Indulging Self Oblitoration

I am seasoned in the act of self-obliteration. There, I said it. 

I am a Self-Obliterator. 

A really, really good one.

Last weekend I indulged in some heavy self-obliteration practices to the extent that I now feel the deep urge to write something about it, before it transcends into something potentially more committed, like being a Defeatist or maybe even an Unjustified Quitter. 

There are some fundamental differences between being a Self-Obliterator and being a Defeatist that I'd like to start by outlining. 

First of all, a Defeatist is defined as being someone who expects or is excessively ready to accept failure without a struggle.

A Self- Obliterator on the other hand, is, I have deduced, someone who is in denial about both the prospect of failure and the possibility of success. They are a variety of deeply ambiguous sole for whom it makes more sense to defend against the troubling realities that may transpire should their actions (or lack thereof) cause the pendulum between failure and success to tip either way. 

Of course, Self-Obliterators are not the same as Head-in-the-Sanders.

Self-Obliterators are in denial, but this denial takes on a distinctly active form. 

To ensure that they preserve their warped self- expectations, that is, that they are capable of/deserve neither success nor failure, Self- Obliterators must account for their tendencies to flirt with the notion of failure and yet never follow through with it, and their potential incapacities/ absence of (obvious) expectation to succeed. 

Not to be confused with those who posses the slightly inconvenient and more placid plight of Extreme-Humbleness, Self-Obliterators violently and verbally beat the idea of success away from their door with a barrage of fear and self-doubt.

'What? No I don't expect to get a job in academia after I'm finished. What do you think I am some kind of idiot? I'll be lucky if I even complete my fieldwork the odds are that stacked against me, I probably should just quit RIGHT NOW...'

It's ok though, attacking the mere discussion of possibilities post-PhD with fear and self-doubt shows to others, for the Self-Obliterator, a lack of fear and self-doubt, obviously. 

'...but yeah, you know, I mean it'll probably be all right actually come to think of it probably. I mean, I don't know how but jesus. I've dragged myself this far beyond the destitute experience of high-school. Surely even I can work something out '. 

The jaws of failure have snapped at their ankles. Observe as the Self-Obliterator expels it with a begrudged sense of entitlement and a 'fearless' display of implied ineptitude.

Sigh.

I shall return with further insight (ha) into this complex, highly useless mentality in the future (maybe).  Perhaps once I have drifted categories into something more productive, like, oh, I don't know, maybe a Believer...

Kath

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'How To' Hit List: Academic CVs

I worked as a CV Adviser at my university for 2 years. To mark the end of my time in the role I thought I'd compile a list of the most useful tips and tricks I picked up along the way.
Some of this might be obvious, but here's my 'how to hit list' for producing a more effective, high impact Academic CV.

1. START WITH RESEARCH INTERESTS

So many Academic CVs I've encountered begin with a personal profile. Nine times out of ten, you've read one of these things, you've read them all. 'Hard working researcher of gender and sexuality with excellent communication skills and a fabulous ability to relay all of the attributes required of the advertised position' and yawn, yawn seen it all... Don't even waste the space, it's an optional addition to any CV anyway. Provide an overview of your research interests in place of a profile- this information is of far more use to recruiters, and it will help to construct a more accurate and relevant image of what you're like as a candidate.

2. KEEP IT CONCISE

Nobody wants to read through the long list of module codes you've slapped in your CV to signify the scope of your teaching achievements. Even if you are applying for an internal position within your existing school, these codes fail to tell readers anything about your actual teaching abilities. 

Instead, translate your experiences into relevant skills. Provide a breakdown of your main roles and responsibilities and contextualise these by evidencing the skills and aptitudes you utilised and developed when performing key tasks. Always prioritise and highlight those skills outlined as essential and/or desirable within the criteria of the roles you are applying for. 

REMEMBER: Writing a CV is about building a case that evidences how you are an ideal candidate for the position you are applying for. So don't cloud your case with waffle, jargon or information that doesn't really tell anyone anything about your proficiencies. 

