Archive for the Update Category
Just about right I reckon…
30/01/2012 by admin.
This just about sums it up….
My deadline was the end of December 2011 - noted and approved by sup, second sup and chair in October. To date I have had feedback on approximately half of my thesis. I guess Jorge Cham really does know what he is talking about!
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Final edit
12/12/2011 by admin.
Well, I hope so anyway! I am getting some superbly detailed feedback from my main sup which means I have been able to ’sign off’ the first few chapters so far. I still have some work to do on the final conclusions - making sure they are ‘punchy’ and appropriate to the analyses - but with any luck I am on the home straight.
Being self-employed, Christmas is always a busy time for me, so I am unlikely to make very much headway over this next period. Partly, that will depend on whether I receive the feedback for the final chapters in time, but I am aware the next chapter is very long so some delay is to be expected.
Once the final edit is complete, I will be looking to see what I can take out of the thesis to publish. I had hoped to do this earlier on in the course, but it just hasn’t worked out that neatly. I think there are at least three papers that can be drawn out, so if I get time before I start my next job (April), I will look at publication.
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eesh!
26/11/2011 by admin.
Struggling at the moment. I have edited and re-edited and am now at the stage where I am unsure whether I am improving the thesis or just changing it for the sake of it. I desperately need some feedback but my main sup has now retired and lives in a different county (so supervision is by skype) and I haven’t heard from my second supervisor since July/August! In fairness, my first sup tries hard to work with my shockingly poor ability to take criticism (which has improved, beleive it or not), but we come from different epistemologies and from his perspective it must be difficult to see my logic sometimes.
What else? Oh yes, the Uni decided to screw me over once again by asking me to take yet another module (yet more money and delayed completion date). It comes down to a rather cynical attempt to squeeze more money from the student, but after taking it higher they have relented. Honestly, this Uni has an appalling record when it comes to looking after their part-time students! For example, all of their post-grad researcher-development tutorials are within the 9am-5pm slot which, as anyone who works will understand, is bloody difficult to attend. When I questioned this, I was labelled a ‘troublemaker’ and apparently ‘the only one’ who had complained. Really? Really? The only one? Why am I being unreasonable to expect a part-time evening course, to hold events in the evening? Or weekends? Geez, it isn’t rocket-science. Ok moan over!
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Draft #1
21/09/2011 by admin.
<phew!> 1st Draft in at last - waiting for feedback regarding conclusions (in particular) but still editing like mad. I have a couple of months left in which to iron out any kinks, but I felt it was important to put this draft forward to my sups as it lets them know that I am progressing. Well… allegedly anyway.
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Still there…
21/08/2011 by admin.
Yup, still heavy on the editing. It is an odd time, because there is a sense of anticipation building in which the feeling of having finished will be a palpable relief. And yet, I know this is a false sense as the editing will need quite a few iterations to make sure my arguments are clear and my thinking unambiguous. But still, it feels like the build-up to Christmas when there is an excited part of you that is still the child.
Add to all this, I am at the point of changing my career and you will understand why it is all getting a bit tense. Hehe, not long to go… technically!
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More and more and more and more…
14/08/2011 by admin.
Yep, definitely the difficult part. I am trying to edit *as* I write the final chapter, which is good in that it should tie in more closely, but presents difficulties in that it isn’t immediately clear how it will read. I am not altogether worried as I knew beforehand that this would be a period of rewriting and heavy editing, and have prepared for it. But, as with every new chapter, there is a short period in which finding the ‘direction’ and ‘flavour’ of the chapter takes time.
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Milestone City
05/08/2011 by admin.
I now have 50,000 words on paper and no, they are not “I am a fish” repeated twelve and a half thousand times! Although this is entirely an artificial target, as there is a substantial amount of editing to be done, it is an emotional milestone in that I feel as though I have finally achieved my target. The truth, of course, is that ‘editing’ is more than merely adjusting typeface or syntax. In some cases it will mean just that and in others it means adding or deleting whole passages, as I read and reread chapters, looking for cohesion and construction of the argument(s).
Anyhoo, it still stands as big day for me; without wanting to sound too pretentious, this is a major milestone in my life as it represents more than just a wordcount on a word-processor. I have always wanted to write and have never had the courage. Now I know it is a job like any other; enjoyable, certainly, but with its own ebb and flow, difficulties and pleasures. In that sense, I have realised that I could write if I chose to. It has given me access to something I hadn’t known I could do.
Still quite a long way to go though. I am realistic in understanding that this is merely an emotional milestone - not an actual one. I have the editing of the first four chapters to do, then I can get on with writing up the final chapter. Although the final chapter will be quite short, the importance of ensuring it says what it needs to cannot be over-stressed. Because of that, I need to be entirely happy with the first chapters before I start. Onwards and upward then!
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Three down
06/07/2011 by admin.
Phew - three down and one to go! as I mentioned in my last post, June has been a bitch of a month and I’m glad to see the back of it - hopefully July will be more productive and generally more satisfying.
I’ll add this analysis to the main text and then submit the updated thesis to my sups in advance of my annual review next week <gulp!>. This will be very interesting for me and I will make sure to keep you posted.
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Crackin’ on
18/06/2011 by admin.
I am well on the way with my third analysis now, which involves three stages: first the relevant narratives are found within the respondents’ interviews; then the entire set of narratives is ’story-boarded’, or made into a readable article; finally, the storyboard is then compared and referred to the literature. At this last stage, the entire flavour or direction of the storyboard can change, depending on the influences of the literature, so it remains very flexible for much of the journey. I have now started the third stage, which is time-consuming but enjoyable.
This hasn’t been a very happy month overall, which has nothing to do with the EdD, but still impacts on work production: I haven’t been able to find any kind of work at all. If it weren’t so sad, it’d be laughable; here I am with two masters degrees and about to complete a doctorate, with twenty years experience in the sector I work in. I have applied for at least one job every week for the past four months and have, so far, received two replies, both of which were negative. Apparently I don’t have the experience employers are looking for. Quite disheartening really…
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