hi Craig it is great that you are so supportive of your partner. I knew a lady from Thailand who came to the UK to do her masters. She had excellent grades from her previous university, I think it was Chulalangkorn something like that but she couldn't cope with the English and she left after only 3 months. She couldn't even read journal papers without looking up words in the dictionary it was really difficult for her.

Maybe your partner will just have to come to terms with the reality of doing a phd. She may feel like she's losing face etc. it is not easy, and it may also not be easy for you to be so supportive all the time, you might even get fed up one day. Sorry, but what I am saying is really true.

But don't worry, everyone will come to learn and discover themselves in their own time.

Well done for being there for her, and whatever you do, remember to also focus on your own career.

love satchi

the easiest is getting your supervisor's approval, if they say it's ready, it's good to go :-)

love satchi

hi, you have a job now as psychologies, wow I think that's excellent. One of our Forum members recently posted a link on an article about PhD over-production, and it is summarised in a blog here.

Research is really difficult (in my opinion) sometimes it is not as exciting as it may seem.

If it is your dream to do research, I guess you should go for it, otherwise you will always think ..."what if..."

However, I still think that developing your career as a psychologist would also be beneficial for you, it could even be better going from NOW than to go and do a phd, and then see what happens from there. The problem with phd for me is that its almost impossible to get a job, to survive etc. Cheap labour, poor working conditions, I was one of them too, my goodness I AM STILL one of them. Now I am at the mercy of funding, when a project ends, so will I.

I got some advice from a research bigwig, he explained things like why the same people get grants etc. and why it is difficult for someone like me (early post-phd) to really get a break in the area of FUNDING etc. It will take a long time and lots of hard work and perhaps a bit of luck for someone like me to be able to win a bid. I also don't know if I've got what it takes to be in this kind of "academic/research war-field"! I am just not aggressive enough.

What I would suggest to you to do, is to take some time off applying.

Sometimes it is difficult to appreciate what we already have in our life.

Take a break, just continue your present job first, relax, and then see how you feel after some time. If the urge to want to go into research is still there, then maybe it is what you should do.

best of luck
love satchi

hi loomy
Congrats on your abstract-acceptance!!!
It is very good for the team! Doesn't really matter who is presenting, but it does sound like she is being petty. It is not easy to work with difficult people.

Just thread carefully, but carry on!
love satchi

oh I will have to tell her then. Thanks everyone
love satchi

ok guys, what about this - if some people have signed the Consent Form, and not done the experiment???? I think what's happened is that people got the forms from her when she went out to talk about her study, and they've signed it and then they haven't kept their appointments for the tests. There is something wrong somewhere?

If I'm not mistaken, are we supposed to only sign the Consent Form at the start of the tests?

love satchi

hi everyone,
someone's asked me this and I don't know the answer, so I've offered to ask the Forum and she can go to her supervisor when she's mustered the courage I guess.

This is a masters study, and what's happened is that some of her study participants have not signed the Consent Form. Will she have to discard all that data if she can't locate them?

I was thinking of verbal consent, but how does that work? I don't know how to help her.
any advice?
thanks
love satchi

hi hiini,
I became a part-time cleaner during the first year of my phd and I gave math tuition to 4 children every Wednesday. I loved being with the children because they always made me laugh but juggling the time was difficult. I found that I had to make up the time in the weekends on my PHD work for what I didn't do on that Wednesday because I was going to their houses.

I stopped the cleaner job after 10 months because it was simply too much for me, walking 50 minutes one-way, and another 50 min all the way back, just to save busfare.

The good part of my short stint as a cleaner was the plane tickets I managed to buy for my parents to come visit me.

If you have sufficient funding, please don't work another job during your phd.
love satchi

I didn't know that! thank you for telling me
love satchi

Thanks guys! Is there a difference between using () and []?
love satchi

hi everyone, you know the quotes that we put from research participants?
say we did a qualitative interview, and the participant said something like "it is better for them to be able to survive...etc" when the "them" means young babies,

so when I write it up, can I change it to "it is better for young babies to be able to survive..."
or do I put a bracket somewhere?

Thanks
love satchi

hi Old_Git
would it be possible for you to call up the university, and ask to speak to a Student Advisor? Sometimes our kids need that extra help and maybe a phone call could help in getting him back on track.

love satchi

hi dailyelena
congrats! let us know how you do
love satchi

I have read the article, took me 2 days to read it, it's very good -- this quote "almost dishonest to encourage people to do phds"

Yes- cheap labour, no job security, I am there too.

Thanks Kim for posting the link.

love satchi

hi simmon welcome to the Forum
good luck
love satchi