Hi ,

I have just started my first few months as a PhD candidate. In order to obtain a confirmation of my position I have to produce a confirmation report. Mine has to be 20000 words , I was just wondering how many words in each chapter have you guys added? Mine has seven chapters - abstract (50 words) , introduction, literature review, methodology, ethics review, research plan , research training ( no word count) , conclusion.

If it is of any help I am using a mixed-methods approach. I am struggling with the organization of word count as it is a mixed methods , hence the methodology chapter may potentially be extensive as the literature review? What are your thoughts?

Kind Regards

That is quite a big report for confirmation. There aren't any hard rules on how big each chapter should be. They need to be long enough to explain your point clearly but not put the reader to sleep. If your methodology needs to be longer because there is so much to explain then it can be bigger. If you are struggling for word count, forget about the word count and just do a first draft. Once you have a first draft it is far easier to cut words/re-structure, as you have a better picture of the whole work.