Aww, I thought this would be a thread about taking the piss out of things you've marked....oh well.


"Since it is mainly the westernized countries that have the capacity to intervene, we will examine the idea whether Humanitarian Intervention is being used as a smoke screen to pursue self-fish westernized goals, which mimic the ideologies of the colonial ere."

I'm generally crap at these sorts of things, but I did have one handy one that I remember asking. What is the department's, and your potential supervisor's, past record with PhD students? Have many dropped out/transferred to other people?

Also, maybe ask about how long people have been taking to complete.

======= Date Modified 28 Jul 2011 01:44:15 =======
I heard the average is around six inches, which, in my personal experience, is unrealistic.

Oh wait, sorry, different question about length.

I think the first thing to ask is: what subject are you in?

Other than that, generally speaking, 18,000 is a bit long for a literature review, it would kind of suggest that you were unable to concisely explain the important works from the literature. However (said quite emphatically) about 20-24k words in my thesis are literature review, but organised into two chapters and covering two very different themes.

Edited to add joke about my own small penis size.

5 today, of which I'm far too proud. Hopefully I'll build on it tomorrow (maybe...7) and actually start to turn my lack-of-work period around.

I too am shocked. I mean, £500 for a Masters, but £3k for a PhD?! I could shit out a Masters in a weekend, but a PhD has to be vaguely coherent over 100,000 words - that takes a lot of effort! I think before anyone starts working on these jobs (what was the website again?) we band together and force higher rates for such work.

Shocking exploitation, just shocking.

Ha! Lucky for you guys who work at The Science Registry Beres is just up the road. If you wanted to go a little further afield there's Sean's on Eccesall Road (just past the Banner Cross), that's pretty bloody good. You can also get a massive one for like £2 from a bakery on that small packed shop street off of Arundel Gate (I think it's called the Avenue or something.) Is the landlady at the Grindstone still...erm....witchlike?

I can't really say much about Uni accomodation anymore - they've pretty much knocked down everything that existed when I started (which makes me sound older than I am, they've just been building a lot in the past 7 years (if anyone else went, I was there in the last year of Sorby.)) Beyond that, I prefer to get a house with some people, but it is probably a lot less hassle to sort out uni accomodation. Also, it may worth be considering becoming a subwarden/residence mentor to cut costs, although I know that there's been a fair bit of an argument in Sheffield about pay/work.

I was at Sheffield for undergrad and masters. Sheffield is a great city, it's just really really pleasant, although you'll have to get used to the hills. Try to get accomodation in Crookes, Crookesmoor or Broomhill - avoid Broomhall, it's a proper shithole. I honestly thoroughly like the city, although I could see someone from a larger city thinking that it was a bit mundane. Also, have a pork sandwich.

I used my first one since March today. That was it, just the one.

I'm kinda trying to get out of a post-field work, new long-distance relationship, no-work, living-at-home-until-I-get-a-uni-place-sorted funk. I'm sure everyone's been through one of those.

I always find it most useful when I'm writing up. Every tomato I just put my new word count in. It works really well when you're writing new stuff, slightly depressingly when you're editing.

It depends on your age. According to the JSA website, per week it's
Aged 16 - 24 £53.45
Aged 25 or over £67.50


There's also other benefits you can apply for too.

I would maybe mention it briefly - something about gradually evolving interview skills. As others have said it is all about the learning experience. Plus, I'm not sure about you, but my interviews have increasingly given me ideas for what to ask in subsequent interviews and so the process of fieldwork has changed my areas of focus slightly (my interviews have also, subsequently, become a lot less structured, a lot longer (if I can get it) and a lot more intellectually rewarding.)

I'm kinda thinking of getting a little plaque for my office that reads "It isn't research if you know what you're doing", which isn't entirely accurate, but is reassuring. Maybe, "It isn't research if you know what you're going to find" is better.

I think it's fine to ask. I would just approach it by saying something along the lines of "In my experience, it is fairly standard procedure to know the names of the panel interviewing you, so, obviously unless you have different proceduces, I was wondering if it would be possible to get the names of the members of my panel."

A suitably watered-down, indirect and undemanding request - the classic British way.

I would wonder about the quality of the person proofing it for me; I'm not sure that I would trust them to write or even recognise my style. This position could just be me though as I'm becoming a bit of a grammar Nazi.

Hrmph. I currently have this in my head - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLexgOxsZu0 . It's like the opposite of what I need, although it is a happy song.

Hey guys,
I'm currently struggling to get any work done and am spending a fair amount of time listening to love songs (the two things might be interrelated.) Anyhow, while I can normally accept a bit of slippage, I'm on fieldwork at the moment and really need to motivate myself and stop listening to that kind of music.

So - this post is a complete shot in the dark - I was wondering if anyone had any songs that motivate them. Either research specific (highly unlikely, I know) or just generally.

Cheers,
Slizor

Out of interest, what social science field are you in?

I think that the 1950s behavioural revolution within US social sciences has had a lasting negative impact on US academia and has profoundly retarded the growth of American academic work; leaving the discplines arguing over minor points of method rather than major questions that lie within the use of essentially contested concepts (I say this from a politics background, but it applies even more so to economics.)

It may be that, in order to be a bit more humble, a bit more open to others' perspectives and way more open to actually conducting research that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking, that you need to examine your own internal assumptions and spend some time understanding different philosophic positions than your own. I also recommend you cast off the shackles of thinking of yourself as a "scientist" and think more of yourself as someone with a very informed opinion.