Trouble
======= Date Modified 14 49 2010 21:49:31 =======
I've had a bit of a shock today. I have to re-write several chapters again and I've found out that my thesis isn't long enough (even though there's still 2 chapters). I've done the word count and it's at 62, 000 words. I've read through all the chapters I've done so far and I hate them. They're all crap. All that work I've put into it and it just seems so rubbish. It feels like I've done an awful lot of research - but there's so few words. On top of that, my supervisors have always gone on at me about how I need to make sure it isn't too long, that they're worried I'm going to overload the externals, that I need to cut my chapters down. The truth is it's too short. Secretly, I also feel that I don't really understand anything anyway. What a deflating climax so near to the submission deadline. And my theoretical framework...what they hell was I on? I don't take drugs but I must have had a dodgy cup of tea when I wrote the thing because it would currently be infinitely better if I just had a blank page with the words Theoretical Framework written on in fancy felt tip bubble writing:-(
My finished thesis was 70,000 words long, even though my department expects 80-100,000. I took advice on this, and was reassured by numerous people that it was ok to submit like that. Though some advised me to submit some of my large databses on CD, as an electronic appendix, to make it look more weighty.
Maybe you might be able to submit a shorter thesis? My examiners had no problems with it.
Succinctness is always a winner with examiners so I here. So what is your word limit then? You've got 62k and still two chapters to write? In my field at my uni, the recommended word-count is between 75-100k without refs or bibliography. I did 78k (tho not had my viva yet so not sure if that's OK or not!), but other friends have passed with only around 50k! I think you're having a down day today. Forget the word limit issue and concentrate on getting a theory chapter you're happy with before submission... as this is quite an important part. Get someone else to read it if needs be, talk about it in person and clarify your ideas.
Yes one of my supervisors said he always prefers a too-short thesis to one that's way too long. He rates quality over quantity as well.
Totally fine Wally. My boyf submitted around the 50 000 word mark and it was fine. I think I'll be around 70 000 and am actually worried I'll be too long, I was hoping to keep it as short as possible for my examiners. I think if you've written concisely then you'll be a winner if they don't have to wage through pages of text just so it looks bigger. Plus, at this stage, I think the writing will always look crap, I know I feel my thesis is a big pile of turd ('scuse the terminology) but I'm just telling myself if it was that bad then I wouldn't be allowed to submit. Although I'm also preparing myself to tell my family and friends that I'm downgrading to MPhil, if I'm told at the viva that it's not PhD standard I think I may just say ok, that's fine, I'll take my MPhil and get on with my life.
Secretly, I also feel that I don';t really understand anything anyway
I'm not near submission yet (although I'm only a year off) but I can totally, totally empathize with this. I agree with what everybody else has said- succinct is always better, and 62 K is respectable given anyone's standards. Is this including refs by the way?
Thanks for the reassuring comments everyone. The current word count does exclude references fortunately. There's still much to write anyway. I think I'm at a bit of a low ebb with things at the moment. There's bits and pieces of my thesis all over the place now, the methods chapter has turned into a mess and some of the chapters just don't seem as relevant or flow into one another very well.
However, some of the recent threads on this forum show me what is possible when people find themselves in worse situations, so I'll just press on with it.
OMG I can so sympathise. There is nothing wrong with you or your thesis. You just have the writing up blues!!! Writing up was the worst part of the thesis for me and I felt like you sometimes, like why even bother, or what was I thinking when I wrote this??!!! and I wanted to set the entire thesis on fire and forget it.....its just a hard time, and what you are going through is just part of it. I think the second half of the PhD is harder than the first half...someone told me that most people who quit their thesis do so when they are like 95% done...because of the writing up blues. So what you are going through is "normal"--and you can probably see why so many people throw in the towel at this stage, not because they should but because of how hard things get at this point.
When I was trying to get my copy printed off to submit, my printer caught on fire ( well not literally but it was overheating) so it took 6 hours to get one copy of the thesis out....so I took it to a place to copy it for me at no small price, so when I got that back they had totally messed up the copies, messed up pages, missing pages, oh I cannot even describe the horror...then had the nerve to charge me again when I went back to have them fix it. I was so beaten down at that point I wanted to just make the thing go away so I just paid. I didn't even have the energy to fight them....
Hang in there. I am sure your work is brill and it will all turn out fine. This is just part of the hideous process of finishing...
OMG I can so sympathise. There is nothing wrong with you or your thesis. You just have the writing up blues!!! Writing up was the worst part of the thesis for me and I felt like you sometimes, like why even bother, or what was I thinking when I wrote this??!!! and I wanted to set the entire thesis on fire and forget it.....its just a hard time, and what you are going through is just part of it. I think the second half of the PhD is harder than the first half...someone told me that most people who quit their thesis do so when they are like 95% done...because of the writing up blues. So what you are going through is "normal"--and you can probably see why so many people throw in the towel at this stage, not because they should but because of how hard things get at this point.
When I was trying to get my copy printed off to submit, my printer caught on fire ( well not literally but it was overheating) so it took 6 hours to get one copy of the thesis out....so I took it to a place to copy it for me at no small price, so when I got that back they had totally messed up the copies, messed up pages, missing pages, oh I cannot even describe the horror...then had the nerve to charge me again when I went back to have them fix it. I was so beaten down at that point I wanted to just make the thing go away so I just paid. I didn't even have the energy to fight them....
Hang in there. I am sure your work is brill and it will all turn out fine. This is just part of the hideous process of finishing...
You're making me panic now Wal! My studies are only about 5k words long! So I daren't think how long the whole thing will be.
My hubs' thesis is 130 pages including references - about 30k words. He's a little worried, but his is maths based so a lot of the thesis is funny sigma signs followed by lots of 'to the power of ymca etc etc' :p
From all that I've been told its all about the story you tell. Do you supervise masters dissertations? I do and I am constantly telling them that its the story they tell throughout the work - not how many pages, or how complicated the stats are.
I'm actually panicking today because my 'huge' questionnaire study only has 200 participants! Although my hubs said "there's nothing you can do, so submit and if they want you to collect more data then do it as an amednment" :$ spose he's right, although I'm a little concerned :-(
Cheers Olivia and Sneaks. I'm feeling a lot better about it today because hopefully it's just concise. Plus, I haven't finished it yet. I'll take another look at the word count when I've finished re-writing chapters and done a first draft of my other two chapters.
Don't worry! I've been told by several lecturers that their heart sinks when a huge thesis lands on their desk, they far prefer a shorter, to the point one where every word counts than long, rambling theses that bore the pants off them ;-) By the time you finish you'll be well up into the 'acceptable' word count zone, just go with it. And yes, we're not immune to shrinking margins/refomatting if over word count - nothing wrong with nice big margins and a 12.5 font size if we're under ;-) (up)
