter!" So it seems I can get other people jobs, just not one for myself!

I do a lot of examination correcting, both university and at secondary school level. It's pretty tedious and the pay isn't great but at least you can fit it in around your own work. Would that be worth exploring?

Hi Dunni

I don't wonder that you are feeling totally peeved by the whole thing. After the initial euphoria of producing a full, proper draft, it's fallen flat to a degree by the stall in proceedings.

Have you got a submission deadline that you could use to put pressure on this third 'non-reading' supervisor? If you could potentially be caught with fees etc, it would not be unreasonable to exert some pressure on him to read it before such a deadline. If you don't have a deadline, it's will be more difficult to get him to read it until he is good and ready!! Has you main supervisor anything to say on the matter, could he enquire if there's a problem? I think at this stage it might be better (and more effective) coming from him rather than you.

Frustrating for you - I sympathise but can offer little else constructive - sorry :-(

======= Date Modified 07 Mar 2011 14:10:14 =======
My deadline is the same as yours KB (September). I feel like I'm working more hours to be honest but certainly relate to the snoozing at my desk. I literally fell asleep last Friday:$. It's coming together but it's word by slow word. However, like you, I feel, think, hope that I'm on target so I guess that's the main thing.

Personally I have found the writing up phase the most challenging from many perspectives - gathering it altogether, motivation, coherence, even down to the selection of the correct phrase. I never found the actual writing bit difficult but just lately even my spelling and grammar have deserted me!

Edit: had to edit due to typos!!