spelt

maid

No I didn't really, it was the most boring xmas break I've ever had (PhD corrections) but thanks for asking :-)

Hi Lara,

Have you got a date for your viva, or your examiners sorted yet? And do you reckon they'll give you a mock viva? Great that you're getting stuck into the reading though! (up) No one's really written about viva prep on here, I don't think, so there's something a bit mystical about it at the moment for me, unless there isn't very much to say about it?!

I'm plodding through my corrections at the moment, SO tedious, but I do like the idea of it being finished and being able to move onto something new. I think it's about the only thing that's keeping me going at the moment. Anyway, better get started I guess, I've had my day-after-being-at-work lie-in so I'd better have another coffee and get on with it. :-s

smell

maul

happy new year Tricky!

Hi Cupcake,

I had that problem at the start of mine. I had some interesting research questions that my sups were happy with, but it all seemed a big sprawling mass of disconnected ideas rather than a potential thesis. I left my writing for a bit and did a diagram, a sort of mindmap thing, with all the main ideas, key books I was referencing and problems I wanted to answer, as it got all the PhD things swirling around in my head onto paper. It gave me a way of seeing how all the different elements that I wanted to research actually related to each other. A bit like joining the dots to make a picture like in kid's drawing books, I suppose! From that, I could see a pattern emerging for a potential chapter structure, as various bits grouped together in a fairly logical way. Once I had those broad sections worked out, it let me formulate mini-research questions as a focus for each chapter, and after that I could work out how I was going to go about investigating each section, my methods, what data I needed, what bodies of literature I'd have to read, etc.

I was looking at it yesterday and it's more or less what I've ended up with for the final thesis structure, so I guess it was a good thing to do to get a grip on the PhD as a whole - I was seriously overwhelmed by it all before my upgrade. The hardest bit was trying to force my diagram into a linear structure of chapters that would flow ok for reading purposes as a written thesis. It was messy and frustrating to do, and I realised there was no easy way to organise some data, so it was a compromise, but that's ok if you explain why you've done it that way.

I handed in an abstract, a chapter outline of about 3000 words, a chapter of about 4000 words I think that was a sort of lit review and an account of what I wanted to research and why. I also handed in an A3 version of my mindmap diagram, and talked about it at my upgrade panel meeting - it was just another way of showing the examiners what I wanted to do, why and how. Why don't you go with one and a half line spacing as a compromise for your text? Single line is very squashed for writing comments and doesn't read as easily, I think.

Try not to be a dejected heap though, it is a difficult thing to do, but it takes shape gradually. It's all work in progress until the very end, and that includes the upgrade.

I'm sorry it was traumatic, but great you survived! (up)

I mentioned mock vivas to my 2nd sup a while ago and he said he didn't think they were a good idea, as they could either traumatise you unnecessarily, or lull you into a false sense of security. As they're not standard procedure for my uni, he put me off asking for one, but maybe I'll think again when I've submitted.

Hello Lara and Armendaf, good to see you back! :-)

Oh, you lucky rested people, trying to get over that holiday feeling!! Can't wait for that :-x

Will pop back for a proper post soon.

Hi Pineapple,

Sounds like you've done loads of work, but I know the scary feeling of a final deadline - it's so final!! Why don't you ask your supervisors why they think you'll need an extension? Then you'd know where they're coming from with all this, it might do your confidence a bit of good too. It might not be that they doubt your abilities at all, it may be related to their past experience of other students and from that, they're assuming that there might be loads of rewriting and analysis needed after you've completed your data collection?

When are you aiming for a chunky almost-complete draft of your whole thesis? The reason I'm wondering is because my own thesis only took its final shape when I'd done the big draft, and even after that I had to swop 2 chapters around (and am still rearranging the content within those 2). Before that I knew I'd been cutting it a bit fine with my submission date, and before my draft before xmas was submitted I got the impression that my sups were worried I'd manage it on time. Maybe they still are, but all you can do is try to prove them wrong, which fingers crossed (and all the other cliches) will be possible in my case!

Thanks everyone, I feel better today. :-)

I had a good cry yesterday, dyed my hair then started on a shorter, easier chapter just so I could cross another one off my 'to do' list. There are SO many ups and downs in this process, I never believed it when others told me the reality of finishing a PhD for them, but ho hum, the arrogant naivety of the new starter - I never thought it would apply to me, lol!!

Bakuvia, it was my methodology chapter that got me down yesterday too. It seemed to have expanded so much and I felt really out of my depth with it, as I had a really long list of book suggestions in case I 'wanted to engage with them' from my sup. Anyway, maybe today it will seem clearer, if not I'll send it off for feedback anyway.

Sarah, you are so right. You get it done in some form or other because you have to. I totally understand the dithering over all the details then finding a glaring error though, I had some seriously strange illustration numbering in my draft before xmas and that was just a draft - you wonder how how you could miss them but it happens. Good luck with your work, you have needed more staying power than most for your situation. Hope it's going well.

Liminal, hope you feel better today, it seems worse being ill when you've got the PhD hanging over you. Not that being ill could be considered a lovely experience at the best of times.

Thanks again everyone. (up)

I'm already in the twilight zone between corrections and submission, so am probably no help to anyone right now. I have no idea how I'm going to get everything done by next month, though presumably I will have something to hand in as I have to. I think it's likely that my standards will drop the nearer to the end through lack of time, though it's great that you want to submit as good a thesis as you can Liminal. The rate I'm going at the moment, I'm likely to just chop bits out if there's no time to chase up endless references or extra supporting evidence. I can't believe how long it takes to get this stuff done.

What on earth do other people do to motivate themselves so near the end??? This mental equivalent of gritting your teeth and getting on with it is horrendous. I've been doing it (or trying to) since the new year and just feel like I'm not getting anywhere - I cross off bits that are done, but there is so much left to do still and I have to go back to work this week. Today I just can't stop crying, it's like I'm stuck in a quagmire like the ones in the Hound of the Baskervilles that swallow you up in quicksand and it takes a superhuman effort to climb out, but today I am really floundering. I just don't know how the hell I'm going to get through this thing at the moment, I am having a seriously bad day. There is probably enough time left to get the worst chapters done by Wed, which is what I originally planned at the start of the xmas break, if I get my act together and stop crying.

Apologies for absence of motivational words btw.

Ooh, well done!! You give me hope! (up)

Eska, thank you, I told Pete about it. I'd better not send any PMs until it's sorted out, as no-one will know I've sent anything anyway.

Eska, thanks for the PM info and I have replied!!

Can I ask on Pete's behalf whether you got an email notification saying someone (me!) had sent you a PM? He's looking into it.

Hope your cold goes soon, though a purple nose + red coat sounds fairly well colour coordinated - my winter speciality is matching nose and lipstick, very fetching!! :-)