Overview of Hugh on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of Hugh

Signup date: 12 Mar 2010 at 9:38am

Last login: 24 May 2017 at 8:31pm

Post count: 1264

Recent Posts

If you get major revisions at viva, is that a pass?

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Thanks Tree of Life, I'll have a look.

What are your worst fears about your PhD?

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From chickpea:
I agree Hugh - the choice of examiners is going to be really important. I know someone who did qualitative research and was asked if her PhD was 'a pilot study'!

*shock horror* :(

Final year support thread

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Chickpea, I agree, data collection and writing up at the same time is definitely more challenging. Data collection takes up so much time and energy.

I think we also need to go easy on ourselves. I don't know anyone (except one person) who actually submitted their thesis on time. Every one I know goes over 3 years, and I know someone who submitted after 5 years full time.

What are your worst fears about your PhD?

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From chickpea:
My worst fear at the moment, Hugh, is that the examiners will conclude that my work is 'not enough for a PhD' and will recommend MPhil instead. I've been questioned on this several times (most recently yesterday) so it is a very real fear! I think it stems from the fact that I'm doing qualitative research in a very quants-heavy department, and my numbers look tiny compared to the numbers people are used to seeing.

I have the same fear too, and I am also in a similar situation. I am worried that examiners are going to say, and so what? However, I think the key thing is to find internal and external examiners who are pure qualitative researchers, so that this will not be a problem. I think also getting examiners from the exact same area of research, instead of the larger research area, may be a way around it?

What are your worst fears about your PhD?

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Hi,

I'm having one of those days where the fears are feeling really real.

Today I am worried that my thesis may not be good enough for the examiners and I may get major revisions.

Other times I worry that my reference management software will stop working the day before I'm due to submit.

What are your worst fears about your PhD?

If you get major revisions at viva, is that a pass?

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Thanks TreeofLife!

So if you get minor corrections at viva, you can say you have passed.

But if you get major corrections at viva, you can't say you have passed yet?

If you get major revisions at viva, is that a pass?

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Hi,

Just wondering: If you get major revisions at viva, is that a pass?

Final year support thread

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From MS86:
Hello all,
I’m new to this forum- and think this thread is brilliant, and may just be the motivation and support that I need to get my PhD finished! I am currently in my last year of funding (final payment end of September) completing a health sciences PhD.

Hi MS86 :) It is lovely to have you on board!

I think it does get easier to write, and the more chapters you write and get corrected, the easier it becomes to spot mistakes. I found making a specific plan for the remaining months quite useful, and it also removes the stress a little.

Its hard to say how long it takes to write a chapter. If all data collection and analysis is done prior to writing, than one month is sufficient for me.

Final year support thread

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From Zutterfly:
Thank you for your well wishes Hugh :) Illness never comes at the right time!

How many chapters do you have left after this one? My initial aim was to have this one I am writing submitted but giving myself two extra weeks to finish it and carry out my 'combing'!

I think that's a smart move. You'd rather get it perfectly right, then submit something half done. It puts supervisors off reading your work too (I know from past experience!).

I have another 4 chapters left to do, but they lower in word count than the ones I have done. Literature review is the big one. I need to decide what exactly will go where, so need to do a bit of brainstorming too.

Final year support thread

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From Zutterfly:
Well guys I have been to the doctors as I was bed ridden with nausea and sickness for the past few days after feeling unwell generally for two weeks and it seems I have a nasty ear infection! Thankfully I have anti nausea tablets now so I may be able to make some progress on the PhD this week finally! I have shifted my deadlines back a week to compensate for the lost time.

What are your aims for this week everyone?

Oh no, poor you, I hope you feel better soon!

This weeks aim is to submit chapter, and start on the next one.

Final year support thread

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From SarahSarahSarah:

Quote From Hugh:
Hi,

How are you all doing/progressing? I've finished writing up the chapter (finally!), but need to edit it, which is the stage I struggle with the most. It is not the hardest stage by far, but its the stage that I procrastinate the most in, because I find editing boring and monotonous. Also, every time I go through it, I always spot errors. Its hard to reach perfection.

Any suggestions/advice for editing?

Good luck Hugh! For me, it sometimes helps to get myself in lockdown for the first 2 or 3 hours in the morning. As in: No permission to do anything else than writing.
No phone.
No email
No music
No facebook

After this bootcamp I go out for a walk and allow myself to buy something delicious to eat

I like that strategy, thanks for sharing :) I'm going to try it tomorrow morning!

Final year support thread

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Zutterfly, good luck with your paper! I'm trying to avoid doing anything extra other than the thesis, though times it is a refreshing change.

I've found another method of editing, and that is reading the chapter on another device like on your iPhone. I've managed to spot so many more errors and things I could change.

Doing 12 months work in 6

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From janer:
That's a really good point, I had so little support from supervisors initially I forget that's what they can be there for! I have been getting help from Study Support which has really increased my writing speed, and my Study support worker has offered to come to the panel. I think I will take her up on her offer as that may go some way to illustrate that I am being proactive. I will also try and get that support from my supervisors, one will probably support but not sure about the other...
Thanks for the response!

Maybe get an email/note from your supervisor saying she or he lends her support. One supervisor lending support should be sufficient.

Off to OIA

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Best of luck, I'm very sorry to hear what you had to go through,

Doing 12 months work in 6

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

It's difficult to say without knowing exactly what stage you will be at, but if I had to write what I am writing in my third year in one month, it'd take me about 4-5 months in the first year. This is because the more experience you get at writing, the more feedback you get, the better you get it. Are your supervisors on board? You can argue they have faith in you that you can get it done in time.