My goal of formulating plan for revision and new writing completed, sort of!

Dunni, sorry to hear babies are not well. I remember those times all too well, though I wasn't doing a PhD at the time so my hat comes off to you. Mine are beyond babies; my challenge is raging teenage hormones (theirs, not mine!). One in particular is trying to enter a world for which he is really not ready but he thinks he is. Cue lots of door slamming, mobile phone confiscations etc, "everyone else in my class is allowed..." The other guy just wants to play over 18 games (twins are 13) on his X-Box all the time. However that actually is easier to handle!

Consider everybody served a [virutal] slice of chocolate cake;-)

Dunni and Pink_Numbers both your layouts are different to mine but you say Dunni, all the disciplines have different expectations.

Mine is very traditional:
Chapter One: intro, movtivation and rationale for project, context setting, ontology and epistemology, uniqueness of my approach (!!) and research questions
Chapter Two: conceptual framework leading to my lit review
Chapter Three: methodolgical approach and method choices
Chapter Four: findings / analysis 1
Chapter Five: Fingings / analysis 2
Chapter Six: Conclusion, drawing it all together.

Read Fay Weldon in back of the Sunday Times magazine ('A life in the day') where she says that she does all new writing in the morning as that side of the brain works best then and all editing etc in the afternoon. Think I will try that approach.

My goal for today is to get a handle on how I am going to simultaneously edit what I have done and still move forward. Supv told me this morning that he thinks I am good for a Sept submission so am pleased with that. Secretly I am hoping for earlier but September would be good.

á la Dunni, I too have a baking goal having rather rashly promised to make a chocolate cake this afternoon!

======= Date Modified 24 Jan 2011 10:21:41 =======
There was a similar thread on here a while ago about voice recorders.


I have an Olympus which I find very good, lots of storage, multiple folders etc. If you are going to be transcribing interviews I personally would recommend getting a footpedal as part of the package. I didn't and really regret that as I found sourcing a compatible footpedal a nightmare. I was reluctant to buy one if I wasn't a 100% certain that it would work. I had to look up the manual online for the recorder itself as it didn't come with enough explanations but looking at the feedback on Amazon this seems fairly par for the course.

Eventually my solutiojn was to do download ExpressScribe (free) which worked 'ok' with a footpedal I borrowed but I feel the whole process would have been easier if I had got everything at the start. Finally as one who did about 60 interviews I would STRONGLY recommend that you keep up-to date with the transcription from the get go. It is so easy to fall behind. My transcription haunts me and I feel I will never get it done!


Good luck with it

Dunni, you DO sound like you made progress over the week-end, you're sooooo close to the end :-)

Re: wordcount - You could try doing a 'which-hunt' as many 'whichs' and 'thats' can be dropped altogether from a lot of texts.

I have supv meeting this morning which I get the feeling is going to be like a mini-viva - am literally trembling :-(

Chair idea is good one if you're going to work from home a bit but I think you're a lab-based person??

Also external hard-drive would be a good buy - I kept meaning to get one but never got around to. I have multiple USBs which to be fair have served me well, only one became corrupted but I got an awful fright when it did! I have a laptop which I can 'dock' when I'm in college so I don't work between multiple computers which is great.

Can a body ever have too much stationery?? Just walking into Paperchase is soothing!!

Don't panic, it's there, last updated Fri 21/1 so you have to go back about 4 or 5 pages :-)

Many congratulations Dr. Ellis, inspiration for the rest of us still slogging away :-)

======= Date Modified 23 Jan 2011 09:46:06 =======
Congrats Fm on the job, sounds fab .

P/t will be tough but you're ahead of the game, with a great job when lots of us are still trawling through the job sections in the newspapers and online. I'm keeping an eye out and if I managed to get offered a job I would take it and write up the remainder of this PhD p/t. I'm actually applying for a job this week - probably out of my league (due to no PhD yet!!) but they are so few and far between that you can't afford to let one slip by you without even trying. I devote a couple of hours once a week job hunting.

Your PhD as a series of papers sounds really interesting as it can be hard to make the traditional format interesting. Anytime I have tried it, my supv inevitably inserts the comment "too chatty"!! A colleague of mine is doing something similar to you and intends toping 'n tailing his 'article' PhD chapters with an introduciton and conclusion. There is an integrated lit review and methodology with each chapter - is yours something similar?

Good luck being the new girl tomorrow(up)

I have my fingers crossed for you Pineapple that you'll get a viva date soon.

No great earth-shattering tips for what to do during the wait for a viva date save try and do something as in keep busy even if it's something like de-cluttering cupboards, or the airing cupboard, your wardrobe etc. I find that sort of work can be cathartic. Try and get some fresh air as well as it definitely helps clear the mind. Maybe tidying up all the material/information associated with your PhD would be good, not the physical thesis per se, but the realms of paper, print-outs, articles etc that have accumulated over time?

It must be torture for you hearing about others who have had their viva but hopefully you'll get a date soon.

A

You sound so upbeat Pink_Numbers that you have kick started me out of my worry-abyss - I can do this, I can, I can, I can ...

Agree about the worry over doing enough each day but I guess the fact that we ARE doing something means we are moving forward.

Hi Teresa

I had wondered how you got on! Glad it went well and good for you presenting in your first year, many people keep putting it off, and off, and off...

======= Date Modified 21 Jan 2011 14:27:31 =======
Yep, agree with all before me. I think a lot of supvs underestimate or forget how daunting the process is at the start. Many probably think they are being nice by not hassling you and letting you find your feet. A bit of direction at the beginning would be very helpful as for many people it's easy to self-direct oneself once a project is properly under way.

Banish that self-doubt, they wouldn't have offered you an unconditional place if they didn't think you were the one for them. For your presentation, try and think it through from the audience's perspective, ie there will be people there who don't know you, your topic, or how you plan to go about things and this is your chance to introduce yourself. Keep it real and show that you have put some thought into it but don't be apologetic. Don't let your self-doubt seep through your slides - you don't want people to remember you for that!

Good luck with it (up)

Welcome Patience :-)

Yep, poor Nichola really sounds like she has been through the horrors. I do know somebody though who had to completely resubmit and sit a 2nd viva but she did it in the end and was awarded her PhD so maybe all is not lost for her??

For me it's the level of abstraction required to be drawn from the data that gives me the shivers...not sure I can do it...I can write all right, but I'm not best buddies with theory as I tend to look at things in a very applied way, which often is not what they want in my field.

Thanks Cate and Indoctorate, appreciate all the extra work :-)