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Hey there, I'm a current masters student and am nearing completion in September. I am considering a Ph.D, but would love some advice. Some may find my questions naive, but would appreciate any advice/tips.

1. I'm not the best at statistics, which is my main concern. How different is doing a Ph.D with and without using quantitative analysis? I mean, in psychology, one is more or less expected to collect data and analyze everything statistically using PASW/SPSS. I have heard time and again that qualitative work is hardly considered scientific (even though I prefer it over quanti). Which is why I'm a bit confused.

2. Do all Ph.D's involve gathering data and analyzing them? I'm not exactly clear of the difference between those who have no field work or data collection work as a part of their Ph.D and those who do. Isn't it mainly like writing up a review then? along with finding a gap?

3. Will there be enough time to do a full-time job as well as a full-time Ph.D?

Thanks for your time!

Hi, first of all your questions are good things to think about before you do a PhD. I'm a quantitative scientist so I can't really advise on the qualitative stuff. I am in physical geography and in my department there is also a good mix of human geographers, many of whom use qualitative methods. I don't understand qualitative methods as I have never used them but from what I know they can be used to good effect when doing a PhD and as long as the methods are suitable for the research problem and you can justify using them then it shouldn't be a problem. Obviously this will depend on which subject area you are in. Perhaps speak to your tutor for your masters if you have one or somebody in your department who would be able to give you an idea of how to go about pursuing a qualitative approach for your subject area. You mentioned psychology (not sure if this is your field) but I'm guessing that there would be some element of data analysis in that whichever approach you took.

Finally if you wish to pursue a PhD full time it will be virtually impossible to hold down a full time job. If you need to work full time to fund your studies which many people do if there is no funding available, then a better option may be study the PhD part time. Depending on your subject area you can expect to spend 35-50 hours a week on PhD work doing it full time. It is important to maintain a 'work-life' balance when doing a PhD i.e. finding time to relax and socialise is necessary to stop the PhD from taking over otherwise it will be too much.

Hope some of this is useful :-)

1. You say that one is expected to collect and analyze statistical data in psychology but I don't believe this to be the case. For example I have a friend who has a PhD in psychology. Their thesis was on educational psychology and they used qualitative methods extensively. Quantitiave statistical analysis would have been completely inappropriate for the issues they were seeking to understand. Psychology os a broad subject and can range from highly mathematical statistical approaches to qualitative appraches which are closely linked with sujects like anthropology. The important thing is that the correct methods (whether qualitative or quantitative) are used to investigate the topic in question.

2. All PhDs will, to some extent, involve gathering new data and analysing it. Although it will vary massivley between subjects all successful PhDs will, in the broadest understanding of the term, involve some form of generating/gathering new data and analysing this as part of their PhD work. A Phd must be original and therefore finding new data or information on the subject of the PhD is needed to achieve this.

3. Research councils class a full time PhD as 37 hours a week but in reality most full time PhD students do more hours than this. Combining full time PhD with a full time job would therefore be realistically impossible. Most people find part time work and part time PhD a real challenge!

Hope this helps.

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T

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Thank you for your replies :) I was wondering if my questions sounded too silly!

Yes, as u say, It does depend on the topic. Also, most studies done in psychology will require atleast a bit of stats so I am trying my best to improve my numeric skills. I still have to decide on my topic precisely, even though I have something in my mind.
The data gathering usually begins in the 2nd year, am I correct? Before that, one will need to get done with atleast 2 chapters (I think)..??
Also, are qualitative studies given the same scientific worth as quantitative studies? (another stupid question, I know)...


Regarding the full time job, well I'm an International student in the UK, so I was hoping I could go back to my home country and get a full time job there as well as enroll for a Ph.D in the UK. (my professor did give me an example of a student doing her PhD in the UK, living in Greece, and flying down twice a year). I'm assuming this idea isn't the best, isn't it ;) (down)
International fee, especially for Ph.D's are quite expensive which is one major factor. Nevertheless..I still do have enough time to think about my options..

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Whoa, careful there! There need not be a division between the two and there are many arguments where a qual approach could be seen as more useful than a quant one. It should not be a case of which approach is better but rather, which works best to solve the problem at hand. Many researchers chose a mixed methods approach whereby they combine the two so as to best answer their questions. Know you weren't implying that but us qual reseachers have been accused in the past of not being scientific enough. Not as much these days as heretofore but still...

