Hello!
I'm 18 months into a full-time 3-year social sciences PhD and, while my supervisors say I'm making good progress, i don't know anyone else at this stage, so have no frame of reference. While I realise that all PhDs are different, i guess im just wondering where people are 'up to' at this stage - any chapters written? papers written? data collected? analysed?

It's funny that you ask this question, I was just about to ask a similar question. 18 months in and slightly depressed today.

Data collected: no
Data analysed: no
Papers written: no
Chapters written: yes, but only Literature Review

They say that this is the most difficult time of any PhD where you are a substantial number of months (18) in and you still can't see the end of the tunnel. I hope this will happen soon though..

dont worry am in the same boat. I am writing up transfer thesis. Methodology section on questionnaire design is driving me crazy. I have only got pilot data but apparently have enough for the transfer. Have to show a draft of what I have found out and my future work for a next friday meeting. What joy. I dont know how much more I can take - although i have pilot data - i still dont know what i want to do - and i think its going to be a case fo staying up next thursday to write bullet pointed list. Oh i am going insane. Sorry for the rant.

I'm also currently writing the transfer thesis. Although I have no data I am relatively sure I will pass this. At the same time, there is this increasing feeling of depression. All of a sudden I'm asking myself weird questions like: Is it really worth it? Should I not rather live my life than waste it with this stuff? I was even thinking about dropping out today, something I've never ever thought about before. Probably just a period of depression. We'll see.

15 months in - still struggling with lit review. resubmitting on Fri - hopefully that'll do for the transfer.

currently listening to some music - done nothing in the last two days. will get back to it in the weekend...

i reckon, i need time for myself.

Otto n driven2insanity - don worry, i hear this is normal..stay calm and work consistently, read somewhere that that's what it takes.

By the 18 month stage, I'd written drafts of two chapters, written (and published) one paper and presented a conference paper.

After 18 months I dropped out the phd. By that time, I had 7 papers published, but they were just crap.

Otto, don't drop out. You would regret it a lot.

apparently its normal to feel like this as others have said. I have wanted to quit alot. I am sick of writing. After my meeting on friday I am going to go away for the weekend - whether the outcome of the meeting is good or bad. Agrh.

Oldguy, they can't have been that crap if they got published (which implies that they passed peer review)

Juno, you have to recognize that half of the papers published in conferences, especially in less important conferences, are crap or near to.

Anyway, my publications could be summed up in two, but my tutor, who had the obsession of the number of publications, despite their quality, kept me rewriting the same things over and over, changing the words, adding some graphs, just to have them published again. That's why I had those publications. Thi work of rewriting of course stole me time to study in order to find something new.

Fair enough. I have seen some very short papers myself, where the authors really should have waited for more results, but clearly were trying to squeeze as much a possible out of one or two NMRs (for example).