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FOURTH
HOW TO GET A PhD
A handbook for students and their supervisors

Worldwide

EDITION
Bestseller

Reviews of the third edition:

This is an excellent book
...

Higher Education
Since the first edition of this innovative book appeared in 1987 it has
become a worldwide bestseller
...


How to get a PhD

This remains the best general…introduction to working on the PhD
...

Social Research Association

How to get a

PhD
A handbook for students and their supervisors

Practical and clear, this book examines everything students need to
know about getting a PhD through research in any subject
...


• Completely updated throughout
• New section on increasingly popular professional doctorates such as
EdD, DBA and D
...
Phillips is an independent educational consultant
...

Professor Derek S
...
He has
considerable experience in the design of doctoral programmes and
the successful supervision of PhD students
...
Phillips and Derek S
...
PHILLIPS
and
DEREK S
...
co
...
openup
...
uk>
and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2289, USA

First published 1987
Reprinted 1988 (twice), 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
Second edition first published 1994
Reprinted 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999
Third edition first published 2000
Reprinted 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
First published in this fourth edition 2005
Copyright © Estelle M
...
Pugh 2005
All rights reserved
...
Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction)
may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road,
London, W1T 4LP
...
The number of translations into other
languages – Reformed Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Classical Chinese,
Russian, Arabic and Korean (in chronological order) – demonstrates that
the issues covered here are highly relevant in many countries
...
Since our first edition in
1987 opened up the subject for debate, many of the developments we have
advocated have come about: greater university recognition and support
for doctoral students, effective monitoring of student progress, training
for supervisors in teaching the craft of research and so on
...
It is therefore appropriate to offer a fourth edition,
revised and updated to the present situation
...
In our analysis of the complex tasks of PhD
study, we describe the difficulties which may be encountered
...
It has been suggested that this inevitably gives too great a
focus on the ‘pathologies’ of the doctoral process
...
The joys of doing research are considerable, and anyone in a
position to carry out research is indeed privileged
...
The enormous feeling of achievement on the
award of the degree lasts for many throughout their whole lives
...

Similarly it has been pointed out to us that our discussion of the particular issues concerning women, part-time and minority group students,
which looks realistically at the special problems that these groups face and
how they may be ameliorated when they occur, may give the impression
that discrimination is the norm
...

This book has grown out of EMP’s own PhD research, a continuing series
of studies of research students, our experience of supervising and examining doctoral students and the seminar on the process of PhD-getting conducted by DSP for a number of years at the London Business School and
subsequently by both of us at the Open University
...
We learned a lot from
all of them and we are most grateful
...
Shona Mullen, our
publisher at Open University Press, gave her usual stalwart support
...

We should like to thank Janet Metcalfe and the UK GRAD Programme,
who are the joint holders of the copyright with DSP, for permission to
reproduce the ‘Self-evaluation questionnaire on research student progress’
on pp
...

Finally, DSP would like to thank EMP for her generous hospitality
during the writing of this edition of the book
...
If you are
intending to embark on a research degree it will introduce you to the
system and, by increasing your understanding, help you to improve your
choice of university, college, department and supervisor
...
You will need to do this because we shall be
discussing the skills and processes that are crucial to obtaining the PhD
degree
...

If you are a senior academic administrator, the relevance of this book is
that it provides a guide to procedures and systems concerned with research
degrees which will enable you to evaluate the adequacy of the provision
your university is making for research students
...
It
cannot help you to design an investigation or an experiment as these
activities require professional knowledge of your particular field
...
Nor does it consider factors impinging on you after you have completed your course such
as the employment options available to PhDs
...
)
But the book does suggest that you ponder on some basic questions

2

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HOW TO GET A PhD

before embarking on a course of study leading to the PhD degree
...
g
...
196ff
...
)
Are you able to tolerate regular periods of intellectual loneliness when
only you are responsible for producing ‘creative thoughts’? It is vital that
you give a firm ‘yes’ in answer to all those questions
...
If what you really want is to write a
bestseller, then conducting research for a thesis is not the optimum way to
go about it
...
If this is so then you have chosen an extremely
difficult way of solving your particular problem
...
As a research student you need continually to use the ideas in this book to develop your own insight into your
own situation
...

‘Under your own management’ is the key to the nature of doctoral education
...
It may not have seemed like that to you at the
time, because you were required to do a considerable amount of work, but,
for example, syllabuses were laid down, textbooks were specified, practical
sessions were designed, the examinations were organized to cover a set
range of topics in questions of a known form, and so on
...
’ For the most part you were following an
academic course set by your teachers
...
Of course, there will be
people around to help you: – your supervisor(s), other academics in your
department, fellow students and so on
...
And if it turns out that you need a particular
topic or theory for your work, then it is no excuse to say, ‘But nobody told
me it was relevant
...


ON BECOMING A RESEARCH STUDENT

I

3

So you will not be traversing a set course laid out by others
...
You are under selfmanagement, so it is no use sitting around waiting for somebody to tell
you what to do next or, worse, complaining that nobody is telling you
what to do next; in the postgraduate world these are opportunities, not
deficiencies
...
But there are also some notable differences between
the research cultures of university disciplines, particularly between the
culture of the laboratory-based sciences and that of the humanities and
social sciences
...

Supervisors in science have to take the lead in obtaining the physical
resources and the research personnel required
...
In this situation the ‘apprenticeship’ aspect of being a
doctoral student is emphasized
...
The student will be required to do ‘dogsbody’ work in the
laboratory or on the computer as part of professional training
...
Supervisors will
have a strong interest in getting the research work done and using the
results obtained
...
The danger to watch for in
this culture is the exploitation of the student, leading to the feeling of
being just an extra pair of hands for the supervisors’ research
...
It is this which
justifies the award of the PhD degree
...
Being busy
people, supervisors often have to ration the amount of attention they can
give
...
Supervisors will have only a general interest in the
results of the student’s research, and will act more as role models than as
apprentice-masters
...
It must be
remembered that students need the regular support of supervisors if they
are to develop sufficiently to achieve the PhD degree
...
There are scientists who give an individual service to their
doctoral students and social scientists who build up a team of students all
working on related aspects of the same topic
...

In recent years universities have found that it is not in a student’s best
interest to rely on only one supervisor for each student
...
This
team must contain a subject specialist and someone responsible for pastoral support
...
Others involved in supervision, perhaps at times of
upgrading or controversy, might be the departmental head and the
research tutor
...
By the time they start the final stages of
thesis-writing for the degree they are determined to ‘get it and forget it!’
During the intervening years their enthusiasm has been dampened by the
demands of having to concentrate on a specific topic and conduct routine
and repetitive tasks in an atmosphere where nobody seems either to
understand or to care about their work
...
It is
not long before they lose their initial confidence and begin to question
their own self-image
...
Such contacts could
come from members of staff, postgraduates who are further into their
research than the first-year students, and papers published in journals or
presented at conferences
...
From this
period of self-doubt and questioning, the successful postgraduates emerge
with a new identity as competent professionals, able to argue their viewpoint with anybody regardless of status, confident of their own knowledge
but also aware of its boundaries
...
To arrive
at this point is what being a postgraduate research student is really all
about
...
It requires a different style of operation, which is why it is not sufficient just to state the issue as we did in the previous sections
...
We have seen many students take
long periods (one year or even two!) in adjusting to the environment, at
considerable jeopardy to the achievement of their doctorates
...

All new postgraduates have to be prepared to unlearn and rethink many
of the doctrines which they have had to accept up to this point in their
student career
...

The first aim of this book is to explore such issues in a realistic way in
order to help you understand and achieve the tasks necessary to complete
the PhD successfully
...
The third aim is to put the
whole activity in its context, since the recognition by universities of their
institutional responsibilities in improving the effectiveness of doctoral
education is a key factor in promoting necessary change
...
We give real-life examples of students and their supervisors
...
We shall be examining
the characteristics of the educational system, the nature of the PhD qualification, psychological aspects of the PhD process, and how to manage
your supervisor, among many other practical topics
...
207ff at the end of the book we have included a self-diagnostic
questionnaire on student progress to help you focus on issues that are
relevant to you
...


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2

You will experience periods of self-doubt which you must come
through with the clear aim of becoming a competent professional
researcher
...


3

HOW TO GET A PhD

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I

GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM
I

I

Once you have decided to continue within the higher education system
and conduct research for a higher degree, you have other decisions to
make
...
But which university? In what area? And how to
apply?

I

Choosing the institution and field of study

If you are a postgraduate who is a candidate for a research studentship, the
offer of such a studentship is likely to be the determining factor in
your choice of institution and field of study
...
Many PhD
students have come unstuck simply because they have lost interest or
belief in the area that they are investigating
...
You should not hesitate
to ask about these issues, so important to your success, when you go to a
department for interview
...
Find out the departmental rating in the

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British University Research Assessment Exercise, and how the department intends to develop research in the future
...
Ask to speak
to current doctoral students and obtain from them a description of the
adequacy of the set-up from their point of view
...
This optimism will
fade soon enough as we shall see later on in this book, so it is important to
have some to start off with
...

