No problem RLD!

Sorry to hear your supervisor has been quite passive. There are all types, you've just gotta figure out what's the best way of engaging them. Some don''t care because they just don't, but others do care but may not express it in a way you would if put in their shoes. So you've gotta figure out their style. I think the best way forward with such supervisors is to cobble together an overview of your approach and ask upfront "will this work? Does this make sense?" I think actually showing a draft (even though you may feel incredibly insecure about it) is the best way forward now so that everyone has something to react to and improve upon.

On methods specifically, my supervisor showed me the dissertation of a former student of his who just passed and whose thesis had "rave reviews." The methods section was as untechnical as they come, and incredibly short. She basically said she was just doing qualitative interviews, why, and how she actually did them. It wasn't fancy at all. But that approach worked for her topic because it was presented as an evolving story eventhough it was in the social sciences. So I'm convinced everyone's methods/methodology has to be fit for your thesis' purpose. But I am sure her approach was given the greenlight by all those who were involved in assessing it, so you'll need to run it by them, or your supervisor at the very least.

Great initiative! Might want to look at what's happening at these universities. Their PhD seminars aren't particularly focused on academics (which we these things tend to be) but on being a PhD student and the various practical/non-academic challenges that come with that role (as you've highlighted).

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/researchexchange/ (the idea of building of an academic AND social community of PhD students is quite appealing!)

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/intranet/LSEServices/TLC/TLCPhD/Authoring%20a%20PhD.aspx (The workshops at LSE are divided up by year of study, which is quite helpful as people need different types of support at different stages of their doctoral journey)

http://researchstudents.anu.edu.au/ (I believe the programme's led by Inger Mewburn of the excellent The Thesis Whisperer blog. The graduate students at ANU are really lucky to have her!)

I was just thinking about doing just that Elderflower!

When you're knee deep in work and things aren't going well, it's easy to miss the forest for that single stupid tree which isn't growing like it should! That frustration can really wear you down bit by bit to the point you just wonder "what's the point of it all."

And it was after feeling that way for a while that I realised maybe I should actually write down what's the point of doing a PhD. Why am I doing it? What's that spark that got me started in the first place? So I've written that down and stuck it up on a wall to remind me.

Of course if the spark's gone then that's something else ....

Hello Echo,

I think a PhD is part an external competition, but largely also an internal one. You can be your own worst enemy because of the expectations you may have of yourself. There's a whole body of literature on the threat of perfectionism. Perhaps it's that - for whatever reasons (environment, personality, history?) you may have simply set the bar too high that you'll never be good enough, hence how you feel?

To the threat of perfectionism I'd add the curse of hindsight. The PhD is a journey into the unknown, and it's impossible to plan a perfect itinerary. Yet as you pass milestones, you look back and think you could have done things so differently. Of course you could have if you could look into the future (which you obviously can't)! That's the curse of hindsight.

A PhD is also an opportunity to grow personally, as well as intellectually. I tend to be quite dependent on the judgement of others. My personal challenge is to be more comfortable in my own skin. Am also trying to, as they say, grow a pair, develop thicker skin and give the finger to those whose opinions (sometimes my own inner voice actually) are unfair and should therefore not matter.

That said, if you do think you're really slacking and that's getting you down, then it has to be fixed. I guess you need to do as objective an assessment of your situation - are you being too hard on yourself, or do you need help with project management (ie. getting stuff done)?

Try to get your hands on a copy of this book. I found it immensely helpful in sorting myself out, and preventing me from being the obstacle to getting on with the PhD. It's excellent because it helps you overcome self-doubt, as well as gives you a practical plan on how to get stuff done.


All the best! As they say, the best PhD is a completed, not a perfect, one. Don't be too hard on yourself!

