I have no stars Walminskipeas... You should feel priveledged, and think about us starless wonders... sigh... :-(

To be honest, I'm not finding it that demanding. I think this worries me a little... maybe I should be more concerned about it... hmmm.

Just interested in other peoples thoughts about it really. Everyone I speak to thinks I'm crazy doing both, but at my institution (well, my faculty) quite a few PhD students are doing the same. I'm guessing this isn't commonplace elsewhere?

At times like this Sneaks, I'd just say take a long weekend, enjoy yourself and come back on monday feeling fresh and ready to do your work.

I've had a similarly rubbish week (mainly because of a dreaded cold), and have tried getting on with work, but think at this point in the week its fruitless. Unless you have deadlines looming, just write it off, watch a film and chill. 8-)

Hey!

Just wondering if anyone else is doing a PGCert in Higher Education Teaching and Learning alongside their PhD, like me?

If so, any thoughts on it?

Thanks for that.

I'm going with my gut instinct on this one and sticking with phenomenology... it's where ethnomethodology has stemmed from so I figure its safe to stick with!

I often look to Oscar Wilde for inspiration or cheering up. He was a very wise man!

I'm glad my thread has helped! :-)

This thread is in response to the many, many posts I've read on here from people who are finding the life of a PhD student difficult because they miss the life they left behind when they entered into the world of research. This post is to, hopefully, encourage those feeling that way to steal their lives back!

I'm in the process of writing up and have 5 months to get my thesis in. Am I stressed?... Probably. Do I work all hours?... Nope.

In my first year I was really aware of how little time I had to do this mega, mega piece of work, and I admit I worked on it constantly. I was working part time and felt that I had to make up for that time by working on the PhD every other moment I had. I got a lot done and I don't regret that time I spent working night and day, but as soon as I hit second year I decided enough was enough. So i robbed my evenings and weekends back from the PhD, and I've never been happier. I still worked part time during my second year, and have only in the last 2 months stopped that work allowing myself to work full time on the PhD, and I'm still only working 9 -5 on the PhD, and forgetting about it as soon as I leave the office.

I know this won't work for everyone because everyone works differently, but my philosophy is that there's enough time in everyday to fit in the things that make you happy, and so I go on holidays, I see my friends, I train hard in my sport, I have my relationship, and visit my family. I enjoy my life, because after all, what's the point if you're going to wake in the morning regretting having not lived last night.

I read so many posts on here from people who have let their PhD rob them of their lives. The PhD isn't the be-all and end-all of life. Yeah, it's going to get us all (hopefully) a fantastic job which inspires us, but that's not all life is about. So by all means enjoy your PhD, work hard, but let yourself enjoy life as well.

In the words of Oscar Wilde " we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars". I urge everyone feeling overwhelmed by the weight of their PhD to take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and start living again! We only live once after all.

I don't have a masters and only got a 2:1 and I got offered the first PhD I applied for. I had quite a bit of experience in my area which I think helped, but you definitely don't need a masters to go for a PhD!

Good Luck!

Any theory buff out there want to enlighten me on the differences between ethnomethodology and phenomenology?? I've read literature and feel my research can be classed as both because in my undertsanding they are essentially the same thing. But, then the literature keeps them separate. I'm confused. Are they different, or are they two words for the same thing.

I hate theory. :-s

Hey,

When I came to do my first year report I wrote pages and pages, and when I submitted it, I was told it was too long and had to cut it down! I think in the end it was probably about 30 sides long (that's including over 10 pages of appendices - I had to put in copies of all my questionnaires), and that covered a brief lit review, my methodology, findings from my pilot, a brief analysis and discussion, and where I wanted to go from there in the PhD with some time lines.

I think it depends on your uni and faculty so it's probably best to talk to your supervisor or another colleague from your uni, but my advice would be to not stress too much about it. I don't know anyone who has submitted the equivalent of a masters dissertation for their upgrade!

Good luck with it!

Thanks guys.

I've made a bunch of to-do lists and my supervisor and I have planned out exactly what I need to do, and by when. I think thais might be part of the problem though. I'm pretty good at getting stuff done quickly and so find I have time to procrastinate. I think I just need to be stricter with myself.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one procrastinating though...

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone else is in my situation... basically I feel like I'm in a rut. I'm hoping to submit in about 5 months time and am fully aware of what I need to do in that time, but just really have absolutely no motivation to get it done. I find myself procrastinating constantly... doing anything just to avoid writing.... in fact I'm procrastinating by just writing this...

Any words of wisdom on how to get my groove back, and get on with this thesis? Or am I doomed to spend my life making origami swans and spying on facebook?! :p

Hi Moocow,

When you received the reviewers comments, did the editor say whether or not the article had been accepted pending the changes being made? If so, I would just make the minor changes, and if you can see any worthwhile changes in the third reviewers changes, make them as well. When you re-sumbit the manuscript say how you've addressed the points and explain why you have not made the changes suggested by the third reviewer (that it doesn't fit with the context of the study, etc).

My supervisor tells me that often reviewers, especially if they are from a very similar area, will try assert their own opinions in the review. I think this is maybe what has happened with your third reviewer.

With regard to the LEA access, as long as you have a good rationale for the research, then I don't see it being a problem, but as I didn't go down this route I can't be certain they would be able to help you. There are obviously data protection issues, but if you asked them to send the letters and parents replied directly to you, you would only have access to those who volunteer and therefore the confidentiality of other families would still be protected, if you get my drift.

About the schools, I worked with schools I'd previously had no contact with. I wrote to all schools fitting my criteria and waited for them to get back to me. Generally schools are pretty welcoming, but for a few I had to ring up and ask to speak to the Head or SENCO to get permission - schools can be busy and therefore overlook letters sometimes.

I personally think, for research and ethical purposes, it is best if there is no personal relation to the school. However, I did use one school I worked in only because I was at a loss and needed another school. But in this instance I didn't do any research with the year group I worked in, but only worked with kids who didn't know me/ hadn't met me personally at school. If you're working with parents, it shouldn't be a problem, but I'd avoid interviewing anyone you know personally. It all depends on what you're researching though.

Sorry if any of this seems rambling or muddled. Hope it helps!

Hi Button,

My PhD looks solely at talking to children with SEN, and I had similar doubts about getting access to the children. I ended up going through schools and this worked fine for me.

You have two options. You can approach the local education authority and ask them to send out a letter on your behalf to all parents of children with SEN (children with SEN are registered at schools and this data should feed to the LEA), or you can go through schools, sending letters home to parents via the children. The problem you may have with this option is that some schools don't tell the parent their child is registered on the SEN register and so you may only end up with statemented children's parents, similarly this might happen if you go through the LEA.

I ended up with quite small samples (not an issue for me as my research is qualitative) as I had to get consent from parents and so faced similar problems with access (mainly schools fearing a backlash from parents about their child being labelled as having SEN), so I guess it depends on what you want to do.

I hope this helps... don't worry too much, you will get there in the end!! If you're passionate about the topic, stick to it!! I love what I do despite it being a pain in the rear at times!

Let me know if you need any further help.:-)