Congratulations :)

I'd say no to your supervisor if I was you! If you're working full-time, then writing a chapter in a week isn't feasible IMHO. There has to be some reality to this.

I got very good at saying no to my supervisors, due to my neurological disease. I always knew if something was too much, and wouldn't be backwards in saying so :)

Have you tried recording your ideas in speech form? This isn't writing in the usual form, but is more like brainstorming. If you have a tape recorder or a recording programme on your computer it's easy to do. This might help break the impasse. Record your vague ideas about what you need to write, in any rambling form that you see fit. Then you can play it back and type up what you said, and take that as a starting point.

I also gave you advice in an earlier thread. I guess that didn't help :(

I would recommend going to see your doctor. This is getting severe, and you're going to have harder things to deal with later on in the PhD. So you need to find a way of coping.

i agree with the advice to resubmit. Failing a Masters dissertation is an extremely worrying sign for anyone wanting to go onto a PhD. At least if you resubmit and successfully pass you've overcome that hurdle, and have shown you can do it. And, yes, doing a PhD thesis is much much harder than doing a Masters dissertation.

The only other way around might be if there were very good external reasons why you failed. But even those would have to be overcome and be in the past for you to be able to go on to do a PhD.

I think you need to view it as a learning experience, and take what you can from it, both in terms of things to do better, and things to avoid doing in future.

Was your supervisor on the panel? If not can you seek more advice from them on how to frame the methodological / questionnaire issue in your ultimate viva? And being too cocky isn't a good thing either: it's likely to rub an examiner up the wrong way, which you want to avoid.

Also when it comes to your final viva do try to keep your temper. I know you want to stand your ground, but you've got to be reasoned in your approach.

But, yes, it's a learning experience, so take what you can from it :p

I went to 1 conference, international (Canada), just under 2 years into my 6-year part-time PhD. So I guess it would be equivalent of towards the end of 1st year full-time PhD.

I would have liked to have gone to a few more, but I'm severely disabled, and have a progressive neurological disease. I managed to attend this one, but became too disabled afterwards.

I was a history student.

My main gift for my supervisor was a copy of my final hard bound thesis, along with a handwritten card.

Though I did also buy him some CDs full of historical directories, as an extra pressie later, because I knew he would appreciate those.

Whatever you think is appropriate will probably be fine. But my supervisor mainly wanted a copy of my thesis :)

Congratulations! Delighted for you.

I think 4matt this is your issue and you're going to need to think carefully to work out how best to sell yourself. At this point in time you're the one under-selling yourself for jobs. You don't want to do that when you get into the jobs market!

Personally I don't think 30/31 after postgraduate study is too late at at all. I'm concerned though that you do. That is a worrying attitude to have for a soon-to-be job hunter!

I would recommend that you contact the careers service at your university and seek their advice.

It's possible your PhD won't count for anything outside academia, but you're in the situation now, and you are going to have to make the best of things. So think more positive!

When I was a computer science PhD student the expectation was that students would be there Mon-Fri 9-5. You need to ask your prospective supervisor what would be expected of you, and if it would be possible for you to work from home for some of the time. I was EPSRC funded too.