How well does your supervisor know your topic?

the very specific area, not a lot, but them I wouldn't expect anyone to know that much as there has been virtually no research into it at all, however my supervisor knows a lot about all the factors that affect this area, which is probably a very important thing.

I have three supervisors each with lots of knowledge in three very different areas. None of them know how it all fits together, as they have limited knowledge of the other two areas.

Neither of my supervisors have knowledge in my area but I am with them for their methodological expertise (critical ethnography / critical social theory) as I figured that was more important at PhD level in Health Science/Social Science where the theoretical stuff has to be very tight. For expertise in my specific area I have a couple of 'critical friends' who read the lit review and other more 'area specific' writing to make sure it is up to date / relevant. This has worked really well for me and I often wonder if its a better arrangement given that many of my collegues, who have sups with expertise in their field, find themselves unable to move outside of their sups comfort zones as they are unwilling to give the student and space of freedom to move. Just a thought.
Cheers and good luck on the journey,
Anna.

Nada - absolutely nada. And I have to explain everything to him each time I see him