======= Date Modified 23 38 2009 17:38:48 =======
Help! I am worrying about my PhD, which I have found very (!) up and down. I have just organised to meet with my supervisor (who left during the first year) and my second supervisor is now becoming more involved with my work. The problem is that my research just seems really unfocussed (which has been picked up in my transfer interview). I just am not sure how to focus it in, I have some ideas, but I worry they might be rubbish.

I feel like I really need to sort this out. Has anybody got any suggestions to help/stop worrying/etc?

(EDT. Spelling mistake)

Generally this is something your supervisor should give you some input on, but having your own ideas is crucial, I think. Follow up your own ideas and with time you will find out whether they are a "go-er" or not. I think it is normal to not know whether a particular idea will work, that is part of fun, right, it's called research. It is obviously important to regularly evaluate your progress and follow through with it if something interesting comes of it initially. I know in the past, I have ideas and suggested them to my sup who was not always supportive and rather critical but wherever possible I did what I wanted to do and sometimes I proved him wrong (although he would not admit it), so be ready to defend your ideas. At the same time, know when to let go of an avenue that is leading you knowwhere. Make some suggestions at your meeting and see what you sup thinks.
Good luck.

Welcome to the yo-yo existence of PhDs. It is good that you are worrying to an extent - it shows you are thinking! But that is also why your supervisor is there - he/she should be able to advise you on whether the idea(s)

Surely at this point you have seen the main trends within your field and what other researchers are doing. Also, you should know your own strengths as regards this research i.e. will you do case study/survey work or lab work to prove the hypothesis. So what you should do is get a quick summation of the existing research, pick whatever interests you and seems feasible and go to the supervisor and thrash out an idea - maybe even bounce a few ideas off other fellow researchers in the dept. Essentially, a PhD must have some originality, but that is subjective - most obvious areas are prob already researched. But that does not mean that you can apply someone else's research to your field and modify it enough to give your research originality.

Practical idea - spend a day or two looking over whatever you have done. Then, by yourself or with the help of a friend in the same area, spend an hour or two in an empty classroom and "mind-map" all you know about your area on a white/black board. This will be a mess but then transfer this to an A3 sheet and tidy it up. You might see potential ideas emerge. Then, do a quick review of papers on that area and then go to the supervisor and ask him/her on it. If you have some papers on related areas, then it should be a decent area.

By the way, of course there is no guarantee that the idea will lead to a successful conclusion, but that is a chance all research must take. And proving the null hypothesis is research also

Sorry for the rambling.