Pragmatism can be a legitimate reason for using a particular method/approach/piece of kit.

I agree with the others. You could also add that for future work you might switch as there would be benefits to using this particularly programme but that it wasn't practical to make the switch earlier. As long as you didn't show the one that you used to be terrible then it's ok!

======= Date Modified 02 Feb 2012 14:15:28 =======

Ok, so you've identified a problem in an industrial process, and your hypothesis based on preliminary research is that the problem stems from upstream failures in education/training.

If you wanted to explore/address that problem further then a scientific approach could be:
- evaluate the features of the current educational approach. Identify specific weakness
- design an alternative approach
- trial the alternative approach and compare the outcomes with those of the standard approach to see whether it makes any difference.

That would be a *scientific approach* to addressing that question. But it's not one that would require/develop biomed or engineering skills as much as educational theory and social sciences techniques. It would also be a complicated study to conduct and might not be possible within the time frame of a PhD.

I'm guessing that either your proposal lacks the structure of a scientific approach to a problem, or would require skills or applications outside the remit of your field. But you should ask for clarification from your supervisors.

Get some guidance about which stream might be best for you - for example I think the Health Services Research stream might have more of a UK focus than if you took the general stream. But do get advice from tutors there.

Good luck with your decision.

Often the problem with proposals can be a lack of a clearly defined research question. Do you have a well defined problem you're trying to solve or a clear hypothesis you're trying to test? There should be a clear question/problem that can be summed up in a couple of sentences, from which the rest of the proposal will flow.

But as others have said it's difficult to give more specific advice as the details you've given are quite vague.

Hi Anyhoo. I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question but I wonder whether if your research council didn't give you sick pay, maybe you would be eligible for incapacity benefit or similar.

I would seek advice from your student union or a postgrad tutor. For external benefits it might be worth contacting the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

I hope someone can give you specific advice soon.

======= Date Modified 01 Feb 2012 12:55:08 =======

'Depression' is not a synonym for 'unhappiness'. It's an illness that can be treated. Sometimes it is triggered by a life event/circumstances but sometimes it isn't. Substitute 'diabetes' or 'chronic back pain' for 'depression' in Anyhoo's post and that might help you understand the situation s/he is in.

It's worth taking the time to understand depression. Chances are it will affect you or someone close to you at some point in your life.

======= Date Modified 31 Jan 2012 16:02:53 =======
(pssst - guys, JillW's query was posted two years ago)

Welcome to the forum hermajtomomi. :)

======= Date Modified 30 Jan 2012 15:37:43 =======

Ok, so a number of things you're considering

1. Public Health vs Epidemiology
When I was choosing between the two, I was told that if I wanted to be a researcher (which I did) I should go for epi as it provides a stronger analytical training. But for you, if you don't want to do a PhD then Public Health may be better as you will probably get an insight into epi, health policy and health economics, so your knowledge base will be wider, though you will sacrifice some depth.

2. LSHTM vs Imperial
Overall LSHTM has a worldwide reputation for epi/public health. I don't know how well regarded Imperial is for these subjects. As far as content goes, I can't comment on Imperial beyond what is on their website, though I think they've widened out the scope of their epi masters since I was applying, as it looks like there's a more defined pathway for non communicable disease now. LSHTM also seems to have revised its epi timetable a bit which makes it easier to follow a non-comm path than when I was there.

Apart from reputation, one of LSHTM's strengths is the mix of staff and students you will meet there. There is considerable applied/intervention experience there, although more is in low/middle income country settings and in relation to infectious disease. That said, obesity is an increasingly important health issue in these settings too and there is bound to be more research getting off the ground in these areas.

3. International institutions
I can't comment on the teaching in overseas institutions, but based on research reputation the Karolinska is well regarded. In the US you might consider Harvard or Johns Hopkins. Another European option is Erasmus in the Netherlands (http://www.epib.nl/) - I attended a summer school there which was good and they seem to be expanding their teaching at the moment (http://www.erasmussummerprogramme.nl/nihes/).


Overall I'd say that you'd probably be best off doing public health rather than epi, and would probably be fine at either institution. But it's probably worth emailing course tutors to ask for further advice. Also, there are a lot of other UK unis that do public health masters (but very few that do epi)

Hope this helps

======= Date Modified 30 Jan 2012 13:57:45 =======
======= Date Modified 30 Jan 2012 13:55:29 =======
Thanks for clarifying. It really does sound like a frustrating situation.

