that's kinda my approach as well Florence but I'm a little worried that I am starting to build up a list of things I have 'gen' up on before the viva :-(.

Personally I think you have to try and track a quote down to its original source and that can be difficult. 'Brainyquote' is not great giving you the providence of an actual quote and I don't think a brainyquote link looks hectic in a PhD bibliography.

It it is such a well known quote you could try simply putting into Google and see what you get. Sometimes it's worth going beyond the first page on google, you can occasionally find a gem.

Alternatively try looking up the person who said it, as opposed to the quote itself. For quotes I often find consulting the hardcopy better, as in a book!! If you're near a library have a look for an original Oxford English Dictionary of Quotations and you might strike it lucky. I have four or five quotation books, given me by my late sister which I have found useful over time. If you want, give me the actual quote and who said it, and I will see if I can find it. Pm me if you would prefer.

I hate to be beaten by things like that!!

======= Date Modified 01 Feb 2011 10:33:54 =======
Hi Heb

Life sounds tough at the moment.

I would have to say that my hubby IS supportive but unlike Sneaks' he is not an academic so sometimes he doesn't really understand the all-consuming nature of it. Maybe (trying to be fair) your partner is the same? Perhaps if you asked your partner to go to dinner one evening to discuss it rationally it might be better than what I feel is coming through your post, ie you feeling very annoyed about her lack of support, bottling it up and then probably exploding every so often. A PhD is very different from a primary degree and most master's and I feel it's this aspect that those outside academia just don't get and being fair, why would they? It's like some sort of secret society where only those of us on the inside really know what's going on. She's probably proud as punch that you're doing a PhD; it's just the actually 'doing' the PhD that's the problem.

It's a difficult situ...

Star-shaped, whatever your magic writing formula is please bottle it, patent it and sell it here through the forum. I will put in an advance order.

You're so productive (up)

Hi Kikuka

I am using GT as well, and an mid- analysis at the moment. The books I am using are:

The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research - not just about GT of course but looks at epistemologies, paradigms etc particularly well in the introduction, see page 24, Table 1.2 Interpretative Paradigms. The editors here (Lincoln and Denzin) refer to Flick (2002) quite a lot in their introduction.

Glaser and Strauss (1967) The discovery of grounded theory is really the seminal text as you probably know.

Corbin and Strauss (2008) Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing GT. 2008 is the 3rd ed. and I think most recent edition. It's an updated version by Corbin (as Strauss is dead at this stage) of how to use GT. Chapters have been up-dated and new chapters inserted with the practicalities of 'how' to do GT with examples. Introduction to this is good as it puts GT in perspective, particularly the philosophical orientation of GT.

Charmez, K. (2006) Constructing grounded theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis - I find this very readable and it is written in the Corbin and Strauss vein. Again Chapter One good, sets it up well and ensures you understand what's behind it before you begin.

Finally I have The Sage Handbook of Grounded Theory - edited book with lots of different chapters from various perspectives.

My supvervisor has advised me to really get to grips with the 1967 original. Even though I am using the Corbin and Struass variant, he says that it is imperative that I am familar with the original and understand where the two original authors diverged.

Hope this helps, and not just confused.

Good luck with your corrections, and thanks again for all that viva info.

======= Date Modified 30 Jan 2011 18:36:53 =======
Thanks Dunni, good to know somebody much further down the line than me has done it the same way :-)

While I have dropbox I don't think my supv is familiar with it. Only the other day he was asking me if I intend cutting up my interview transcripts with a scissors and spreading them all over the floor to analyse! A valid technique admittedly but not one I am going to pursue!!

Hi Delta

I think it's nice to thank participants; afterall where would we be without them?? I have often seen them acknowledged and intend thanking mine. Less is probably more with acknowledgements but I think it's good form to thank the admin staff, as well, often the unsung heroes of research.

BTW: a friend of mine wrote her acknowledgements during her first year - as you say it was a start to writing!! Probably a good idea to revisit pre-submission!

Thanks so much for that recommendation, Olivia, you always have good book recommendations I've noticed :-).

I have just put in an order via Amazon, along with a couple of crime books!! Not sure where they fit into my thesis, but you never know!

======= Date Modified 30 Jan 2011 13:49:30 =======
Hi Sneaks

Welcome back :-)

I haven't done one myself but was considering including one for similar-ish reasons to you. A colleague (not my supv, but a friend) suggested that a glossary might be the way to go for me. A lot of the terms I'm using could be easily misconstrued and so I have already written a sub-section stating what I mean when I refer to 'x'. I'm not that happy with it though. The reason I am having doubts re: a glossary is that some of them are everyday words and I thought they might look a bit weird in a glossary. If yours are more technical it could be really useful. Also means you don't have to constantly explain as you go along.

I appreciate a glossary when it's in a book and frequently consult it. It's hard to know - interesting to hear other's thoughts.

Hi All

Possibly this is an incredibly basic question but it's been giving me trouble so why not look for advice from those whose experience I greatly value? Corny but true!

I am busy writing up, hoping to sumit late summer. My supervisor has recently returned two chapters I submitted to him electronically. He used 'track changes' which is good as his actual handwriting is tiny. We have also had two meetings where we discussed his suggestions, therefore I have additional handwritten notes.

