I don't know about supervisors being tougher on you because of where you live ... but they will probably be tough on you if you don't hand in your work!! :-)

Perhaps it will help you to just write one or two sentences. If you have reached the point where it is difficult to start (maybe too much pressure on putting something together?) then pretend not to start, and just simply write a couple of lines. Imagine telling someone - a friend/ family member/ someone on this forum - about your research - an introduction for the uninitiated (or dummies). You might want to imagine this as a letter you are writing to a friend you haven't had contact with for a long time and you are catching them up: of course, they know nothing of your research, what motivated you, or where you hope to go with it once you've submitted it. So, it's up to you to tell them all about it. That way you'll begin the process of writing - and who knows where that might take you ...

The hardest part is getting started. Good luck.

LilyMe - it seems you are at the point of your dissertation where watching paint dry or scraping the mould off of your shower is more preferable to doing your work!! :-)

This is a tough process to go through - a sacrifice on the altar of Academia!! But, FWIW, it probably boils down to this: if you don't have primary data to collect, yes - you still have time to complete. If you still have to contact people and invite them to participate, then I suspect that your time-lines are a little tighter than you might like to think about!

From my own experience, there are possibly two hooks you can use to get the grey matter working and to feel more motivated:
(1) recall what made you want to apply in the first place - what attracted you to the course of study? Does your research question coincide with that? Try to re-read some of the earlier texts that inspired your question - even some of your own reflections and writings about the topic ... way back when.

(2) drop yourself in the deep end - start the methodology statement, or even drawing up a list of references, or perhaps think of reasons why your research question is NOT relevant and see if you can come up with counter-arguments!

This is the slog part of post-grad work: and the power of the blank (electronic) page is very intimidating - more so than they let on!!!

But, FWIW, this is something almost every student has to face down, and once you understand how your own motivation works, you can begin to have fun and play games with yourself ... and in that way, overcome the restraints you describe.

Good luck!!!

Yikes - this sounds like a really crummy situation ... it really does ... and I'm really sorry that my commiserations don't help your cause very much!

I agree: this is quite possibly NOT the school to be considering seriously. Unless you have the option to revise your proposal, but it's likely they have someone else in mind and that they will just not support your application and this is the way they think they can drop your application quietly.

Go somewhere else, if you can.

This just sounds like a lousy experience all round.

I think that the real issue seems to come in inviting the two supervisors to play nicely together! FWIW, my first MSc was facilitated by asking for a three-way meeting to establish who should be doing what. That way, everyone knows who does what and who you have to go to to something done.

HTH

Thanks Bewildered

Yes, this is a UK university. The moderation process is a bit of a joke - she decides which pieces of work go to a second marker (only requires three from each assignment to satisfy the requirements). I haven't even seen the feedback sheet for this assignment yet, and unfortunately this university course doesn't seem to have scope for an alternate supervisor.

AFAICT, this has not been confirmed by anyone else. I am so upset about this that I am now exploring changing the course altogether just to get away from her and her control. She knows that I am aiming for a distinction (already have one from a previous MSc in a different field, so know what I am capable of) and this is - I suspect - her way of sticking it to me because of a couple of things I have challenged her on (and not even confrontationally!). This is just so difficult to prove though. It just leaves me feeling sick - especially since I quit work to do this programme!!

Hello all

I have encountered a problem that I don't know what to do about and would appreciate the thoughts of the folk here.

I started a taught MSc in September and at first everything was going very well - good grades and enjoyed the course. Now things have started to sour and quickly.

First, the senior lecturer will be the only lecturer for the balance of the course (whole of second term) and also the dissertation supervisor - so we are exposed only to her ideas and biases.

Second, she is inconsistent in her marking depending on who the person is: for example, she was giving verbal feedback to us on an assignment and there was an unnamed assignment who she attributed to one student, telling him that it was a failing assignment and proceeded to list a number of problems; when it turned out that paper belonged to another student, she told the (real) author that the paper was "fine" and gave a few encouraging comments: same paper - different students, but the first student is someone she clearly doesn't like.

Now, after telling me that my work was "very good" with "very little need for improvement" a few weeks' back, she and I have since had some conflict and now I am marked down to 62% and I think this is in response to me challenging her on a couple of points.

I've tried talking to her about this, but she just denies it.

What are my options? Has anyone else had this kind of experience?

Thanks for your thoughts.