I have wasted most of my morning.

Boo!

Did get ethical approval though.

Now I have a pile of books to work through before leaving at about 3ish.

What's everyone else up to today? Sneaks, I know you're away. Maggie how are you doing? And Lizbethfdz, how is your week going?

A

After my dentists appointment I felt sad. Anaesthetic makes me feel sad...so did nothing this afternoon. Now I'm gonna go back to campus to see if I can get the books and try and cram 3 days worth of reading into tomorrow. Unlikely.

Have a great weekend Sneaks. I won't be working over the weekend either, very rarely do.

A

Hi Siwee,

A smiley about writing!  You are motivated!

I've always been told to do the "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them" approach to Chapters. So, I would start an introduction by saying what you said in the last chapter which was pertinent, then what you're going to say in this chapter.  Then outline what will be discussed in the chapter. If  you're introducing the methodology or writing a lot about it I'd have that as a section of the chapter, if you're just recapping from a methodology Chapter then you could just include it in the intro.

Hope this is of some help but all just my opinions and second hand advice.

A

Hi all!

Sneaks - Did you manage to finish Chapter 1? Plan Chapter 2? How was supervision today?

So, trauma involving seminar and library yesterday. I didn't get to go!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rubbish! And actually I still can't go to the library today! Can't say too much because I will give stuff away.

So, this morning I've been e-mailing to high heaven to try and get a decision from my research site etc...fingers crossed they'll put me out of my misery soon. Got an appointment at lunchtime then I'll try and get my head round the stats I need to use with the books I have.

Lizbethfdz - Come play, come play!

A

Good morning Sneaks.

Sorry for the late check in. I had a supervision meeting at 9 this morning. That went well. I got some criticism on Chapter (don't you think it should have a capital C?!?!?) which was great. I was kind of expecting a complete re-write but they seem very happy with it as a first draft although it needs a hell of a lot more work on it.

Have spent this morning backing up to my lovely new hard drive. This is somewhat complicated by files on my computer which like to become corrupted and then not let me delete them.

Am off to a seminar in a minute on the topic I did my MSc on which is nothing related to my PhD but I love the area. Then library to get hundreds of books, then home to begin to plough through the books.

How are you feeling now Maggie? Still full of cold?

A

Hi Sneaks, Hi Maggie,

Maggie - I hope you did no admin or filing and stayed in bed with hot tea all day. I hope you're feeling better!

Sneaks - Wow!!! That's quite some list! How did it go? Did you finish all the lecture work? Is your first chapter a literature review? How is it going? I hope you didn't stay up too late.

My supervisor made me write a "Plan B" about 6 months into my PhD which made me really think about what I'll have to do to get a thesis etc but it was one of the most depressing tasks I ever did! Going to a similar yet different institution sounds like a good plan to me and you can always write a big reflexive chapter about how you were unable to talk to the population you intended to talk to and why that might be.

My plan:
This morning I have been e-mailing the people who have developed my intervention to tidy up some last minute fixes.
I will be chasing my research site for confirmation of participation.
I have a supervision tomorrow so I will be preparing a document so that they can OK my statistics before I hit SPSS hard.
I have been asked to do a short presentation to my funding body so I will finish off my presentation and send it through to them.

At some point I should tidy my desk too...

A

Between 15 and 25 pages. I asked 5 questions which also had prompts. But I wouldn't be suprirsed to see them go much much longer than that.

It sucks in terms of transcribing but I wouldn't worry about the length in terms of whether or not you have good enough data. I've found that some of my shorter interviews (and focus groups) seem to have richer data as the participants appear to be giving more considered answers and there is less umm-ing and ah-ing.

A

Hi Maggie, Hi Sneaks. Nice to meet you!!

I'm so sorry about your data collection. Very frustrating when you get problems which you really couldn't have done much to prevent. But I guess now you have to think about solving it...Have you got a plan B?

Today I have a meeting to get the final confirmation from my research site that they are happy for the study to start on the 26th. I am beyond nervous especially as my sup was going to come with me has been called to a different more important meeting. Eek! So, that's mid afternoon. Until then I'm going to just rock quietly in the corner. Or perhaps I'll try and read over my presentation, notes, data collection tools etc etc before heading off. Never mind.

What's your plan for the day Sneaks?

Maggie?

Take care

A

But then this is all linked into priorities etc isn't it?

My career is important to me but not at the expense of my personal relationships. So I wouldn't make a move away from my boyfriend even though he has bought the issue up before and said that he would actively support it. I'm not saying my decisions are more valid than anyone elses but if your career is your priority then the potential for your relationships to suffer is there. Similarly, as my relationship is my priority, I almost definitely won't become a high flyer to the extent that perhaps I have to potential to be.

We all have our decisions to make I suppose.

A

Sounds like you've had a far more productive day than me then Maggie!

I did read some abstracts but nowhere near enough. Checking out for the weekend.

See you Monday!

A

Good Morning!

Today I am in abstract city for my literature review. Actually quite enjoying it. I think it's just because it's something other than my draft! No quantitative goal...just to start the wade through them to be honest.

How is your day going Maggie?

A

Hi Maggie

Sorry for the lack of response today. Got up about 10.30 and then all my power went off. Nightmare! So I went to uni to read over the minutes for the meeting I went to this afternoon which was so far over my head it's ridiculous. Just checking in but not going to do anything today. Tomorrow I'll hit the literature review hard.

How is it going today?

A

Hi.

I have just sent my draft of my study through to my supervisors. I hate it, it was horrible and I pretty much told them so.

Tomorrow = big lie in I think. Meeting in the afternoon which is unrelated to my PhD but uni related and then 3pm afterwards hopefully cracking on with some reading for continuing literature review (managed to get my admin stuff largely sorted today).

How about you Maggie? Productive day?

A

Good luck for today Maggie. I think it's probably a good idea to set goals even if we're not quite reaching them!!!

Today I HAVE to finish my study write up. Which means...Discussion fully written, some sort of conclusion, and a huge great big tidy up. I really really hate sending work to my supervisors. Huge worries that they'll just hate it but it has to be done tomorrow so I might end up working quite late into the evening with the intention of tomorrow just being stupid admin-y things. Also going to a 2 hour long seminar this afternoon. Fun!

Check in later!

A

Thought I'd post in at the end of my day. Been watching TV while working since 5ish. Check on the summaries, extensively bullet pointed my discussion, not managed to get it in a submitable form yet though. Boo! Went to supervision and got a whole new pile of work.

So, will check in tomorrow.

A