Comments for DPhil-stuff http://lizit.me.uk Journeying towards a goal Tue, 22 May 2012 05:36:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 Comment on More daylight by Sarah R-H http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13101 Sarah R-H Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:40:28 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13101 I absolutely love reading about other researchers' lightbulb moments, it's like being sprinkled with fairy dust. There's nothing like that feeling when it 'clicks'. You'll be *so* pleased you took the time to write about the experience later on - it will serve as a reaffirmation and a map for if you ever feel lost in the thesis-jungle again. I promise to remind you of this if you ever need it :o) You've created a great wave, it's all yours, ride it! I absolutely love reading about other researchers’ lightbulb moments, it’s like being sprinkled with fairy dust. There’s nothing like that feeling when it ‘clicks’. You’ll be *so* pleased you took the time to write about the experience later on - it will serve as a reaffirmation and a map for if you ever feel lost in the thesis-jungle again. I promise to remind you of this if you ever need it :o) You’ve created a great wave, it’s all yours, ride it!

]]> Comment on More daylight by Jackie http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13078 Jackie Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:17:06 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13078 This makes a lot of sense - I think a number of people have had similar 'lightbulb moments', but at the end of the day you need to have your own lightbulb moment for it to sink in! It's interesting the random triggers to those revelations. I think the whole 'original contribution' thing is something that is trotted out so glibly in presentations, supervision sessions etc, but actually is a huge issue contributing massively to PhD anxiety levels. I don't think I fully believed in the originality of my contribution until the very end, just as I was getting ready to submit - it was almost like the Holy Grail, the sign that at long last I was ready to defend what I'd spent the last X years agonising over. This makes a lot of sense - I think a number of people have had similar ‘lightbulb moments’, but at the end of the day you need to have your own lightbulb moment for it to sink in! It’s interesting the random triggers to those revelations.

I think the whole ‘original contribution’ thing is something that is trotted out so glibly in presentations, supervision sessions etc, but actually is a huge issue contributing massively to PhD anxiety levels. I don’t think I fully believed in the originality of my contribution until the very end, just as I was getting ready to submit - it was almost like the Holy Grail, the sign that at long last I was ready to defend what I’d spent the last X years agonising over.

]]> Comment on More daylight by Sarah Copeland http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13076 Sarah Copeland Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:09:55 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13076 Liz, I also found great significance in this post. I think you maybe have to have been in the lion's den wrestling with the words for a while for this guidance to start changing cogs in the way we can approach argument. I worry all the time that I haven't cited enough credible people (i.e. not me) and that I can't leave a statement hanging without some kind of validation. I know there is still this expectation in the phd, but this article has helped me to see a way beyond what I am writing now to the types of writing that I am drawing from. And I think reading it specifically today might help me to better frame some of what I am writing from now on too... Thanks for sharing the link and best of luck with your writing. Liz, I also found great significance in this post. I think you maybe have to have been in the lion’s den wrestling with the words for a while for this guidance to start changing cogs in the way we can approach argument. I worry all the time that I haven’t cited enough credible people (i.e. not me) and that I can’t leave a statement hanging without some kind of validation. I know there is still this expectation in the phd, but this article has helped me to see a way beyond what I am writing now to the types of writing that I am drawing from. And I think reading it specifically today might help me to better frame some of what I am writing from now on too… Thanks for sharing the link and best of luck with your writing.

]]> Comment on More daylight by Gemma Tombs http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13073 Gemma Tombs Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:06:55 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/04/03/more-daylight/#comment-13073 Thank you for linking me towards that post! "What I am doing, in taking a systems perspective, is trying to look at the whole picture. Sure, some pieces will still be missing, but rather than looking at the jigsaw pieces in isolation, I am trying to look at how they connect." This is exactly where I am right now, too. The idea of finding my "original contribution to knowledge" has seemed more daunting than any other part of this process, but you've articulated the importance of connections as a contribution to knowledge. Practice and reality don't exist in a vacuum, and it's important to me (and you, it seems) that research acknowledges that Congratulations on finding the daylight! Thank you for linking me towards that post!

“What I am doing, in taking a systems perspective, is trying to look at the whole picture. Sure, some pieces will still be missing, but rather than looking at the jigsaw pieces in isolation, I am trying to look at how they connect.”

This is exactly where I am right now, too. The idea of finding my “original contribution to knowledge” has seemed more daunting than any other part of this process, but you’ve articulated the importance of connections as a contribution to knowledge. Practice and reality don’t exist in a vacuum, and it’s important to me (and you, it seems) that research acknowledges that

Congratulations on finding the daylight!

