Haha, my sup is the Queen of Feedback. She used to be a bit more diplomatic, and would do that thing where you start with something positive, put the criticism and suggestions in the middle, and end on a positive note. Now she has broken me in sufficiently she doesn't bother- she just goes straight for the jugular. I must have shown her at least 15 drafts of my last paper before she let me submit it. But my favourite bit was when I sent her a personal statement for an application form- short, only about 200 words. It came back with so many electronic speech bubbles over it with comments on that they all overlapped and I couldn't read any of them- when I tried to open them up my computer crashed! I mean how far wrong can you go with a 200 word perosnal statement?!! I just have to console myself with the fact that she knows what she's on about and try not to take it personally any more, she does the same with all of us! KB

Wow, your responses are really interesting! EV, that is so strange- I have also had the same dream several times where there is a war and I am at some sort of war camp that is based in the building my office is in! I always get sent out to fight without a weapon to use and I end up dead each time! As for the fish- I think it was the black one that got killed first, but I wouldn't swear to it! So odd, but I have had a change in some medication recently (not the painkillers- I am off those now!) which a pal has told me is associated with really vivid and unusual dreams, so maybe that is at the bottom of it. I can't get my head around why my dreams are so unpleasant though when everything in my life is running pretty smoothly and I feel quite content! You are right Bonzo- it's such a fascinating subject that we know so little about! Ah well, I am keeping my fingers crossed for a nice happy dream about a cream cake or something tonight! Thanks for your input- I didn't actually expect anyone to put forward an interpretation, I am impressed by the huge knowledge base we clearly have on this forum!! Cheers, KB

I agree- I have asked my undergrad tutor for a heap of references in the past, and each time he just opens up a folder with my name on it and adapts it slightly to suit the purpose! I wouldn't worry at all about asking for more than one reference, they are used to it and they will save each reference so they can re-use it again anyway! Good luck with your applications! KB

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....that I was keeping three fish as pets (a black one, an orange one and a white one), in separate pint glasses (one each). One day I took them outside for some sun. A big bird of some kind swooped down and ate one of them. The second jumped out of the pint glass, and it was only when I bent down to pick him up and put him back in that I realised he had shattered into hundreds of small pieces, as though made of glass. The third one was also killed, but alas, my memory of the dream has failed me and I do not recollect how he died.

This is one of a number of increasingly bizarre and vivd dreams I have been having recently...I wondered if there are any dream analysts out there who would care to offer me an interpretation, or anyone else who has been having amusing and somewhat whacky dreams at the moment?! I wake up emotionally drained and exhausted every morning, wondering how our minds even begin to put these things together!

Anyone?

Cheers! KB

Yeah, I'm pretty sure 'in press' is a paper that has been accepted in its final form for a journal, but hasn't actually been pulished yet. KB

Hey again! It was a thread I started about doing a postdoc where I had done my BSc, MSc and PhD. I'm sure you could find it- it wasn't long ago, but the general consensus was that you will be judged primarily on your work, your publications, and who you are working with etc, more than whether you have changed university or not. For me, the practical thing is to stay here, as I love where I live and am very happy here, the department are excellent, my supervisor is fantastic to work with and is world-reknowned...why would I go anywhere else right now? Your reasons for staying put might be a bit different to mine, but it's your happiness that's at stake here, so put that first! Best, KB

Hey there! I'm only in second year now, but a friend of mine had a re-submit on his PhD last year. We were all astounded- supervisors included- everyone thought he would be fine and none of us had ever heard of anyone in the department having a re-submit. He was devastated. But he was given a year to re-submit, and just a few weeks ago he found out he had passed. Originally they said he would have to have another viva, but he didn't have one in the end- I'm not quite sure how that decision came about. But for sure, it can be done, so I would absolutely give it a shot- it would be awful to not get it after all this work and you have nothing to lose by trying. However, it's also important to look after yourself whilst you are pregnant, so make sure you take care of yourself too. Best, KB

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Hmmm, this is a tricky one. I think everyone has to compromise sometimes, but the question is really how big a compromise it is and what is most important to you. The fact is, you are never going to know for sure how something will turn out, so I think it's a case of making your decision and sticking to it. I do have a belief that what will happen is meant to be etc, and that things do work out in the end as they were always meant to (I'm sure some people will disagree with fatalistic view on life wholeheartedly-horses for courses etc!). In my experience that has what has happened in my own life- I have had to compromise the career I originally wanted for the sake of my health, yet now I've found something that I love and would never want to have missed, and I know it's right for me. I suppose in terms of your situation you need to ask why it is not possible to have both? Is it a practical issue such as finances, or is it because someone disapproves of/doesn't see the value in what you want to do? In which case, are they the right person for you? Do you think you can get over not realising your dream? There are a whole load of questions to consider really, which would sway my advice! Can you tell us any more about it? No worries if not- not everyone wants to spill everything on a forum! Best, KB