3. BE EFFICIENT WITH SUBHEADINGS

Your CV needs to highlight your most RECENT and RELEVANT achievements. Therefore it makes sense to create subheadings that make these aspects of your CV more obvious. Organise your work history by relevancy as well as by date. Try fracturing this section in two and creating sub sections titled 'Relevant Experience' and 'Additional Experience'. Lay out each in reverse chronological order and revel in the fact that you just made the task of reading your CV even easier. 

4. DELETE UNRELATED INFORMATION

What's that? You where once a self employed puppeteer in your very own travelling Punch and Judy show? Well isn't that tremendous. 

No.

If it's not relevant to the role you're applying for, take it out.

5. TINKER TAILOR, TAILOR, TAILOR

This should go without saying, but NO, you can't apply for a range of posts with the exact same CV. Your CV needs to be tailored to each vacancy. It may need a tweak, it may need a complete over hall, but unless the positions are somehow completely identical- some form of editing will be required. Again, we're producing a document that builds an image of what you are like as a candidate in the readers mind. Lets make that image irresistibly clear. 

6. DON'T WRITE IN FIRST PERSON

Take out all if the Is mes and mys that are cluttering up your CV. First person encourages a descriptive style of writing that takes up space. Huge blocks of text are laborious to read through. Swap first person pros for bullet points that start with active verbs instead and behold- your CV should read more efficiently and should have a dynamic and professional tone to it.

7. FORMAT EFFECTIVELY

The return button is your enemy- line breaks add up so try to ration them. 

We know that Academic CVs can be longer than the standard 2 sides of A4, but academics are busy people. No one wants to trawl through a CV that resembles that of a short novella- it's self indulgent and most likely unnecessary. A lot of the lengthy Academic CVs I've seen usually appear that little bit too long because of bad formatting. 

My best advice? Make use of the WIDTH of the page as well as the length. Think twice about hitting return, try a comma first instead. 

Other fabulous space saving tips include setting your margins to narrow (and saving as a pdf), reducing the line spacing to 1.0 (as long as the CV is still readable with your selected font) and deleting the words 'Curriculum Vitae' from the top of your CV- they know its a CV, it should be pretty obvious. 

8. PUBLICATIONS

Literally the currency of winners. Get them/include them. Enough said.

9. FUNDING, CONFERENCE PAPERS, RELEVANT TRAINING, PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

If it's relevant make sure this information is included. It all contributes to helping your academic worthiness stand out. 

10. PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOURSELF

Don't even think about it. Unless it's requested.


Useful Websites

• Newcastle University Careers Service

• Vitae offers general guidelines on creating an effective academic CV

• The Researcher Development Statement, developed by Vitae, sets out the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of effective and highly skilled researchers appropriate for a wide range of careers.

• Prospects: CVs and covering letters - includes an example academic CV.

• Newcastle Researchers' Blog - includes articles on academic CVs for Newcastle University researchers.

• Loughborough University Careers Service - Researchers – CV and applications

• University of Kent Careers Service - Postgraduate and Academic CVs, including sample CVs.

• Jobs.ac.uk recently held a tweet chat on how to write a killer academic CV (July 2014)

Making a Research Website...

**NB** If you came here in search of advice on how to make successful research websites, I'm sorry, but I can't help you...

After spending all day trying to learn basic HTML I feel fine...I said I feel fine ok.



I've experienced some highs and lows, but the joy I felt after working out the CSS code to remove unwanted headings was, I can say, parallel to nothing else, ever.

Realising this information was already conveniently outlined for me on the university's on line 'how to' guide was, however,  a low point, I can't deny that.
My day brightened up a little when an unfortunate "staff copy and paste error" landed in my inbox from the IT Support Department...

But this moment of carefree revelling in the stupidity of others was to be quickly overshadowed my own absolute ineptitude...
Me: "Yes, I'm sure that the authorization for my site template hasn't been set up correctly, I've followed all of your recommendations for how to upload images into my personal database and it's not working so the pathway is definitely flawed".
IT Support Operator: "Yeah have you clicked the + button next to your site's image folder?"
Me: "Er, no, nope I've not done that actually...

