Sunflower, you wrote the post I was considering writing!! It's good to know I am not the only one struggling with this. I am just starting to write my findings and have looked at the blank screen for a while, hoping for inspiration. I even cut a bit from my methodology chapter and inserted it in my findings as I thought it would give me a head start. For about two minutes I felt great having suddenly 'written' 2000 words of my findings. However, sense prevailed and I put them back where they belong, in the methodology chapter.

Thanks for those ideas Bilbo, they're really useful.

I am using Grounded Theory as a method of collection and analysis. Anybody any GT tips on how to present in an interesting way??

======= Date Modified 14 Feb 2011 13:14:56 =======
Hi Batfink

As somebody who did close to 60 semi-structured interviews, all of which were recorded I would advise you to try, try, try to keep up with your transcription. If not, it becomes something of a monkey on your back - believe me, I know :(. Actually it's a good thing to do when the inspiration to write new stuff etc is just not there. I had days when it just wasn't happening and it was then that I turned to my transcription and felt that at least I was doing something. Even so, it got away from me for a while - it can happen in a flash.

Sorry to be a prophet of doom but again my advice, keep up with your transcription!!

Edit: just realised how negative I sound. I should have said at the start "well done on doing what sounds like a really good interview"(up)

Hi There

Got it through the journal you mentioned - sent it to your hotmail a/c

A

Me too Jepsonclough, that's a really handy resource which I have now saved in my favourites :-) Thanks for that

Re: Garner, Bryan, A. Legal writing in plain English - I bought this on Olivia's recommendation and it is indeed an excellent resource (and I'm not in the legal field at all). It's in five parts; Part One and Two would be particularly useful for somebody looking to improve their writing. I bought it for its advice on editing which is excellent. Here is the preview on Google books which includes the Table of Contents.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PN_8vUWwXp0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=legal+writing+in+plain+english&source=bl&ots=dJbWNkLTPw&sig=Z81de0tmdTkaSrfOL8he-3bX_zg&hl=en&ei=bTxYTYmLA4HDhAfT2-i2DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thanks Sneaks - was ridiculously pleased when I graduated from one to two stars recently :$

======= Date Modified 13 Feb 2011 17:05:40 =======
I have four children, three of whom are 'lovely' teenagers (sic). Lots of door slamming, their even more 'lovely' friends calling to the door etc etc. My daily rant is "I'm writing a PhD you know..., why don't you go to 'x's' house for a change?" "But 'x's Mum works so she's tired". I am seen as the stay at home Mum who does not work :-s.

At the moment my daughter is not talking to me but that will change as she will need money for her bus tomorrow (!), one of my twin boys has taken to plucking his eyebrows :$, my eldest has just asked me to measure the diameter of his upper arm to see if his biceps are larger than the last time I measured them - all this while I'm trying to redraft my methodology chapter!!!!

I too prefer not to answer the phone as I am rubbish at cutting converstions short - I think people see the writing up phase of the PhD as the easiest. I mena all you do is sit down and write it, right!! I, for one, am finding it the most challenging time of all.

I can get that, pm me your email id if you want me to send you the pdf

A

I would agree with Dunni. I would only spilt a table if the table itself was longer than a page. However I also think large blank spaces look odd. I manually move paragraphs to fill the blank spaces so that any tables I have fit in. It could be that you also re-position the table as well as once you refer to it in the text I think it's fine (and preferable to being spilt or leaving half a page blank) for it to be in close proximity to the relevant text but not necessarily exactly where you want it. Another option is to put in a page or section break and change the orientation of your page from portrait to landscape - your table might fit better this way round. That can get tricky though.

Ditto for me Pink :-( - I have been at the desk since 08.30 but have only done one tiny thing in my thesis, changed the layout of one 6 line table! I have replied to some of the threads here, gone to the shop, put on two loads of washing, read the magazines of the Saturday papers, talked to the dog :$, basically pretty much anything except PhD work. Maybe do something, however small and then call it a day.

"I think there are some positives about my thesis"

Some positives, to me that list of 9 positives is very impressive. I know you have found the wait for your viva agonising but I wish you the best of luck with it. Why not bring your list of 9 positives with you to the viva? People are often asked about their contribution to knowledge. Maybe though amend No. 6 to flatter your external examiner more.

Best of luck with your viva, you're nearly there(up)

Assuming you have got the content correct, there are things you can do to tighten up your writing. Read well but also widely. I would also recommend re-reading articles which you found helpful, but read them for style rather than just content. What was it about the way it was written that appealed to you? Look specifically at sentence construction.

Similar to Mog, I jot down words etc I like, find useful, am not familiar with, but I do it in a notebook which I refer to, when I remember! Reading out loud can be helpful too as it's not the same as reading back over your material in your head. It helps with comma, semi-colon insertion etc. It will also help you spot when your sentences are too long and have too many clauses. The simple thing to do in this instance is to put in a few more full stops, basic as it seems. A short sentence in the midst of two longer ones can be quite effective. Write out your link words, no PhD is complete without them! So - however, moreover, accordingly, therefore ... and consult them 'accordingly'!

Good luck with it :-)

just sent it to you now :-)

======= Date Modified 11 Feb 2011 12:54:52 =======
Hi Peach

I'm confused!!

I found one of them, but in a different journal. I can send you a pdf of:

Hendricks, D. and Wehman, P. (2009) Transition From School to Adulthood for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders : Review and Recommendations. Focus on Autism and other Developmental Disabilities [Journal], 24, (2), 77-88. From what I could see this 'Focus on Autism...' journal is one of the journals of the Hammill Institute. The reference corresponds so I presume this is one you need??



The other one I 'think' I see in the library online catalogue - Taylor, J.L. (2009) Chapter One - The Transition Out of High School and into Adulthood for Individuals with Autism and for Their Families. International Review of Research in Mental Retardation, 38, 1-32. It's in the ScienceDirect database but I couldn't get past the abstract, I'm sorry - maybe somebody else might be able to access it??

Let me know your email id if you want the Hendricks and Wehman pdf :-)

Hi Sunflower

You're very welcome to join our 'Deadline this summer... thread'. There, we are all hoping to submit this summer, many of us becuase our funding is due to run out and it's a total mix of ages in that thread. I had my family young like you and Pjlu and am now in the closing stages of my PhD. I always assume that the younger students know what they are about but one of them said that that's how she felt about us 'matures' - we have so much going on that we always seem so organised!

Good luck getting your work done. Your supervisor's comments are not helpful. Sometimes people say things in an offhand way and don't factor in the possible effect they can have on people. Stick with the forum and dip in and out of the various threads and see that you're certainly not an alone in those 'imposter' feelings. Lots of us have them, I certainly do!

One word, coogar!!