Thanks Lupinpooter,

never thought of research and development, sounds logical.

Kind regards,

Rick

Silly question: Does anyone know whether "RAND" is an acronym or a name? Looking at the RAND website there is no indication that this a name, abbreviation nor acronym. Also just "googling" it does not give an explanation.

I know it an American cooperation doing research, for example related to health.

Any views regarding the meaning of RAND?:-)

Well done Sue, good show!

That must be relief, you should be proud of yourself and enjoy a few beers.

I have also made some progress (have done major re-writes of my thesis, not fully completed though), however not as much as you, and will reward myself with one beer.

;-)

Hi Bilbo,

yeah, must be quite something to re-read a lot of stuff which you have gone through in the past. Good to hear that you are, even though you say it is slowly, making progress.

Keep going! Thanks again for your help regarding the question.:-)

Thanks Bilbo,

just felt a bit insecure about it, will go by your advice.

How are things?
:-)

Dear all,

I am rewriting my thesis and came across a small book which has indicated as "author": Anonym?

Would that be a acceptable reference?:-)

Hi Walminski,

sorry to hear regarding your paper that was rejected, must be very disappointing.

I must say that your choice of music is, for me, a bit difficult to understand, may be it is because you are desperate due to the bad news related to your paper.

I have had papers rejected as well, it is very annoying, especially if it is not clear why. But with time, as with everything, one gets over it.

Any alternative journals you could send your article to?

Kind regards,

Rick
:-)

Well done TheAce,

wanted to congratulate you and wish you a pleasant time!

Kind regards,

Rick:-)

Hi Ulysses,

yeah, best to do one step at a time.

:-)

Hi Jojo, others,

I think it really helps not to write for a few days, do some other things, sports! etc. , then write on a blank piece of paper what really needs to be in the chapter.

Then print your chapter, read it in paper format and compare with the few points you had jotted down on the blank. Do they fit? If yes great, if not amend / cut and paste to fit is with the simple structure.

Hi all,

like others I have had a lot of other things on my mind related to my job, not so much the PhD. As such there has been a bit of delay in correcting / rewriting my thesis, yet I intend to pick it up again this weekend.

What percentage who do the viva actually pass it? I do not know any exact figures, but I would guess that the vast majority get through, and as such I think the biggest worry therefore is the thesis, making sure that it is completed on time and that it is of good quality. At least that is what I am concentrating on, albeit, as mentioned, not now but this weekend again. I will only worry regarding the viva once I have completed the written part.:-)

What do others do? Do you have the viva on your mind while writing? Does it influence what and how you write?

Hi Maria,

I have had something similar, albeit in a different setting. I know the feeling and know that these things can be very upsetting and disturbing.

I think it is very important for your boyfriend to take this very seriously. Unfortunately it seems to be that "who complained first" has got more chance of being believed, and therefore vice versa the one who is on the receiving end may find it hard to "win" the case.

I think it is important that your boyfriend collects a much written evidence as possible proving that he did provide adequate supervision (e.g. supervision reports, work that has been a achieved with the student, feedback given to the student etc.).

Also, I think it is often wise to provide an apology: Not that he admits that he has done something wrong, but more as acknowledging the complaint. Something like: I am sorry to hear that Miss .... is unhappy regarding my supervision etc.

Finally if there is something like a formal hearing it is wise for him not to be on his own, but to have a friend on his side.

Hi Ev,

in the abstracts that I have written, and I think that is the case for most abstracts, there are no references at all. As such they can also not count, as not used.

It is only in the main body of the text that references are used. Abstract and references do not count to the word count for the full paper.

:-)

Hi Walminski,

I think there are several issues here:

1. Do patient preference questionnaires already exist? There are a lot of questionnaires available in health care and it would surprise if you would not find something which you could use, or at least which could function as an example. There is a book from Bowlen (?) which consists of health care questionnaires only.

2. Developing your own questionnaire may be a PhD in itself; I am sure you are aware of problems related to validating it (like validity, reliability etc.). Most journals accept surveys only if based on a validated questionnaire.

3. Asking patients to design their own preference questionnaire it an interesting idea, however I think it may only work with a very selected group of patients (not too unwell, with plenty of time, very well educated etc.). May be an idea for a focus group, and yes, therefore time consuming.

4.I would try and keep it simple, as such the method with the list of questions, presented by you, may be best (again assuming that something similar does not exist already). Also here there may be risk of bias, due to your selection and which you will have to be able to justify.:-)

Hi Sue, Alpacalover,

thanks for your replies. I feared already that you would say something like that. You are right, probably needs to be in the main text, and therefore also have to rewrite larger parts to make it coherent.

Had a good day though, made some progress in what I need to write. Still need to find some bits and read a bit to get my head around it completely. However, happy with what I wrote today.

See your points regarding having a job aside of the thesis writing. It is hard to have to concentrate on two different things.

I am afraid I cannot give explicit advice on jobs.

Wish you both a pleasant (rest) of the weekend.:-)