So I'm doing my MSc and am in talks with a potential PhD supervisor from another university. I was chatting to this person today about a potential research proposal and she asked conversationally what I was doing for my current dissertation. I explained it and she pointed out that it would have been really good to collect data on another important variable, something I haven't done. She kindly described this as "a mistake". I happen to think she's right, but it's too late now, nearly all the data's in.

This makes me feel upset as I have been going great guns on my MSc and now I can see a potential blot on the landscape. When thinking about my reasons for not collecting data on this important variable I have the following reflections:

I chose my MSc dissertation topic because I was interested in a certain phenomenon and my current supervisor ran with it, got excited and then linked it to something else he was interested in. He almost seemed to be saying that he wanted me to collect data on this thing he was excited about. If I had been more independent-minded I would have stayed a bit closer to the aspects of the phenomenon that I'm interested in. But faced with an excited supervisor and a project almost handed to me on a plate, I just lazily went for it and collected the data. I really do think my potential PhD supervisor is a better researcher than my current supervisor so I respect her opinion. If I had had greater interest in my dissertation topic then I would have done just that extra bit of reading and spotted this crucial necessary variable.

I feel this episode says something about my current lack of independence as a researcher and I regret just going with what was more or less handed to me. I wish I had questioned my current supervisor's judgement and not assumed he must know more than me and that it would all be alright. I feel that I have to learn to think more critically and I feel that this episode has exposed my shortcomings.

On the bright side, the potential PhD sup is interested in my proposal and wants to apply for funding together, and she has shown herself to be very astute and I know she will push me much more than the current guy. I think I've allowed myself to see this MSc far too much as 'training wheels', when, with an extra bit of effort I could have read more literature, seen this gap in what we were doing, and told my current sup that we should include the missing variable.

Having failed to collect data for this variable could, I think, take me down a grade for my dissertation, which is a shame as I was hoping that very good marks would help me with PhD funding.

Oh dear - must grow up as a researcher NOW

:-(

Gosh Ogriv, you're being way, way too hard on yourself! Stop blaming yourself over what sounds like a perfectly reasonable way to approach research! As postgrad students we're still learning how to be independent researchers, and can't be expected to see everything, and plan for every contingency. You are NOT lazy! You did as your supervisor suggested, which is what all of us do. They do know more than us, we trust them to point us in the right direction, and are not to blame when the occasional piece of data is not collected!

Even if you did make a mistake, it's not a big deal. We all do it. It's part of the learning process. Your current sup should've spotted this, not you. Be a bit kinder to yourself, be glad you've met a better potential sup than your current one, and move forward.

Thanks Sue for your support - I am very grateful for it as I've been up all night worrying.

I think I saw my sup's excitement as an opportunity to jump on board a ready-made project (even if I didn't find it completely engaging). I did have some input in the early stages but then he just took it elsewhere and I stopped reading a lot, thinking I had the theoretical issues nailed (when I didn't) .

I suppose one good thing to come from it is that I won't ever be this passive again, and it's good to have discovered the perils of passivity during my MSc rather than during a PhD.

The next potential yawning chasm would be if I started to think that everything my supervisor-to-be said was correct instead - I'd just be substituting one of them for the other. No, I must figure everything out for myself on a case-by-case basis, as that's what true independence is all about. Thankfully the PhD project I have in mind is much more my own brainchild so I will probably feel more engaged with it. Best I can hope for with my current project is to indicate in the introduction the specificity of what we are looking at and to make the other recommendations in the discussion. C'est la vie!:$

Yes, that's right Ogriv, use your 'mistake' as an opportunity to point towards further research - people may never know that your study would've benefited from that extra data! And when you have your own research, based on your idea, you definitely will be more engaged with it.

Hey Orgiv! You shouldn't be giving yourself such a hard time on this! I think it's important to remember that you can't always use every single measure that you would like to on all of your participants anyway- there are loads more I would have loved to have used for my PhD, but the time with each patient just isn't there. I also found what would have been a really perfect measure for my PhD a few weeks ago and was so annoyed that I hadn't come across it earlier- like you, it's too late to add it in now- it's frustrating but bear in mind that you will probably have plenty of data to write about from the measures that you have used anyway...your supervisor must think so if these were the measures that were suggested. And like you, for my MSc I was pretty much handed a project on a plate and I took it. It was still a great project, and you will have plenty of time in your PhD to learn to think for yourself a bit more and be more independent, but the MSc is for getting a grounding in your research skills so that you are able to stand on your own feet a bit more at PhD level, so don't stress. Also bear in mind that sometimes you might know better that your supervisor- usually not in my case, but there have been times where she has made a suggestion that I didn't think was suitable for whatever reason, so we have talked about it and done things a different way. So don't be scared to question things (nice and politely!). I doubt your lack of this extra measure will affect your MSc grade- so long as you do a good write up of the data you do have then you should be fine. Your supervisor will probably be one of the people who marks it and if he/she didn't expect you to put this measure in anyway then you shouldn't be marked down for not including it. Best of luck with the PhD applications! KB

Thanks KB - we are both psychs so it's interesting to hear you have had a similar experience

I think I saw my MSc project as just a way of getting used to experimental design (I've come from the softer social sciences over towards biological psychology). I have received two As and a B for modules so far, so I am doing well. But because I haven't really been in the sciences for long I tend to mostly be getting my head around stuff, and I'm far slower to criticise things as I'm just trying to understand it in the first place!

But it's all part of the process I suppose. Usually when I have one of my mini-crises it motivates me to learn a lesson from it, so I'm just gonna have to do that. I suppose if you just write up what you have done to the best of your ability then you can't go too far wrong.

I don't want to be a
(turkey) !

No worries! I think this is why an MSc is pretty much compulsary for psychology students wanting to do a PhD- undergrad degrees just vary so much and people often only have experience of either quant or qual but not both etc, and some people who have done BA Psych instead of BSc Psych often won't have any research experience or statistical training and aren't used to it treating the subject as a science. There is also so much to get to grips with in some aspects of psych in terms of designing and undertaking studies- it's quite normal to still need quite a high level of support with the MSc project because there's an awful lot to get to grips with. My training has always been on psychology as a science, but even so, and even with a first in my BSc, I would have really struggled to do the PhD without the MSc. So it's great that you are enjoying it and doing well- it will be a valuable grounding when it comes to your PhD! Best, KB