Re: working full time and studying full time - technically it's possible; I suppose it depends on how scientific you are about things ;-). However if you have any sort of other life, ie family, friends, hobbies etc it would be nigh on impossible. It's definitely something to factor into your decision about how to study - either part time or full time.

good luck (up)

Hi Healthpsych! I'm a final year PhD-er in clinical psych, and although my research project was initially all quantitative, I deliberately added a small qualitative study too, because I wanted to have experience with both. Lots of people have no idea how rigorous qualitative work is, so you might have to get used to a few ignorant individuals making derisory comments about qualitative work, if that's what you stick to. Although I was initially quite ignorant about what qualitative work involved, having conducted a qual study I really appreciate how valuable this type of research is now. When it comes to publishing there are some journals that will turn their noses up at qualitative work, but you get to know which journals these are, and there are some especially for qualitative work anyway. I had no problems getting my qual study published, even though it was quite small. Just one word of warning- in terms of a career in academia (if that's what you want!), then you are going to limit yourself somewhat if you can only do qualitative work. Most posts will require evidence of a good background in statistics, and very few posts are purely qualitative (from what I can see- I am job-searching at the moment). I really would be very wary of doing no quantitative work at all- I can appreciate that stats can be a bit scary, but presumably there will be support in the form of statistical advisors/workshops/drop-in slots in addition to guidance from your supervisor at PhD level, so I would definitely consider brushing up your skills whilst you still have the time and resources!

In relation to the work question- if you are gathering a lot of data (I don't know a single PhD student at our department whose PhD isn't based on empirical work), then it is going to take a lot of your time to do so, especially end of first year, all of second year, beginning of third year. If you bear in mind that you will also be writing, entering data etc then I think you will struggle to fit in a full time job as well, especially if you plan on finishing within 3 years. A full time PhD in psychology takes more time than a full time job, and again, if you want a career in academia then you are going to need to get some of that work published and presented at conferences. Flexible part-time job, maybe, but full time I think would be impossible (or at least in this subject- where the PhD is entirely literature-based then it's probably more do-able).

Good luck! KB

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Thank you keenbean and adi...thanks for taking out the time and writing in full length. Yes, I do appreciate the work involved in analyzing qualitative data. It is quite tedious and I find it quite annoying when people condemn that form of research without realizing it worthy contribution. So many hidden factors could come up from quali research which could probably then be analyzed with quanti. Yet, thanks for that!
To be honest, I have 2 options after I'm done with my Masters in Health psych. In the UK, this is also referred to as Stage 1 training in health psychology and Stage 2 Training is the Doctorate in Health Psychology which is for about 2 years. Very few Universities in the UK offer that for now and I do know someone at London Met Uni who is well known in this dept there. I have 2 options: One is to apply for the Ph.D and the other for Stage 2 which involves four components: Teaching, consultancy, training and research. This doctorate is not pure research based and research is one component where one needs to complete a 30,000 word thesis, along with the other practical work such as so-n-so hours of teaching, consultancy, etc. Its quite intense as well yet gives a more practical approach to health psych. I am considering to do either one of the two. So lets see...Also, I know London Met doesn't have the best rep...QMU and City Uni offer this doctorate as well..yet QMU has stopped intake for the next 2 years and City's deadline has passed...Hmm..Anyone have any idea how good (or not so good) London Met is...

I do agree as well that most people would require researchers to have some hold of statistics. (That kinda sucks thought :P )

Re: work and study, finding a job ain't the easiest thing nowadays. But I am doing a placement in 2 hospitals in the UK, I was wondering when would it be appropriate for me to ask the doctors (or HR) for a job once the internship is done..

Healthpsych,

If the doctorate you are considering is one of the partially taught ones as opposed to a more traditional route PhD then I would not worry at all about the stats or quantitive vrs qualitative methodology. These courses contain taught components that will help bring you up to the required level of competence. They are every bit as valid as a PhD but more focused on a skill set for a particular career path.

As to the qualitative vrs quantitive arguments - both absolutely have their place if understood and are equally rigourous. If you take a pragmatic stand point it depends upon the question you are trying to answer. If your ontology is different then you will tend to lean towards one or the other.

Good luck with whatever route you choose.

Dafydd