Have you recruited yet Tudor_Queen? Recruitment was one of the most difficult parts of my PhD. This meant that one group of participants took part in my study (longitudinal) for 5 months longer than another group, as I could only get access to the other group at a specific time of year. My initial plan was to have them all participating the same length of time, but I had to amend this to establish a more diverse sample through negotiation with one of the field work sites. It all was fine in the end doing it this way, but it was not my initial plan so I had to adopt a more flexible time frame quickly.

I also changed my approach shortly after data collection commenced where I moved to a more participatory approach to reassure my (young) participants that they were capable of contributing to the research (some had concerns about saying or writing the 'wrong thing') So, I let them interview me on the same topic.

Hi Hugh,

I intended to take time off but I stumbled across a part time research assistant job that starts the same month my funding ends that I felt compelled to apply to...I spent two full days completing the long winded application process and researching the role in more detail, which is still not finished.

I have spent this morning marking dissertations, but I plan to get back on with my conclusion this afternoon which I am determined to finish by the end of next week as then I am going away.

I am so very tired... how is your work progressing?

Yes, it is very possible! I wrote mine in 4 months working between 25-29 hours per week. I was absolutely exhausted, and drank an unhealthy amount of caffeine, but I did it and got 90% and distinction overall.

Skyhoo- I have been working on my conclusion chapter mainly. It has been moving along much faster than I anticipated which is very motivating- I am aiming (perhaps too ambitiously) to have a draft of it in two weeks ready for proof reading. I am going to an international conference just after then so I am planning on taking the draft chapter with me and proof reading it in a new environment.

Once that is done its on to the task of editing the thesis. The introduction needs a lot of work and so does the literature review. I also need to apply supervisor comments to a number of chapters, AND chop the word count (I'm about 8k over the limit)- dreading this part!

Hugh- I don't use track changes on my thesis. My supervisor makes comments and slight amendments in track changes which I then work through which is very useful. I do use it on other things like applying corrections to journal paper as it is easy to decipher quickly which parts are 'new'/amended then apply them before returning it to the journal.

I have not finalised my thesis title yet, but in the past I have always used a colon, and I find using quotes very effective (for qualitative work). I am wondering if I can find a quote that captures the essence of my thesis but I am not sure I can without it being a paragraph long!

Hugh- If it helps reassure you, I have not found the conclusion too difficult so far. I am capping it at 7k though and I think when I write it in full it will be just the right amount (hopefully!)

It has actually been very rewarding to look through my previous chapters and make notes as it is nice to see it all tied together quite neatly :)

So you're dreading the conclusion and I am dreading editing my lit review haha.

myoldmonkey- I hope that you meet your deadline! Yes the bullet point approach has always worked well for me, as it is then just a case of writing it out in full and deleting any 'weaker' bullet points.