Tag Archives: #phdchat

They weren’t joking when they said, you read your way to a PhD were they?

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The Old Library, Trinity College, Dublin

As I have put my nose to the grindstone and got right back into my research, my principal supervisor’s early advice that you read your way to a Phd has really been ringing in my ears.

With Christmas out of the way and a quiet New Year, I have been slogging away.

My goal was to have my draft Literature Review completed by the end of the first week of January. I have laboured over it for so long and had really thought I was nearly there but I just am not!

The advice of rejection for a journal article I submitted before Christmas has me going back to basics. The rejection letter said, go back and read more, do more to make the research more robust. On the one hand, I was annoyed as I felt in conjunction with my experienced co-authors that the article as submitted met, the criteria at least for a revise and resubmit, but apparently not.

On the other hand, I was thankful that the rejection letter came with advice about what needed to be worked on.

As the journal article was the culmination of my Honours Research and is the basis of my PhD research, the advice in the rejection letter has had me rethinking how robust my PhD project is. How robust is my literature review, am I approaching my research method correctly, what will my contribution be? It’s later that is the fundamental step in being awarded a PhD.

As I read one of the journal articles recommended I found myself asking whether I had really nailed a key construct in my PhD research or was I just kidding myself? Continue reading →

Reality hits – I need to collect some data!

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As our time in the UK fades into the background, and the year ends, I have come to the realization that I need to collect data for my PhD research and get writing about it. Hopefully the many draft blog posts for my Diary of a Slow Traveller blog posts will make sure it doesn’t become a distant memory.

My favourite person made the observation while we were away that perhaps 2018 might need to be a year to stay close to home. With children getting married and the prospect of grandchildren not to mention a PhD, her observation struck a chord, albeit a jarring one!

In the weeks since we’ve returned to Adelaide I have been ruminating on my literature review. I have some feedback from my supervisors on it. The good news, at least 3 of my 25000 words are useful!

I’m now in the phase of re-editing it. There are some sections that I’m so over, it makes me nauseous to read them. That’s a challenge but it needs to be done. Why is it that’s each time you read something you feel the need to make sweeping changes?  My goal is that by very early January the latest draft will be completed and sent to my supervisors for a further and final review because I really need to move on.

My favourite person’s observation that 2018 needs to be about my PhD makes sense. I’m a long way behind where I’d hoped to be.

There are good reasons, Continue reading →

Changing Identities – An interview with me. The transition to “What’s Next”.

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I credit Herminia Ibarra’s book “Working Identity – Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing your Career” as the critical step in how  I have approached “What’s Next”.

As I was reviewing the book for a presentation recently, I decided that I’d interview myself using the Interview Guide that formed a key component of the excellent case studies within the book.

Tell me about your career to date?

From school I went straight to University, actually an Institute of Technology and studied Accountancy. I started my career as an accountant whilst an undergraduate and stayed in the accounting profession for the next 37 years.

More than half of that time was as a partner of a Big 6 and then following merger a Big 4 firm. I have been privileged to have this opportunity

Why did you change careers?

The firm I worked for made it clear that 55 was a key date. In order for their to be renewal in my firm, it was necessary that partners didn’t stay too long. I’d known that for 20 or so years so it wasn’t a surprise.

How long did it take?

On reflection, I think I started the process the day I joined the firm. Continue reading →

In praise of Evernote

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Image result for evernote

 

With just a few weeks until my final version of my PhD research proposal is due I have been reading frantically all the while petrified that I will forget something important. Since commencing my research journey nearly 3 years ago I have read hundreds of journal article, book chapters and newspaper articles. How do you remember what’s important?

I have always been one for writing it down, as simply reading it doesn’t seem to get it into my head. Revision used to see me renoting all my work. I have followed a similar approach to my reading for my research but as I am reading information today that I might need in two or three years time, how do you make it logical and more importantly able to be found?  Continue reading →

So it’s been 6 months and where am I – my PhD

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Menotti’s Coffee Shop -Venice Beach, LA

I have just submitted my first milestone document in the PhD program at my University; a document that took many weeks (months actually) to prepare that I doubt will ever be be looked at!

The document is a compliance step, due 6 months into the program. It is the first of two important milestones along the way to moving from being provisionally accepted into the program as a PhD candidate.

My lodged (and I suspect now filed completely unread) document  included a

  • basic Research Proposal  (which has raised more questions with me than it has answered),
  •  Gantt Chart of how my PhD journey will look (my I have a lot to do),
  •  Data Management Plan (I can’t tell you how often the message of back up and safe storage has been rammed home. It’s a message I don’t need having nursed my laptop with a failing hard drive to the end of my Honours Program), and
  • minimum resources document (the minimum resources the Uni will provide – generally pretty good including unlimited fast internet access on campus, 24/7 IT support and I think the world’s only steam powered desktop – it’s still running Vista!).

The  process while procedural provided me with the opportunity to order my thoughts and get feedback from my supervisors. Continue reading →