hi EV, Hmm are you in france? the spelling of voyageur kind of hints at that....I'm just an ordinary bug! the very inconspicuous kinds that roam around in gardens! Much unlike the deeply philosophical bent of your nick, mine is urrgh so buggish!

hey EV, good luck! Is this the final 10 000 word proposal (if ur uni has the same system as mine does) or is it an extension of the application proposal?

Newbies, how much has everyone done till NOW? i mean as far as your phd is concerned? How long a proposal do u have and hav u started lit review? do you have any plans in order or sumthng?

:(

Get hold of a course pack for the equivalent levels of stats courses from friends in universities that make and give out course packs...and there is another book....Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences by Finlay and Agresti...you could also use some training courses with SPSS

Hi, yes it differs! My Sup is the busiest of academics u know, but somehow we resonated so wonderfully well intellectually, when she was my masters sup, in a span of 2 months, we had 10 meetings..and I CANNOT express how much i gre intellectually..

now that my phd is starting with her, i guess i ll have supervision every fortnight or 3 weeks, whatever she decides, but honestly, the way I have really been academicaly guided is by way of exchanging emails! all through the summer hols!

I set my own targets and the 'project' at hand is just one of the things we discuss, the larger disussions are aroud concepts, the field, disciplines and so on, and its fantastic. It works with me..

I am intrigued. The reason for a PhD cannot ever be dissatisfaction with your present life status. To me, it looks like you're not entirely happy with your jobs, you have other problems as well, which I appreciate, and as a result of all of this, you want to 'escape' into a PhD.

Let me leave aside the fact that you do not have a Masters, which is usually a prerequisite for UK PhDs or that you've been away from your subject or that you may encounter troubles in gathering references. If I were a supervisor, I would need to know:

1. Why do you want to a PhD?
2. What is your area of academic interest in the broad field? In other terms what is it that you are interested in researching?
3. Why with me?
4. What are your thoughts about funding?

These are only a few. "I want to do a PhD very much" is very different from "I want to do a PhD because (some valid academic/professional reason". Mind you, the answer to this is not just needed to convince a supervisor to take you on but above all, to make sure you're not entering something because it looks like a safe escape away from reality.

Trust me, a PhD is as real as it gets, as anyone on this forum will vouch.

I hope you think this through clearly, and then make a decision!

Cheers.

Pari I love the way you use (!!!!!0 exclamation marks liberally!!! all over your posts...they spread joy and smiles! keep it up..

PS: R u doing a PhD in the UK?

Yes, till date I haven't heard of any uni which doesn't make the viva an integral part of the PhD process. In fcat most unis have MPhil vivas as well. My uni has three vivas for all three years.

Second, you could use google books to get an idea of the books. Patrick Dunleavy's book is good. Pugh's book is slightly dated but still alright. Do remember though, that while the list is personal and may be endless, it ultimately boils down to what you make of the process.

BEst!

Is a pet a relative? What if one has spent nights after nights snuggling up with them? I am in London, starting my PHD and my dog is about to die any time now halfway across the globe...with or without a surgery...in tremendous pain.


She is not a human being. But yes, she is my friend. I'm an only child and she saw me in my teens as well..she knows my secrets..we played pranks together.

Is that family? or is it not? I dont know...as I wait to get the phone call from home..

Comm Studies!!:-)

Hi All

Here's a happy story :)I just started this week. Its been fantastic...my sup was my MSc sup and she is the BEST name in our field...all over summer we've been emailing, every other day, sharing our thoughts around...books, conferences, papers...scholars...not "PHD PhD" stuff but intellectual exchanges...exchanging reflections...there is such a huge deal of intellectual resonance..

We've been meeting all over September in corridors, at conference rooms etc...yesterday in a corridor...she caught me and told me "Excellent proposal!" and today yeah yeah she sent me a project idea from it! Our first meeting is still a week away...

i am so very happy, and when I look back to this April which is when i started writing my MSc dissertation, I read my own writing to see how much I've grown under her wing...so its a happy happy story till now! Lets see what happens ahead...

WHY does this thread show 7 replies in the chart and why cna i only see one reply?

hey, writing is a mind thing really, you just have to slot aside time for it, and promise yourself u'll get SOMETHING down. also never ever trash any of your written stuff, u can get things outof it later.

tell us, how much ( in words) have you written till now? The real count? You must have some idea right?Also, what has your prof been reading til now? what hav u been showing him to read? Get all of that, and make a total and see how many words you can use?

Andy1 and Andy1, maybe its time to ban someone from this forum....

umm hmm heheh scienceishard!!! Yup! :)