Ditto. Joining the camp of brainless too. On a personal note, what I always liked about this forum and that's why I guess I joined it, was the tendency among it's users to provide a balanced feedback on life in general, including PhD. However, recently I find myself confused by some new posts, because to be honest I don't know what to make out of them.

At the risk of sounding daft, could someone please enlighten me on the usefulness of academia.edu for a PhD student, except obviously (I don't like the sound of this word) following  somebody' s work. What ground rules apply to this community? is it the same as following someone on Twitter or becoming a FB friends (which sometimes does not mean that you are friends in real life) but on a different level? Sorry again for being daft :$

January does not so bad to me and now. I tend to agree with your sup in that I have seen quite a lot of new students starting in January. In my university the welcome week  is twice a year in September and in January. Having said that, I have to admit that I have not seen many funded PhD students starting in January, however if one is  self-funded or the studentship time frame is different, it does not matter. The health reasons are obviously top priority. You could possibly now get the list of methodology courses from your department to find out which methodology courses are run and in which semesters and ask your sup which ones he/she would recommend for a start. As for the how the rest of the start goes, I would say, it depends squarely on your particular university, department, supervisor situation, and also whether or not you are relocating to another city/country for your PhD, do you need to find accommodation, etc.  If all of this components work well to support you, it does not matter imho when you start. So make sure you have all these boxes ticked before you start, from accommodation to immediate expectation of you as a student, so that you don't panic trying to sort all these things at once when you arrive on the spot, and let the life will sort out the rest. Get well and good luck!  
(up)
P.S. I would say for a start it'a good sign you already on this forum.

Hi Skig, what a horror situation avoided. Bless you for saving most/some of your work before. Hope all goes more or less smooth from this point on. In this opportunity, could please other people share their experiences/suggestions on how/where/when to save/back up your work to less technology-savvy peers on this forum?

Cheers all, thank you for encouragement (up) Dating game - here I go... Will keep you posted ;-)

Right, I don't know why, but I feel like drawing some comparisons with dating here, a bit cheesy, so, apologies. I have this feeling about publishing an article for the first time - it's like the first kiss or first love... anyway, you get the picture - one wants to make it right.  So, imagine, there is someone really attractive you fancy with a bitter sweet feeling inside that they are too much for you and mean trouble, but you cannot resist their looks and fall for them with all corresponding consequences - either upfront or eventual rejection, hurt feelings, damaged self-esteem, etc. Similarly, there is this journal I sort of fancy for the first time publication with an impact factor over 2 and something...and it's like with that good looking someone...I have a feeling of trouble...should I still dare?

:$

Thanks Ady, yes, I think these are national level data and not actual measures, meaning questions and scoring instruments. Thanks anyway :-)

Thanks a lot Tey61 - I'll look around for James Nazroo's work.

I am looking for a measure of individual SES in a developing country, there are some measures assessing SES in that country, some designed by US policy makers, some homegrown, but none of these measures are not standardized. However, it looks from what you are saying, that standard SES measure applicable for all contexts may not exist.

Hiya all,

Sorry, posting my questions again as my yesterday's post was deleted (hope by accident). I was wondering if anyone could suggest a place to look for  measures of socioeconomic status, that are standardized and available in other languages than English.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hi,

I was wondering if it is OK in general to use non parametric tests with purposive sample over 200?

Many thanks:-)

Hi Keenbean, sorry for belatedness - have not been around lately. Congratulations! Well done! You're an inspitarion! All the best of luck!

Agree with Dunni73 - something like statistics do not reflect the reality, complexity of the situation, etc. or similarly inconclusive. Having struggled similarly with finding a perfect phrase, stopping, and thinking over and over, instead of moving on, myself have found the book, mentioned on this forum and available on google, on Legal Writing in Plain English by Bryan A. Garner quite helpful.

Well done, Keenbean! So glad you got it after years of hard work and tolerance. Hope the new team will keep your spirits up, from your experience we know for sure that people with whom you work are as much important as the work you do. Good luck with your viva!(up)

Congratulation and good luck! Agree with others - your example, provided all the dynamics you went through, is empowering(up):-) Hope you sup :-s does not show her moods and supports you, as we all will here:-)

Thank you all (up) I think what also helps it to survive until next morning and start afresh :-) There are no native speakers in my office, but could probably ask someone to proofread my work after I have more or less something coherent. Getting a lot of practice in writing is a good advice - writing for exercise and building my own phrase-book!  Can I ask though (and I understand that the answer is highly individual) those of you who are non-native writers - how long it took (reading, writing, living in this country) to feel more or less comfortable in writing academically. You say until my head explodes, well, sort of, already, but with no apparent effect on writing skills.:$