Hello RD,

My wife's dissertation was part of a MSc course so it was a smaller project on quality improvement within an organisation. In her case, I think she managed to reverse engineer the project quite well because the data collected was still generally usable. It wasn't perfect and caused problems, but nothing too big. She also stated up front that she had joined that data collection project late, and it was untrained individuals from within the organisation who had done the data collection. In fact, she managed to make that work for her by making it (the poor data collection) part of her research. In essence, she was quite lucky the circumstances didn't work against her.

Did your supervisor offer you any other advice besides the book recommendation?

Also, I came across this blog post which you might find useful:

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/researchexchange/entry/methodology_giant_must/

I know you're already some ways into your research but I suggest you have a look at a really basic methods textbook. The two I recommend are Punch's "Introduction to Social Research" and Henn's a "Short Introduction to Social Research." I think they're similar in intention as the book by Kumar you mention, though Kumar's book seems more prescriptive than exploratory?

The first reason for my recommendation is these books really give you the lay of the research methodology/methods land. It'll reinforce what you already know, and perhaps introduce new concepts/ideas that you weren't aware of, and can investigate further. The second reason is they suggest ways to conceptualise your entire research project (ie. how to fit all the parts together) around the all-important research question.

My supervisor always reminds me that the methodology/methods follows the research question, and not vice-versa, advice I've read elsewhere too. Although you've already collected data, I think it might still be useful to start the right way round as a conceptual exercise to help organise your thoughts and the logic of your study. You can reverse engineer your study (my wife sort of did that because she inherited an existing study which was poorly designed but data collection had already begun) but methodology isn't plug-and-play. It doens't stand alone. It has to make sense with your broader objectives.

If you've collected your data all from one site, you might also want to consider a case-study approach which could make things considerably simpler by clearly staking boundaries of your study. Case-studies are also useful in highlighting a gap in the literature (which I think you're trying to do). If you're interested in this approach. Robert Yin and Gary Thomas have books on the method which are widely recommended.

I hope this make sense!

Hello!

In my first year, so I'm not quite there yet. For what it's worth, from what I've read in PhD messages boards across the web, yours isn't an uncommon experience. You do have to plod on. I think the first step is not to freak out and go on an emotional downward spiral. You need to take a step back, breathe, and actually follow through on those good plans that you're making!

Also, have a look at the posts at
http://3monththesis.com/blog/

Start with this one:

http://3monththesis.com/how-i-wrote-a-phd-thesis-in-3-months/

The advice offered may or may not be helpful, but I find reading about how others overcame their PhD "wall" is inspirational and therapeutic. :)

All the best!

Might be helpful if you gave a brief overview of your PhD topic, or better yet, questions you hope to answer? Even the field you're working in would be helpful.

I sense you're trying to reverse engineer your research design because you've already got data. I think it might be better to put that aside for the time being and start the right way round

What research methods books have you looked at? There are loads of them, but I found starting with the ones which were plainly textbooks for beginners were the most helpful because they pretty much hold your hand and are really broad in approach. The "classics" can be a bit dense and not right for you (or me for that matter) at this point in time. Gotta learn to walk before you can run!.

Anyone know how I can be notified by email when there's a new post to a thread that isn't started by me?

Under "My account", I see an option to get notified if I receive a PM, or if the thread was started by me, but not for one I'm participating in (like this one).

Thanks!

Hello Boo,

It's never wrong to ask your supervisor questions. Always remember you're still a student first and foremost. It is, however, important you go in prepared with specific questions, and ideally a rough plan forward. It's never a good idea to meet with your supervisor without an agenda.

Perhaps you could ask for recommendations of introductory textbooks to methods as a way of raising your concerns. Hopefully your supervisor will also offer you a few titles to look at. If not, head to your library and search the catalogue. There are quite a few. The two titles off the top of my head which I found useful are "Introduction to Social Research" and "Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design". They're good because they're easy to read and are broad in their approach. I'm sure you'll find them useful. The research classes in my programme were rubbish too. I had to teach myself from books. Seems like these vital courses are hit or miss in the UK system, unfortunately.

