Hi All,

It has been an odd few weeks for me as well here, didn't manage to move on with my PhD as I wanted, mostly because of teaching duties (which I do like to attend but require so much time!!) and a few non-PhD-related articles that needed writing up and submission.

I've been in London last week to meet my sup - finally - for the first time in about a year :-) It was good to spend some time with him and my PhD-fellows, and this gave me some new motivation to push on with work.

My plan is now 'decided': I'll try submission next August/September, 5 chapters are written and revised once, they'll need some revision but it shouldn't be much work. 2 of them are already out for publications, which means they should really not need much work anymore.
I need 3 more chapters on the analysis I'm doing, that should lead to a final model, plus a 'what's next' and a conclusion chapters. And at least 1 more publication.

So, I have a plan now and the blessing of my sup to follow it. It's time to get the work done...

BlackTrinity, Caterpiller and Moonblue: keep us posted and let us know how these last weeks of work go!! You're sooo close now to get it done!! :-)

Welcome Starsgoblue :-) A big 'good luck!' with your work, please continue posting, we'll be happy to follow your progresses!

Hope everyone else is also doing well, good luck! xx

Hi everybody!

How are you all doing?? Who's been already able to submit? Please let us know how it's going!

xxx
Wanderingbit

Congratulations Dr. Button!! And thanks for sharing this moment with us :-) So good to hear about such positive experiences! :D

xx

Well done!! Congratulations Satchi!
(Looking forward to this day...!!)

Now best of luck with you viva! :-) xx

Hi Giddypig,

absolutely agree with zipidee, and in particular: try the mytomatos.com! I also discovered it here, and it helps sooo much!! I doubt I'd managed to write up my literature review, plus method, plus one analysis chapter all during last sommer without the tomatos!!

Indeed, I'm using it right in this moment as well, answering this post during a 5min 'well-deserved break'!! Try it out!

Good luck!

Usually the evaluation of the abstracts starts after all abstracts have been sent - i.e. after the submission deadline is over. Depending on how many abstracts are there and how many reviewers/what review procedure they apply, they will need a few weeks before coming out with the selection of papers for the conference.

In my experience so far, response comes about 4-12 weeks after submission deadline, it depends a lot on the conference timeplan of course - and also if they plan to print out proceedings during or after the conference.

Best
Wanderingbit

My method chapter is also short (6'700)! I discussed pros and cons of quant and qual methods for text analysis, and then made the argument for the chosen methods in my study. I also think it very much depends on the area your research in (mine is music psychology); do you have a long and well structured first chapter (framework, literature review, research questions with related argument)?
For me this first chapter was the hell!! 25'000 and endless months of work, I thought I would never come out of it! But once this was settled, the method chapter was really just a matter of clean cut methodological discussion, short and focused.

Why do you have to write 15'000 on method?? Shouldn't it be as long as necessary and not more? For my sup, the lit rev chapter should be as comprehensive as possible, ending with 1-page research questions statement. The following method chapter is then expected to be to-the-point. But that's my sup..

Good morning everybody,

The past two weeks just rolled over without me being able to do much work, with one week 'lost' through holydays in Italy (Caterpillar: the wedding was simply fantastic!!! thanks!), some days gone to move to a new office here at the campus - and some chaos at home due to an unexpected 'surprise': I came back from Italy to find my parents in law waiting in front of my door to 'stay for the night'. With no warning!! And the 'night' now became a week and they don't seem to be leaving soon! - they simply seem to like to have holydays for free at our place...oh joy!

So now let's try to focus back on the work:

1) I still wasn't able to complete the reliability test and revise the codebook I need for chapter 6, so this should be an objective this week.
2) Then I have to draft a paper and send it for feedback to a professor who's expert in the kind of analysis I used (sooo scared!!! he's a real big name and I don't want him to read my draft and think it's crap!! and my sups are not going to read anything before I send it)
3) Draft the ppt for the paper I have to give at the conference in Vienna in August

Tane: 50 days! that sounds scary and exciting at the same time! Best luck with your chapter 5! Let us know how it progresses, I'm sure you'll get it out of the way quickly and smoothly!
Caterpillar: Hope your chapter 8 is going well! Good writing!
LabPixie: sorry to hear about the break up, good luck with your last experiments!
Liah and Trin: hope your work with your controller and results figures resp. is proceeding smoothly!