One direct way of finding out about the relevant academic activities is to
go to a university library (or look on the Internet) and systematically
review the current issues of journals in your subject
...
Remember, all
libraries in higher education will allow readers to have access to their stock
for use on the premises; you just have to ask for permission
...
All universities have websites and all departments have web pages
describing the research that they are currently undertaking
...
You can initiate this contact by letter or
email, followed by a telephone call and – if you are still interested – an
arrangement to meet at the university
...
A good way to make
contact with different people and departments is to take advantage of the
open days that so many universities now advertise
...
To do this you need to give some thought to your own
interests and how they interact with what you have found out about the
work of the department you are visiting
...
If you are considering creating a draft proposal, it may be that the department to which
you are applying may be prepared to give you some help in developing it
...
In
addition, the compatibility of the people with whom you will be working
is an important component in your choice
...
For example, in the West Midlands conurbation
there are at least six universities
...
In Chapter 9 we look in more detail at the situation of
part-time research students
...
They normally require a number of
visits to the campus during a year and even, in some cases, attendance at
residential weekends
...
For these
reasons you must explore thoroughly the range of provision which might
be available for you
...

Research students in such a programme are treated as the most junior level
of employee contributing to the overall work, in fact as junior research
assistants
...

Viewed in educational terms, this type of programme has both advantages and limitations
...

These programmes do have limitations though
...
The close contact that they have with the students in the
laboratory on a day-to-day managerial basis leads many supervisors to
neglect the educational practices that we advocate throughout this book
...
This view takes no account of the
students’ competitiveness and their fear of having their ideas or results
stolen by one of their colleagues working on a very closely related problem
...


I

Eligibility

The first question here is: do you have the academic qualifications to be
accepted as a student for a research degree? Most universities require first
or upper second-class honours in a relevant British undergraduate degree;
some universities will accept lower seconds
...

These are the general requirements which will allow you to go through
straightforwardly
...
For example, if you do not
have a British degree, the university will have to satisfy itself that your
overseas degree is of a standard equivalent to a British one
...

In general we would say that you should not be immediately deterred if
you do not have the typical formal qualifications for acceptance
...
It
may be, for example, that you could be accepted subject to doing certain
extra study, or passing a qualifying examination
...
However, if you
have had several rejections it may not be wise to pursue registration
...

The second question is: what degree are you going to be registered for? If
you are a beginner in research and do not already have an MPhil or an
MRes (i
...
, a master’s degree awarded for research) you will, in the first
place, be registered as a general research student or for an MPhil degree
...
You may be required to complete successfully a oneyear taught programme leading to the award of the MRes degree
...
You and your supervisor(s) must, therefore, be in close
contact to ensure that the case can be made for full PhD registration
...

The third question is concerned with the limits of the period allowed
between registration and submission
...
Because of this
maximum limit, if you are having to abandon your research work temporarily but intend to return to it, you should obtain a formal suspension of
the period of study
...
Don’t forget that if
you are employed by your institution as, say, a research assistant, you may
find that you can be counted as a full-time student even if you are working
only part-time on your PhD
...

When registration has been completed you should be informed formally
of: your supervisor(s); the topic or field of study for which you have been
accepted; the minimum length of study time required before submission
of your thesis
...
Do ensure that it is sent at the
appropriate time
...
The availability of grants is variable, and
the regulations on eligibility detailed
...
You may find that you fall
into a category for whom special grants are available
...
There is a
Grants and Trusts Directory (which includes benevolent funds) to look at,

12

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HOW TO GET A PhD

and the website ...
org
...
If you find that you meet their criteria, you would be well
advised to apply far in advance of their advertised cut-off date
...

You must obtain and study the regulations of the formal system concerned with these topics
...
Your financial situation should be
part of your initial discussion with your potential supervisor
...
There are considerable variations in the operation of grants
...
Remember that in certain circumstances it may be possible
to obtain an extension of the grant
...

Grants are quite low in value, and it may be that you will be hoping for
some casual work
...
It is much better to tutor your
subject than to work long hours serving behind a bar
...
Some, like any good employer, will make small short-term
loans to cover an urgent financial problem
...

Find out from your university what you are statutorily entitled to in the
way of research resources
...
You should ensure (via your supervisor, if necessary) that you have
them
...
You may be able to call on technical support
from departmental technicians and computer staff, and you may be
entitled to apply for financial support for travel to conferences or to visit
other institutions
...
These include potential students who live in areas with no university provision, people with disabilities, carers and those with young

GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM

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13

children who are able to work in their own environment but would be
unable to attend university at regular required times
...

Libraries can be accessed from home, the Internet carries vast information
loads
...
Students may
expect a much better level of supervision than would have been the case
previously if they have to go abroad for any reason during the course of
their studies (e
...
, the fieldwork period for anthropology and geology
students)
...
The regular interaction needed with
the supervisor must inevitably take place face to face in order for student
and supervisor to spark ideas off each other
...
While IT can help the supervisory process
to become more effective, it cannot completely replace personal interaction
...
It is therefore not realistic for a potential student to consider applying to work for a PhD degree completely at a
distance
...
Where precisely will you be spending most of
your time in the next few years? If you are in a position to make a choice of
research institutions, you should certainly find out about the physical
facilities offered and take them into account
...
Since personal computers, email and Internet technologies are such an integral part
of research activity, it is important to discover what arrangements are
made in this area
...
If they do not, and you do
not already have a machine, you must buy one
...
All universities should offer you participation in their email network
and access to the Internet
...
They are expected to work at home when not in
libraries, laboratories, other organizations or away on field trips
...
On the other hand, you may
find it irritating having to interact with others and listen to what they
have to say about their own progress (or lack of it) whenever you want to
use the common room as a base from which to get on with your own work
...
You favour a clear dividing line between
working hours and time spent socializing and are able to organize this
division of activity satisfactorily yourself
...

Some people believe that being given a desk in a room shared by only
one or two other research students is an ideal arrangement
...
However, the reality is not always like that, and you may find that
you are thrown into close contact with people whom you find quite
intolerable for some reason or other
...
One is very untidy
and continually ‘borrows’ your possessions without returning them, as
well as spreading items that do not belong to you all over your designated
work area
...

In addition, your presence and absence are easily noted by others, and
you may have to account for your movements rather more than you
would wish
...


I

Selecting your supervisor

This is probably the most important step you will have to take
...

However, it is not impossible to influence the selection yourself and you
should certainly attempt to do so
...
The key factor is whether they have

GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM

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15

an established research record and are continuing to contribute to the
development of their discipline
...

Another important aspect that you should be considering when
selecting your supervisor is: how close a relationship do you want? The
supervisor–student relationship is one of the closest that you will ever be
involved in
...
Some people need to have their supervisors around a lot
(especially in the beginning), while others feel it oppressive to be asked
what they are doing, and to be told continually what they should be
getting on with next
...
The first has already been mentioned: the
student needs constant support and reassurance, and the supervisor needs
continual feedback in order to give instruction, thus providing direction
for the research
...
In this relationship the supervisor must feel relaxed about giving the student time to learn by trial and
error
...

Research has shown (Phillips 1994a) that when a student who needs
time to plan work and to continue unhurriedly until satisfied that there is
something interesting to impart is paired with a supervisor who constantly asks for worthwhile results, the student becomes irritated and feels
that the standards required are unattainable
...
Conversely, when
a student who needs constant feedback and encouragement is paired with
a supervisor who wants to be kept informed of progress and ideas only at
intervals that allow for some development to have occurred, the student
feels neglected and the supervisor resents the student’s demands for
attention (if the student is actually confident enough to ask for more
time)
...
Once the personal
relationship has been well-established, all else falls into place
...
Therefore, it cannot be stressed

16

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too strongly that you should discuss this relationship at the very earliest
opportunity, and a tentative agreement about working together should be
reached
...
Those who have recently attained a high-quality first degree share
with their peers who have returned to university after some years of working the confusion and disorientation that comes from not quite knowing
what is expected of them
...
This idea inhibits their own development as they are equally sure that they are not outstandingly brilliant,
and therefore cannot really expect to be awarded a PhD
...

The world that the new research student enters, classically portrayed as
an ‘ill-defined limbo’ (Wason 1974) involves making a traumatic intellectual transition
...
During this period
students might question the whole point of their being in the university
...
The agreement should include the
understanding that, once the work has been completed, you will discuss
with your supervisor both the work itself and your feelings about it
...
It will also help to reveal the evolutionary
process (corrections, drafts, rewritings, etc
...

It is also a good idea to talk to other research students about their experience of the role as well as their work
...
There are
indeed guidelines which universities are advised to follow in providing
support for their doctoral students
...


GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM
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17

Myths and realities of the system

The ‘ivory tower’
One of the commonest misconceptions about research is that it is an ‘ivory
tower’ activity, far removed from reality and from social contact with
others
...

It is not like that at all
...
There is also a considerable academic network of
people with whom, as an active researcher, you must interact
...
To be an effective research
student you must make use of all the opportunities offered
...


Personal relationships
Another popular misconception, this time of supervisors, is to believe that
so long as they are on first-name terms with their research students everything is fine and the student knows that they are friends
...
But no matter how far the
supervisors may go to assure new students that their relationship is that of
friendly colleagues, the reality is that students take a considerable amount
of time to become comfortable about this degree of informality
...