]]> Comment on Beginning to see daylight - emerging from a dark place by Sarah R-H http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12211 Sarah R-H Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:30:44 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12211 I'm so happy for you that you are now coming out of the tunnel. Your post is quite circumspect, this is only something you could have written once you're on the road back to being ok. You bravely reveal a vulnerability, and examine it from the angle of the stronger you that you have become, at least in part due to what you've just been through. Many don't make it through these episodes of PhD Blues, and it's wonderful to be able to read a survivor's account :o) Gives me heart that others can follow suit! I’m so happy for you that you are now coming out of the tunnel. Your post is quite circumspect, this is only something you could have written once you’re on the road back to being ok. You bravely reveal a vulnerability, and examine it from the angle of the stronger you that you have become, at least in part due to what you’ve just been through. Many don’t make it through these episodes of PhD Blues, and it’s wonderful to be able to read a survivor’s account :o) Gives me heart that others can follow suit!

]]> Comment on Beginning to see daylight - emerging from a dark place by Danya Hodgetts http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12192 Danya Hodgetts Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:52:27 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12192 Great post Liz. As tough as those moments are, they seem to be a necessary evil. It's great that you have taken the time to reflect as you go - it must make your leaning process all the more valuable. Best of luck finishing - no turning back now! Great post Liz. As tough as those moments are, they seem to be a necessary evil. It’s great that you have taken the time to reflect as you go - it must make your leaning process all the more valuable. Best of luck finishing - no turning back now!

]]> Comment on Beginning to see daylight - emerging from a dark place by Emma http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12176 Emma Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:47:50 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12176 I loved reading this blog Liz. You have demonstrated what an emotional rollercoaster doing a PhD is in more ways than one. Most importantly, you have also showed your strength and committment in getting through what was obviously an incredible difficult time. Full of admiration.... and I can't wait to see the photo of you in your floppy hat! I loved reading this blog Liz. You have demonstrated what an emotional rollercoaster doing a PhD is in more ways than one. Most importantly, you have also showed your strength and committment in getting through what was obviously an incredible difficult time. Full of admiration…. and I can’t wait to see the photo of you in your floppy hat!

]]> Comment on Beginning to see daylight - emerging from a dark place by ailsa http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12169 ailsa Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:50:33 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2012/03/07/beginning-to-see-daylight-emerging-from-a-dark-place/#comment-12169 Great post Liz, inspiring :) One day I'd love to see it, to see the different structures people elect to use and the rationale for this. I like pussycats too much to suggest the proverbial many ways, but i do believe the data for a thesis lends itself to a multitude of approaches, and that a thesis, read story writing, need not always have the same plot. Nice to see where you are in this process. Great post Liz, inspiring :)
One day I’d love to see it, to see the different structures people elect to use and the rationale for this. I like pussycats too much to suggest the proverbial many ways, but i do believe the data for a thesis lends itself to a multitude of approaches, and that a thesis, read story writing, need not always have the same plot. Nice to see where you are in this process.

]]> Comment on Slash and burn! by ailsa http://lizit.me.uk/2011/11/26/slash-and-burn/#comment-10122 ailsa Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:31:01 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2011/11/26/slash-and-burn/#comment-10122 oh it all sounds so familiar! oh it all sounds so familiar!

]]> Comment on Slash and burn! by Phil Greaney http://lizit.me.uk/2011/11/26/slash-and-burn/#comment-10121 Phil Greaney Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:52:04 +0000 http://lizit.me.uk/2011/11/26/slash-and-burn/#comment-10121 Hi Liz. My acid test - which might not be applicable for you or your readers - was how easily and quickly I could describe what I was doing to someone with no knowledge in my subject matter. Being able to do was an unforgettable moment (it happened to me in an art gallery in London, for some reason). I think that's when I got both to the gist of my work and what it meant in the wider community. This happened to me in the final year. I agree wholeheartedly with the principle of writing to word limits. We become, sometimes irrationally, attached to things we've worked hard to write; sometimes they just don't fit and we should break clean from our emotional attachment and nurture an emotional attachment to the stuff that works. I wrote to word count and deadline throughout (sorry if this seems a little nerdy or self-aggrandising - my PhD path was far from that, despite my best efforts). I wish you luck with the pruning - I think it can be an invaluable exercise and it sounds timely, too. Bonne chance Phil Hi Liz.
My acid test - which might not be applicable for you or your readers - was how easily and quickly I could describe what I was doing to someone with no knowledge in my subject matter. Being able to do was an unforgettable moment (it happened to me in an art gallery in London, for some reason). I think that’s when I got both to the gist of my work and what it meant in the wider community. This happened to me in the final year.
I agree wholeheartedly with the principle of writing to word limits. We become, sometimes irrationally, attached to things we’ve worked hard to write; sometimes they just don’t fit and we should break clean from our emotional attachment and nurture an emotional attachment to the stuff that works. I wrote to word count and deadline throughout (sorry if this seems a little nerdy or self-aggrandising - my PhD path was far from that, despite my best efforts).
I wish you luck with the pruning - I think it can be an invaluable exercise and it sounds timely, too.
Bonne chance
Phil

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