Supervisor Issues

K

Hello,

My supervisor is giving me a headache. I submitted a draft chapter knowing some weaknesses were present in the paper regarding methodology which I have now amended. However, before these amendments I went to meet my supervisor and she told me that my paper needed major revisions and provided feedback. To my surprise she didn't mention any of the weaknesses I thought the paper had and focused solely on the write up. The thing is, the write up isn't even a problem in my opinion. For example, she said you have used overly technical language! I mean, this is a PhD thesis right? She told me that a non-expert should be able to understand what you are talking about!? Furthermore, she would highlight my tables and say that I should explain the methodology used to obtain these statistics at which point I started to feel that she may have health problems. This is because the methodology section HAS a complete description of how I obtained those statistics. She apparently went through all 40 or 45 pages as pretty much all my paragraphs are annotated with notes saying explain?? Like how can I explain the explanation? What am I supposed to do with this? My other supervisor is on leave till next year. Oh and also, she said that all your references should be from 4* journals whereas most of mine are from 3* and lower ranked journals. My research area is quite a niche and naturally those publications won't be in 4* journals. How do I deal with this? For some reason I would feel bad having a go at her because she thinks she has given me really constructive advice...

Any advice is sincerely appreciated.

N

Hi Kahn,

It seems that you are taking the feedback quite personally, which may be stressing you out. My advice is to take a step back, remember that supervisors do know what they are doing in assessing methodology, for the most part. It may be helpful to schedule face-to-face meeting with her, as the impersonal critiques can seem a bit soul-crushing. In my experience, supervisors are usually quite helpful in meeting to discuss and points in the feedback that need clarification.
About the over-technical language: Sometimes it makes a piece feel overwritten and is difficult to read in one sitting, so think of it from a reader's point of view, remove your self from the writing in order to take a good, critical look. It's difficult to do, but really necessary, I found out. :)

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