Hi,
I am in my 10th month of my PhD. I have spent my first year doing a literature review and trying to get to grips with my topic (as I came straight from undergraduate and did not do a masters). I have kept a record of all the articles I have read and summarised each one. However when I compare what I have done to students just starting I feel like I am behind (for example a student who started 3 months ago is already starting to write her first 3 chapters of her thesis). What is normally expected of a student in their first year? My PhD is in the social sciences (management).
Thanks.

Hi Vthebee,

I wouldn't pay any attention to the person who is writing chapters 3 months in.  That sounds like they have already done work before they started the PhD, or what they are writing is not really chapters. The key aspect at your stage is that you have a research question!  This has to add to knowledge and do-able!). With your literature review, dont just review but find a gap in the literature that your research question answers.  By doable I mean you can answer it with your data. For example, you could research CEO's of top organisations but these people are very hard to get in touch with.  So you cant really answer your question.

It would also help to have an idea of your general methodology. Are you doing qualitative or quantitative? 

Potatoes

Hi Vthebee,
I would reiterate what Potatoes has said. There is always going to be that 'annoying' person in the department that appears to be way ahead of you. Remember the PhD is at least 3 years of hard work, and as many people say, it should be treated as a marathon not as a sprint. Also, I would resist starting writing the thematic chapters/findings chapters of your thesis before you have completed a large bulk of your research. The thesis structure and content is likely to change quite a bit from how you envisage it to look at the moment. And, there is the danger that in producing chapters early on you become reluctant or resentful of changing them at a later stage (because you know how much time and effort they took).
When I was at the stage you are now I was doing pretty much the things you have being doing; ploughing through the literature and making notes (I found it really useful to attach how my research supports/challenges/departs/adds etc to each of the pieces of literature I was consulting; doing the literature review, and treating it as a working document in that I went back to it (and still go back to it) making changes as and when I came across new literature/new avenues in my own research; thinking about methodology; and of course carrying out my research (which for me was mainly archival based and was a process I was still carrying out here and there well into my third year).
By the time you enter second year, having laboured over the drier parts of the thesis i.e. the literature review, you might find (as I did) that you are really excited about finally writing about what you have found rather than what everyone else has found.
Looking back now (3 and a bit years in) if I could have gone back to first year and changed anything it would have been that I was more organised in terms of indexing or organising all the work I have done - I now work with different folders and sub-folders on my computer (i.e. secondary literature, and then organising the pdfs, electronic notes etc  further into themes/ sub-disciplines etc). Using the electronic folders has been invaluable, because now when wriitng up it means I can use the search option in documents to retrieve all the information I have which mentions that particular theory, person, event etc.

All the best :-)

Thank you all for your advice. Potatoes, it is comforting to hear that I am not the only person who has not started to write their thesis 3 months in. My general methodology will be qualitative, I'm not sure will this affect how I approach my Phd? One of the main problems I think I had is I had to change my supervisor about a month and a half ago so I feel a little lost.
Wolfie27, thank you for your advice and reassuring words! I do try to keep my work organised in terms of keeping track of which articles I have read but I will divide this up further into themes and sub-themes as you mention. Your advice overall is really helpful and I will definately do what have you mentioned.
Fafalia, I too thought about quitting but I know this is something I want to do and I try to stay motivated in this way. I guess I knew it wouldn't be easy when I started but I will take the advice of the others and just focus on my work and not compare myself to others.
Thanks again all for your help, much appreciated.

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Hi Vthebee,

When doing qualitative you can expect that your research question will change.  As you read more literature and when you start analysing your data, the question you first thought was important may not be as important. Or something may come out of the data that you didnt expect to find.  It is still worth while having a few research questions written down. This will give you  a reason and focus for reading the literature and developing a methodology. Its also a different type of research question, maybe including 'how' or 'why'. 

A question you should be asking yourself is how you are going to get access to data? Getting access is difficult! Its best to start thinking about that at 10 months in! Good luck with the PhD. 


Cheers,

I spent the first year doing a literature review. Remember: whatever you are doing, do it well!
I read and read, for 10 hours a day, every day, keeping detailed notes. My first draft was 120 pages, and included tables with detailed notes in each study, and comparative graphs among studies. I think I did a good job, and set very good fundation. I defined my research question, and unlike other students, I knew what I expected from my field surveys. I don't regret doing this massive job, (which was published) it makes everything so much easier later.