My question is this: how best to re-write the two chapters?
What I did was keep my 1st versions in a folder marked '1st drafts' (for safe keeping really). I then re-saved them as '2nd drafts'. I also saved his 'track changes' chapters separately. I have been working for a few days with two chapters open, ie supv's comments and the new 2nd draft. I also printed out his 'track changes' chapters with the comments down the side - there's an awful lot of them!! Would anybody do things differently?

I'm in the social sciences, not hard science so have no experiments to re-do. Neither do I have to do any additional fieldwork. It's a mixture of editing, expanding, moving, rethinking etc. Any advice greatly received, even if it's just 'get on with it'!

Thanks a mil

A

======= Date Modified 30 Jan 2011 09:10:16 =======
I agree Patience re: references. I will definitely have a problem there. This is my third PhD year and I hope to finish late summer (that's why I'm part of this thread!). However I returned to college as a mature student for my primary degree, then did a master's and now a PhD so all told, I have been here eight years. Moving universities wasn't an option due to my husband's work. I'm a bit more geographically flexible now as my children are a bit older. My three references at the moment are all from my current uni. I'll have to put the thinking cap on to rustle up a viable alternative. One of the professors in particular said three from the same place would ring warning bells to him. I guess it would be obvious that you were a non-traditional candidate in your cover letter so maybe it wouldn't be quite so much an issue in the CV??? That's what I will have to bank on...

Hi There

I'm writing up at the moment and devote two hours a week to trawling through academic websites and newspapers for jobs. I know about six people writing up. Myself and another guy are actively looking and one other has already been offered two postdocs! The other three I don't think are looking beyond their theses just yet. Have a look at the 'Deadline this summer thread...' to get a sense of others on the forum who are writing up.

Everyone's different I guess but it's so competitive at the moment that maybe you could dip a toe in the water to see what's out there?

Hi All

I mentioned to Dunni I was at talk on CVs and cover letters given by two profs, both directors of research institutes y'day. Many of us here are likely to be applying for postdocs, res assistants or jnr lectureships so thought I would include what we heard here. Obviously lots of it was commonsense but good to hear their opinions of applications. Not sure if it will all fit here but if not I'll update in another post :-)

Cover letter:
-Assuming everyone applying will have PhD and teaching exp, cover letter assumes even more imp-you have to make your applic stand out.
-Address to specific person, look on website if nec.
-Flatter: state in your letter why you want to work/study at that instit / go beyond saying that you want to work there as it’s dynamic uni. Both said something like “I am familiar with the work of Dr. X and his current research on ... and feel my work on ‘y’ would compliment his”. Showing you are familiar with existing staff is impressive – do your homework on instit. Why that place, why do you want to work there?
-Re: above – now all about res clusters & communities so refer to how your work will compliment, fit in to what’s already there.
-Apply early. We queried this and one Prof. in particular said she would be unimpressed by an applic emailed mins before deadline.
-Be careful with all correspondence such as emails etc. If you’re short listed for interview normal practice is for interview panel to be given ALL correspondence from you in addition to actual application.
-Only submit teaching portfolio if actually asked. However, you can say you have one and can supply if nec.
-Strike balance between being assured and yet not cocky.
-In referring to yr current PhD, state WHY you’re doing it, WHY it’s important, don’t just give title and basic descriptor.
-Re teaching exp – not enough to state what you did but you should claim your role so “... has good pedagogic value.” Did you draw up outline, workshops etc?
-Letter not just extension of CV, it’s opportunity to act as a guide to yr career highlights.
-If on PhD scholarship, give brief description actual scholarship and something like “I was awarded scholarship as a result of an internationally competitive process”.
-Put value of scholarship down - demonstrates your value to your current org.
-For them, again assuming everybody has nec qual, how they decide is 1.Cover letter, 2. interview, 3. CV.
-If applying for particular teaching module, also refer to yr sub-disciplines of yr subject you would be happy to teach.
-Show yourself to be a catalyst, not just a journeyman!

CV:
-if referring to teaching, go beyond just module code. 1 or 2 lines. Good idea to say how many in class or lecture – demonstrates you can do small & large grp teaching.
-Partic imp in early career to flesh out details.
-Show you have been proactive member of current dept.
-List all publications, including in-house pubs, partic in early career. Shows you are interested in your dept.
-If yr results are good, state them.
-Pull out skills from other employment, teamwork, multi-tasking etc.
-2/3 lines about what the different projects you have been involved with are about.
-If stating scholarship, explain beyond just giving title of it.
-If you have published in high ranking journal, state that.
-Events – what you’ve been invited to, presented at, discussant etc.
-In early career, better to include everything.
-Re referees: 1 Prof. said not good idea to have all 3 from same instit. Consider asking your external ex for reference.
-Like cover letter think in terms of complimenting what’s already there in the place you are applying for. Show how you will fit in.


It's so competitive out there I for one need all the help I can get.

Cut 'n pasted or not Star-Shaped, 1300 words is great (up)

I have been finding the going really tough these last few days, sitting at the desk but not achieving anything. Just collected 80, yes 80 scripts from my supv to correct by early Feb :-(. I will have to be disciplined and only do a few a day.

PhD life not good at the moment (sprout) I don't really know what the sprout is supposed to signify but that's pretty much how I feel at the moment :-( *100

Hi Pierre

Jibes, as in jars, not quite match - maybe I used it in the wrong context but where I'm from that's what it means.

And yes different PhDs, different students, different humans

A:-)