I recently moved back to live with my parents because my scholarship ran out but I am still writing up my PhD-due to submit in December.

I feel like family just don't get that I'm busy or even have a job. I work from home a couple of days a week cos my uni is a 90 minute drive away. I'm constantly being asked to babysit my nephews,recently my sister asked if I could get home early from a conference that was a 2 hour drive away to babysit. My family are going out on socials and I'm being asked to make sure dinner is cooked for them etc. I have refused a couple of things my Mum and sister asked me to do, but all that happens is that they ignore me and so I end up doing them anyway.

Does anyone ever experience the same lack of understanding from people? If you think I'm being selfish or unfair feel free to tell me. But I am struggling to make people see just how hard this is, as well as actually make time to just work and focus on me? This was so much easier when I lived alone!

Harsh feedback is something you'll need to get used to, as well as not taking it personally. If it doesn't come from your supervisor it'll certainly come from reviewers!

I'm so sorry you felt the need to do that, must have been gutting.

No I have never heard of that. My research is on racism so I publish papers with plenty of colourful language, although that language is from the participants themselves, and not me.

It depends on the audience of the journal I guess-did you discuss it with your supervisor? If it had been me I would have been tempted to suck it up and do what they said to get published. I have often followed reviewers' suggestions even if I know in my heart I would never write like that!

I've popped another PhD cherry and received my first invitation to review a journal article :) I've no idea how this happened as I didn't apply to do it or anything!

I'm just wondering does anyone have any experience of this and can offer any words of wisdom? I'm so worried I'll read the article and just have nothing to say about it!

I was the same, I had to read a lot of papers and familiarise myself with the lectures as the content wasn't something I was familiar with. Usually when you start out teaching it won't be areas that are related to your own PhD research, something that a lot of PhD students complain about but that's the way it is.

I did receive a lot of support but I have to approach them, lecturers will rarely chase you up asking how it's going. You could do some of the reading and think of some ideas for the sessions, then see what the module leader thinks?

I'm the same, I do about six hours a week. After two years of teaching I spend very little time on prep as I teach the same modules each time!

Marking can take up a big bulk of your time, and usually over the holidays as PerceptualLenna says. I'd give yourself a week or two at least. Same as with teaching, it gets easier with practise.

Have you been specifically told that you had to obtain reliability and validity? It might be that you have to run these tests if they are needed in the method section.

See what your supervisor suggests, Methods chapters in Social Sciences can be so difficult to write, having to justify methods and analytical approaches, as well as reading the epistemology behind them. So see what is required from you and what your potential examiners might want to see.

I sent off a journal paper for review back in February and I'd really like to chase it up now with the editors. Waiting to hear back this long is not unusual in social sciences, and people I have co-authored with have chased up articles but I have never done so myself. I am unsure of the protocol for doing this and what kind of message to send to the editor? I don't really want to sound unprofessional or give any easy excuses to have my paper rejected!
Anybody had any experiences in this?

I don't know why you'd want to do that? If the audience have a handout they will be looking down at that and not at you while you are talking.

Let your personality show and be enthusiastic. If you appear to be bored of the topic so will they! I don't know what subject you teach but I usually try to incorporate examples and relate things to the news and current affairs. A video clip doesn't hurt to keep their attention too!

Thanks for your response. It's only for a few more weeks, but I could be doing it again the same time next year (it's a semester two module only). I think if he's the lecturer on it again though I would turn it down.

That's a great idea, it might feel a bit awkward for me (being a Brit we always have that annoying politeness thing!) but like you say that's sends across such a clear message. Thanks :)