Hi Moonblue...well to be honest if I can't hold of a paper and there is enough info in the abstract, I have been known to use the information anyway and just list it as a normal reference. Alternatively sometimes you can find another paper that talks about the paper you want in more detail, so that can be a good way to find information, and sometimes if you can't get hold of a paper you can just email the author and they will send you a copy if they are nice! I know you are not really meant to reference papers you haven't actually read, but I don't know anyone who hasn't done this (we did a poll of our team one lunchtime, sadly enough!), and I'm sure plenty of other published researcher do the same! KB

Hi Satchi...afraid you have lost me too this time. But one thing I do seem to remember is that the variance that has been accounted for is actually r squared, i.e. .94 X .94 in your case. However, I could completely be making that up, so probably best to check! With regards to multicolinearity I have no idea, sorry :( It's been quite a while since my last stats course, and I tend to run to one of the statisticians in the department when I am struggling! KB

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Hey Satchi, yeah I used an online power calculator, the one at http://www.danielsoper.com/statcalc/ and also the one at http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm I was using it for a multiple regression sample size calculation, I'm not sure if it does sample sizes for every different kind of analysis, but if you google 'online power/sample size calculator' then you will find a whole load of different ones so you should find one to suit! KB

Hey again Satchi! Just so that you don't panic over participant numbers, 76 will be fine for some studies- it depends on what you're doing. The power calculation for my study showed that I only needed 30 participants in each group for 80% power at a 5% significance level, and with 60 sets of data I already have a plentitude of significant results! Of course some might require more than that, it depends on the strength of relationship you are expecting etc. Good luck with the analysis, KB

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Hey Ev! It sounds like a tough job, trying to satisfy the demands of people who have different priorities. A few of my mates in other departments are having similar problems to yourself- they are obliged to do particular types of testing to keep to the protocol and keep the sponsors happy, but are struggling to find enough time to focus on the PhD itself. Personally, I don't think 6 months is too bad for you to be unsure still of where you're heading...it takes most people a while to figure that out and finalise the proposal anyway. But perhaps you can use this meeting with your supervisors to express your concerns and see if they can suggest some sort of solution, or a compromise of some description. Whilst it's not so bad to be unsure at the moment, you will need to start to get some idea over the next few months, and if you are finding it hard then best to flag it up with your supervisors now, rather than 18 months down the line. If your supervisors are anything like my mates' supervisors, they probably don't have a lot of contact or have much idea of your commitments to the other one, so perhaps neither have a full picture of what's going on. I would definitely use the meeting as an opportunity to be frank with them about your situation so that they can support you and perhaps arrange for more regular meetings to talk about your research if you think that would help. Don't stress- you will get there in the end, it takes all of us a while to work out what on earth we're doing! Good luck with the hospital! Best, KB

Hi Ian. It's quite tricky to get funding for a masters on its own, although some people manage it. It's probably more common to get a 1+3 scholarship, which funds both the masters and the PhD for people who already know that they want to do both, but they are pretty competitive and I'm not sure if they do them in your subject. Most of the people in my year got a career development loan for their masters ( I think Barclays do one, and another bank but I can't remember which!). Just be careful with these, because they often demand that you start paying it back just a couple of months after you graduate, which can be a bit tricky if you're not working. Probably the best thing to do would be to contact the department you are hoping to study at and ask them to point you in the right direction- they are more likely to have an idea about subject-specific funding. Hopefully there might be someone on the forum who can be a bit more helpful than me! KB

Hey Satchi- I am not a stats guru by any means, but I will try to answer! It depends really whether gender has any relevance to what you are looking at....if not, then the difference won't matter. For example, we have always been told that if gender isn't relevant to what we are studying, then we don't need to even mention how many of our participants were of each gender in our method/participants section. As far as I am aware, this isn't what is meant by skewed data (this is more to do with a skewed distribution curve etc, i.e. the data doesn't meet the criteria for normality), and I don't think a transformation will be relevant here. As long as you are looking at something that is not gender specific then you should be able to use the data you have. Obviously there is unlikely to be enough data to make comparisons between genders, and you will might have to take the gender ratio into consideration when trying to generalise your results, but apart from that you should be okay! I always try to get a fairly even mix for my studies, but sometimes it's just not possible so don't stress about it! KB