To all of you: a happy, motivated and effective working week!

xx
Wanderingbit

Dear OneGirlFarAway :-)

I completely agree with Mog, you're in the process of becoming an independent researcher, and that your supervisors seem to step back is probably not a bad sign at all! I'm also on my final year of a part-time PhD, still a couple of experiments to do and 4 chapters to write (5 written). In the past 12 months I've seen 4-5 times my second supervisor (mainly because we had to write 2 papers together) and 2 times my main one!!
And when we met there was not very much we discussed, since at this stage as you say you know what you need to do to finish - and probably you know your research area better than your sups, having focused on that for some time now!

SO: let's keep going!! You can do it - we can do it :-) - !!

Everyday I feel down and unmotivated, I try to imagine the submission day, and then the viva day, in the most positive colours!! :-) and how it will feel on that evening, and the day after...it usually works wonders!
(I used to do this imagery priming trick to prepare for concerts - back at when I was just a pianist and not a prospective researcher!)

Let's do it!! When do you plan to submit?
All best of luck and a positive working day to you,
Wanderingbit

Congrats zipidee!!! And thanks for sharing your experience with us!

All the best for your next research steps!!

wanderingbit

Hi Akh83,

this is a difficult question, and I guess it depends a lot on whom you could be working with to prepare the grant proposal and the discipline specific regulations and acceptance rate at the finding body you're aiming at.

I could have not afforded a PhD without some external funds, and I managed to submit a proposal and get it accepted before starting my PhD. I was working on a short-term contract as assistant in a research dep already, and my boss there helped me both to write the proposal and by giving his name as applicant!

If you're supervisor is willing to help you in the grant preparation and give his/her name this would surely help a lot. On the other hand, your project sounds rather applied, here in CH for applied projects you usually have to find a industrial partner willing to contribute to the costs...but it may be different in UK.

Good luck!

Hey All,

one new week starting for me as well. Last week I managed 4 out of the 7 points of my to-do list...which is..don't know, not good and not bad either I guess? The reliability test I needed to with my second sup was on standby because he had no time to look at it, it should be finished this week, I hope!

So, now new goals for the this week, which will be a short one (leaving on Thursday to attend a good friend's wedding in Italy..and I still need to find time to shop for a dress!! ggghhh) :

1) Complete reliability test block 1
2) Revise codes block 1
3) Prepare draft conference paper

Tanemahuta, hope you had a great day at the beach, and you're now recharged and refreshed! Black Trinity: how was your writing weekend? Fingers crossed for you and Caterpillar27 for your writing goals this week!!

xx

Thanks MeaninginLife for these quotes, believing it or not, it was exactly what I needed to read this morning (but I didn't know it!).

@politics_student: I can't offer good pieces of advice, but in my experience (now at the end of my third year - out of four years part-times) the PhD is characterized by long streches of solitudes, which - when you're on the right level of focus and inspiration can really feel glorious :P - and here and there moments of loneliness. These occur to me as a feeling of abandon, especially when you're stuck with a problem you don't seem to be able to solve, or you've just discovered you did a mistake, and a deadline is approaching and your supervisors don't answer your emails. Usually, I panick then. After a little while though, something switches and I'm back in 'solitude-fight-modus'. :-) and curiously that's usually the moment when problems get solved!!
And my hope is that this process will lead at the right time to a new feeling, that of self-confidence in being an independent researcher. :P

I love spending time with PhD fellows, and all students I met were friendly and ready to spend time with me too. PhDs tend to be very busy and focused on their (also inner) process of becoming independent as researchers, so they may not have sooo much time to spend out. But that's fine since you don't have so much time as well, and so even when you're physically alone you know that you're on the same boat as the others!

I wouldn't worry so much! But of course, I can only speak for my experience! For me, most important for not feeling alone is the presence of my partner at home, ready to celebrate my small successes and listen to my whining in the down-moments. So I guess it's important the situation you have outside the campus as well.

Don't know if this helps...
xx

:) Oooh..looking forward to part two..I feel I'm gonna learn something new on survey design from this..interesting!

Dear steven_breij

2x2 makes sense to me, with one within and one between-subjects variable. But what is your supervisor's explanation for his/her interpretation? Does it have to do with the fact that the explanatory link is given between the AB/BA sequence?

I'd be very interested in knowning what would be the third factor.
Thanks