Congratulations, Dr Bug! You've stormed through your PhD and you well deserve it! Good luck for your future, though I don't think you'll need it.

Remember us all when you're something like Vice Chancellor of the University of the Whole of the World, or some such.

(up)

I wouldn't pay to get it proof read - I never did mine. There probably are a couple of typos in my final copy, but I've seen them in other theses I've read. The way I see it is that theses usually get minor corrections following the viva. The examiners sometimes pick up on the typos and when you re-read your thesis and do the minor corrections, you usually pick up in the typos anyway - so there's not really any need. That's just my tuppence worth!

Aww, good luck you young 'uns! I remember when I were your age, working t'down t'coal mines while researching and writing my PhD. Time flies and before you know it you'll be in your second year and then submitting. Time flies, even when you're not having fun. Anyway, there are people far wiser than me on this forum, and like an efficient pharmacy, they'll be able to dispense a remedy for each and every one of your PhD-related ails. This is odd as I'm probably old enough to be the dad to each and every person on this forum - feels like that at least.

I have only 3 pieces of generic advice, gleaned from my active years of PhD duty:

1) Get enough sleep and look after yourself.

2) What seems impossible in terms of temporal or intellectual demands usually isn't - nothing has to be perfect (even your finished thesis).

3) Get out there and have fun (or just watch [shudder] the X-Factor or even Those Celebrities That Dance On Ice) while doing your PhD because it's the only way to tackle self-induced madness.



All the best (up)

Hi Swetcha, I'll have to be brief, so apologies if this answer if fumbled and the equivalent of a brain fart. There are over 20 definitions for mixed methods research and a lot of the main writers seem to have their own ideas of what it is precisely. It's in its adolescence and like most teenagers, it's stroppy, messy and disorganised. In fact, one of the definitions is what your supervisors have called it. It can be any study (or series of studies) that combine elements of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis for broad purposes. I'm not entirely clear what you design is or what you were aiming to do (you can PM me if you like, so I can consider it more specifically). Mixed methods studies can come in lots of shapes and sizes (some can even be emergent designs!), and there need not necessarily be equal priority between the qual and quan methods - either can take precedence. You supervisor is right to be cautious because conducting a MM study requires a lot of considerations - the design, questions, sampling, integration and so forth.
You personal research philosophy is really important here because it ultimately informs the particular methodological approach you take and the methods you use. Have you thought about what your worldview is? Ontology? Epistemology? If you're clear on this, then you'll be better able to defend your study. Just remember that you can't call it 'intermethod mixing' because this is now considered to be mixed methods.

Hi Sneaks and Ady. I never had much to do with social constructivism back when I did my research, but there won't be any issue with that. WRT you supervisor, some people have conducted studies in the past that combine qual and quan data collection and analysis, and see them as quantitative. However, if you then peel away the layers of the study until you reach the philosophical core, you find they don't hold much water. Anyway, with regards to axiology, it is a term that relates to the values we have when we conduct an inquiry. With qualitative research, the inquiry is often attached with our own values. For example, if we're working with disenfranchised people, we might have caring feelings and desperately want to help them. On the other hand, quantitative research is positivistic and supposed be value free; we're objective scientists and are not supposed to have any feelings that might influence our work. I think post-positivism rectified this somewhat, acknowledging that it is difficult to be a completely objective being without any feelings when conducting research.

You've quantitised qualitative data, which is an example of mixed methods data analysis. Just make sure that you've laid the ground work for why this is the case in your methodology at some point. So, based on your pragmatic research philosophy, you've applied methods traditionally associated with positivism to analyse data collected that you would associate with interpretivism (open ended interviews and thematic analysis). It is very difficult for someone to argue that it is quantitative because the collection of data in the qual stage required completely different ontological, epistemological and axiological assumptions than in the quan stage and without using a mixed methods apporach it would be very difficult to justify what you've done.

As long as there are PhD students never!

I really haven't used this forum in ages, though I've occasionally thought about it and, in the vast majority of cases, the lovely members. Shortly after getting my PhD, I began a job at a health consultancy. The people I work with are nice and the work quite varied. It's amazing how much you learn working in industry as opposed to in the academic side of things. I'm mostly learning by making (lots) mistakes - a case of trial and error. They do seem happy enough with me though.

Now for my experiences of what it's like post PhD...