Can't wait for tomorrow, what's that you say, onto SEO?! 

Dafuq.
Kath x

On Being Somewhere In-Between...

"Those triumphalist celebrations of fluidity always overlook the fact that being unfixed, mobile, in-between, can distress as much as it liberates. So one's sense of class identity is uncertain, torn and oscillating- caught on a cultural cusp" (Medhurst, in Munt, 2000: 20). 

One of the greatest moments of my life to date was the day I found out that I'd received funding for my PhD. The opportunity to work on a project of my choosing, pursue personal and professional development, enjoy three years of financial security; no words can describe the high I felt in that moment of reading the acceptance letter from my funder. 

What I didn't bank on however, was how 'doing' a PhD would impact upon my sense of self-hood a year down the line. In that moment, of course, the last thing I was thinking about was what exactly I was leaving behind. 

Before I came to university I was a chef. I went to college at 18, gained the vocational qualifications I needed and grafted kitchens for 5 years full time before realising that I probably couldn't have picked a worse industry, as a woman, to attempt to progress in. 

It took me a while, but eventually I made into university and completed my undergraduate and Masters degrees.

Like a lot of 'non-traditional' or working class students, I never really felt like university was for 'people like me', but that I had thought those thoughts in the first place annoyed me significantly enough to gain the grit required to bash through, if only just spite myself and "see what might happen".  

Last September, I walked out the kitchen for the last time. I was a part-time baker/cake maker for the duration of my BA and MA studies,and news of my funding meant that finally, I could leave behind the industry that I had found no longer sustained my appetite for self development. 

I don't regret leaving, and I definitely don't miss sweating for a wage barely shy of minimum wage, but in my leaving, in closing that chapter of my life to make room for my new academic pursuits, I was also to find that I had left, or lost perhaps, a secure sense purpose and of who I was.

The transition into higher education is often painful for students, and especially for non-traditional students(Burns and Sinfield, 2004). The feelings of shame, fear and inadequacy provoked by this movement through a system of higher education that is argued by some to ignore cultural inequalities  and exacerbate myths of meritocracy and classlessness, are well documented (Tett, 2000, Leathwood, 2003, Sinfield, 2003). 

But what about the shift up from structured postgraduate programmes to PhD study? Is it to be presumed that such feelings abate the longer we are in this system? Are we expected simply to 'get over it' by the time we reach this level? 

A pivotal aspect of my identity, that which had in fact driven me to endure my anxieties about being at university and complete my degrees, rested on my perceptions of my ability to 'graft'. I was a 'grafter'; a 'hard' worker; a 'good' worker; a 'real' worker. I knew what it was like 'out there', beyond the ivory tower. My participation on a taught postgraduate MA never threatened this identity, partly because I still had a job in the outside world, and otherwise because the structure of the programme suited my work style. With short bursts of work across the course of the year, it was much like shift work, when the tasks were over, they were over. You could close the door on them and leave them behind. 

Doing a PhD is like nothing I have ever experienced, I say this all the time! I am well and truly out of my comfort zone. My 'authenticity'- my sense of self feels threatened, as I 'oscillate', to use Medhurst's words, between who or what I thought I was and what I now must try to become. I mourn the loss of an identity or way of being that I had mastered. I fear that I may fail to successfully 'become' 'a PhD student'- in all their seamless, articulate, organised, quietly genius glory. I will be uncovered as an imposter, a fraud, a mistake. 

I am no longer there nor have I yet found myself here. I have not let go but must reach ahead in order to become something new. I am in-between, ambiguous. I am abject.

"Abjection is above all ambiguity. Because, while releasing a hold, it does not cut off the subject from what threatens it- on the contrary, abjection acknowledges it to be in perpetual danger"(Kristeva,1982: 9-10).  

NB. Am I saying academics aren't grafters? Am I saying they aren't 'real' people? Am I saying they don't have to try or struggle? Of course not. My feelings of inadequacy, of fear and of uncertainty rest precisely on the ways in which I have quite irrationally interpreted the talents of 'others' as 'innate'!