It's also quite normal to "fear" your supervisor because of "impression management." You don't want to come across as a dummy, so you try your best to look the part of the clever postgrad. I wonder if the good impression your supervisor had of you as an undergraduate is actually fueling this too. I've learnt that putting on a facade is not sustainable. I tried for a few months and I couldn't, so I starting being more honest with my supervisor. Nothing bad happened. Like yours, our relationship wasn't overly formal, but he wasn't really the fatherly type you'd spill your guts out too. I sometimes I wonder if he thinks me an idiot, but I am who I am, and I can't change anyone's impression of me. I think accepting yourself is part of the PhD experience, really.

I also found this blog entry quite helpful :)

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/pghub/entry/my_first_phd/

Good luck!

Hey Athena,

That link's awesome! Thanks for sharing it.

Re: summarising your PhD, if you can get your hands on Peg Boyle Single's Demystifying Dissertation Writing, have a look on the chapter on 'focus statements'. There are exercises there which will help you distill the essence of your PhD first into a paragraph, then into a statement.

Personally, I find beginning my explanation with why I chose the topic really helps. It makes it more personal and therefore easier to begin. In my case, it's a paradox, which conveniently leads quite naturally to my research questions. If I were to jump right into the research question I get all tongue tied. I think it's because I try to state the research question without any contextualisation (why I chose it in the first place), which results in too many words going all over the place! It always helps to ease yourself (and the person listening to you) into your research question.

Hello thumbelina!

I'm glad you've already brought this up with your university.

I don't have bipolar but I'm struggling with a chronic impairment myself. I found what really helped was just being able to talk to people about it, or read about how others have coped with it. I had a good idea of what I could do to help me through my situation (from the help services or just reading up about it online), but I just needed some company. It's generally hard to find such company in real life, but there's a lot of it online (here, for example).

I suggest you use the search function in these other PhD forums to see how others have dealt with such challenges. You'll find your (our) struggles aren't that uncommon, and we aren't alone. Most of the posters in these forums are in the US, but that doesn't really make a difference.

http://chronicle.com/forums/


http://www.phinished.org/index.php


Good luck!

Makes sense to me but I am afraid I'm no expert. Talk to your supervisor about this.

I also suggest you have a look at Patrick Dunleavy's "Authoring a PhD". Your library should have a copy of it because it's widely recommended. He has a chapter on how to specifically order the chapters of your UK PhD, and I think you'll find it very useful.

There are indeed "norms" but you don't have to stick to them, especially in the social sciences. The main objective, really, is readability and logic. If you can't force a square peg into a round hole, don't.

All the best!

Hey!

I just stumbled upon this really old thread. I hope everyone has managed fine in the 4 or 5 years since the thread was started.

I've just started my PhD with a chronic condition. I battled cancer about 2 years ago and the treatment left me with something people refer to as "chemobrain." Long story short, my cognitive ability is mildly impaired - memory's poor, attention span poor, general fogginess of mind. You get the idea. I can still function, but it definitely makes a PhD that much harder.

I let my supervisor know in passing about it when I first met him but didn't want to make too much of it. But 4 months in I can see my condition being a problem. Especially with all the reading that has to be done! I have an appointment with the disabilities office tomorrow, and will be seeing my supervisor the day after (for my monthly supervision).

This is all new to me so I'm not really sure how to talk about this. Hopefully the disability advisor will offer some guidance tomorrow.

Hope all goes well! And best of luck to everyone!

Hey Athena,

That's actually a lot of work! I'm 4 months in (started in January) but I don't think I'm anywhere close where you probably were at 4 months.

Did you submit all that work to your supervisor?

I've done a lot of work in the "background" but I've not actually generated anything really formal. Nothing that really stands alone by itself. I'm worried because I feel like I've not really done very much, even though I spend every waking hour thinking about my PhD. Not that that translates into actual, visible work.

I suppose the anxiety comes from not really knowing how to pace myself and what monthly milestones I should be meeting. I know the big thing for the first year is the upgrade, but what happens before then? Is it really up to you, and how you get to the end doesn't really matter?