Really bloody odd! For the past 5 months I've worked there, I've felt like there's a big part of me missing. All those hours I spent doing my PhD have been replaced by work and then leisurely pursuits, like the gym 4 times a week and actually reading fiction. You (well me anyway) don't really realise how much a PhD defines who you are until it's gone. All that stuff trapped inside your head can make for a difficult post-PhD transition. I really loved my research - I can confidently say that now. I'm definitely a researcher - through and through. Having sane gold standards to compare myself with at work, I can definitely day it sent me slightly mad. Driving 500 miles a week in a Fiat Seciento doesn't help. What a horrible, cramped revvy little car! It's already broken down on me two times and if it does it again, I'm going to go all Fawlty Towers on it!

So, as much as I don't mind where I'm working, I've made a big decision and am prepared to travel half way around the world for it. I've applied and been short listed for an academic post in a land far, far away and have an interview early next week for it. It's in my field so I stand as much of a chance as anyone else. I really don't want to leave academia (I think I'm built for it), so I'm going to get back into it. I've been working on getting publications out (soon to be 3, I hope) in an effort to improve my chances.

Anyway, enough about me! I'd just like to say to all the new starters and people working their way through:

There's a lot of ups and downs,
A lot of downs and ups,
You'll read a lot of books,
And shout a lot of 'fxxks'

But you'll find there's a lot you'll love,
And you'll come to this forum for shoves,
It's a most self-indulgent time,
And with hard work you'll do fine

It's natural to whine,
It's often curable with wine,
There's times things will drag,
Ex-smokers will want fags

But it's worth it in the end,
The problems you experience will mend,
The experiences you have will shape you,
The things you learn help make you.


:-)

Hello there, klr. The good news is that I can kindly inform you that there will be opportunities out there. The bad news is you're probably best doing a search on Google, really. I doubt that anyone on this forum has the time or, rightfully, the inclination to do this for you.

During my time in the PhD trenches, I don't recall anyone ever taking amphetamines - at least not to help them with PhD study! I must admit that there are increasing reports of students doing this in the media though.

I think there's two tactics that you can use to deal with this:

1) Buy a rubik's cube and sudoku puzzle book. When she approaches you, hold said items up in the air (so she can see them) and chuck them into the closest bush or bramble. Watch her chase after them, like some hyper-attuned, IBM-powered puzzle solving supercomputer with legs. I reckon that should shut her up for a few weeks.

2) Ask her if she's ever heard the tale of the tortoise and the hare? Inform her that this could end up being an adult re-interpretation of an old classic because one of the side affects of drugs like Ritalin is stimulant-induced psychosis. It's no good producing a thesis in 6 days if you then go on to worship and set it on fire, like some twisted version of the Wickerman.

You have my sympathies! :-)(up)

Jesus wept, I hate these kind of questions...

1) Which is considered the more prestigious degree - a PhD at University of Central Lancashire or an MA at Cambridge?


A MA and PhD are different beasts, so I don't think you can compare them in this way.


2) Is a PhD at University of Central Lancashire equivalent in stauture to a PhD at Cambridge?

In theory, they really should be. However, there's a 'brand name' attached to a PhD at Cambridge (just voted the best university in the world, apparently), so you'd be a bit more likely to get a job in a certain subject area with the Cambridge badged one. Sort of like comparing a pair of New Balance trainers with Nike ones - people will go for the name. It's worth bearing in mind that the name of your external can be a mitigating factor, as can the number of papers you have published and the number of important conferences you have attended.

Hiya all, it's been some time since I last posted. I'm now working, for a private consultancy and it's going okay. I travel a lot of miles in the day, but the job has a lot of perks and it's a nice company to work for. However, I've still not got the corrections for my thesis done. This is not through want of trying, rather my internal examiner is being extremely awkward. Due to her, I won't get my corrections done on time to graduate this year and I only have one month left to get it done by the official time frame.
She only wants the corrections one little lot at the time, but she hasn't gotten back to me in over a month. I got in touch with her to see what was happening and st she tersely said that she's busy in her professional and personal life and I will have to be patient. At this rate I stand no chance of getting my corrections done for the official time frame and I'm at a bit of a loss. What can I do? What rights do I have? It's upsetting because I don't know which way to turn, who to get advice from or what she's obliged to do? Personally, I feel that she should not have agreed to be my internal if she was unable to provide feedback in a timely manner. As far as I understand it, the corrections were signed over to her by the external (who was really happy with my thesis), so she pulls all the strings and I'm at her (lack of) mercy. :-(

I think doing a masters degree would be the way to go, or you could try getting a job as a lab assistant and taking things from there. Having a 2.1 does not prevent you from getting directly onto a PhD, and you could always crack open the textbooks and start reading journal articles, but I think some interviewers would be a bit hesitant given the time that has elapsed (science moves quickly and all that).

I haven't any direct experience of doing an arts-based PhD, but I would imagine that the costs are much, much lower. Other than conference and travel costs, expenses for accessing archives, I can't really think of any additional costs.

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