I should know better, but to attempt a sociological analysis of your self-hood...I should think I might be more objective, if I wasn't so attached to myself. 

Am I middle class yet? ;)     

Kath

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Pals: The Importance of Friends

You've heard it said before: doing a PhD can be a lonely business. 

Making a few pals along the way is really important: 

a) to ensure that you don't turn into one of those 'eccentric' academics with less than perfect social skills and b) to keep you sane during your PhD.

Although it can be pretty nerve racking when you first start, taking other postgrads up on their offers for coffee or a pint is all it takes. Failing that, just talking to people in your office is just as good.  

I'm the first person to cringe at the thought of awkward silences and nervous eye contact, but it doesn't have to be that way. Remember what you have in common- doing a PhD. 

I've learned loads about what's involved in doing a PhD, from what to expect from the first Annual Progress Review to how to write an academic book review for a journal. Also:

THEY TELL YOU THINGS YOUR SUPERVISORS WON'T/CAN'T/SHOULDN'T

Some of the best advice I've been given this year was to start saving for a fourth year, even if you don't end up needing it. Why? Because despite how confident you are with that Gant chart you made during the submissions period, a lot of projects run over three years, and if your sponsored, that's when your money is going to dry up. 

I don't want to call this networking, because for me at least, that's what you do with other students and lecturers at more formal events and conferences. This is about trying to make a pal or two who you can turn to for advice and support, who you can help out in return, and maybe who'll also just let you rant at them when things get a bit wild.

Of course, sometimes, these friendships do turn into opportunities. Currently, thanks to a well connected pal, a group of friends and I are working as a team of Research Assistants on an arts and humanities project in our local area. Working with your mates, amazing. 

I've made some good pals last year and this year, and seriously, I can't imagine doing this without them. 

Kath

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Linkedin: Developing Your Professional Profile

If anyone had asked me what the deal was with Linkedin before Monday, I would have been like:

It's been around since 2003, but I didn't join until 2012, kind of around the time when it was gaining a fair bit of hype online. 'Get Linkedin or Get Left Out' they said, so I was like O.K.

I'll admit straight off the bat that I'm not the most media savvy person the world has ever seen. I recently experienced something of an online identity crisis and tried to join Tumblr, only to realise that a) I don't know what it is b) I don't know what it's supposed to be used for and c) I've far surpassed the age demographic of the majority of the site's users.

Needless to say, whilst Linkedin was clearly always going to be of more use to me than Tumblr, I always ended up neglecting my profile because I didn't really feel like I knew what I was doing.

On Monday Newcastle University held an interactive workshop in collaboration with the London Alumni Branch to help students get to grips with Linkedin. At the 'LinkedIn Lab' we were given the chance to ask a 'Lab Doctor' questions about our profiles and how to improve them. They also offered a professional photography service for those looking to gain a more professional looking profile picture. I bottled out of this because I hate getting my photo taken (as if the cat face thumbnail doesn't make this obvious) but I wish I hadn't. Talks were also given by London Alumni Branch chairman Sam Waterfall and Linkedin 'guru' Charles Hardy. 

Since starting this blog and using twitter for more academic and professional purposes, the benefits of social networking platforms for sharing ideas and networking with other students and academics have become more obvious. Hence, progression into Linkedin made sense. Anyway, as I found this session so useful, I thought I'd share with you some of the top tips I took away from the Linkedin Lab.

1.Ensure your 'headline' is attention grabbing and precise. Writing 'student at whatever university' is too vague, and won't help you to stand out. Think keywords and include searchable terms to increase your visibility. 

2. Your 'summary' in Charles Hardy's words, is your 'elevator pitch'. There's a 2000 character allowance and he recommends you use it to tell your professional story. Note the word 'story' here. Go first person narrative all the way. 

3. Complete your profile. Users with 100% completed profiles are 40 times more likely to gain opportunities through Linkedin.

4.Giver's gain. That's what they told us. Endorse your contact's skills and write recommendations for them. They should return the favour, helping you to increase your professional kudos. 

