Hello ApolloBullit

Can't say I'm much happier than before as I still wake up everyday with a stone in my chest but at least I've stopped freaking out now, so thank you :)

Your method of writing management sounds very systematic and maybe even someone like me could do that, thanks! Another quick question though, I really have no idea how much time I should spare for the revisions? I imagine it would be an ongoing process, no? As my course will end in May 2015, and presumably when I will have to submit my thesis, I was suggested I should leave a few months in early 2015 for revision and proofreading.

Thanks again for your comment. It does mean a lot to me.

Dear all

Recently I have posted about how my supervisor said I should quit and aim only at Mphil. I'd like to thank everyone giving me kind advice on the thread, thanks! I have done what you guys suggested: I said to my supervisor that quitting is not my option and if at the end of the day Mphil is all I'm gonna get then so be it, but right now I wanna do all that I can.

However, things will not be easy, as I'm in my final year and still barely have anything done. Due to multiple topic and supervisor changing in my early years, plus my inexperience and underestimation of PhD, right now my furthest progress is to almost have finished the *first* draft of my lit review and *second* draft of methodology. I've also finished my data collection and transcribing. The end of my course is May 2015, so you might get it now why I'm so stressed about it.

I wonder if any of you could suggest how I should plan out my timeline from this month onwards. I am fully aware that I don't have that much time and that a lot need to be done on my work. Right now I'm planning of sending a chapter to my supervisors every month or so (maybe two for the analysis chapter). Is that realistic? If possible I'd like to have my first draft of thesis before xmas (major correction expected), saving some time for proofreading and revising. My ex-sup. from my master's told me that within this time scale, my plan is still doable. I just have to be very disciplined and stick to the plan.

My friend suggested that I can also start with writing up the findings and analysis first, leaving lit review and method. chapter for later. Do you think that's a good idea too?

Really, any advice will be highly appreciated. It's been so long since I last had a dream that's not related to my PhD. It would be nice to hear what others have to share. Thank you so much in advance!

Dear TreeofLife and MeaninginLife, thank you very much for your comments. They are very helpful and I do appreciate them a lot.

The supervision yesterday wasn't that bad though, at least in my opinion. They did display concerns about how my work is going so slowly that I might not get things done and submit my thesis within the bracket of time, which I fully agree. I have been focusing so much on one thing (establishing RQs and contribution) that I didn't pay enough attention to other issues. When I talked about my RQs yesterday there were glimpse of agreement - which means they didn't argue right away with questions like 'is it that important?' or 'don't you think it's too descriptive?' and sometimes even nodded slightly. I'd like to take those as good signs! However, this one paraphrased 'you should give up' comment from her just left me with painful thoughts.

Both my sups. agree that my work is not quite there and a lot more still need to be done, but my second sup's comments are given in a more suggestive way - not sugarcoated though. However, my 1st sup is very straightforward and strict. If she thinks something is a bad idea, her face says it before she actually says it out loud - so quite easy to read. Every single of her comment is helpful, it's just the way she delivers it that burns my positive energy. Also, I can't change a supervisor anymore as I'm already into my last year :(

My sup. does know that PhD is my only option, and when I explained that to her (again) yesterday she didn't say anything more. I think I should express myself to her that if at the end of the day, that is what gonna happen then fine, but for now I want to keep trying as hard as I can and aim for what I'm sent here to do, but I don't know if that'd be too aggressive?

Thanks again for your comments!

Hello, I'm new here. This is my first post after just reading other people's posts and comments for a while. I've just met my supervisors today and although I'm far from hanging myself, today's supervision left me with a massive stone in my chest.

I'm at the end of my 3rd year PhD (full time) doing sociolinguistics and due to the problem I've been having with the changing of supervisors, research topics, and establishment of research questions and contributions, I had to extend my study into year 4, starting this month. I am supported by a university somewhere in Southeast Asia to come study in the UK.

Now, I'm not gonna lie to you, I know my research background is weak and my research skills have plenty of rooms for improvements. I'm very new to PhD, and unlike many of my friends whose research interests stemmed from their master's years or even earlier, I started from 0 when I came to the UK to start my course and build myself up from there (my masters was in educational studies). I did attend training courses provided by the university and have been trying to push myself to meet PhD standard. My sup. has been very helpful and patient with me all through these years, which I greatly appreciate, but she is also very strict just about everything. Her standard is so high even my 2nd sup. who's a big emeritus professor in applied linguistics said 'she's much more strict than me.' I have tried to up my game in order to meet her standard, but of course, it's still not there. Today in the meeting she told me that I should consider submitting what I've got so far (I've finished data collecting already and have already started analysing) as an Mphil instead of a PhD thesis.

This was not the first time she said it though. The first time she said to me 'I can't see this as a PhD thesis, only an Mphil' and things like 'it's not clear...I can't see what your contribution is...'. It disheartened me, of course, but I'm pushing further still - because I want to get it, and because I have no other choices. I just hope someone can understand my frustration here. I feel like I'm stuck in the middle, my sup. told me to give up, but I can't go back without the degree. I've got too much on my shoulder to do that, and to fail to obtain a PhD means I'll have to be fined silly amount of money which I cannot afford even if I sell one of my kidneys.

If someone could share their experience or suggest what I should do, I'd be so grateful. I don't reckon any of you would have similar problems of weak research skills though? I really don't know how I got accepted in the first place really! They must have mixed up my application with someone else's. Thanks so much for reading till the end.