Hello all,

I have been thinking about my progress so far and I have to say that I have achieved only 2, 2.5 chapters in 2 years of Phd in a social science. The empirical work has not even started! :(
Maybe I am not cut for this? :(

so, my supervisor has no confidence in my research design and was not pleased at all with my last research statement. It does not make sense apparently. I am progressing into my penultimate year and I have lost all hope.
I feel like such a loser. Such a wasteman. Such an idiot.
:(

Hello all,

I would like to know how important it is to go to conferences, especially as they are extremely expensive, especially the good ones in my field (registration fee + travel overseas + accommodation + personal allowance for a few days). I simply cannot afford attending them :(

So my idea is to only attend conferences if I can afford them (funding is not always available), even if they are not bigs ones in my field. I have so far not gotten anything useful out of the ones I have attended, yet I am always encouraged to attend them.

I am thinking of simply submitting findings from my research to journals after asking some academics in my department to read them.

Why are conferences so expensive? I am going to miss a few good international conferences because of financial issues, and thus, I won't be able to network as much.

What are your thoughts on my suggested steps?

Many thanks

Hello all,

I really need some kind words here, as I am writing a paper that I would like to submit at a journal, but I always imagine the reviewers making a funny face and seeing so many wrong things with my paper. I CANNOT PROGRESS. Each time I want to write, I tell myself 'what is the point? It's rubbish'. I have so little confidence in my methods, but if someone asked me to improve, I would not know how. I have been to conferences, but got no feedback. Perhaps my paper was not that interesting.
How can I overcome this feeling that I am being too ambitious and how can I stop imagining the reactions of potential reviewers/editors? It might seem like a benign thing, but I face writer's block as a result of this. I procrastinate because of this as well. I just want to cry.

Hi everyone!

At this rate, I believe I will only be able to start my data collection in the summer, 2 months before my 3rd year. I am in the social sciences, and was wondering how bad this would be? I am planning on doing all my data collection in year 3, analysing my data and editing in year 4. There is NO WAY I can do any data collection before the summer (it is taking me a long time to formulate my theories/models to guide the kind of data I will be gathering)


Am I screwed?

Hello,

I would like to know if it is standard practice to finish a full time phd in 4 years in the social sciences? Also, what is meant by 4 years? Say sept 2012 to sept 2016 or slightly before?

Thanks

Thank you for your reply!


I meant the intellectual contribution. I fail to see what is so original about my research :(

Hello,

I would like to hear from people about what to do when you no longer see the importance of your research?

I am facing a difficult time at the moment. I'm halfway into my phd and have not started collecting my data yet either!


Nothing is going according to plan and I feel miserable!

Hello all,

I am undergoing so much stress over a paper I will be presenting at a major conference. I will be able to finish on time before the conference, but probably not have the chance to get my supervisor look at it beforehand. I need input as I will be using a model I am not familiar with (I have limited knowledge of it), and I do not want to go there and embarrass myself!


Oh dear! Too stressed to finish the paper!

Hello all,

My supervisor encouraged to try to publish a paper on a topic I previously worked on, however, I cannot get myself to write it! No sentence seems good enough, and I end up staring at a blank screen.

I am already seeing the 'rejection' decision by reviewers, and this is blocking me from getting any work done.


I know this is a symptom of little confidence. I tried dealing with it, but I keep procrastinating.

Hello all,

I am feeling terribly down because my work is progressing at such a slow pace! I feel like I may need a whole decade to do this research! :(


I know this is a sign that my research is too broad, but I don't know what to do!

I think my supervisor may have 'borrowed' my idea. Same hypothesis (relationship between two particular variables) being investigated, but in a different area. This supervisor is also very helpful, so I have no idea how to tackle this. Plus, we're talking about an idea, so plagiarism cannot be proved.