5. If your curious about what your professional profile picture says about you, try getting it rated by others at PhotoFeeler but be warned, this is not the place for those whose egos bruise easily!

6. Not looking for job opportunities right now? Doesn't matter. Start now, be future focused and build your professional network whilst you study. When the time comes to look for jobs, you'll already be well connected.

My profile is still 'under construction' as I continue to learn more about how to improve it, but if you would like to view my profile, follow this link!

Kath 

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It's Emotional Work

One of my supervisors gave me a copy of 'Dancing and Wrestling with Scholarship' by Professor Les Back the other day. She kindly gave me a pile of around 20 to hand out around the office, but as they were headed with a personal message that read:

 'This was really useful for me when I was doing my PhD, I thought it would come in handy for you'

 I knew the other 19 copies were there to make me feel a little less like I was being bureaucratically flagged as 'on the edge'. Which was appreciated. 

This article really got me thinking about the emotion work behind doing a PhD. Those further ahead of me may laugh at this point. Of course I'm only in first year, I know I have barely dipped my toe into the incessant pool of desperation, exhaustion and disillusionment that awaits me, but like all first years, I have just been thrown in to a completely new way of working, and I'm doing my best to make sense of it all.

'When your PhD is going well it is a good dancing partner. When it is going badly it feels like you are being thrown around some intellectual equivalent of a wrestling match'.

How true is this? 

I don't know whether I should be worried at this stage that I am a little too invested in my PhD (is this even possible?), but, 7 months in, I have already experienced great intellectual highs that make you feel like you could in fact change the world (!) and the crashing lows that, on the flip side, make you to feel as though you might as well set fire to your year's work and get down the queue at the nearest job centre.   

It's like nothing I have experienced before. I have had jobs were I have worked independently, I have always cared about whatever job I have been in, but there is something I find far more personal about handing over your ideas and aspirations for review in a supervisor meeting. 

My feedback is always productive and I trust my supervisors unequivocally, but there is always that pinch: 

'A moment of 'pinch' between what one does feel and what one wants to feel (or what one thinks they ought to feel). In response, the individual may try to eliminate the pinch by working on feeling' (Arlie Hochschild 1979).

I really feel like there is a significant amount of emotional labour that has to go into being a PhD student. We have to continuously perform a series of personal management acts for self preservation, to allow us to cope with the pressures and strains, the unforeseen circumstances and the knocks to our confidence.  

I haven't mastered the techniques for successful emotion work yet, but I'm told that eventually, I'll develop a thick skin. 

Kath

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Interrogating Your Own PhD Proposal

I'm a sponsored student. This means that my PhD proposal has been scrutinised at a variety of different levels: by my supervisors, my funder and by the admissions panel of my institution. Guess what though? This does not mean that my research is'good to go'. 

It seems rather obvious now, but my experience as a newbie PhD researcher has taught me one key thing about the nature of social research. It is an entirely ITERATIVE PROCESS. Yes, of course all of the 'Writing Effective Research Proposals' books I read at the very start did warn me of this, but there's nothing quite like experience to really reaffirm the truth of those statements you stumble upon whilst browsing through the yellowing and slightly moth eaten texts the library houses. Indeed, sometimes you have to go backwards, in order to move forwards.

In preparation for my Annual Progress Review in May, I have been continuously revisiting and reworking my research plan in the hope that I can produce a thing of out right beauty before the panel. As you may already be aware, I have a rather startling image of what APR will be like, and so, in light of this, I am endeavouring to be as prepared as humanly possible for any questions or concerns raised as by my research. The faculty training session I attended on what to expect from APR did make the entire process seem like it would resemble a traumatising interrogation scene. 

'What is your justification for the number of participants you have outlined? 20- 25, this is a specific figure, why have you forecast this quantity? What will you endeavour to do to gain this amount? What will happen if you do not achieve this amount? Have you comprised a recruitment strategy Plan B? What are the consequences of said Plan B for the outcomes of your research? Will your aims be compromised?'

