Sorry rick, forgot to answer your first question; voices were easy to pick up as long as they spoke loudly and clearly; hence the need to make sure they do likewise and that the recorder is well placed to pick up all voices. if someone happens to whisper don't shy away from telling them to speak up coz if u dont later on you will pay the price!!

An hour length's discussion will take a couple of hours. Word for word, i would say between 3 - 5hours if not more, though this hinges on a couple of things; e.g speed of the person transribing and the quality of the recorded tapes. you need to make sure that everyone is sitting within recording sphere and they speak loundly and clearly because if they don't the more probs when trying to transcribe. When i was transcribing i found poorly recorded tapes the worst to deal with cause i was spending a lot of time trying to get what the respondents were saying and it also short changes the quality of your data. hope this helps.By the way are you going to transcribe the tapes by yourself? take heart if you are because its a lot of work.

have worked as a transcriber for a major HIV/AIDS project, and basically the idea is that the transcriber picks up the different voices. it is handy to give them names, easy ones like; respondent 1, respondent 2 etc, such that the person transcribing doesnt have to be having all these funny lengthy names to go by. good luck

you can do it actually and afterwards you wont want to write for a few days

thanking you pips for your comments. its really handy sharing these PhD pains.I totally agree with what you said sixkitten about time, its like after work, which is only a few hours a week i am thinking; goodness i must get back to it such that i feel guilty about doing other stuff and then the dosh issue, once that runs out and you havent finished that is another prob! motivation is big business. Bluelife your idea occured to me a while ago, cause iwas thinking at least i dont have to think about the future for now; i have an occupation; i am a fulltime PhD student, that is enough for the next few years. it might be daunting to finish because then you will have to step into the real world where you might be something else less credible!

its really hard to find funding as an international student, i can tell you that for sure. dont you have any funding awards from your department??? and can you also contact your research office, you know the the one responsible for PhDs, they are likely to have all the information of who funds PhD international students. i am also international student myself, was fortunate enough to get a departmental award. Wishing you all the best, keep trying.

so sorry Seabird. if you can take a day off that would be great. try doing something you reaaaaly enjoy and then get back to it. if you like watching movies i hear atonment is pretty good!

perhaps we shall never be the same!

I think a little break will do me good thanks. will have a word with my supervisor though i keep thinking where will i go since am sooo broke, i mean i am always broke! something has to give though. am only in my second year and i assume things will get worse. i have a few good cronies though each time i see them they are always asking; how'z the PhD going???? which really doesn't help.

i work in the library all the time. At times I use the Phd researchers room at uni, usually quiet in there with few pips but since calculating my transport costs to and from, i have resigned to using another library having joined sconul, 30mins walk from my house. they have a quiet room there which is fab. i find myself taking somewhat lengthy breaks when working from home and somehow things dont get done.
tsipat

thanks Tiggs. this is definitely some training of some sort. as they say you can't have the goods without paying for them! feeling better today though i still feel disenchanted by the way i now "look". anyhow I will get through this.
at least you are almost there, am just in my second year and i already feel nuts. wishing you well with your viva. Cheers Tiggs and have yourself a stress free september!
tsipat

please dont leave. life is full of many trials. its a long journey we all have to make. tribulations come in different forms. have faith in your ability to overcome this. you have already lost your marriage; dont give way to quitting cause for now this is what you have. your supervisors will come around. you can do it with a little faith. wishing you well. in hope.tsipat

i think it all goes down to the kind of supervisor you have cause at the end of the day you are free (via Sconul) to access all the library resources you may need at any other university. i think its all about the same to be honest. if you have some dead end supervisor at oxford you are better off elsewhere with a good one!

may not be answering your question but the thing is, are you really interested in his research area??? or its just the dosh calling? Ask yourself this before you write to him/her because half way along the way you will be cursing yourself if its a subject you are not passionate about. the other thing is pips usually write PhD proposals, so in your case since you know the stuff he is into, write a proposal related to that. let him know you are open to anything else related to the subject area just in case he is one of those scouting for a student to carry out some pre determined piece of work.hope this helps

thanks donut and UFO for your encouragement. it helps hearing from similar others. and i think the thing is being always broke doesn't help. been working 14 hours a week and already i feel like i shouldnt be working at all! and yes friends become very few and they hardly understand this whole business of being busy. will get there. Donut dear if shutting yourself keeps you going, good for you. whatever works goes so long the supervisors are smiling! thanking you pips.