The reason for the students’ difficulty is that the supervisors already
have that which the students most want – the PhD
...
The students have admired the supervisors’ work during their
undergraduate days, having come into contact with it through lectures or
reading, or having heard reference made to it by others
...

You may be in a department with many research students or perhaps
you are the only one in your discipline
...


18

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HOW TO GET A PhD

Even if the people you meet are in different faculties, working on topics far
removed from your own, it will be helpful for you to have contact with
them
...
Make it one of your first tasks to get the names
and email addresses of a few of your peers
...
Throughout the whole
of your course this group will enable you to compare not only how your
research is progressing, but also your feelings about it
...


Teamworking
‘I work alone in a lab, full of people, all research students, all working
alone
...
It exemplifies the situation in scientific
research in which a large programme is being funded and the professors
who hold the grants gather around them several research students
...
Each problem is closely linked to
all the others
...
In some programmes though, research
students take care to guard closely the work for which they are responsible
because they occasionally fear that one of the others may discover something that will render their own research unworthy of continuation
...
Postgraduates working on a programme such as the one described have two worries: first, that another
student’s work so closely borders on their own that it will make their work
unoriginal or second past the post; second, that somebody else will demonstrate something (for which that other person will be awarded a PhD)
that will at the same time show their own line of research to be false
...
In well managed laboratories there are regular group meetings to
ensure that there is a general knowledge of the work that is being undertaken, and good communication about the issues and difficulties
involved
...
The strange thing about this
is that sometimes the science students appear to feel the isolation more
strongly than their counterparts in the Social Sciences or Arts faculties
...
In other faculties new research
students expect to be working alone in libraries or at home, reading,

GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM

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19

writing and thinking rather than experimenting
...


I

Action summary

1

Get as much information as you can before choosing your academic
institution
...
Find out about the research culture: is it
programme based or individually orientated? Ask to see around the
area in which your work will be carried out to determine whether it
would suit you
...

Ensure that you understand the eligibility requirements both for
entry into the research degree programme of the university and of
grant-awarding bodies
...

Very early on, arrange with your main supervisor to carry out a small
initial project with definite deadlines to get you into the system
...

Work at personal relationships with your supervisor(s) and fellow
doctoral students
...


2

3

4

5

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THE NATURE OF THE PhD
QUALIFICATION
I

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In this chapter we shall discuss the nature of a PhD
...


I

The meaning of a doctorate

We are going to start with some historical background and present in a
schematic way the meaning of the degree structure of a British university
...

ٗ A master’s degree is a licence to practise
...

The degree marks the possession of advanced knowledge in a specialist
field
...
Nowadays this does not mean
that becoming a lecturer is the only reason for taking a doctorate, since
the degree has much wider career connotations outside academia and
many of those with doctorates do not have academic teaching posts
...
As the highest degree
that can be awarded, it proclaims that the recipient is worthy of being
listened to as an equal by the appropriate university faculty
...
e
...
These socalled ‘higher doctorates’ are awarded as a recognition of a substantial
contribution to the discipline by published work
...
Some universities
abbreviate the title to DPhil (e
...
, Oxford, Sussex, York) but most use the
designation PhD, which we use throughout this book
...
It represents a more restricted
achievement than the higher doctorates since it envisages a limited
amount of academic work (three years or so), but it still embodies the
concept that the holder of the PhD is in command of the field of study and
can make a worthwhile contribution to it
...
Traditionally, once an institution had become a university
there were no laws that specified which degrees could be awarded, by
which institutions, to whom and on what basis, as was the case in Continental Europe
...

Historically this independence has allowed, for example, the arts faculties of traditional Scottish universities to use the MA title for their first
degree, but the science faculties use BSc
...
Nowadays this has been reduced to paying a registration fee after two years and
obtaining the degree without attendance
...

Indeed, on the basis of their university course they are credited with two
bachelor’s degrees, although having a licence to practise they exemplify
the concept of a master’s degree
...


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Becoming a fully professional researcher

HOW TO GET A PhD

Thus the holder of a PhD is someone who is recognized as an authority by
the appropriate faculty and by fellow academics and scientists outside the
university
...
Let us try to spell out what becoming
a full professional means:
1 At the most basic level it means that you have something to say that
your peers want to listen to
...

3 You must have the astuteness to discover where you can make a useful
contribution
...

5 You must have mastery of appropriate techniques that are currently
being used, and also be aware of their limitations
...

7 All this must be carried out in an international context; your professional peer group is worldwide
...
) You must be aware of what is being discovered,
argued about, written and published by your academic community
across the world
...
The crucial distinction is between ‘knowing that’ and ‘knowing
how’, as the philosopher Gilbert Ryle put it
...
You have to be able to carve out a researchable topic, to
master the techniques required and put them to appropriate use, and to
cogently communicate your findings
...
The skills required cannot easily be stated by other
professionals, though many aspects can be learned from them – some
consciously, others unconsciously
...
This is
why the PhD takes time
...
When

THE NATURE OF THE PhD QUALIFICATION

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23

you are doing a PhD, you are playing in a game where the goalposts are
continually being moved
...
What is a reasonable contribution to
a new topic now might be old hat by next year
...

They need to be able to grow with their discipline
...
It is important
to keep this professional concept in mind because it orientates everything
that you have to do
...

You are not writing a review of your field of study because that would be
an interesting thing to do, or because ‘everybody does one’ (although both
of these may be true)
...

Notice that the key concept is to demonstrate that your learning is to
professional standards
...
It is indeed a vital responsibility of your
supervisor to ensure that you are given every opportunity to become
familiar with appropriate professional standards
...

One thing is clear: you cannot get a PhD unless you do know what the
standards are
...

These are not just to allow you in due course to have the title ‘Doctor’,
pleasant though this is and proud though your family will be
...
They hope that you will
publish papers from your doctoral thesis and continue to research and
publish in the field to establish your academic authority, so that, in due
course, you will supervise and examine other people’s PhD theses
...
Thus clearly
you must have the professional skills and you must know the standards
that are required
...
How else
will you know what standard you ought to aim for?
ٗ If you have to go along to your supervisor after you have done your
work and ask if it is good enough, you are clearly not ready for a PhD,
which is awarded as a recognition that you are able to evaluate research
work (including your own) to fully professional standards
...
The MPhil dissertation is normally shorter than
the PhD thesis
...
The MPhil is also a legitimate higher degree qualification in its own
right
...
You need to read
successful dissertations in order to discover the standards expected
...

A candidate for an MPhil must undertake an investigation but, compared to the PhD, the work may be limited in scope and the degree of
originality
...
Greater synthesis and critical ability and also a more detailed
investigation of any practical illustrations are expected from doctoral
candidates
...
It is also acceptable for secondary sources to be used
...
This would not be acceptable for a PhD thesis
where the candidate for the degree would be expected to have read and
evaluated Francis in the original publication
...
The difference here is in the
breadth and depth of the review as well as in the amount of critical
appreciation that is expected
...

Each university will have its own regulations concerning the MPhil
degree and you must study carefully those which apply to you
...
One of
the most common aims at the beginning is the wish to make a significant
contribution to the chosen field
...
For example Adam, who
after graduating in architecture, had spent some years both teaching and
working as an architect, explained why he had returned to university in
the following way:
I wanted to do more theoretical work as my interests were with the
value problems in designing a building
...
I saw it as a
serious problem and a major issue in professional practice
...

To me a PhD means that the candidate has made some new contribution to his field and that’s really what I want to do
...
I don’t need the PhD for my work – it
might even be a disadvantage
...
Some
decide on this course of action when considering plans for the future
...


26

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HOW TO GET A PhD

There are other career reasons for wanting to take a doctorate
...
Others feel that relationships with their medical colleagues may be easier if they too have the title
...

Another reason for undertaking a research degree after doing well at
undergraduate level is simply taking up the offer of a studentship as a form
of employment and without having any real career aims
...

These diverse aims of students do not remain the same throughout the
period of registration for the higher degree, however, not even for those
students who do start because of the intrinsic satisfaction of actually doing
research and because of their interest in the work for its own sake
...
It’s almost instinctive
...

As we discuss fully in Chapter 7 on the PhD process, all these students,
together with very many more enthusiastic new recruits, change their way
of talking about their PhD as the years of learning to do research and
become a full professional pass by
...

It is important that research students eventually realize that it is
determination and application, rather than brilliance, that are needed
...
Conducting a piece of research to a
successful conclusion is a job of work that has to be done just like any
other job of work
...


I

Aims of supervisors

In the same way that students begin a PhD for a variety of different
reasons, so too supervisors undertake supervision with different aims in
mind
...
With each
additional success their own professional status is raised
...
But those supervisors who have one or more ex-research
students who are now professors speak of the achievements of these
graduates as though they were their own
...
Some supervisors believe that
postgraduates should be encouraged to become autonomous researchers
...
Some supervisors have not really thought about this
matter specifically but nevertheless treat their research students in such a
way that it is relatively simple to deduce which implicit theory of doctoral
education and training they hold
...
These people aim to build centres of excellence around themselves,
which will attract visiting academics from other universities and other
countries
...
They may also be able to arrange an occasional
seminar given by a well-known expert
...