...(trying not to hyper ventilate)...so many questions about just one aspect of my design...and breathe...

I have responded to this in the following way: 
Prior self interrogation.

I am aware that this may seem slightly masochistic, but I have now annotated my research plan with a rather extensive list of possible queries, questions and concerns raised by my research, and I am now in the process of writing well-researched and rigorous answers to said questions, and formulating Plan Bs, Cs and (potentially even) Ds simultaneously.

It's a little bit like pulling apart a cake you carefully constructed and very nicely decorated yourself, that or its like, well..I haven't actually resorted to shining lamps in my own eyes and dunking my head in the bath YET. 

I probably could have titled this post 'Deconstructing your PhD Proposal', but it really doesn't have the air of violence and evasiveness I associate with APR...

Kath

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Anticipating Annual Progress Review

Yesterday we had a faculty training session on what to expect from my first ever Annual Progress Review. After attending this session, I believe I have a clear picture of what APR will feel like for a new first year.

I also have a good idea about what the panel will look like.

How I will deal with professional criticism.

And how I will move forward afterwards.

I've got the fear. 

Whilst the session did include some reassuring accounts from second and third year students about their experiences of APR, I feel they were at the same time gaining a reasonable hourly rate for their time and so probably couldn't be too scathing about the process. There's that, and the fact that the Faculty Dean of Research was present. 

I do imagine it to be like Evie's interrogation process in V for Vendetta. This is the image that replays in my mind over and over. 

Can't wait!

Time (Mis) Management...

I used to think I had pretty strong time management skills. I worked two jobs whilst doing my Masters last year. And, despite 20 hours a week being signed straight over to part-time graft, I still finished the course on time, and left with the grade I wanted. 

I don't know what the hell happens when you start a PhD. It's like everything you once took for granted and just did isn't enough any more. Life literally runs away from you. 

Seriously, prior to this year the words 'time management' as I understood them, broadly referred to sticking your head down and getting things done. I didn't really think through the hows and whys of it. I just did it. 

That was all well and good when we were dealing with monthly assignments of no longer than 3000 words a piece. Now that we're grappling with what feels like to me- the brutally naive, permanently terrified and (probably) over-dramatic first year that I am- an infinite, sprawling and continuously amalgamating jelly like mass of work that is my research project. 

You don't know it's happening until it's too late. You tell yourself it's all going to be ok. Then it hits you. Like a sledgehammer to the jaw. There's so much to do and you thought you would just do it and that it would all be fine but now your drowning under a sea of deadlines, 'to do' lists and general expectation...

Jeez. Doing a PhD forces you to be a responsible, organised and rational human being. 

It makes you buy a diary. 

It makes you write lists.

It makes you willingly Google the words 'Personal Development Plan'.

I've changed.

Kath

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Feeling the Fear and Doing it Anyway

Ever left a job interview feeling like:

We've all been there. You were a little inexperienced. You didn't know what to expect. You thought you could wing it. When asked to identify your greatest weakness you replied: "I don't have any".

Oh god. Yes this is a personal anecdote and yes I still feel the shame to this day. Since this mortifying display of accidental arrogance however, things have steadily improved for me on the interview front. 

I never have been, and doubtfully ever will be, that person who can just stroll into an interview and blow the interviewers away with displays natural confidence and charm. No. I get that rash, you know that one that you get from anxiety, and it creeps up your neck and makes you look like you are literally on the edge of your life. It's not great and certainly not a reassuring visual for professionals. Anyway.

Last week I went for a job interview for a temporary paid part-time role as a Postgraduate Assessor within my university. I went for the role for two key reasons. First, the position would require me to serve as a second interviewer for a careers module in which third year undergraduates are assessed via a mock job interview. As I'm using interviews in my research, I figured that gaining more practical interviewing experience could be no bad thing. Second, the interview required me to prepare and deliver a 5 minute presentation, followed by a 30 minute round of usual interview questions. I'd never had to do this before, so I thought I'd just see if I could. If I didn't get the job, it would feel crap but I'd just have to dedicate the next few days to coaxing my ego back up off the deck/drinking wine and ranting into mirrors to rebuild confidence* and it would be fine.

