When had you collected your data by? My MA dissertation is due in Spetember this year, but I still haven't collected any data as I've been completely bogged down by assignments, and am sort of in limbo waiting for an organisation to get back to me about participants.

I'm confident that I will get participants eventually, and I am only doing 6-8 interviews, but have I left it really really late? I'm having a bit of a panic about it!

Thanks all,

button

I did mine in about three months. Started first week of June, and submitted last day of August. But I wished I started a month earlier as my conclusions were a bit rushed, and I had to compromise a lot from the design of my prototype.

For my first master, I knew what I wanted to study and had it all planned before I even sterted. So, I did my reserach during Christmas and then had the whole thing written by March.
For my second master, I had no idea of what to do. So, I decided about my research in May, did my interviews in June and wrote it by mid-August.
I suppose it denpends on your subject and on your personal studying/writing patterns, but I'm guessing you have enough time.
Good luck!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Button - my Masters dissertation is theoretical, so I'm not actually collecting any data as such. But like you, I haven't really started it yet, as I have so many other assignments to do as well as my PhD application. I have read one key book for my dissertation and am in the process of writing a 1000 word summary for it, as requested by my supervisor (to test me I think!) but that is it.

I'm sure you will be fine, you only need to get a small sample and once you've started properly you'll be able to get going much more quickly. I would just keep it in mind, chase up the participants etc. You seem to be very organised and on top of things though, good luck! Nxx

Hi Button,

My data collection was delayed due to ethics committee and then summer holidays when most participants were away. However, so given that I had an unplanned three month delay all told, I was really beginning to panic late Jan-early Feb. However, it took me a month to recruit-muck around with interview times and iffy participants-then a month to conduct my 7 interview sessions with between one to two participants in each interview. I was working full time which is why it took so long. I would imagine if I had not been working-probably could have managed it all in four weeks-that includes mucking around with mail-outs, telephone calls and emails, interview times, cancellations and getting permission forms signed and all of the sorts of processes you go through.

I had my protocols worked out before this. Transcription is a real bummer- I clocked up about 18 to 20 hours each on two really long and complex interviews with people talking over the top of one another, etc. I did most transcribing full time over the 10 day Easter break and still had two working weekends after that to get them completed. But I was-have been analysing as I transcribed to some extent. Nothing prepares you for transcription but it is really important to do your own-it has really made all of the issues very clear.

I now have two weeks where I can't do anything-as I have to complete reports after school while teaching and doing my admin-leadership role during the day. But will resume real work around May 12th- with about 10 working days (not thesis but employment) until I actually get a full month holiday time. I plan to have thing complete by June 22nd-give or take a bit of editing, etc. So I really began this tortuous process around February 6th and it will be June 22nd- to plan, collect, analysise and write up data-but this is while working full time-so I think that it would take much less if the study were full time instead.

Just for the record-in case it seems too much, I had a major meltdown aout two months ago (hissy fit status only) and decided to hire a cleaner once a fortnight and a gardener once a month. It pretty much costs me my pay raise (from promotion) but it is worth it in terms of me just not being absolutely worn to a shadow every weekend-and as one of my children has come home to live for a while along with pets, it means I am not cleaning up after them constantly either. It has made it all much more manageable for sure- and if, as I suspect, Masters will merge into doctorate-means I can cope with the workload if it goes on beyond June. So I reckon, its possible Button and the panicking is apparently quite normal-but it feels pretty scary when you are going through it.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

I'm just feeling majorly panicky about the whole thing. I only need a few participants but I'm just not getting anywhere, and it's really getting me down. It doesn't help that my supervisor is piling on the pressure now!

I've sat here all day and exhausted all possible ways of getting participants. All I can do is wait. I can't concentrate on another assignment because this is worrying me so much.

A bad day in button's world :(

Having done organisational research for my PhD and had to get interviewees and quetionnaire participants, I feel your pain. Its always good to have a back up plan. Organisations very often get iffy about the most harmless research and may suddenly pull out. So its good to have a second org lined up, or people who work in similar organisations etc. 8 particpants isn't hard to find - you could even go to somewhere like mumsnet and ask people to participate e.g. "any of you work in organsiations like xyz?" - just a thought!

MA collected data (on fieldwork in US) June, faffed about all summer (getting more and more pregnant) (and in my defence I was working full time negotiationg with Oftel), started writing up begining September when maternity leave started, submitted 30 Sept, gave birth 20 Oct - not to be recommended as it was a bit rushed BUT it is possible.

MSc Proposal submitted after Easter, lit review May/June, data collection (questionnaires) June/July, Analysis (SPSS so lots of tears) Aug/Sept, Writing up results Sept, submitted end Spetember.

Depending on whether you are full time and whether you are working as well you could do it all in a month if you had to but it probably isn't to be recommended (and you probably would have to pay someone to transcribe for you). You still have time (depending on submission date) but the sooner you start the better. It sounds like you have the right amount of panic - enough to make you do something but not so much that it is unproductive.

Good Luck

don't panic button, i think a lot of people find that getting hold of victims - sorry particpants :-) - is harder than it sounds in text books. What you can do whilst waiting though is decide exactly what you want to get out of the interviews, maybe make some charts/templates etc., so when you start to do them you know exactly what you are looking for. That doesn't mean you will know everything, suprising bits are what makes these things worthwhile but being a bit prepared is helpful. When I was doing my masters my supervisor was an unwilling conscript who knew nothing aobut my area, and made it quite plain he would rather be elsewhere. I saw him twice, once at the beginning, and once when I gave him my final version to check, which he didn't I might add, and when I asked him when it had to be given in - my timing was different as I had to wait for one module to be delivered before I could finish - he said he didn't know and left it at that. I believe choc bars have been known to woo participants :-)