thinking cutting old sock up and then tying strips of plastic bag around it to keep it waterproof and then taping them around the dogs ankles - thinking elastic bands may cut in, so maybe just attach them with duck tape - its either that or no walking for her today. Im sure they will be off in a matter of seconds, oh well!

Today's work:

- Finish off consultancy work
- Plan lecture (read books!)
- Mark stuff
- Make shoes for dog as her paws are getting clumps of snow in them.

exactly my point :-) This is why I gave up A level French, cos they expected us to know all this stuff like what is the imperfect tense!?? - How am I supposed to know in French if I don't know in English!? Thank god my parents are really nitpicky about SPAG - they will be employed full time proof reading (without pay obviously)

try reading 'eats shoots and leaves' book - google it, its quite famous. Also, that's what proof readers are for, so maybe hire one, or like me, get your mum to do it, as she went through proper 1950s schooling where they actually explained the difference between subjunctives and past participals!?????

Hi guys, long time, no post! Glad to hear things are plodding along ok. Sorry to hear about your organisation A116 - I know the feeling. While I have been not posting, my 2nd study has all gone a bit pete tong, and decided to keep going with it, but very slowly and start off my 3rd one at the same time.

Maggie - I just started my first lectures last week - I am only doing a few and had no idea they take so much prep! I think for the sake of my PhD they are the only ones I will be doing. My PhD has suffered preparing for them. I am also being observed this week (my 2nd ever lecture!), so i am fraught (sp) with nerves about the whole thing - I don't really know too much about the subject so frantically 'revising' feels like I am going into an exam! - the group are very talkative and ask you things all the way through, like 'is there any research on this and XYZ' and I think "I have noooo idea, I don't even do this subject", but as I am being observed, don;'t think I can resort to that so I have to learn a lot.

Apart from that, the weekend with my parents was very busy, but relaxing in the sense that I was doing lots of work, but it was non-PhD work. I have since had a sup meeting where I got absolutely b*****d for not doing that lit review. I have been given 3 weeks to do it and have been told to cancel everything else - but the lectures and other work always seem to get in the way so going to have to get through this week and then settle down to writing full time.

AAAH - probably comes across a bit stressed - and I am!

Try looking at this paper

E Ferguson, T Cox - Exploratory Factor Analysis: A Users' Guide, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 1993

Its on google scholar. either that or Andy Field explains it very well http://www.statisticshell.com/factor.pdf

Hmm, Well, I managed to do a paragraph and then got kinda writers block - I had everything in front of me but just got fidgety. So started on the consultancy work I am doing, which needs to get done tonight. Supervisor meeting was cancelled so now in uni with nothing to do.

Finishing consultancy work tonight and then going to my parents for the weekend - so doubt will get much work done until Tuesday.

Oh well, maybe my supervisor will forget she asked me to write anything - hopefully!

i'm 18 months in and have done 2 national conferences and am presenting at an international conference later in the year. Its one of the key things you are supposed to do as a PhD student, so not a huge deal, although quite scary!

i find that the pages concealed in google books are often available in amazon 'limited preview' although not always.

ooh join us! as you can tell, I am spending far too much time messing about on this forum today so need to be held accountable!

My advice would be to keep it short. If they have to read your proposal, they don't want to sit down and read loads of info on the front page. Leave them wanting more, that way they will probably pull you in for an interview to learn more about you!

personally I would probably go down the comic route and put a chimanzee joke in, but thats just me ;-)

in my experience you will get it back eventually and none of them will have read it.

Well done on the chapter A116! - off to a seminar! - god, I wish I enjoyed my subject that much. I should have done zoology/vetinary sciences or something cos the only thing educational I ever do out of choice is watch animal documentaries, read through wildlife books/magazines. Oh well, maybe after this PhD......

Is it just me? - Why can't you buy the ebook version of the books on Google books???? If its already been put on there so you can read limited sections, why can't I just pay and read the whole thing without having to wait a week for amazon to get it to me?

Sneaks is puzzled!


:-s

Today:

- Finish chapter 1
- Plan Chapter 2
- sort out all my receipts for expenses claoims
- prepare for sup meeting tomorrow.

(walk the dog)