There are also those few senior academics who aim to become eligible
for a Nobel prize or other senior honour
...

As well as those who wish to get the work done as speedily and efficiently as possible, there are those supervisors who are genuinely interested in producing more and better researchers
...
What this means for students is that they will be expected to develop their own topics for research
and to operate in a more individual manner
...

Thus supervisors have many different reasons for agreeing to add to
work already being undertaken by engaging in the supervision of research
students
...
It is necessary, however, for students to discover which approach a prospective supervisor
favours in order to evaluate the implications for what will be expected of
them
...

Of course, we realize that it will be difficult for you, as a beginning
research student, to understand fully the implications of this discussion
...
Two things that
you could do are: talk to other research students in the department about
their experience of supervision, and introduce into the preliminary discussions with any potential supervisor an exploration of their preferred
way of working with their students
...
Some
examiners see the aims of the PhD to be a training for a career in research,
some as an introduction to writing books, some as preparation for the
academic life and some, as we have suggested, to become a fully rounded
professional
...
The British PhD is awarded for an original contribution to
knowledge
...
Nevertheless, examiners need to be satisfied that the work has a degree of originality
and that it is the genuine work of the candidate
...
Some
become known as difficult to please while others are prepared to take the
supervisor’s evaluation of the work almost without question
...

The reputations that the examiners acquire do sometimes affect their
selection, especially when it is left to the supervisor to choose
...
For example, if a
supervisor thinks that a particular student will only just satisfy requirements, a less exacting examiner may be chosen
...
However,
such a system is far from universal and can be extremely unpopular
...
’

I

Aims of universities and research councils

Government-funded research councils provide studentships for British
full-time doctoral students in science and social science, as does the British
Academy for arts students
...

The commonest way of not succeeding is to drop out
...
The historically high drop-out rate of students has led the
councils in the past decade to require universities to demonstrate that
they have an effective student support system in place
...
They have issued league
tables of completion rates and universities who do not perform satisfactorily run the risk of not receiving any allocation of research student
grants
...

The effect of these policies has been to make academic institutions
much more concerned to control the education which takes place during
the PhD to ensure that it is of high quality
...

Academics with overall departmental responsibility for doctoral students
have been appointed
...

The aim of research councils is to get a high proportion of full-time
doctoral students to complete within four years, and universities work to
bring this about
...
Any referral as a result of the
examination is not taken into account
...


30

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HOW TO GET A PhD

A possible negative effect is that you may be forced to take a narrower view
of your research than you might like in order to complete within the stated
time
...


I

Mismatches and problems

Once we begin to see where the aims of the different groups involved with
the PhD are not congruent, it is not too big a step to realize that certain
conflicts are inherent in the system
...
Diana in biochemistry started by looking for ‘the
truth’ and spending a lot of time working on important experiments even
though they would not form part of her thesis
...
He became more interested in
her work when she began ‘churning out results’
...
’ This was
more satisfying for him but less satisfying for her
...
Such was the case of
Freddy and Professor Forsdike:
I intend to tell the Prof
...
It has to be something vital and
important
...

Here the supervisor is encouraging the student to go beyond the boundaries of his thesis problem and pursue the leads that result from the original
experiments
...

If a supervisor is interested in discussing new ideas and exploring
untested areas but is responsible merely for ensuring that the student
completes a thesis of the required standard in a reasonable amount of
time, the work of supervision becomes less than satisfying
...
I try to make up to him for not being an ideal supervisor by
giving him enthusiasm
...
I
don’t want to let him down – he’s such a very good research student
...
He should finish the PhD in three years
...

This supervisor is admitting that supervision can be of benefit to the
supervisor herself, and this is quite commonly the case
...
Another benefit to supervisors nowadays is to have
the number of PhDs they have supervised to successful completion on
their CVs
...
Whether it is the student or the supervisor who takes
the major responsibility for this does not alter the fact that decisions
regarding what is appropriate, relevant and necessary have to be made
throughout the student’s period of registration
...

Read others’ PhD theses in your field and evaluate them for the
degree of originality in the research which has satisfied the
examiners
...
Provide the determination and application
(rather than brilliance) that are required to complete the work and
obtain the degree
...


2

3

4

32

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5

The tension between the boundaries of the research project and the
time available to complete it should be continually reviewed and
adjusted by the student and the supervisors
...
These tried and tested ways of failing apply to all fields and have to
be pondered continually by research students
...
As we shall see, just to have
them pointed out to you is not enough to avoid them
...


I

Not wanting a PhD

The first method of not getting a PhD is not to want a PhD
...
At the very least, you will be devoting a great deal of time and
effort and energy to research
...
We think an analogy would help here
...
But we don’t
want to set out to become millionaires
...
There are many ways of making a million pounds, but doing
a PhD is not likely to be one of them
...
People think it
would be a nice idea to do a PhD, they come with views of what they want
to do and then they turn round and say: ‘Please can I have a PhD for it?’
And the answer is often ‘No’
...
It is precisely the same distinction as that between hoping to become
a millionaire and setting out to make a million pounds
...

This is the sense in which you must want a PhD, and this ‘wanting’ is
important in that it has to work very hard for you
...
You must always have a
clear eye on the extrinsic satisfactions (your commitment to the whole
exercise of doing a PhD, its necessary place in your career progression, and
so on); you must want to do it
...
Particularly vulnerable are
those who lack clear career goals and those who are using the PhD process
as a vehicle for a career change:
Jason was very intelligent and sailed through his undergraduate
degree course in biochemistry
...
In
spite of this, with intense revision in the two weeks before each year’s
exams, he got an upper second in his finals
...
But he did not cut down on his outside commitments to
campaigning on green issues, seeing them as highly relevant to the
‘political’ aspects of his research
...
But it became
clear that he was more interested in sketching out the ideas than in

HOW NOT TO GET A PhD

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35

buckling down to designing a viable research study and carrying it
out
...
He carried on
like this right until the end of his first year, when Dr Jacobs indicated
forcefully to him that she considered that he did not have any
chance at all of obtaining a PhD unless he gave up all his outside
activities and concentrated on his research work
...
Jason
was nonplussed by this ultimatum, as he had always considered
extracurricular activity to be an indispensable part of student life
...

Iris, a teacher for many years, developed an interest in a particular
specialism (multi-ethnic curriculum development) and thought she
would like to do research in order to establish herself in this new
subject
...
She left and returned to
teaching
...
It does not mean an enormous
breakthrough that has the subject rocking on its foundations, and research
students who think that it does (even if only subconsciously or in a
half-formed way) will find the process pretty debilitating
...
In Chapter 6 we give a detailed discussion of the concept
of originality in relation to the PhD
...
Paradigm shifts are major changes in the
explanatory schemes of the science, which happen only rarely when the
inadequacies of the previous framework have become more and more
limiting
...
It serves to elaborate the general explanatory
paradigm used and to tease out difficulties and puzzles that are not yet
sufficiently well explained
...

You can leave the paradigm shifts for after your PhD, and empirically
that is indeed what happens
...

Das Kapital was not Marx’s PhD (that was on the theories of two littleknown Greek philosophers)
...

As we saw in Chapter 3, it is this professionalism that the PhD is about
...
You can wait for a
long time for a new paradigm to strike
...
Here are two classic cases:
Bob insisted that it would not be ‘real’ research if he read up in books
and journals what others had done on the problem that he wished to
tackle; his thinking would be entirely shaped by what they had done
and he would only be able to add something minor
...
This took quite a long time, as his knowledge
of research methods was not that strong
...
As this field was not her own particular speciality,
Dr Bishop went to the library and looked up all the current year’s
issues of the relevant journals
...
She used this paper to support her argument that he would

HOW NOT TO GET A PhD

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37

have to make a comprehensive search of relevant published material
if he were to have a chance of designing an adequate study which
would make a contribution
...

While Phil was carrying out the fieldwork stage of his research into
the motivation of managers, he became very involved with his subjects
...
Most research was like that, Phil maintained, and was therefore neglected by everyone except the next lot
of researchers
...
Why couldn’t we have a PhD thesis that would
read like a novel so that it would become accessible?
Phil took this idea very seriously
...
He
took an extra year to write up the material, letting no one see anything on the way, on the grounds that you don’t show a novel to
anyone until it is completed
...
He asked Phil to rewrite it, but he refused
and thus did not get a PhD
...
It is about overestimating what can be
done with a PhD and therefore falling flat on your face
...


I

Not understanding the nature of a PhD by underestimating
what is required

Underestimating is always a problem if not corrected, but is particularly
damaging in two situations
...
It is basically the difficulty of understanding what is
meant by ‘research’, since the word is used much more strictly in the
academic than in the non-academic sphere
...

PhD research requires a contribution to the analysis and explanation of
the topic, not just description
...
It is an underestimation of what is
required to accept a lay formulation of either questions or answers – even
if they somehow appear more relevant – and it is a clear way of not getting
a PhD
...

He wanted to do his research on the financial control systems of his
firm, about which he naturally knew a very great deal
...

