Hello
I am in my final year and doing a qualitative thesis using narrative inquiry. I am keen to write an overall reflexivity section in one of my methodology chapters, which presents an overview of the general influences i belive i may have had on the data colelction and analysis process. Has anyone else written anything similar?

I plan to also write reflexively throughout my analysis sections but felt that an overview would also be appropriate but a little unsure how to proceed.

Thanks
Lixatron

Thanks for that guys! so far everyone I have spoken to tells me to stick with the Phd despite outlining my reasons for not wanting to as i have above. Nice to see that based on the facts i have posted my reasoning is not totally flawed.
also thanks for the link about MPhil viva - sadly i do need to have one at my university although it can't be as bad as phd one as the stakes as not so high. yes i also do not understand why people would walk away rather than take the mphil but maybe they leave well before they get to that stage.
I'll see what my supervisor says tomorrow and repost - she will do everything she can to make me stick at phd probably so may have a fight on my hands!
Thanks again, Laura x

Hello
I would love any advice people feel they can give as I am really confused.

I am in the second year of my MPhil and preparing to upgrade to PhD. However, I am seriously considering not applying for transfer and submitting an MPhil for a number of reasons. I think mainly I entered the PhD naively, and as I always enjoyed academia thought, great, 3 years more why not?!? I was offered a funded PhD literally out of the blue and took it on board knowing deep down I found the topic really dull (1st mistake). The the funders all left their various organisations and the prof who set up the PhD and was my supervior retired 3 months in when the department I was in disbanded.

I have now been in a new dept for 1 year and a team of supervisors has been cobbled together but none of them are even mildly interested in my PhD topic (so that makes all of us). I also am increasingly realising that a phd is rarely completed in 3 years and can go on and on and if i am bored to tears with the topic now this is going to be awful. In addition, I no longer wish to work in academia in any long term sense (would happily work at a lower level as I do enjoy research but do not want to be a lecturer/proffessor long term).

On a personal level, I have recently thought that I would like to have kids, but at a very very bestc ase scenario i would be 34 when I finish my PhD and would have no money etc so could not go straight ahead and have a kid and I worry that by working for a few years I would be risking my chances.

But I also like to finish things I have started and am concerned that people would see an MPhil as a cop out. Of coirse I am scared of PhD failure and can't be 100% sure I am not just having doubts at this stahe through a fear I won't pass. So far my supervisors have said that my work is good but when you get your work back with just a few spelling corrections and the odd remark you know it hasn't been read very well.

But now I am even worried about how hard an MPhil will be to get. Does anyone know if an MPhil viva is much easier than a PhD one? The grad office told me that very few people take the MPhil - they either quit or go to PhD which I thought was strange. Surely it is easier (not easy but easier) to get an MPhil than a PhD and surely there are people who want to leave with something if not the grand prize.

Meeting my supervisor tomorrow to potentially discuss this - she doesn't know that yet! Any advice though would be really well appreciated.

Laura x