I think 80k is our absolute max - I'm unlikely to go over that as I tend to err on the 'succinct' side, and I've had it drummed into me through years of study with the OU that markers can just mark up to the maximum and ignore the rest - I know that wouldn't happen with a PhD thesis, but it has shaped the way I think about word limits!

My literature review is sitting at about 17k just now, but it needs an overhaul and part of it moved into other sections.

I know what you mean - I am doing a mix of quantitative and qualitative studies, with one being 'hypothetico-deductive' and the other not, and I have written a section in my methodology chapter explaining that I don't think there's actually such a hard and fast divide between the two in practice, which sounds along the same lines as your point!

Congratulations - glad things are moving in such a positive direction for you! I'm sure there will be academic mothers on here - you might need a specific thread to get their attention?

I haven't heard of the term 'fishing' before in connection with data, but it is an interesting question. I've been keeping things quite open in terms of seeing what's actually there in my data - I do have research questions, but I'm also looking to see what else emerges. I hadn't thought of that possibly being an issue!

I think chapter length is another of those lovely things where opinions vary so much that you just have to hope for the best! I remember being told that one of my Masters chapters should have been split, and the whole Masters dissertation was only 15k! I agree with others here that it does depend on the flow of the chapter and whether it logically can be split, but I have heard of some supervisors wanting chapters of roughly equal length, which seems a bit 'style over substance' to me.

Oh, wow! How are you feeling about that? (apart from possibly very surprised!)

I could quite look forward to a job in Waitrose :)

I got my ethics approval to start recruiting in April 2014, and it has just been a slog ever since then! If I could change one thing with hindsight, it would be the study that relies on this recruitment, as it has been stupidly unproductive, but 20:20 hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I've allocated 15000 words to my 'big' chapter, but it may go over and I may even look at whether it's more sensible to split it over two chapters. How big is the one you're working on?

If you haven't already seen it, you might find the Manchester Phrasebank helpful:

Another thing I would say, from a pragmatic point of view, is consider staying until you have something else to move on to, if you can stand it. Things might turn around in the meantime and if not, at least you won't have that horrible gap between giving something up and finding work.

Everyone sounds very industrious!

I'm working on my biggest chapter, writing and analysing in tandem. I gave myself an extra month for this one, so hoping to have it drafted by the end of the month. I'm also still trying to do the dregs of data collection/recruitment for another chapter *bangs head off desk* Recruitment will just never finish, will it? I'll still be recruiting when I'm five years into working at Tesco!

I agree about talking to your supervisor, and seeing if there's anything that can be done to make Tuesday less scary. Is it very important for you to give this presentation? Can anyone do it for you or with you? Can it be changed to a poster presentation? People will vary in how important they say these presentations are, but my personal opinion is that a line is crossed when something is making you unwell. Whatever you decide, please don't then beat yourself up about it - you're in treatment and trying to move forward with something really difficult, so go easy on yourself!

I agree with TreeofLife - you probably won't fail this, and may come out of it with some good suggestions. Who knows - perhaps the fact that you are using a technique in an adapted way will turn out to be your original contribution? I say stick with it - there are always points that make you despair, but you might feel a lot better after this transfer viva.

I know what you mean too, Hugh, and can't wait to be done with it. I feel that I'm going to have this constant background anxiety until I'm finished with it, and am looking forward to having my life back! I don't think it helps that I'm thinking about non-academic jobs and therefore questioning, 'What is this even for?' - even though I started the PhD out of interest/ambition and not necessarily to enter academia!

Anyway, onwards and onwards - what are folks' plans for the week?

I'm sorry you are feeling so stressed. My advice to you would be to seek some support for the anxiety you are experiencing (via your doctor or a counselling service - perhaps there is a university service you can access?) and to try to distract yourself by doing some things you enjoy while you wait for your results. Your thesis has already been seen by the person who is best qualified to give you feedback (your supervisor) and it sounds like they are not concerned about it being rejected. It's tough having to wait, but I think if you ask people to read your thesis at this stage, you risk increasing your anxiety. Good luck!