Just wanted to say 'good luck' too. I've been reading your story and was impressed with your determination. You deserve that PhD!!

I got the first one - if you leave your email address I can forward it to you.

======= Date Modified 04 Jun 2011 15:55:12 =======
Could anyone please help me access these articles? They're all from the same journal (Mass Communication & Society) vol. 13, issue 5, for which my library only has limited subscription:

1)"Introduction: The Facebook Election." By: Johnson, Thomas J., Perlmutter, David D.. Mass Communication & Society, Nov/Dec2010, Vol. 13 Issue 5, p554-559

2)"The 2008 Presidential Election, 2.0: A Content Analysis of User-Generated Political Facebook Groups." By: Woolley, Julia K.; Limperos, Anthony M.; Oliver, Mary Beth. Mass Communication & Society, Nov/Dec2010, Vol. 13 Issue 5, p631-652

3) "The 2008 Presidential Campaign: Political Cynicism in the Age of Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube." By: Hanson, Gary; Haridakis, Paul Michael; Cunningham, Audrey Wagstaff; Sharma, Rekha; Ponder, J. D.. Mass Communication & Society, Nov/Dec2010, Vol. 13 Issue 5, p584-607

4) "Did Social Media Really Matter? College Students' Use of Online Media and Political Decision Making in the 2008 Election." By: Kushin, Matthew James; Yamamoto, Masahiro. Mass Communication & Society, Nov/Dec2010, Vol. 13 Issue 5, p608-630

5)"The Writing on the Wall: A Content Analysis of College Students' Facebook Groups for the 2008 Presidential Election."
By Fernandes, Juliana; Giurcanu, Magda; Bowers, Kevin W.; Neely, Jeffrey C.. Mass Communication & Society, Nov/Dec2010, Vol. 13 Issue 5, p653-675

Thanks in advance!

Well, when I wrote my first post I had a vague idea of the topic I wanted to work on. Now I have a proposal and have started collecting data while at the same time reading up for my lit review (I didn't know it was meant to be the other way round but I chose to do it this way because in my case data collection is nothing more than data entry, so it can be done even if I'm not much concentrated).
Your post didn't make me feel worse - quite the opposite in fact: it encouraged me to push my way forward, knowing that I'm not the only one having problems. Most other students manage to overcome theirs - I'll try to do the same.

Thank you all for your advice and support. At the moment things have not changed much - have been stuck for a month, not really knowing how to go about it. However, I still have 2 months to go and during this time I can at least make the effort to sit at my desk and do some work - hoping that enthusiasm and motivation may kick in again. If I still can't get the hang of it, I will turn to my supervisor for help - though I'd rather approach a tiger (and he knows it full well!). Getting an extension is not an option, as there are set rules for that in our Uni.
As suggested, I've stopped thinking about the future: I'll be happy if I manage to submit something that reflects my ability. Reading through the various threads I know there are more advanced students freaking out about an approaching viva or having to cope with the impossible demands of an egotistic supervisor and hundreds of other problems, not to mention that any masters students at this time of year will be in exactly the same situation as me: still, putting together 50 pages of independent research is like flying to the moon for me in the state of mind I'm in. There's not much advice I can give to other students, not having been long into research and knowing little about academic politics, but I'll let you kwow the outcome when everything's over - hopefully good news.

Done. Good luck with it.

This may well be true, but the problem is that I have so much to do in very little time. Probably it's just the fear of an impending deadline that's stopping me. I've been suggested some stuff from Jean de Vries pharmacy - herbal remedies, apparently, but apart from the fact that I don't trust herbal remedies too much, the product description of some of these seems just too good to be true.

======= Date Modified 26 May 2011 12:50:14 =======
Hello,
I am going through a period in which I find it difficult to concentrate or even understand what I read. As a result, I constantly feel anxious and can't even get started on the task on hand. I'm thinking of taking amphetamines to improve concentration levels but they are so difficult to get hold of. Failing that, could someone recommend other concentration remedies - maybe something you've tried out yourself?
Thanks!

Done. Hope that helps. Good luck.

I could find only the first one. Hope that helps.

Done. Hope that helps.

Hi. I managed to access it - how can I send it to you?

I don't have much advice to offer, sorry, just wanted to say I feel for you. If I were in your place, this would totally knock down my confidence and motivation. Are you the only one to have problems with this woman (you may as well be, since as far as I know, bullies tend to target only one person at the time). But since you said she works a bit far away, maybe you could try and use the lab when she's not there or anyway keep yourself out of her reach. I wouldn't apologize - just treat her with due courtesy but otherwise try to stay away from her, especially when there's noone else around.

Thanks a lot!

======= Date Modified 26 Apr 2011 12:19:23 =======
Thanks to all of you for your support: it helps to know I'm not the only one wondering why I put myself through this in the first place. I think it's a good idea to read some completed dissertations and to have a look at the research methods section in the library. My course coordinator is not very approachable, so I'll be using that option as a last resort; besides I think I should show a bit of independency if I want to go further. It's true that an MSc dissertation doesn't necessarily have to be a ground-breaking work but I want it to show that there is a research potential, especially because it's a relatively new field of study in social sciences. Caro, I do sympathise with you: I too was working part time but I recently quit my job to give myself more time for the dissertation. Hope everything goes well, but as you said you've already been accepted to do a PHd, then this is just a step in between. It would be great if you could send me the title of the book you mentioned, btw. As Platypus says, there's a lot of other students doing their masters - and some will have to juggle work and/or family commitments alongside their studies, so sometimes it's also a matter of motivation. So, good luck!