Also, there are a couple of mock viva videos worth watching, one by Angel Productions based at Nottingham Uni (I think) and another one by Cardiff Uni.

Of course, these were the main questions I thought about - my thesis was conducted within the School of Social sciences btw:

(a) What is the original contribution to knowledge?

(b) Justifying Methodology

(c) Conceptual framing and choice thereof

(d) What would you do differently next time?

(e) What are the issues you have with your analysis?

(f) Justifying findings against other accounts in the field


I also thought a bit wider about the following issues:

(a) How would you justify doing this type of research to the general public? Why is it so vital and important?

(b) What are you most proud of?

(c) Why did I decide to undertake a PhD, and why this topic?

(d) What was not in the thesis?

(e) How did you know your respondents were informed, unbiased and genuine?

(f) How did I go about securing my ethical approval for conducting empirical research.

Hello all,

I know I haven't been very active on here recently, but just wanted to tell everyone that I passed! I realise that many of the people I used to talk to on here are now probably not around, but just felt the need to post a thread. It's probably because this forum gave me so much support during the early stages of my PhD.

Anyway, I had my viva a week and a half back and I passed with what the examiner called, 'very minor corrections'.

I will post my viva experience up here so others can get a better idea of what goes on. I know I was frantically searching for this before my viva.

Also, I have a comprehensive list of general questions I worked with which I can also post if anyone needs them.

Good luck to the rest of you!

J.

I passed with minor corrections on 06 March 2014! Congrats to all other Doc out there who have passed recently too! J.

Thanks Charlie!

Just read, speak to people, ask your supervisors on advice. The first few months are about finding your feet and shaping your research. Your PhD (especially if in social science/humanities) can potentially considerably change in nature and direction as you go through, so this is the time to work out where the gaps are and how you can fill them. Don't stress out as all of us have been through this. It's a massive thing starting a PhD and you will naturally feel like you should have done loads already. But don't jump the gun.

I got through about a year and a half in and then discovered a piece of work that had done exactly what I was doing. How I missed it I don't know. But as I said, your work will evolve. You don't need to have a ground-breaking idea right now and you don't need to reinvent the wheel. This will naturally come the more you read. What helped me a lot was to conduct some preliminary interviews with academics (of course depending on what type of PhD you are doing), as they all have a deep knowledge of the literature and were able to say, 'Oh I think a really interesting under-researched area is such and such'.

Also, keep an eye on this forum. It really helped me a lot in my early PhD life.

All the best! x

Hello all,

Sorry for not being around for a while. I have been keeping up with the interesting discussions now and again.

I am submitting my PhD in two days. I am not sure how I feel about this. For the last two years all I have been thinking is, "I can't wait until I hand in my PhD!". However, I now feel like I am going to be made redundant from my job in two days!

I have read through my chapter loads of times but keep thinking there is something I am missing and I find typos now and again...has anyone else experienced this? Is anyone ever completely happy before submitting?

Also, I though the PhD would have taken 3-4 years to complete (full time), but due to having to work and other things, I am now at 5 1/2 years and it makes me feel really guilty. I know people don't finish in 3 years, but my one has taken too long, right? I am sure there is no set time and this differs, but I can't help but feel bad about it. I am not letting it affect me and am plugging away and reading as much as I can, as difficult as it is, as I am in the 'not bothered' stage at the moment!

Anyway, just wanted to vent my thoughts. I hope you are all doing well.

Any replies are welcome.

Thanks! I will try those avenues. Much appreciated. (up)

Hello all,

I am currently in the final year of my PHD and my funding runs out in Feb, but I need a top up of about 3-4 months. I am funded through the department and they say they can't afford to extend it, so i need to look elsewhere. Does anyone know of any trusts that specifically do top ups within social sciences?

I have tried the usual AHRC, Leverhulme, Joseph Rowntree...etc... but they say that they don't do top ups. Any ideas much appreciated!

Thanks.

S.

Will do, thanks Joyce. I realistically need to spend a day in the library looking for this, but at the moment would struggle to even do that as I am so overloaded! That's why I thought I would try and get a few tips from people on here to give me a rolling start.

Thanks Pjlu,

I understand that all respondents have to be kept anonymous, though possibly not if they give consent to being mentioned? I am not sure about that though.

Anyway my point is that within my field, not many researchers have gone and spoken to the people 'on the ground' so to speak, which I have luckily managed to do. According to my tutor this is something I need to stress within my write up, and he said there is a body of academic literature out there which discusses this and something that I could use. He is abroad at the moment so I can't get in contact with him. I have tried toi search for it withno luck, but I have some hard time restrictions and this is why I posted this thread, as people on here may have had the same issue and may be able to recommend some good book/journal on the issue.

Thanks.

J

Hello all,

I hope you are all well and enjoyed the Christmas break. I took the rare opportunity to have a week off!

I am basically conducting semi-structured interviews for my PhD research. As the topic is such a highly sensitive area I am unable to mention any names of respondents (which i don't think you can do anyway). The point is, I am very lucky as I was able to interview some really hard to reach key people within my field and now I need to work out how to convey this into my PhD. My tutor mentioned that there may be a body of literatue out there around establishing claims. So there would be some sort of credibility measure and check, and I could convey that I used these checks.

Does anyone know anymore about this and can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks,

S.

Thanks all. It is just nice knowing we are all in the same boat. I am roping my wife into helping me, so hopefully will cut my hours down a bit. I think I want to do it myself. This was the idea in the first place. I even said so in my methodology chapter, and stated the same thing as all of you have said, i.e. familiarisation of data. I am going to try and do a couple of hours in the morning and a couple in the evening if I can, and maybe dediucate a day on the weekend to it. Wish me luck!

Thanks DrSeeker!

Thanks. But my one of my supervisors really put me off as well when she said transcribing doesn't really count as workign, so I have left it to do in my spare time, but it has piled up!