Chris was not able to formulate research questions very well himself
...
After treating a series of possible topics in this way, it became
clear that he really did not have any need to do research since he
knew all the answers anyway – at least at a level that satisfied him
...

The second form of underestimating is particularly a problem for science students working in a lab and contributing a project as part of a
bigger research programme
...
Students are
very happy to feel that they are contributing
...
These are spelled out in Chapter 6 on the form of the
PhD thesis and include, in addition to carrying out the actual experiment,
the design of the investigation, the analysis of the results, and the writing
up of the results into a thesis
...
Here is an example
...

He worked hard to collect the data that he had agreed with his

HOW NOT TO GET A PhD

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39

supervisor were needed for his PhD
...
Gary was
pleased with this and felt he was making a contribution on the data
side
...
In his final year Gary was faced with a pile of records
and had to do his own writing
...
After half an hour, he went back to the data because
he felt more comfortable tidying up the records
...
He cheered up when Professor Ganesh suggested
another piece of empirical work that he could do, and he busied
himself in carrying it out
...
Professor Ganesh was sympathetic to
Gary’s predicament
...
But he pointed out that he could not write
the thesis for Gary, who now had to do it himself
...
We
shall be discussing issues of supervision in detail in Chapters 8 and 11, and
so here we will just point out that first, inadequate supervision is a major
cause of not getting a PhD, and second, since the penalties to students of
not succeeding are much greater than to their supervisors, in the end it is
up to determined students to get the supervision they need and are
entitled to
...
One key cause
of underestimation is lack of research experience on the part of supervisors
...
They can thus give advice from current knowledge of the
field, and can act as role models through their own practice
...

Sophia came to Britain on a government scholarship from a country
that has little tradition of empirical research in her field
...
She worked away by

40

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HOW TO GET A PhD

herself, with occasional comments from him that he thought a particular section very interesting
...
When she submitted her thesis the external examiner said that, in his opinion, it was so completely inadequate that
there was no point in having the oral examination or in allowing a
resubmission
...

Sophia’s case points up not only the problem of inadequate supervision,
but also the problem that she was not aware of the deficiencies under
which she was working
...
All students, however, must ensure that they discuss their work with several academics and
with their peers, and that they regularly read accepted PhD theses in their
field to discover the standards that are required
...
Here is an example
...
This is surprising, because he is a well known academic in
his field, has a lively intelligence and an outgoing personality –
which is why he continues to attract students to supervise
...
He
believes that it is the supervisor’s job to challenge his students, to
shake them up mentally, to bombard them with new ideas
...
Because of this overestimation, many students find they have
taken on too large a project, which they do not see becoming more
focused
...


I

Losing contact with your supervisor

As we said above, the penalties of failure are greater for the student than
for the supervisor
...
As we discussed in Chapter 3, the nature of the PhD process
requires continual input from the supervisor if the student is to learn the
craft of research and how to apply it to the particular topic under study
...
Here we will just illustrate the inevitable
catastrophic effect which results if contact is lost
...
After a long

HOW NOT TO GET A PhD

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41

session with his supervisor he decided that he wanted to change
direction
...
Tony did not agree and tried to persuade
his supervisor to allow greater modifications
...
They saw each
other less and less because Tony felt that they were talking at crosspurposes
...

He never submitted his thesis
...
She died tragically when David was at
the end of his second year
...

David did not think it necessary to tell his new supervisor in any
detail what he was doing, having it clear in his mind that Professor
Dickinson would have given her approval
...
When he came to submit his
thesis the examiners felt that he had suffered from lack of supervision, which in the circumstances should be taken into account, but
that they could award him only an MPhil, not a PhD
...

David’s enforced change of supervisor was due to a particularly tragic
event
...
In these circumstances it is particularly incumbent on the student to make good contact with the new
supervisor, whose knowledge and skills are a crucial input to getting a
PhD
...

Thus the regulations of your university may say that your thesis may be
not more than a certain number of words in length, that it must be presented in black/blue/red binding, and so on
...
)
But there is an earlier use of the word ‘thesis’ that is very important to
the task of obtaining a PhD
...
For example, the Reformation began
when Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg
church – statements of his beliefs, which he wished to maintain against
the Roman Church of that time
...
P
...
It is our thesis that it is crucial for students wanting
to obtain a PhD that they understand fully the objectives of the exercise
and the nature of the processes involved, which is why we have written
this book
...
It must argue a position
...

Often when trying to come to grips with the tough-minded pruning of
material that this involves, you will feel that you are losing useful data or
important points
...
Your thesis has to organize data to increase the richness of your work
and focus argument to increase its cogency
...

It may be that the thesis you are arguing has been decomposed into a
number of ‘hypo-theses’ (hypotheses) each of which will be tested for its
adequacy
...
If you are not working in the hypothesistesting mode you must still ensure that your discussions add up to a
coherent argument
...
As with all the other ways of not getting a PhD, this is easier to say
than to do, particularly if you do not have good guidance in the early
stages of your research, when the temptation to spread yourself too widely
and too thinly is greatest
...
This is a large field and he was able to tackle the issues only
rather superficially
...
The examiners
said that his thesis ‘did not add up to anything’ and rejected it
...
He registered for a PhD because he felt that not enough was known about

HOW NOT TO GET A PhD

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43

how to manage such organizations; more research was needed to
make administrators in this field more professional
...
When he was asked how his research could help them, he said
that he wanted to write a textbook describing good administrative
practices
...
In the end he
reluctantly accepted this
...
A textbook that
incorporated a well-argued, justified thesis – for example, that accepted
views are inadequate when the data are critically re-examined, or that the
field can be reinterpreted fruitfully in the light of a new theory – would be
very acceptable
...
It is especially true of the final stage of writing up
...
They somehow think that having surveyed the
field, designed the study, collected and analysed the data, it is downhill
from then on to the presentation of the thesis
...
Writing up
demands the most concentrated effort of the whole process
...
The first is emotional: it is difficult to avoid feeling that writing is a chore, after the ‘real’ work has been
done
...

The second reason is intellectual: unless you are extremely lucky and
everything turns out exactly as planned, there will at this stage be quite a
lot of adjustment to be done in your argument, in your interpretation, and
in your presentation to put the best face on the material you have available
...

There is a third reason concerned with limitations in writing skill and
experience
...

For all these reasons, writing up is not the time to take a new job
...
Here is an example
...
He decided
to register as a full-time research student and live on a scholarship
(somewhat supplemented because of his age and two children) and
his wife’s earnings, but at the end of the second year he felt he could
no longer stand the strain of the financial hardship
...
He fully intended to carry on writing up his research
results, but found it increasingly difficult to find the time to do the
work or meet his supervisors
...

The only job it is possible to do, perhaps one that you are doing already or
have done before, is one that allows you to operate in ‘intellectual overdrive’
...

Remember that, rather confusingly, the terms ‘thesis’ and ‘dissertation’
are used in different ways in different parts of the world
...
At the PhD level, however, these terms are reversed
...
Ex-students might put this on their CVs (or resumés)
and potential employers consider it as a possible benefit
...
We in
the UK call this ‘failure’
...


HOW NOT TO GET A PhD
2
3

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45

Work to understand the implications of these traps fully in your own
situation and determine not to succumb to them
...


I

5

I

HOW TO DO RESEARCH
I

I

As we noted in Chapter 1, this book does not consider those aspects of
research design and methodology which are specific to each discipline,
and even to each topic within a discipline
...
The current issues of journals in your field will show demonstrations of state-ofthe-art methodological practices relevant to your work
...
We start
with the basic question: What is research? This is not as simple a question
as it seems
...


I

Characteristics of research

Let us start with a lay view: ‘Research is finding out something you don’t
know
...
It is too wide
because it includes many activities, such as finding out the time of the
next train to London, or taking the temperature of the water in the
swimming pool, which we would not characterize as research
...
And if we were measuring
instead the pH value of the water – its acidity or alkalinity – would that be
research?
As well as being too wide, that definition is also too narrow, because a lot
of research is concerned not with finding out something you don’t know
but with finding that you don’t know something
...

In exploring the nature of research, it is useful to distinguish it from
another activity: intelligence-gathering
...

What are the age, sex and subject distributions of doctoral students in
British higher education? What are the radiation levels in different parts of
the UK? What percentage of Britain’s GNP is spent on scientific research?
These ‘what’ questions are very important
...
Inevitably some arbitrary decisions will have to be
made
...
– but
professionals can and do differ on what they regard as fair, and informed
judgement is called for
...

Since this work is descriptive, answering the ‘what’ questions, it can be
considered as ‘intelligence-gathering’ – using the term in the military
sense
...
A profit-and-loss account of a business, a map giving
radiation levels in different parts of the country, a compilation of the
evaluations by doctoral students of the quality of supervision they receive,
are all examples of intelligence with important uses
...
Control mechanisms, policy formulation and decisionmaking are the typical uses of intelligence
...


48

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I

Research – the ‘why’ questions

HOW TO GET A PhD

Research goes beyond description and requires analysis
...
These are the ‘why’ questions
...
But the information is used for the
purpose of developing understanding – by comparison, by relating to
other factors, by theorizing and testing the theories
...
All research questions also involve generalization
...
These are the focus of PhD study
...


