This is what I'd do:

Do the t-test. If the answer is significant you had sufficient participants.
If the answer in non significant look at the effect size, if it is a reasonable effect size then maybe it is a genuine effect but you had insufficient power to detect it (ie not enough participants). If it is very small then you can argue that it is a genuine finding that there is no difference. t-tests are often done on an n or 20 per group in psychology.

Check in Andy Field's book for how to calcuate effect size and what is a small, medium or large effect.

I've been pretty lucky in not needing to see many scary health professionals (though my orthodontist in my teens did inflict a lot of pain on my mouth - but that was worth it for straight teeth)

I was gonna say Psychiatrists but notice a few people have said tht one. I had the misfortune of being interveiwed for a job once by a psychiatrist and that was bl**dy scary (didn't get the job either!)

However this year I discovered the joy of the sports massage. You have to lie there while someone inflicts a huge amount of pain or your legs (in my case) You know it's gonna help, you've chosen to be there, but while there you just want to scream and never run again (so you never need another massage!)

I'm not sure I fully understand what you ahve in the way of data but I'm leaning towards chi squared on the frequencies of each coding per participant maybe. What did your hubby say?

To Slizor: Well ok....it begins with S and Jamie Oliver was on TV advertising their hlaf price asparagus! Hope that helps :p

That sounds ridiculus. Is it because you have to do an official upgrade?
Could you contact the people who can give the scholarship and see if there is any way round it?
Anyway I hope you manage to get it sorted.

some might think this very sad but when I need cheering up I look at cute kittens (or cats) on youtube! Oh and recently discovered micro pigs for when I get bored of kittens!

Other good news is summer's on the way yay!
It's asparagus season and half price in my local supermarket (would mention which one but don't want to advertise)
and if all else fails go for tea and cake (up)

Another Web of science user. I learnt to use it as an undergraduate and know how to do pretty much anything I want on is. Medline just confuses me! Plus WoS is now linked to the Uni library so you can click on there and can get to the pdf (assuming the library carries the jounral) with just a few clicks. No idea if you can also do that on medline/ovid.

Or you could go completely over time some that they have to go straight on to the next presentation!

Hmm probably a bad idea but an idea none the less! At the conference I've just come back from there was a guy who aggressively questioned every presentation. He was the one who was first up after every talk! Anyway his talk went over time and there was no time for questions!

Seriously though I'd echo what other people have said. By the time you get to the questions you'll be so relieved the talk is over you'll be relaxed. You know more than anyone there about your topic and as long as you can justify what you've done or your conclusions you should breeze through any questions. Also don't worry if the questioning style is aggressive. It's the questioner who ends up looking bad not you!

I've been quite demotivated recently. Just seems like I have sooo much left to do to finish and I'm kinda bored of it now. It's got to the point where my average arrival to work is lunchtime! Things that help me are: going to the office everyday, (I get far to easily distracted at home) making lists of small targets (crossing things off makes me feel I've been productive even if the thing was send an email to this person) and spending time away from the PhD. I go to the gym, I run, I see friends and I almost never work at weekends. Helps to keep me more focussed in the week.

Hopfully this is a dip and you'll get your motivation back soon. :-)

I'd agree with Keenbean, but then I'm coming from the same field (clinical Psychology) Most people I know who have post doc jobs are doing something similar to PhD but not the same project.

eeek! this almost makes me want to pull out my ethics letter just to check it exists!
Glad you sorted it. Seems thay need to sort their systems out a bit!

You sample size needed would depend on the size of effect you expect to see, as well as the standard deviation of whatever you are measuring in the different populations. There are loads of free online calculators for (attempting) to work out sample size...and I say attempting as often you do not know either the effect size of sd but have to estimate these based on previous literature. I found G-power one of the best and most straightforward calculators to use, though I was doing it based on a t-test rather than ANOVA, but I think it can do any test. Another option is to look at other similar studies and use their sample size as a bench mark (or ask your supervisors what they reccomend) though based in the UK they like to see a power calculation on the ethics application. (even if based on whatever rubbish numbers you want to use!) I went with how many people do I want to test...what does the power calculation say...fudge the numbers a bit till they match! :$ hmm maybe I shouldn't admit that though!

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Oh and the 26 miles may come from the Phillipedes story, but the .2 was only added onto the first london matathon so it would finish in front of Buckingham Palace. That's about all I know about the story of the marathon distance - and I got that from the metro last week so it must be true!

Having run the London Marathon on Sunday I thought I'd add something to this....and go with life long experience :-) Crowd support was amazing and the training wasn't that arduous even in the third year of a PhD.
First off you don't have to run for charity, you can get a place through the ballot, through a running club or get a good time in another marathon and get a good for age place.
Second the attitude that people are not designed to run and will all end up with bad knees and ankles is ridiculous. Not all runners have problems, and surely the savings on the NHS through being physically fit outways sports injuries? (not suggesting you have to run to be fit here mind).