How do you guys deal with set-backs or problems?

Recently I've been working on some aspects of my project that I thought would be possible to do, but I keep getting setbacks including data not working, then getting data working but unexpected results (that are obviously wrong) and now discovering that it's not going to be possible to do what I wanted to do with the model/tools I've been using.

It's been setback after setback, after each one been trying to understand why it didn't work and then attempting to fix, which I felt okay about because progress was being made. Now I realise that I can't do what I wanted to do and so I've lost a week's work and no real workaround to fix it this time. Sadly, I don't think my work on the issues and resolving them is going to contribute to my thesis, so it's just a avenue I tried to investigate which was fruitless.

I've been through problems like this before and recovered, but now I'm in 3rd year and can't afford to lose time at this stage and just want things to work and some useful research to get done.

Does everyone else just forget about it and move on?

I know research is (a lot of the time) about trying things which don't work and not giving up, but sometimes it's difficult to carry on trying!

I was being told from day 1 that it's unreasonable to expect research to go 'according to plan' so I just see setbacks as part of the process. There are things that we can't change but we can learn from them. Personally, I focused on the finishing line and how I can reach it so, for me, it was just a case of 'ok, this isn't working, so what do I need to do to reach point B?'

I don't know your area of work but I believe that we learn all the time and you've learned that the models/tools you've been using don't work. Admittedly, it'd have been much easier if they did, but this is still part of the research process. We're not just trying to find out what works, we need to know what doesn't work as well.

I appreciate that time is ticking so there's a bit of rush but sometimes we just have to work with what we have. Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear... it may not feel like this right now, but things will work out and you will manage! You've come this far and you're almost there!

I guess that from day one it's been set-back after set-back - though part of the problem with my research is that it's covering a number of scientific areas, and it's been quite hard for me to balance those and figure out whether some new research can probe and get some good results.

I've mainly used trial-and-error for trying new techniques or trying to get from A to B, and it turns out that where I thought I'd identified a good route, the tools aren't really there with which to connect A and B up, so I'm kind of on my back foot again. Seeing my supervisor later today to report back on this, so he may suggest just abandoning it (and writing up what happened and why it didn't work) or maybe doing some more testing to identify the limitations (which is what I've been doing since discovering that the method is not going to be much use).

I figure I'm just very unlucky (my judgment was sound!) and things which could have gone wrong DID go wrong. It's just frustrating that things rarely ever work, and something I'm still not accustomed to despite 2 years doing my research.

The dispiriting nature of continually failing tends to get me down - if I'd have known that when I started, I may have chosen a different 'type' of PhD or research. Being able to deal with it is still something I need to work on!

======= Date Modified 26 Oct 2011 16:23:50 =======
Hi Zinar7,

I am sorry to hear that you have been having set backs in your project. You are definitely not alone! Like you I have a very broad project where I will have to deal with algorithms, models, calculations, experimental work and so on. I am 3 yrs and almost a month down, it has been a long arduous journey all the way through, I am writing up but still have quite a bit of data collection to do. I don't know about you but am some one who wouldn't really ask for help easily. I tried solving various issues myself, solved some and couldn't solve some on my own for which I had to ask various people's help after all my attempts solving a problem have failed. I spent most of my second and third year troubleshooting which is a very long time! It has been a totally demoralising phase for me!! I have sorted most of the issues but still have a list of them yet to be sorted.

Having under gone similar experiences to you I would highly recommend you to contact your supervisor(s) then and there if you have any problems. It is better to email them how you are getting on (especially if you have problems in sorting things out) and in case if you can ask help from a post-doc or some other colleague of your group, do not hesitate to do so. I am sure most of the people would be happy to help if not all of them. At this stage, as you mentioned, it is better to sort things out at the earliest possible. Of course, each and every one's project is different but there are quite a few people out there like you and me who have been a bit unlucky in having the tools right at the beginning of the project. A friend of mine had to wait for ethical approval for almost 2 yrs!

I hope all your set-backs/problems disappear soon and good luck with the rest of your work (up)

I think I read somewhere that postgrads/PhDs are good at dealing with failure. I guess it's not the most glamourous way of putting the PhD process, but I guess it sums it up pretty well.