Research is based on an open system of thought
For you as a researcher, the world is in principle your oyster
...
There are no hidden agendas, no closed systems; in American terms ‘everything is up for grabs’
...
Conventional wisdom and accepted doctrine are not spared this examination because they
may turn out to be inadequate
...
This is why nonresearchers often regard research results as being demonstrations of the
obvious or trivial elaborations of established knowledge
...
The
key to the approach is to keep firmly in mind that the classic position of a
researcher is not that of one who knows the right answers but of one who
is struggling to find out what the right questions might be!

HOW TO DO RESEARCH

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49

Researchers examine data critically
This characteristic of research is clearly part of the first one
...
Researchers examine data and the sources of data
critically so that the basic research approach to provocative statements
(‘women make less effective managers than men’; ‘soft drugs are less
harmful to health than alcohol’; ‘renewable energy sources cannot provide for all our needs in the foreseeable future’) is not to agree or disagree
but to ask: ‘What is your evidence?’
Researchers are continually having to ask: Have you got the facts right?
Can we get better data? Can the results be interpreted differently? Nonresearchers often feel that they don’t have the time for this and are thus
impatient with research
...
Their
need to act is more important than their need to understand
...
They have to go to great trouble to get
systematic, valid and reliable data because their aim is to understand and
interpret
...
It was not a
researcher but a novelist, Alexandre Dumas fils, who said: ‘All generalizations are dangerous – including this one!’ Indeed, research may be said to
proceed by insightful but dangerous generalizations, which is why the
limits of the generalization – where it applies and where it does not apply –
must be continually tested
...
So to return to the question asked at the beginning of this chapter: would measuring the pH value
of the water in a swimming pool be research? The answer would depend
upon what we were going to do with the result, not on how complicated or
how ‘scientific’ the measurement was
...


50

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Hypothetico–deductive method

HOW TO GET A PhD

So the examination of the adequacy of generalizations, formulated as
hypotheses, is the cornerstone of research
...
He was arguing in favour of the position taken by Karl Popper in The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1972, 3rd edn
...

It is essential that you, as an intending researcher, understand the difference between these two interpretations of the research process so that you
do not become discouraged or begin to suffer from a feeling of ‘cheating’
or not going about it the right way
...
Out of these
sensory data – commonly referred to as ‘facts’ – generalizations will form
...
However, the starting point of
induction is an impossible one
...
Every act of observation
we make is a function of what we have seen or otherwise experienced in
the past
...
This expectation is a
hypothesis
...
It is in the light of an expectation that
some observations are held to be relevant and some irrelevant, that one
methodology is chosen and others discarded, that some experiments are
conducted and others are not
...
If the predictions you make as a result of deducing certain
consequences from your hypothesis are not shown to be correct then you
must discard or modify your hypothesis
...
Once you
have arrived at your hypothesis, which is a product of your imagination,
you then proceed to a strictly logical and rigorous process, based upon
deductive argument – hence the term ‘hypothetico–deductive’
...
The closest we ever get

HOW TO DO RESEARCH

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51

to this situation is when something happens serendipitously; but even
then the researcher has to formulate a hypothesis to be tested before being
sure that, for example, a mould might prove to be a successful antidote to
bacterial infection
...
The
hypothetico–deductive method describes the logical approach to much
research work, but it does not describe the psychological behaviour that
brings it about
...
These have been, quite
properly, organized into a more serial, logical order so that the worth of
the output may be evaluated independently of the behavioural process by
which it was obtained
...
g
...
From this point of view, ‘scientific method’ may more usefully be
thought of as a way of writing up research rather than as a way of carrying
it out
...

We find this distinction – implying as it does that pure research supplies
the theories and applied research uses and tests them out in the real world
– is too rigid to characterize what happens in most academic disciplines,
where, for example, ‘real-world’ research generates its own theories and
does not just apply ‘pure’ theories
...


Exploratory research
This is the type of research that is involved in tackling a new problem/
issue/topic about which little is known, so the research idea cannot at the
beginning be formulated very well
...
The research work will need to examine what theories and concepts are appropriate, developing new ones if necessary, and whether
existing methodologies can be used
...


Testing-out research
In this type of research we are trying to find the limits of previously proposed generalizations
...
Does the theory apply at high temperatures? In new technology
industries? With working-class parents? Before universal franchise was
introduced? The amount of testing out to be done is endless and continuous, because in this way we are able to improve (by specifying, modifying,
clarifying) the important, but dangerous, generalizations by which our
discipline develops
...
The problem has to be defined and the method of
solution has to be discovered
...
This
will usually involve a variety of theories and methods, often ranging
across more than one discipline since real-world problems are likely to be
‘messy’ and not soluble within the narrow confines of an academic
discipline
...
Consider for a moment the three types of research that we have
just reviewed
...
All research involves
working within particular constraints, but those of a PhD are very stringent
...
So which of the three types of
research would you choose as the best route at this stage of your career?
Take a few moments to consider your decision and the reasons for it
...
With this approach
you will be working within an established framework and thus learning

HOW TO DO RESEARCH

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53

the craft of doing research in an environment that gives you some degree
of protection by the established nature of much of the ideas, arguments,
measuring equipment, etc
...
So, for example, you
will have to use a methodology on a new topic where it has not been
applied before and therefore make manifest its strengths in giving new
knowledge and theoretical insights
...
As a
result you may produce your own innovative variant of the methodology
or theory
...
Testing out is the basic ongoing professional task of academic
research, and doctoral work done well in this framework is much more
likely to be useful, and thus publishable and quotable
...
Potential
employers give considerable weight to the ‘real-world applicability’ of the
research undertaken by PhDs, as an Australian survey by Phillips and
Zuber-Skerritt (1993) showed
...
There is no denying the appeal of
tackling such topics, but you should be aware that the risks of failure are
much greater
...
Most students should be considering whether they can run before they can walk
...
196ff)
...
So in these circumstances it is less likely that your work will
make sufficient impact to be publishable and quotable than if you do well
in the testing-out approach
...
It is a wise student who decides to

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postpone the pleasures of attempting to be totally original until after the
PhD has been obtained
...
After you have decided on
your research approach and the particular field in which you are going to
learn your craft, you should be systematically considering how you are
going to get the training that you require in each of the craft elements
...

There may be courses that you may take, or may be required to take, which
will develop your skills
...
Hopefully your supervisors will act as exemplar researchers, but you must examine and learn
from others too
...
Adults learn best in situations where
they can practise and receive feedback in a controlled, non-threatening
environment
...
, which is relevant to your thesis project should be exercised by you there for
the first time
...
Your trial exercises will allow you to learn about your
ability to carry out the range of professional skills that you need to
develop
...
g
...

This may seem an eminently sensible principle, and you may wonder
why we are labouring it
...
An art student doesn’t expect the
first oil painting she ever attempted to be exhibited at the Royal Academy,
a poet doesn’t expect his first poem to be publishable
...

In fact, as regards PhD skills this issue is often not thought through well
enough
...
The skill practice has just not
taken place
...
You

HOW TO DO RESEARCH

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55

should have practised that craft skill beforehand
...

We could discuss many more examples of the skills that a doctoral student needs to set about acquiring
...
You will need to have found out what craft skills are relevant to your
needs and to have practised them, so that in your thesis project you can
apply them with some confidence
...

From observation and discussion with your supervisor and other
academics, construct a list of the craft practices that characterize a
good professional researcher in your discipline
...
, that is
relevant to your project will be exercised by you there for the first
time
...


2

3

4

I

6

I

THE FORM OF A PhD THESIS
I

I

Three of the key ways of not getting a PhD that we discussed in Chapter 4
involved either the student or the supervisor (or both) not understanding
the nature of a PhD degree
...
e
...

This you do by ‘making a contribution to knowledge’
...
In this chapter we shall examine what form of a PhD thesis will
satisfy these requirements
...
The university regulations
for a doctorate, for example, have to apply in all subject fields from Arabic
to zoology
...
Indeed the aim of
the training process is precisely to put you in a position where you can
evaluate what is required, in addition to being capable of carrying it out
...
We may think of the analogy of the sonata
form in music
...
Haydn wrote in sonata form, but so did
Lennon and McCartney
...
Neither Debussy nor
Britten used this form
...
The same is the case with the PhD
...

There are four elements to PhD form that we have to consider: background theory; focal theory; data theory; and contribution
...
They have to be covered in the
thesis as a whole, however, as they are the headings under which its worth
is evaluated
...
So you must be aware
of the present state of the art: what developments, controversies, breakthroughs are currently exciting or engaging the leading practitioners and
thus pushing forward thinking in the subject
...

Remember that you are not doing a literature review for its own sake; you
are doing it in order to demonstrate that you have a fully professional
grasp of the background theory to your subject
...
So organizing the
material in an interesting and useful way, evaluating the contributions of
others (and justifying the criticisms, of course), identifying trends in
research activity, defining areas of theoretical and empirical weakness, are
all key activities by which you would demonstrate that you had a
professional command of the background theory
...
It would
not demonstrate the professional judgement that is required of a PhD
...
Even if you made no mistakes during the
test, you would fail because you had not demonstrated sufficient confidence and competence to be in charge of a vehicle
...


