Sorry that things seems like they haven't been going so well. I assume you have a plan/timeline? You say there have been issues, what do you need to achieve in your experiements before you can write up, are you looking for a specific result before you can conclude your experiements? You can't just keep going and going experimenting as you will never get finished. I think you need to talk to your supervisor again and come to an agreement of a cut off point for experimentation and what you hope to have achieved by then.

You've agreed how to write this up with your supervisor so that is good. Negative results aren't always bad, it's the way you right it up, you started with such and such a hypothesis but so and so was actually true, etc etc. If you don't prove your initial hypothesis a PhD can still be awarded if what you found along the way (negative or positive) or a new method you have used, contributes novel knowledge in your field. I suggest looking at your methodology and data, see what's new and tailor your thesis to that.

I understand some scientific PhDs require less word count than say humanities so you might not need to start writing straight away.

You've come this far, I'm sure you can finish, just set a deadline and work towards an end point otherwise you will feel like it's infinite! Good luck x

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;-p Good point.

I'm just about to start my PhD. I'm thinking, should you have an 'external' in mind from the start so you can reference them in your research and have a good knowledge of their work and stance on the subject (I think I have read you and your supervisor can choose an external?) or are externals recruited more haphazardly i.e whoever is about at the time you need to submit? Or are they recruited in response to theorists you used in your thesis? I am just wondering if I need to know this from the start as I don't want to end up with someone whose work I either haven't utilised widely or would have an opposit or negative stance towards the thesis (just thinking of some of the more problematic viva stories i've read on here!!) Just so I can tailor my writing from the start. Thanks ;-p

Have you considered the Open University? Pay as you go modules. You can open an OUSBA and pay monthly (although I'm not 100% if this is the case for international students but the OU is international in that you can take the course in various countries, you access learning materials online or they post out course books). You can clock up enough credits to get a full MA and/or obtain PGcert/Dip along the way too, incase you find you can't/don't want to progress to full MA. No entry requirements other than having a degree. The OU is now better thought of than people might think as lots of top professors/Drs teach OU alongside other uni commitments and also because of the level of independent study required (although you will have an allocated tutor and you can choose to attend/or not, lectures). The beauty of OU is you can study full or part time, allowing you to work at the same time if needs be.

Pjlu gives good advice. If it means finishing go with your sups advice as what you will be using after your PhD are the skills gained through research and you can then apply them to new projects. It's not ideal in that you won't be gaining the deeper knowledge of the subject you wanted to study but as Pjlu says, you can do that after the PhD. :-) There is a school of thought that says you should love your subject to get through a PhD but in reality lots of people come to loathe their own projects and in employment you will more than likely work on projects that don't always float your boat. Good luck.

do a search for phd theses that have used activity theory to see how they did it. I suppose there would be two ways to approach. open with why you are using at and review the literature through that lense or employ at the end saying why the literature suggests at is a suitable lense to go forward with/ justification and go on to address further in methods.

No idea on the format sorry but does it have to be PP as something cloud based like Prezi might make it easier to show links between your studies because of it's unique features (you will know what I mean if you google prezi pesentations to see how it works). I thinks it's pretty amazing and if I can learn to use it anyone can. Good luck with the presentation. :-)

Glad you feel better after withdrawing. That was obviously then the right decision for you at the time. Regarding the drama thing, uni and local groups won't audition and you will find most people are like you and are there for confidence. Good luck with the rest of your PhD :-D

are you in the uk? Drs will have waiting lists for counselling but appt should be quick to get. There are lots of good medications for anxiety that you can take in the short term, Propranolol being one. Having researchef mental health and having past anxiety issues having psychiatric coynselling and meds the best cure was to face fears through exposure. I think you need to do the conference. These things build up and you run the risk of feeling the same or worse dreas next time rather than it lessening. If u decide to withdraw I suggest when your back from fieldwork to join a community choir or amature dramatics group. Hobbies are hugely beneficial for anxiety and mental wellbeing and these will improve your confidence in formal presrntation, plus its fun and a good way to expand social circles. x

So is your sup saying it will probably get an Mphil instead of PhD? I'm not sure how that translates to postdoc opportunities but double and triple check your thesis for any new contribution to knowledge. It doesn't have to change the world! Apparently Einstein's Ph.D. dissertation was a principled calculation meant to estimate Avogadro's number. He got it wrong. By a factor of 3. He still got a Ph.D (don't quite me ont hat though it's from a web article! ;-p.

See this article also

"I once supervised a student investigating a very small area of “queer” theory. It is a specialist field, well worked over by outstanding researchers. I remained concerned throughout the candidature that there was too much restatement of other academics’ work. The scholarship is of high quality and does not leave much space for new interpretations.

Finally, we located a clear section in one chapter that was original. He signalled it in the abstract. He highlighted it in the introduction. He stressed the importance of this insight in the chapter itself and restated it in the conclusion. Needless to say, every examiner noted the original contribution to knowledge that had been highlighted for them, based on a careful and methodical understanding of the field. He passed without corrections."

Sorry to hear that. Not usre I understand what an undergraduate masters is? Do you mean BA/Bsc? or the masters degree after your first degree? In either case your professor probably encouraged you as candidate in all good will. Unfortunately if the entry requirements state a certain grade it can be difficult to go against the regulations no matter how well you did at interview if the other candidate was better on paper (essentially ticking all the boxes). If you have a 2:2 and no MA, maybe you should look at doing the MA, although it can be very difficult (there have been lots of posts about this subject) to get a PhD place with a 2:2 despite good MA grades as the MA is not viewed as a 'substansive' qualification (the reason why someone with a first can get a PhD place at some instituties without having done an MA/Msc/Mres at all).

Can anyone get hold of this? It's a proceeding not paper. Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Systems Thinking: A Marriage to Be Arranged. Capper, P., Cavana, R. Y., Wilson, K., Vennix, J. A. M., Rouwette, E. A. J. A., Stevenson-Wright, M., & Candlish, J. (1999).

Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society and 5th Australian New Zealand Systems Conference.

Thanks is advance.

Have you asked your sup or is there anyone at your uni that can help?

Have uni not put you on to any statistical modelling/analysis software rather than doing this by hand? I don't do stats myself but know that lots of people use software for this. Although I can't tel you what software to use I'm sure there are lots of people on this forum who will know.

You have already decided really haven't you :-D. I'll be starting mine at 38, leaving a job I've had for 10 years! I'm no where near as financially stable as you and have a 5 and 4 year old! If it's what you want then do it ;-p