I approached an organisation to do a case study PhD on the,. They agreed and I submitted a PhD application for studentship. It then transpired the organisation needed permission from the other project participants (a non-academic department of the uni I actually applied to!). 7 months down the line after attempts I've now got a meeting with all parties but the original person that gave consent says I've got to sell my research benefits to them, which has confused me after consent was originally given aswell as reassurances that the person at the uni just wanted to meet to tie up loose ends. Do I mention this in my sipervision meeting or wait to see how it plays out? I am petrified they will withdraw consent and my PhD will be in tatters less than a month in and my supervisor will think I'm a fraud for having said I can get access.

Sounds like a tricky one. I always think honesty is the best policy with supervisors though. You may be surprised to find they are able to help.

Hi,

I agree with TreeofLife, but obviously try not to overstate the issue to the sups.

I'm not sure what discipline you're in, but am guessing you're lookin to do something ethno / participant-obs. If so, I'd squiggle down somewhere how your research access negotiations have progressed, regressed and will hopefully come back round again shortly. This could form a significant part of your methodology if you're going to do something reflexive...

I have also used a case study methodology based largely within one organisation. To be honest I do agree that you need to sell the research, really to ensure all parties buy into the process. In my area which is construction management this meant convincing the various parties that this would help with KPI's and further work flow, add the research to their presentations etc.

I would strongly suggest you tell your supervisor, when I discussed it with my supervisor he also came to the meeting which really helped as he had a wealth of experience and really help me sell the study.

Personally I would say that if they have arranged a meeting they are keen on helping, they just want to know what's involved before they commit. If they are not interested why arrange a meeting?

Good luck with it

Tester

Thanks everyone. Tester, your point about supervisor attending might be a good route to pursue. I will certainly consider that.

:-)