Thanks, sleepyhead, it's good to know others are in the same boat! I know the most sensible thing would probably be to just finish writing now.

The post would start when I have got most of my thesis together (ie, 2 months before I intend to submit) and there just aren't loads of good jobs about at the moment, and nothing is guaranteed with fellowships. I feel very torn. If I manage to get a suspension, it would effectively 'stop the clock', but I would have to write up in my own time as the post is for 18 months.

Hi all, hopefully some of you will have experience of this and can offer some advice :-)

I am 6 months off submission, I was on a 4 year programme so will have reached the max. time limit for my uni.
A RF post has come up that I would really like to apply for--it is at a dept/uni that I know and like, with researchers I respect, and is on a project that is relevant to my research that will also give me some great experience. But it is full time, and starting before I can submit the PhD.
I am tempted to apply, then if I get it request a suspension on my PhD (for 1 year), and then write up on hols/weekends. I know this is not unheard of, I just never thought I would do it.
Any advice on whether I should get me head down, try and finish this thing now and think about jobs/fellowships later (but risk not getting one when I do finish!) or just go for it?

Thank you

I'm getting married this year, have got 1 yr left of PhD. Sometimes it does take over PhD work but only because I want it to, but generally it hasn't impacted on my work at all.

Most supermarkets deliver these days, olivia--although I think it's good to get out when you can! I try and get to our local farmer's market most saturdays, the meat/veg is has good provenance and is often cheaper than the equivalent in the s'market.
I have emergency cauldron (veggie brand) sausages in the fridge, and make bean chillis, lentil casseroles etc.

eta, I try to have weekends off, and also occassionally the odd half/full day, just because. If I have a deadline I'll put in the hours for that, so it all balances out. I don't think I could do a phd otherwise, and luckily my sups seem cool with the set up (I'm sure lab work is different though).
Good luck, and don't feel like you're doing something wrong/unusual!

No, xeno--you're not being negligent at all You'll be far more productive if you have a decent work/life balance, and of course you can be flexible so if needs be you can up the work hours when a specific bit needs to be done. I think perhaps your supervisor is just of the "the only way to get a phd is for your life to stop for 3/4/whatever years" which is total b****cks, but I doubt he'll see it any other way so prob best to just carry on as you are if it works for you but not draw attention to your work patterns...as long as your sup sees some output he/she should be relatively happy...

hillyg, that is fab advice

Yup I think so! only you know if you're doing enough work, and if you don't it's only you that suffers. I'm a firm believer in not working toooo hard though

Tilly, wow--I think you've done TONS and you should give yourself a pat on the back, to be honest.
I think these things take their own course...you know what comes next, ethics, starting experiments, whatever... If you really feel stuck, maybe tell the supervisors you'll write a lit review and give a deadline, so you have to work on something

I try to work normal office hours, so about 8 a day (not all spent doing 'proper' work!). It goes it peaks and troughs though, when it's busy I'm happy to put lots of extra hours in, when it's quiet I'm happy to spend half a day drinking coffee with friends

Hi Saw,

Have you written a piece about how these methods will better answer your reseach question than other methods? You could write a bit about the history of mixed methods to back up your choice...
There is a sesion on Mixed Methods in the qual short course at Bristol (dept. Social Medicine), there's also a 1 day conference in Swansea on Dec 5th http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/Documents/580/QUIC_Conference_Flyer.pdf

On a more general note about mixed methods…
One of my major concerns has been whether I am actually doing mixed method research, or just mulit-method? To be truly mixed the sum has to be greater than the parts, they have to feed into one another to allow you to reach conclusions that would not have been reached had you done each element in isolation. To try and achieve mix, I am selecting a few individuals and writing them up as case studies (so reflecting on survey and interview data together). Not sure how this is going to work in practice, but it seemed like an idea!

I am also wary of language issues—how will the thesis be written up? First or third person? What quality assessment do we use and what language (e.g., are terms such as reliability and generalisability appropriate for the qual section)?!

Hey bulbs. What data collection methods are you using? And where will you be collecting it?
I am doing a 4-ys PhD so more time to play with, but fyi I completed my survey in a 12 month time frame n(data collecting in primary care, included a pilot and 3 ethics amendments) during which I also conducted pilot interviews. My interviews will all be done and analysed within a 6-month time frame. I am conducting a set of initial interviews (around 6), transcribing and conducting analyses within 2 months, then I’ll go on and do the remaining interviews in the following 4 months (the first block of interview analysis will inform changes to my interview guide so the process is iterative). This leaves me 1 year to write up and do any re-analysis of the survey data.
Ideally I would have nested my survey within sets of interviews, some prior to the survey to inform its design and some following to allow for deeper exploration of the survey data.

Hey, I am doing a mixed methods PhD and also teach on a short course. It's pretty interesting--part of my original proposal was to explore the use of mixed methods in my particular field (ie, is it a good idea, how does it work in practice). There's an OK conference in Cambridge each year on Mixed Methods, and some good books (I would recommend books by Tashakkori or John Creswell).
As I'm sure you are aware there are some inherent issues with mixing methods which have bearing on writing up and analysis. Are you just starting out? Do you have particular concerns?

You could be me, rozza! I think it's really difficult...I'm at the end of year two (of 4) and still have big doubts but I've carried on. I'm getting married next year, with a year left afterwards. Part of the reason I'm persevering is that if I gave up now I'd want to write up my work as an MPhil, and if I do that I might as well go the extra mile. As for afterwards...who knows. But academia is good for those with kids in terms of flexible working. Sorry I can't be more useful, but do know that there are others in the same boat.