hi everyone,

sorry if this has been discussed before. I'm in a bit of a tricky position and would appreciate your advice. Basically my situation is that I had a horrible viva and was asked to make 18 months of corrections. One of the examiners was from a different discipline, and has a completely different perspective to what I was saying. in the months after the viva, I have to say I looked at this site a lot and people's supportive comments and other peoples experiences-it was a huge help.

The thing is, my supervisor also seemed completely taken aback by the result and is not really reading any more of my work thoroughly. I was wondering if anybody has tried using some of the dissertation coaches advertised online. I do NOT want an agency which writes my thesis. I have lectured before, and published before, so I'm confident of my academic ability, but have just lost motivation and not sure about where I am headed. I just want somebody who reads the resubmission for consistency, the argument and is familiar enough with the background to be able to recommend references if there are any gaps in the literature/argument i.e. something more than just a proofreader. Are there any recommendations for such a person in sociology/community media in developing countries?does anybody know where I could look for someone like this? Really appreciate your help.

Many thanks

Hi Sunny,
Sounds like you are in a tough situation! I would stay away from paying for a sup (or anything like it), the only think that I would pay for is an editing service.
Is it possible for you to get another sup at your university? Or if your uni allows it, could you get an external sup who is in your field? This way you would get the help that you need, but wont find yourself in any morally murck waters.
Best of luck!
(up)

Can you put your research into an article format and submit to a journal? As it will be reviewed you can get useful comments.
You can also send the draft article to the authors you cite frequently for their comments.
I got very useful comments to improve my work and I also published by this way. My supervisor isn't an expert in my research topic.
I am in engineering so I have no information on your subject. Can't your supervisor help you with his contacts?
Don't undervalue your work also. You would be surprised how people can be interested.
It's a difficult situation but keep going. I wish you the best.

Hi Sunny,

sorry to read about the 18 months to rewrite.

I was thinking perhaps it is useful to ask someone  not experienced in the field to read it. Perhaps you have friends or family who might be happy to read it through. Often it is really helpful to get an outsider, from a different discipline or background, to have a look. It is amazing how "blind" one gets for certain issues, which may be very obvious for others who are unfamiliar with the subject.

You could even think of organising a sort of "journal club", where you invite people to discuss your subject / thesis / summary of thesis or paper. As the observer you can make notes or ask questions about issues that are unclear from the discussion.

These are just thoughts, which may help lateral thinking and see your thesis from a different perspective.


:-)

thank you so much for your feedback, guys. I have asked friends but they haven't got back to me yet with comments, which I can understand because it's a big favour to ask them to read one's thesis but I am kind of running out of time as the deadline is January.thank you for your support-it's great to find a forum like this.