*she jokes

I should point out here that prior to my interview the optimistic side of me had thought about what a funny blog post I could write when recounting the fresh hell I'd let spill from my lips behind the walls of the interview room.

It really shouldn't be but it's almost anti-climatic. I got the job. 

For once in my life, I'd managed to appear (somewhat) cool, (borderline) calm and (convincingly) collected. 

I felt the fear and I did it anyway.

Kath 

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Research Round Up #1

I went back to basics this week and literally researched research questions; how to narrow them down, how to structure them, how to embed concepts and just generally how to tighten everything up just that bit more. 

It's a tedious process, and I can't help but feel like a child with yet another drawing each time my supervision meetings roll around. There really is no dignity in it. In I go, month in, month out, offering up the fruits of my labour in cupped hands, eager eyes looking up at them, blinking expectantly. 

Each time, my supervisors openly play 'devils advocate' with my research/life/pride. I know one day I will probably appreciate their doing this more than I can put into words, because I do sort of feel like I am already undergoing some form of personal and academic transformation. At the moment however, such techniques can feel like the cruellest of tripwires. Funny how this never seems to put us off though... * <are all PhD students intellectual sadomasochists..?> *

I diverge. Getting back to basics with research questions:

Nicholas Walliman, 2011. Your Research Project: Designingand Planning Your Work, 3rd Edition, London: Sage.

Most research problems are difficult, or even impossible to solve without breaking them down into smaller problems. Does one aspect have to be researched before another aspect can be begun? The sub-problems should delineate the scope of the work, and, taken together, should define the entire problem to be tackled as summarized in the main problem (P.36-7).  

Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin, 1998. Basics ofQualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory,London: Sage.

Formulating Research Questions in Qualitative Research.

Underlying this approach to qualitative research is the assumption that all of the concepts pertaining to a given phenomenon have not yet been identified, at least not in this population or place. Or, if so, then the relationships between the concepts are poorly understood or conceptually undeveloped. Or perhaps there is the assumption that nobody ever asked this particular question in quite the same way… (P40).

 Keith Punch, 2006. DevelopingEffective Research Proposals, 2nd Edition,London: Sage.

General research questions are more general, more abstract, and (usually) not themselves directly answerable. Specific research questions are more specific, detailed and concrete. They are directly answerable because they point directly at the data they need to answer them(p24).

 At the heart of this discussion is the process of making a general concept more specific by showing it’s dimensions, aspects, factors, components or indicators (p24).

In empirical research, it is necessary that data be linked to concepts, and concepts to data, and that the links between concepts and data be tight, logical and consistent. Concepts are embedded in research questions, General questions use general concepts, and specific questions use specific concepts(p25).

Translating general concepts down to specific concepts means specifying what the researcher will take to be the indicators, the empirical data of these concepts (p25).

For each question, is it clear what data will be required to answer the question? If the research questions do not give clear indications of the data needed to answer them, we will not know how to proceed in the research when it comes to the data collection and analysis stages(p25).

If you're dealing with a lot of abstract concepts, or find yourself getting that little bit too immersed in the endless flows of "absolutely relevant and interesting literature" your word searches are returning, sometimes going back to basics can really help to bring your research back to reality. 

Kath

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Being Paranoid...

I decided to evade the office today in favour of a full shift in the library, and, after spending much of my day buried under every kind of 'Doing Your Research' publication imaginable, I must say I do feel slightly better about refining my research questions. I'm going to summarize some key points on research questions in tomorrow's post, in the first of what I hope will form something of a weekly 'research round up'. This post, I have since realized, clearly foregrounds my own paranoia about falling behind, exposing myself as falling behind and my now obvious fear of being thought of by others as falling behind. Please, learn from my mania, don't take my advice at face-value, read between the lines, laugh, learn, feel better.

