Just a frankly demoralising chat with sup. It appears as though I have all the content ok in my writing, but not enough of 'me' in there.

I'm from a discipline where "I" is frowned upon and I'm struggling to get to how I can signpost and have that "I am a godly researcher and I see all of this research from upon my researher hilltop and these are the isses" kind of voice in my writing.

Any tips/advice? (given that i have 3 weeks to add this in!)

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I'm not sure I mean 'authoratative' - just more overviewy, rather than reporting what other people say, I need to say it I guess.

I think at the moment my writing is

"xyz theory states that T is P, which is important to consider in this study"

Whereas she wants me to say

"I think there's a really important issue here, with this old xyz theory, cos its got this whole thing going on with T and P, which is really interesting"

But less like that arrrgh! I don't know! I need someone to write it for me - where are those websites who write for you when you need them!?

Oh and its just my sup - another prof read a chapter recently and said it was "very clear writing style" but what sup wants, sup gets, otherwise she gets angry (you wouldn't like her when she's angry) SUPERVISOR SMASH! (ok no one will get that if they're not a Hulk fan)

What are your conclusions like? By that I mean how much do you push your own opinions there? This applies to both individual chapters throughout your thesis, and the very final discussions/conclusions. I found that these sections were where I was most comfortable about asserting my opinion, grabbing the research and context, and explaining it most authoritatively to the reader. Changing ends of chapters and final conclusions chapters is also something that could be done in a very short time, which you have, so might be a way to satisfy your supervisor.

"An important issue to consider in this context is that T is P, as addressed by xyz theory"?

"Of particular interest in this case is that T is P, an issue highlighted by xyz theory"?

Hi Sneaks

I would understand your sup's comments to mean moving away from statements like 'it could be argued', 'as has been demonstrated...' or similar passive, generalising phrases to you giving your descriptions/critiques using more personal statements like 'I agree/disagree with XY et al. as regards...', 'In contrast, I would argue that...', 'I favour the latter approach on account of its ability to...' or 'In considering my options, I rejected X method on the basis of...'. I guess what your sup wants is 'YOU' and your own opinions much more easy to spot and understand, so they can see where your coming from in your work.

Think of it as a written viva conversation - you are essentially writing up your arguments and decisions as if you were having to explain them to the examiner opposite you. Or think of it as writing a diary entry where you explain your considerations and decisions on an issue to yourself. Or, if you've kept a field journal or research journal of some kind throughout your study... this is the tone of voice you'd want to adopt.

You may be short on time but it's probably just a matter of rewording some of your statements to come from a personal 'I' perspective rather than using a passive voice, and/or adding the odd statement or paragraph clarifying your personal opinion where appropriate.

Does any of this make sense??

ok I've been havign a think about this. I think I need to do things like rahter than "it is important that x is included in the analysis" to "it was *considered* important that x was included in the analysis"

hmm will have a go at redoing a chapter and see how it goes.

I have a feeling that I will be using the word considered and deemed a lot :p

A friend of mine finishing their PhD had a similiar problem from the opposite end of this spectrum--got pulled up for making too definitive of statements...! The wonderful world of academia! I agree that changing to active voice strengthens the confidence and clarity of the writing. Could you not even go a step further to say "X is an important variable because..." or "The research of Blogs is effective in demonstrating how X as a variable has contributed to the ..." something along those lines?