I've just officially started the third year of my PhD, and I wondered if anyone on here is at the same stage, how you're feeling about what you've got left to do, etc. I'm feeling pretty daunted - the time doesn't half fly past! One thing I've already decided is that it's time to focus on the actual priorities and get rid of as much of the 'additional' stuff as I can - trying not to take on much in the way of conferences, attending extra stuff at uni and so on this year. It would be interesting hearing from anyone else who's at this stage and hearing what your plans are for getting to the end!

I agree about asking your supervisor for advice, if they want you to follow a particular structure. I've just presented a poster based on partial results, and used what would normally be the 'conclusion' part just to say more about how I proposed to use the results, where they would fit in within my field, etc. All the conferences I've been to have been happy with people presenting 'work in progress', but some have wanted it to be made clear on the abstract.

I've submitted several abstracts like this, and have just said something like, 'the study is on-going and preliminary results will be presented'. I prefer to leave it slightly vague so that if there's any delay with getting the results, I'm already covered :)

I think it all depends on the type of analysis and what you're trying to get across, rather than there being a rule. At the moment, I'm doing an analysis that puts my participants' own experiences and understandings right at the heart of things, and so I will include this type of information because I think it will help anyone reading it to 'connect' the quotes to the person.

Hi Adrienne

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your supervisors. It does sound like something needs to improve or you'll have a miserable couple of years. In your situation, I'd be looking for everything I could do to show them that you're willing to take responsibility for your own development - for example, there's a very helpful book by Rowena Murray called, 'How to Write a Thesis', which talks you through the writing process and has lots of exercises to get you started - busy supervisors won't be able to give you nearly as much guidance as you'll find in this book. It is hard when your confidence has had a knock, but if you can show them that you're doing as much as possible to take control, and using your supervision sessions to get extra feedback and advice from them, they shouldn't have a problem with that. If they do continue to be hostile and unhelpful, ultimately you may need to look at a change of supervisor, but I would try stepping up a bit first and see if that helps. One early bit of advice I got was that you sometimes need to 'manage up' with supervisors, i.e. you need to be the one telling them when deadlines are and what needs done by when, as they're so busy with other things they might not notice otherwise. Good luck!

I'm in a slightly different position because I'm doing a PhD and my partner is working, but she is also doing a part time Masters and there's every chance that will lead on to a PhD! It probably also makes a difference that I am in my 40s and have a mortgage, in a place where I like living. I have had a long-distance relationship in the past and I found it too difficult to make it work, and I have also lived in places that made me unhappy, so my decisions would be affected by these things. Given that most academic careers start with several years of contract work and moving around, this is probably not something I will choose to do, as I want to prioritise my happiness, relationship and health. I think the trouble is that none of us can see into the future and see the opportunities that we'll have - it is always scary to think about the future when everything is uncertain. I agree with satchi about thinking about your priorities and which decisions will make you happiest.

Without wishing to put words in anyone's mouth, I think you're reading Tree's comment about a 'decent upbringing' very differently to the way I'm reading it, butterfly20. I had a 'decent upbringing' that enabled me to get academic qualifications - it was nothing to do with social class (my parents are working class, and were unemployed for stretches of my school life) - but they took me seriously, encouraged me and found out what we needed to do for me to get to university. My grandmother did the opposite, and tried to talk my parents out of allowing me to go to university, because she thought working class people should just settle down and get a job. Without my parents' attitudes and support, it would have been very difficult for me to get started - there are different ways in which we can be privileged.

I know different types of qualitative analysis have different 'rules' about how detailed the transcript should be, but I personally wouldn't ever make corrections to a quote. If I felt I had to add something to clarify the quote, I would add it in square brackets, to make clear the difference between the participant's words and mine.

Interesting discussion..... One thing that struck me is that we all judge other people - it's not just about people with a PhD being perfectionists or whatever - I grew up in a working class area much like TreeofLife describes and I was judged to be a 'snob' because I was quiet and academic, and was excluded from pretty much everything. Over the years I have become friends with people in all sorts of jobs, but they have been imaginative, intelligent people and not narrow-minded like the people I grew up with - and thinking about it, they have all moved away from where they started and had different life experiences and education over the years.

I met my partner when I was 38, which was the right time for me as I'd figured out who I was and what was important to me, and I was in the right place to have a good relationship. Everyone's different in this respect, so I don't agree that waiting too long makes you a perfectionist or makes it more difficult to meet someone.

MissyL, the one thing I would say to you is please tell your supervisor about your anxiety, as otherwise this expectation will keep coming up again and again and they will not have the knowledge they need to support and advise you. I have had a similar talk with my supervisor and it took courage even to do that, but it was worth doing as she offered me lots of support. If something is making you ill then you have to find another way to approach it, but your supervisor really needs to know or you won't get the back-up you need. Feel free to PM me if you would like to, as I have been through a very similar experience.

Yes, that's fine - PM me your request letter and I'll have a look at it.

If your method allows you to quantify how many participants thought X and how many thought Y, I would say you are sticking to your qualitative methodology and it's not mixed methods. You're not doing any statistical manipulations or inferring any relationship between card choice and something else.

In the past, I got my academic references up front (rather than having the person send the reference directly to the employer) so I knew exactly what was in them before I sent them to anyone. Is it possible you could just ask her for a reference and ask if you can have it so that you can send it to prospective employers? That way, you don't need to have a difficult conversation about what she thinks of you - you are just asking for a reference and keeping the conversation positive.

I would say it depends on what you are doing with the information you get from the cards. If it was just used as a device to prompt conversation or to add more info to the interview, then it would still be qualitative. If you were reporting on something like what percentage of people chose each of the cards, or were attempting to study some relationship between choosing a certain card and giving certain answers, then it may be more mixed methods.

I have signed up for this - hopefully it should be interesting!