To add to what clairaN said, the guidance can also differ between supervisors. My first supervisor (who left the uni at the end of my first year) had a constantly concerned look and said I needed results in my first year, which was impossible because recruitment for my study was a nightmare. My new supervisors, on the other hand, thought I was making great progress as soon as they took over, even though data collection still hadn't got off the ground.

I am trying to keep to my own idea of being 'on track', by working backwards from the date when I would like to be finished, allowing enough time for writing up, and dividing the remaining time up and setting rough targets of when things should be done.

Done! However, I didn't notice the question, 'what type of pet did you answer about?' until it was too late and I had clicked to leave the page, so if you notice a blank in one of your surveys today, the answer is 'cat' :)

Will give it a go. Thanks Eds and Glowworm!

Could you please clarify the length of the survey, as you've said 2 minutes in your post, but the start of the survey says it will take 20 minutes? I clicked to do it there, thinking I could manage in the last couple of mins of my lunch break, but it looks like it's going to be quite a bit longer than that - maybe it was a typo in your post?

My PgDip included a 10 thousand word dissertation as well. The difference between it and a Masters was that for the PGDip I just had to base my dissertation on lit review/proposal, and for the Masters I actually had to carry out research.

This issue came up for me last year, when I'd submitted an abstract and then wanted to change the content slightly for the conference. My supervisors said it was fine to do that and it happens a lot (I think it must, because you have to submit abstracts so far ahead of the actual conferences). It may be worth discussing your presentation with your supervisors to get some feedback.

I agree with Jennypenny, it depends on your reasons for wanting to study. I did a PGDip years ago, related to my field of work at that time. The PGDip was a recognised qualification and I didn't intend to use it for further study, just to enhance my work prospects. Years later, I did a Masters with a strong research component, and this time it was because I wanted to go on and do further research/a PhD. Like you, I love studying and I would consider further PGCert/Dip courses in the future if I could afford them and if they allowed me to study something I was interested in.

I think that if you know from the start that you're not interested in the PhD, it would be very difficult to make it work. To do a PhD you need to be sufficiently interested in the subject that you can work on it for several years. Plus, if you start this one and then quit, it may make it more difficult to get one of the other places that you're interested in, as you'd have to explain why you wanted to quit one PhD and start another.

My understanding is that the 'defense' happens at the meeting itself and that the outcome is what it is, but perhaps others who've been through the process can shed more light on it.

I don't think there is any way out of doing the corrections. At this stage, as annoying as the corrections may be, doing them is just a means to an end, and you can do what you want with your writing and re-arrange it into a book for publication afterwards.

Dunham, because of the problems you mentioned with the PhD as a route into an academic career, it is probably more common than you realise for people to have their own reasons for wanting to do a PhD. In fact, it is one of the things they ask you about at PhD interviews - Why do you want to do this? - and I understand that people give a variety of answers.

By the way, I will be 45 in a month, and I don't live the student life you may imagine - I have a nice flat which I own, a partner with her own career and my life has not been one sacrifice after another - I just always wanted the personal challenge of doing a PhD and I am happy whether it leads on to a fantastic career change or not :)

I attempt to give information from my own experiences and from hearing other people's, rather than specifically encouraging/discouraging. If someone wants to go on trying and accepts the situation as it is, it's not my job to stop them. I think it's possible to get caught up in a very narrow definition of what a PhD is, and to see it simply as a road straight into competitive academia, which as you say is riddled with problems such as lack of jobs, but some of us want to do the PhD anyway, for our own reasons. I don't know what the future holds but I know I am glad I took the chance to do a PhD, for many reasons and whatever happens next. Yes, I would encourage a family member who felt the same.

From the little information that someone posts in a public forum, I don't feel I can know enough about their situation to advise them to stop trying. If it was a close friend who was clearly being made miserable by trying, and I could see that it was a lost cause, then maybe. Yes, there are factors that make it more or less likely that someone will be offered a PhD position, but it's not always like that - my own progression to doing a PhD wasn't linear and my CV has gaps/many years of non-academic work on it, so I'm not going to tell anyone else that it can't be done. In my case, doing a (UK-based, distance learning) Masters with a huge research component opened the door straight away to a PhD place, after all previous attempts had failed (despite me already technically having the necessary skills and qualifications).

I'm not sure how that would work, because usually in a Masters course they cover certain methodologies and then match you with a supervisor who has knowledge of your chosen approach for the dissertation. I've never heard of anyone doing a dissertation only - I think you'd have to start by contacting some unis and asking if this is possible and if they would have anyone who could supervise your dissertation.