Now, when I write a paper, I can easily say: The correlation between biscuit sales and flying penguins was particularly high, and similar results have been reported by Smartguy et al, 2008 and Nerdyguy, 2010. I can easily go back and see if my results agree with other research or not and why. I also think that I built a vocabulary and a better way to express myself scientifically.

doing a focused literature review in the first year can only be beneficial. Just keep going. And don't compare yourself to other students!!!!!

I probably dont have that much to add, but am just saying hi and watching this thread with interest, as I am starting in 2 weeks, and so its useful to see what kind of goals/expectations other people had in their first year, and what they had accomplished. Im a Psych student, doing a topic I didnt really know much about until a couple of months ago, though I have done a bit of background reading. Im really hoping to have the literature review, and a proposal done by the middle of the year, as my uni won't give me any teaching work until thats done, and I would really appreciate a bit of extra cash! Im not sure how realistic that is though...

I had my 3 month viva yesterday (I am in the sciences and this is unique to my DTC), and one of my advisors said to me to stop worrying that I had no results yet: "For most science PhDs you get all the important results in the last year."

I had to do a literature review for yesterday, however, it was a mini 5 paper option and my introduction chapter to my thesis (which I have not started) will cover the many papers I have skimmed over the last few months.

I question if you can write 3 chapters in the first few months of your PhD - well I question whether it is worth it. By the end of three years you could have completely changed the direction of your PhD and that early work is wasted. However, making summaries of the papers you have read IS a good idea, and after reading your post I have realised I should be doing this. When it is chapter writing time I will have a summary with my thoughts and ideas of papers I can reference without having to reread in depth every paper.

One thing I have started doing with my supervisor meetings is a handout of my latest work.
E.g. 'Did this, it didn't work, why I think it didn't work, my idea what to do next / did this, it worked, this shows that, my idea what to do next / have read this paper, it makes me think this, can we show'
Supervisor has a handout of where I am at, what I am doing.
I have record to look back on the progress through the project ( like a facebook timeline!) and it focuses my ideas on what I have done and what to do next.
These weekly handouts will be an ideas source when I start thesis writing as I will be able to follow research ideas through the 3 years and hopefully this will help write a logical argument why my PhD shows something at the end.

1st year: "What am I doing?"
2nd year: "I know what I want to do, how do I do it?"
3rd year: "Eek one year to prove my idea!"

Hi Vthebee,

I am in a somewhat similar situation, as I am completing a PhD in an area that is not my background, so like you, I had to read a massive amount of literature and basically teach myself the foundations to the discipline, theoretical frameworks, etc. However, reading and reading and note taking often doesn't leave you with something that you can show as a finished product to your supervisor or committee, so it can leave you feeling a bit unproductive. I think it's important to look at this as a long road that you're not going to finish in a couple of months, and it's a road that is different for everyone. It sounds like you're doing a great job and situating yourself in the right spot. Once you get to the point of writing, you will have a strong foundation and understanding of the literature. I think for something like this, it's hard to set up common expectations and goals- you can't compare yourself to other students, as we all have different working styles and will experience different bumps and challenges along the way.

And to be honest, I think 97% of graduate students feel they are behind and could be doing more- I think it's in our personality!

Hi to everyone who has replied to my post. It has been so helpful to read your posts, ideas and reassuring words!
I can honestly say I will take the advice of everyone on board and I definately feel better about my situation, knowing that I am doing my best in my work and that I shouldn't compare myself to others (although its hard not too!)
I really appreciate the time you have taken to answer my post.

Hi everyone, I am in the 7th month of my phd in the humanities. I am supposed to submit a chapter of my thesis and the literature review in 1.5 months for my qualifying exam(about 15000 words). I roughly have an idea as to what the chapter is all about however I have not written a single word in the past 3 months and I am seriously panicking with this massive procrastination to write issue. I am supposed to submit a draft to my supervisor which has yet to culminate. I am hoping to quickly get over this draft so that relations between my supervisor and I don't sour at the start of the programme and the feedback from the supervisor will be really useful.Can some advice I am at my wits end. Thanks

What advice do you really need? Get on with it! Now!

I draw the line at physical violence (just) ;)
Brilliant film that. Do you think there's a market opening for a Thesis Coach? PhD boot camp?