58

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For this part of your task you can, in many disciplines, get a good idea of
the style and standard of the approach that is required by reading the
literature surveys that comprise the ‘annual reviews’ in your subject or
equivalent volumes of summaries of current research
...
, contain such reviews of the background
theory of parts of the discipline contributed by leading scholars in the
field
...
It is that level of
command to which you should aspire
...
It is here
that you spell out in great detail precisely what you are researching and
why
...

The generation of hypotheses, if appropriate, the examination of others’
arguments, and the use of your own data and analysis to push forward the
academic discussion are the key tasks here
...
This gives a
clear ‘story line’ and enables you to relate what you are doing to the focal
theory in an organized way
...
You should therefore be
very careful to ensure that the argument is not blurred with extraneous or
makeweight material that is not contributing to the maintenance of your
thesis position
...
In the most general
terms this gives the justification for the relevance and validity of the
material that you are going to use to support your thesis
...

Just what the content of your data theory is will vary enormously from
discipline to discipline, but the form will always be concerned with the
appropriateness and reliability of your data sources
...


THE FORM OF A PhD THESIS

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59

In historical studies you will need to show that in the light of your topic
and your analytical approach to it, your documents are adequate and
properly interpreted
...
g
...

Identifying just what an adequate discussion of the data theory for your
particular thesis involves is one of the professional tasks that you have to
undertake
...


I

Contribution

The spelling out of your contribution is the final element in the PhD form
...
It is here that you underline the significance of your analysis, point out the limitations in your material, suggest
what new work is now appropriate, and so on
...
Thus your successors (who include, of course, yourself) now
face a different situation when determining what their research work
should be since they now have to take account of your work
...
Aren’t
you likely to think your study is the best thing since sliced bread, or at least
take a very biased view of it? Well, clearly not, and this is another demonstration of the point that we made in Chapter 3 on the meaning of a
doctorate
...
That is
what you get the doctorate for
...
We have
already pointed out in Chapter 4 that it takes much longer than you
anticipate to write
...

There is one particular trap to avoid
...
You will know the
details of your work very well by this time, and the ‘summary’ could easily
stretch into large amounts of repetition
...
DSP has
examined theses where, after an overlong summary, only on the final page
was a conclusion attempted – in one case only in the final paragraph was
this ventured
...

It is important then to be clear that the summary and the conclusions
are separate tasks, and that more effort needs to go into the conclusions
than the summary
...


I

Detailed structure and choice of chapter headings

You may hear people telling you about the ‘ideal’ length of a thesis
...
A thesis should be no longer than it needs to be in order to
report what you have done, why you did it and what you have concluded
from the results of your work
...
In fact you might adopt the maxim
that if you can say it briefly you should do so; but not if this means using
lots of long words and complex sentence structures
...
Just how they are presented can vary
...

These general sections can be further subdivided into relevant chapters,
depending on your discipline and topic
...
There should also be
a clear statement of the problem under exploration
...

At the end you should have a detailed list of references and any appendices

THE FORM OF A PhD THESIS

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61

such as graphs, tables, data collection sheets, etc
...

Your university will have detailed information on how the finished article should look, including precise width of margins and wording of the
title page
...
Be sure that you are in possession of all
this information so that you do not have a last-minute panic because you
failed to adhere to some minor but crucial instruction
...
Thinking of pertinent but snappy titles for your
chapters and subsections is a pleasant diversion from churning out thousands of words which conform to the expectations of supervisors and
examiners
...
Don’t go for the dry-as-dust and long-winded descriptive
title
...
Try
to whet the appetite of the reader, arouse the curiosity of the examiner
...
He expected to be so engrossed in it that he would be unable to
put it down and would read it right through until 2 a
...
or later in order
not to spoil the flow
...
What it means is that you have to use everyday
English instead of jargon wherever possible, without losing the precision
of definition that is essential
...
Aim to impress with clarity as well as original and
sound research
...


I

The concept of originality

The aim of this section is to help you to get used to the idea that it is easy
to be original
...

The PhD is awarded for ‘an original contribution to knowledge’ In the
statements that most universities have to guide examiners on the grading
of theses, there is usually some reference to ‘unaided work’, ‘significant
contribution’ and ‘originality’
...

Francis, a professor of hydraulics working in the area of civil and
mechanical engineering, observed eight ways in which students may be

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considered to have shown originality
...

He concludes that the examiner’s interpretation of this ambiguity is an
important component in the decision whether or not to award the PhD
degree
...
These are:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

carrying out empirical work that hasn’t been done before;
making a synthesis that hasn’t been made before;
using already known material but with a new interpretation;
trying out something in Britain that has previously only been done
abroad;
taking a particular technique and applying it in a new area;
bringing new evidence to bear on an old issue;
being cross-disciplinary and using different methodologies;
looking at areas that people in the discipline haven’t looked at before;
adding to knowledge in a way that hasn’t been done before
...
This should be reassuring
...

The main problem is that there is little or no discussion between students and their supervisors of what constitutes originality in the PhD
...
Further, academics think that it is not too difficult
to be original because it is not necessary to have a whole new way of
looking at the discipline or the topic
...
Unfortunately,
supervisors do not usually tell their research students this
...
In the beginning research

THE FORM OF A PhD THESIS

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63

students tend to say things like, ‘I’m worried about that – I don’t know
how creative I am
...
’ Eventually, as part of their academic development, students acquire a similar grasp of what is expected in
the way of a small step forward, but do not seem to be helped towards this
realization by their supervisors
...
The good news for you is that, typically, students
get to the point where they are no longer worried about being original
enough
...
Do remember that
because the PhD is awarded for ‘an original contribution to knowledge’ it
remains an extremely important concept
...
Writing it is far
more than merely reporting the outcome of several years of research
...
If writing leads to discovery and not, as is generally supposed, discoveries merely need to be put into writing, then it is
easy to understand why writing the thesis is experienced as the most difficult part of the work
...
(1992) suggest that ‘think-while-youwrite’ strategies be consciously adopted from the start and not lapsed into
when ‘think-then-write’ strategies have failed
...
it was only when I was writing it
that I realized that in one section my interpretation was completely
wrong
...

If you are able to read what you have written as though it were the work
of someone else, you will find it easier to be critical of your own imprecise
phrases and sloppy style
...
Alternatively, if there is no time for
that, you might try doing something else – make phone calls, meet friends
– and then come back to it
...
Another technique is to read aloud what you have
written, as hearing often reveals the difference between what you
intended to say and what you actually did say
...

Rugg and Petre (2004) give a helpful overview of writing for a PhD
thesis, including a list of the 14 or more activities involved
...
Computers enable you to amend the text of drafts
as often as required
...


Different types of writers
Not everybody goes about writing in the same way
...
At
school we are instructed to make a plan and then write the essay
...
It is not at all easy
both to first, say what you want to say, and second, say it in the best
possible way at the same time
...

‘Serialists’ see writing as a sequential process in which the words are
corrected as they are written and who plan their writing in detail before
beginning to write
...
When I do write sentences I
feel good about my style
...

‘Holists’ can only think as they write and compose a succession of complete drafts:
I write a complete first draft in longhand
...
If I’m really interested in it I’ll start
at 8
...
m
...
30 a
...
and go on until late at night
...

The serialist emphasizes the writing of sentences which is very different
from the way the holistic writer talks about his work
...
Writing papers or thesis chapters was assigned to evenings, weekends
and holidays:
If it’s time-consuming and mindless, like just repeating experiments,
I like it, but if it’s difficult too, like writing an introduction and conclusion, then I don’t like it
...

Writing was not perceived as ‘real work’, and as it was thought to be of
only secondary importance was never undertaken at the time intended
...

Procrastination and incoherence are often the order of the day and,
until supervisors have training in providing adequate supervision of writing, you cannot realistically expect very much assistance
...

Our advice is always to be writing something and to write up the easiest
parts of the thesis first
...
Not true
...
By this he means that readers are deceived into believing the
research was conducted in the way it is described and the report written in
the logical and sequential manner in which it is presented
...

Consider writing the method section first
...

Alternatively you may prefer to start with the literature review, which is a
safe way of reminding yourself of what has already been written about
your topic
...

Our recommendation is that you approach every piece of writing in
the following way: First of all, if your computer does not have a built-in

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dictionary and thesaurus which you can use at the press of a button,
ensure that you have hard copy versions readily available together with a
copy of Gowers’ Plain Words
...

ٗ Organize this into an acceptable structure
...

ٗ Plan to spend two to five hours a week in term time on writing
...

ٗ Set goals and targets for yourself
...

It is useful practice in writing to use, from the beginning, the appropriate conventions of your discipline
...
If you are not sure, choose
one of the leading journals in your subject whose articles you are quoting
and follow them
...
Do not mix conventions
...
Then recheck to find
the inevitable few that you missed! These pedantic details do not sound
important, but you should note that one of the easiest ways to irritate your
examiners, and therefore start off on the wrong foot, is to get references
and their citations wrong
...