I was starting to think that I was the only one trapped in this cycle of refinement, amendment and, well, resentment...but, as it turns out, there are others! At this point it is important to stress that I have not, repeat not, committed the cardinal sin of comparing 'where I'm at' with my fellow first year colleagues. Aside from a minor academic over-share on Instagram, I have largely followed suit, adopting tactics of vagueness and deflection to avoid, at all costs, questions relating to the specific details of my progress (or lack thereof). No. Instead, I took to Google with my woes and fell upon The Thesis Whisperer  and this post in particular.

To liken the PhD student's quest for the perfect research question to that of a flailing  maniac scrambling about the deck, groping at the air for a party piñata, that is too good. Literally, lets just eyeball the tequila and have done with it.

On a serious note though, no one wants to feel that they've been left behind in first year. Everyone starts out at different points, some people really nail the proposal in the admissions stage, some research is complicated by a more in depth literature search...I could go on, but the point is we're all different. NB. This knowledge does not make anyone feel any better and that is all any first year wants- to be made to feel better. This is why you should only divulge 'where you're at' with individuals who have gained trusted status. It's a useful self-preservation tactic that's all I'm saying.

Kath

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Chasing the Wind...

Two words- research questions. 

It's been a whole YEAR since I submitted my research proposal to the admissions team for my programme. Oh how I look back on that time with knowing sympathy already. 

Rewind 12 months and there I am, beaming face, eyes filled with naive enthusiasm and hope as I digitally sign, seal and deliver what I truly believe to be my final project proposal, with the perfect research questions. 

Soon after, April arrived and brought with it the wonderful news that my research plan had been accepted. All I needed to do was finish up my masters degree by the new academic year. 

I arrived nervously in September to my new shared postgraduate office, shiny new laptop clamped under my arm and brimming with feverish excitement and concern for how best to decorate my desk screens to ensure that they accurately represented my personality. By the time of my first supervisor meeting however, I was prepared. Armed with potential subheadings for my literature review, titles of books I planned to read and a long list of conferences I wanted to attend, I strolled forth feeling confident, organised and in control.

Oh dear.

Why don't they tell you sooner that the proposal you pored all of your blood, sweat and tears into, the proposal you sacrificed your social life and emotional well being for, that that very proposal will serve only as a reminder of your absolute ineptitude for your chosen research field 12 months down the line?   

"So what we're gonna get you to do is really open this research up. Read around this topic more broadly, pull the proposal apart and rebuild it in light of your findings. Think of these research questions as mannequins. They represent the foundations of what you need, but we need to dress them for a particular occasion, a particular purpose so to speak".

Yeah. So I'm still busy with that. I'll keep you updated.

Until next time,

Kath

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6 Months In...

Blog Shmog

So...I'm 6 months in to my PhD already. Wow, time has FLOWN.

Having sat through all the introductory 'How to Manage your PhD' type sessions rolling my eyes and thinking 'please... can I just get cracking on doing my research already?', I must say, I had firmly deflected any claims to the benefits of starting a research blog. Thoughts of 'I won't need that', or 'oh, that won't apply to me' definitely flitted through my mind in those early months. 

Yet here I am, all of a sudden appreciating the value of a little space wherein I can lay out all of the thoughts, ideas and anxieties I might have about my research, or just about being a PhD student in general. 

Looking back now, the months since starting out have been such a whirlwind. Despite staying in the same university where I had studied for my undergraduate and masters degrees, my first semester as a PhD student was like nothing else I had experienced. 

Even the (slight) increase in e-mail traffic to my university inbox stressed me out. I remember thinking, 'oh my god, I am literally going to spend eight hours a day just organizing emails'. Of course, it really doesn't take long to realise that most of the extra stuff finding it's way through to you is from the many postgraduate networks and communities the office automatically affiliates you with to ensure that you are given ample opportunities to make a few pals. Which is nice. No one wants to be a lone wolf for the entirety of the 3-4 years it takes to complete a doctorate.

So I guess these little reflections are what I want to articulate in this space, but also I suspect you will see more specific research musings and perhaps, who knows, entries unpacking more severe anxieties than those induced by a little academic spam.

Until next time, 

Kath

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