It is also possible to use Strauss and Corbin's selective coding for marketing behavior, for example. But Glaser criticized this approach as overly focused on rules, coding, preconceived framework etc...
You may also use Glaser's approach. However, some feel that this is for those who are more experienced in grounded theory.

Yes. It can be simply axial coding.

The question is are you developing a relationship or theory. If theory, then use theoretical coding which is more sophisticated.
You should use Charmaz's grounded theory if your study involves finding the subjective meaning of illness, for example.

'Initial codings' could be many, thus you need to *focus* on the important categories. That is, you have to decide the important categories and code them as 'focused coding'.

Having determined the important categories, you may want to identify possible relationship between these categories.
To present the relationship "professionally", you use theoretical codings to show the relationship.

Codings could be interpreted as a tool to guide you, but some people may simply perceive the relationship which could be subjective...
In a sense, it is possible to do without coding. But you have to appear *systematic* and *professional*. :-)

Based on my limited experience, it is possible that a master thesis is of higher quality than a phd thesis.
It really depends on the university or thesis supervisor.

So, you may consider to request for a change of supervisor. :-)

In some universities, you are not supposed to communicate with the examiners on corrections-related issues.
Perhaps this is the reason why certain universities insist that the identity of external examiners should be kept as a secret.
Bewildered is absolutely right that such email can cause complications to awarding you the degree!

If you look back at your thesis one year later, you will very likely detect more issues.

Don't envy people around you whose abstracts were accepted.
Some presentations could have limited number of attendees or the presenters were criticised to have serious flaws in reasoning...
However, even some research scientists with PhD could get rejections for conference presentations.

However, you only started in last september!? This is too fast!

Perhaps this is the problem? Just because you do not need his letter of recommendation, you do not bother to maintain good relationship with your supervisor.

For example, the internal examiner may discuss with your supervisor whether 'your thesis' is indeed your work... What if your supervisor honestly tell the committee that there is no communication between two of you for some time? That is, even your supervisor cannot be sure or establish whether this thesis is completely written by you.

Frankly speaking, you should improve your relationship with your supervisor first.

On the surface, my supervisor and I have excellent relationship... But deep inside, I'm very disappointed with her supervision, such as delay in feedback which are essentially useless and misleading... However, we do not know how our supervisors present us to other academic... However, you may need letter of recommendation later from your supervisor.

Whenever there is a change of supervisor, there should be agreement on the direction of the thesis right at the beginning. However, my new supervisor tried to change my focus of the thesis later which led to unhappiness... In a sense, much work done could be 'wasted'.

However, you may want to explore both qual and quan which may lead to more employment prospects.

The worst thing is the internal examiner feels that the thesis is not written by the student.

You just need to understand their feedback, and learn to be 'picky' with your own work.
Why do they bother to fail you? You should think positively!

The internal examiner is trying to help you to improve your thesis...
If your thesis does not look good enough, someone else may be 'picky' on this internal examiner.

A nice quote from Gabriel García Márquez: 1926-2014
“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”

It seems that your publications suggest you had excellent progress within 2.5 years.
The moral of the story is publication is very important; that is, working at home is more productive too. :-)

However, the university should compensate your *suffering*...

If the links are weak or distant, then your sup and you have not selected the 'right' external examiners.
That is, the external examiners may not be knowledgeable in your field.
So you are the only expert during the viva. :-)

BBC news:

Singapore has topped 131 cities globally to become the world's most expensive city to live in 2014, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The city's strong currency combined with the high cost of running a car and soaring utility bills contributed to Singapore topping the list.

It is also the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes.

Singapore replaces Tokyo, which topped the list in 2013.

Other cities making up the top five most expensive cities to live in are Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney, with Tokyo falling to sixth place.

Hi Millymoo,

How many external examiners' papers have you cited?