It would be difficult to progress in a lecturer career path without a PhD. I wonder whether there are any side-steps that might interest you. Many of the professional bodies have education/public engagement programmes that need people with scientific expertise and excellent communication skills. Perhaps that's something you might like to consider?

See for example:
http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/
http://imascientist.org.uk/
http://royalsociety.org/training/communication-media/

Edited to add - I'm not saying you should ditch research if you think you would enjoy carrying on in it. But it would be a shame to get a lab tech job or do another PhD to facilitate the path to lecturer if in fact there are other opportunities that might correspond with the kind of work you enjoy.

Negative data itself won't cause a PhD to fail. Negative results are entirely valid and defensible, but to make them work as a thesis there has to be a logical and coherent story underlying the findings. This makes me wonder if you've received bad advice/guidance in the writing up stage. Perhaps there are good grounds for appeal? At the least I'm sure you could get an MPhil out of it.

It sounds to me like you've been poorly managed. If the 100 hours you quote are contact time, I imagine you put in a considerable amount more than that in preparation time too. It seems that the university have prioritised their need for teaching staff over your need to do your PhD to an extent that has been to your detriment. I hope that future opportunities that come your way take this into account, and that your considerable teaching experience is recognised as an asset. Is that something you enjoyed and would like to take further? Or would you like to focus more on research?

Good luck for whatever you decide.

Sounds like you'd be an ideal candidate to be a public health consultant. Contact the FPH for more details about their training scheme (it's a four year programme):
http://www.fph.org.uk/public_health_careers

Alternatively, would you be prepared to do some kind of masters to enable you to transition into social sci research? Say in public health, epidemiology, health services research?

To be honest, if I was in your position I'd far rather have those 2/3 chapters as papers than as thesis chapters. A thesis gets read by a handful of people - papers will have a far wider readership and give your career a head start if you want to stay in academia.

How is that work wasted? You've got ample material for a PhD PLUS potential publications. Win win. Some people struggle to get even one of those covered. It's not like anyone is saying those chapters are rubbish and you wasted your time doing that work. I don't really see the above situation as 'letting go' of content as much as 'reassigning to a more appropriate audience'.

Another bonus is that it's a relatively easy/tidy way to reduce your word count without having to painstakingly comb through looking for sentences/paragraphs to shorten etc.

A thesis can be a means to an end. It doesn't have to be the end in itself.

======= Date Modified 25 Jan 2012 13:02:50 =======
For ease of counting I would include them.

To be honest if your headings total 400 words and they are pushing you over the word limit, and you cannot find a way of culling 400 words from the rest of your thesis, you need help editing. Show it to someone else - it's always easier for a fresh pair of eyes to spot opportunities to reduce a word count.

Ok, assorted thoughts:

1. As I said on your previous thread, although it wasn't nice to see that email, I didn't think it was as bad as you were feeling it was. They said that piece of work wasn't up to your usual standard, which implies they know you are capable of better based on other work you have done. That is actually a good thing. So you dropped the ball on one piece of work? We all do that sometimes. Learn from any constructive feedback and move on.

2. Speaking of moving on, I don't think you really have, given that you say you your confidence is ruined and you think things will get worse. I would suggest perhaps talking to someone like a postgrad tutor about how you're feeling with regard to your work and after this incident - they might be able to give you a healthier perspective. They might also be able to give you a feel for whether your progress is sufficient which might stop you speculating about your supervisors' views on this.

3. Re: going part time. What are your objections? I recommend that you write a list of the pros and cons now and figure out the best way to proceed - waiting until further down the line could leave you with a trickier situation to deal with. It may be that you do have enough time to work and do your PhD, but maybe you're diverting your energies in too many directions (e.g. maybe drop the nannying and do more tutoring or vice versa). It's good to be busy but there comes a point where it's hard to do the main things well.

4. So your supervisor hasn't replied to an email sent yesterday? I wouldn't read anything into it. It means their either too busy or what you've done is largely fine. If they'd looked at it and there was a massive problem they would have got back to you quicker.

5. Do you ever interact with other PhD students in your department? I recommend spending time with them face to face - you will probably find a lot of the anxieties you are experiencing are actually quite common. Spending time with other students might help you relax a bit and give you some ideas about how to move on from this point.

I hope some of the above helps. I really don't think things are as bad as you are feeling them to be - try not to interpret everything as being indicative of something negative. It most likely isn't.

Not unless you want to annoy your supervisor and lie to the journal about author contributions. Named authors should have done *something*, even if just what your sup has done.

Academia is 75% intellectual stuff and 25% politics. It's a lesson to learn in your PhD.