Our final advice is not intuitively obvious, and thus all the more
important
...
You should
deliberately leave your work in the middle – mid-design, mid-chapter,
mid-paragraph, even mid-sentence
...
It also makes restarting easier and quicker
...
This means that assumptions have to be made explicit and ideas
expressed clearly
...
Remarks such as ‘good writing can’t cure bad

THE FORM OF A PhD THESIS

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67

thought’, and ‘I can’t clearly express in words what I have in my head’, are
typical of the comments made by thesis-writers
...

This may be true of all writing
...
Supervisors see this positively, as confirmation
that the student has finally managed to understand what is required in
order to summarize and conceptualize their work
...
Another, speaking as an experienced
examiner, talked of ‘making the string of sausages into a small salami’!
Students, on the other hand, see this compression as a negative
requirement which impoverishes the richness of the information they
have worked so hard to acquire
...
But students do know what is required of them
...

It should also be clear in its expression’
...
Instead of having to express your
thinking and work in language that we might recognize as ‘academic’, it is
acceptable to use the kind of language you might employ when writing a
letter
...
This may apply in other subjects too but you will
need to find out what is permitted in your discipline
...
Her examples demonstrate her belief that academic writing
for a thesis needs to be in the past tense, passive voice and with an objective viewpoint
...
We
do not consider this to be necessary for all topics in all subjects
...
Reading accepted
journal articles and theses in your field will make these clear but do bear in
mind that changes are occurring
...
While we agree emphatically that it is very important to define
your terms thoroughly and to defend what you have written with good
supporting arguments, we do not believe that this is only possible using
technical terminology
...
If so, you have mastered, in part, the highly skilled task of being able
to communicate equally well with laypersons and professionals in your
field – as Einstein advocated
...
He found that this was true of classic texts such as
Einstein’s first paper on relativity and Watson and Crick’s (1953) paper on
the structure of DNA
...

Disciplines also vary in how much your personal voice can be heard or
the extent to which your thesis can support the ‘writing in’ of the
researcher
...
If you wish to include your own subjective point of view, it is
vital that you make clear both that it is indeed your own interpretation
and that you are completely aware of the objective way of describing the
theory, idea or ‘fact’
...
Now that anyone can select any font they wish with a
click of a computer mouse this should present no difficulty
...
Look at the latest edition of any journal in your field,
and notice how, though all are within the current conventions, some are
much more readable than others
...


I

To publish or not to publish prior to submission?

Should students publish academic papers during their doctoral studies?
This is an important and recurring question
...
This involves doing background reading and data collection, collating and analysing results and coming to a
conclusion
...
Our view is that until you actually sit down and try to write a
paper you do not think your way through logically
...
A PhD is not just about getting results
...

So writing is a necessity, but there are advantages and disadvantages
attached to publishing a paper in an academic journal prior to completing
your PhD
...

They are an added bonus
...

The argument against is primarily that it is a misuse of thesis time
...
Because the thesis is a daunting document
some research students experience panic symptoms at the mere thought of
trying to write it
...
One way of stemming both these emotions is to
write – but not to write the thesis
...

If the paper writing is approached professionally, if not too much time is
spent on it, if it is sent off for refereeing and then attention is returned to
thesis writing, it would be time well spent
...
For these reasons, any writing aimed at publication
must be agreed with your supervisors and closely monitored throughout
the process
...

Ultimately, however, whether you write any papers during your time as
a PhD student is really up to you
...
Provided you know
what you want to get out of it, and what you want to do at the end, you
can choose your own specific objectives
...
If you meet those criteria, you are free to develop the skills you want
to develop
...

Do not make your thesis (that is, the report) any longer than it needs
to be to sustain your thesis (your argument)
...

Discuss with your supervisor the many different ways in which a
thesis may be presumed to be ‘original’ and come to some agreement
about the way that you will be interpreting this requirement
...

From the beginning, use the footnoting and referencing conventions
of your discipline
...
, during the course of your research
...
If you do avoid writing
you will not develop the skills to write efficiently, or even
adequately, for your thesis
...
It does
not have to be written in the order in which it will be read
...


2
3
4

5
6
7

8

HOW TO GET A PhD

I

7

I

THE PhD PROCESS
I

I

The activity of getting a PhD is inevitably a complex one
...
Unfortunately
this is totally misleading
...
Other conceptual paradigms provide even less
structure
...
You
therefore need some signposts for understanding to help you along the
way
...
First we will discuss the psychological nature of the experience,
placing emphasis upon the fact that it has a significant emotional component in addition to the recognized intellectual one
...


I

Psychological aspects

Enthusiasm
Postgraduates begin the period of their research full of enthusiasm for
their new undertaking
...
The main reason that initial enthusiasm diminishes is the

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length of time that has to be spent working on a single problem
...

Freddy, studying industrial chemistry at a technological university, said
that during the years of his research he had become more remote and
detached:
In the beginning I had to concentrate hard on what I was doing, it
completely occupied my mind
...

In general the students’ early enthusiasm revealed itself in the form of
overambitious estimates of what they could accomplish during the first
year
...

At first Adam (architecture) was very excited about the direction in
which his work was taking him, but ‘I have more enthusiasm than organization and I hope my supervisor will help me to decide what to do next
...


Isolation
Postgraduates discover what not to do for their PhD after they have spent
some time struggling with their own topic
...
Some examples from students illustrate this
point
...
I think I could have done
more
...

Adam (architecture) said:
It’s difficult to know how well I’m doing as I’m working well but
progressing really slowly
...
Conversation is just
polite, you do it all the time with people
...
So I don’t think of conversation as
communication any more
...
He also felt that he had very little in common with
others in his department; in addition, he was not talking with anyone
about his work
...
The lack of intellectual stimulation and exchange of ideas with either
peers or supervisor eventually led to a loss of interest in his topic, which he
thought was of no importance or interest to anybody else
...

In Chapter 2 we mentioned that Diana (biochemistry) complained that
she was working alone in a laboratory full of people who were working
alone
...
I’m happy to get on in my own time
...
Some months later Bradley had changed
his mind; he reported: ‘Postgraduates are treated scandalously
...
The pleasures
of isolation are wearing rather thin
...

Intellectual isolation is a necessary and desirable component of successful research
...
(2004) argue there is no need for this to
be accompanied by social or emotional loneliness
...
Nevertheless, the
effect of these feelings was to dampen their initial enthusiasm and slow
down their pace of work almost to nil
...
Once you have learned how to interpret the results of your own efforts you will find that you can grapple with
problems as they arise instead of turning immediately to your supervisor
for advice
...

In fact Bradley (English literature) explained that he needed to feel that
he had rounded off a schedule of work in the three years and that it was
this inner drive that had kept him going
...
By the third year he said
that his ‘natural inclination’ to do anything other than work hard on his
research and complete the thesis had become much less pressing
...
He described ‘a lot of
chafing and inner rebellion’ at the start of his three-year period of registration, and dissatisfaction with the department and with supervision
...
He commented on the relationship between a lack
of direction from outside and the development of his own personal
autonomy
...
In fact your supervisor should be
engaged in a kind of ‘weaning process’ to enable you to become more
independent, as we describe more fully in Chapter 11 (p
...

For example, Adam (architecture) said towards the end of his period of
research: ‘In the beginning I wanted immediate feedback and was afraid
to ask
...
’ Here he is talking about the way that his own increasing
independence in his work is related to a lessening of dependence on productivity
...
Therefore
this comment from Adam indicates a simultaneous growth in independence from external approval coupled with reliance on the information he
was receiving as he worked on his topic
...

As Adam became his own supervisor, by evaluating his efforts without
needing a third party to act as mediator between him and his work, he felt
less pressure to produce something tangible to show Professor Andrews
...


THE PhD PROCESS

I

75

He may be compared to Ewan (nuclear chemistry) who did not continue
to develop the confidence in his own work that was necessary if he were to
be able to rely on the feedback provided through his own achievements –
or lack of them
...
At first I had to do
all the work without any lead, but later that changed
...
Some supervisors would opt for the student to dig up the
research themselves; it would make you approach the problem
differently and is a better training for later work when you have to
cope alone
...
Later
he realized that Ewan needed more direction than the guidance that he
had been giving and continued to increase the closeness of his supervision
right up to the end of Ewan’s period of registration
...

Ewan had been happy to depend on his supervisors but finally commented on how the spoonfeeding he had ultimately received had affected
his work
...
He was convinced
about the importance of external control while, at the same time, being
aware that his own training may not have been the most efficient for later
autonomy in research
...
The examples also illustrate
the importance placed on the need for information concerning their progress that students expect to receive from their supervisors
...

At the end of his postgraduate days Ewan said: ‘It’s important to get
good guidance, and I feel my supervisor is doing this
...
’ In fact his supervisor
continued to see Ewan weekly right up to the end of his period of registration
...


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Boredom
About halfway through the period of research postgraduates tend to get
fed up, confused and feel completely stuck
...
Supervisors too commented on it during the interviews
...
’
Freddy himself reported, however, ‘It’s the boring part now, essential to
the thesis, just plodding on
...
’
Bradley said, philosophically, ‘I see it’s always darkest before dawn, it’s
just me and it [the thesis] now
...
’
Greg (ancient history) said, ‘I’m really fed up with it right now, doing
the mechanical things just goes on
...
Both seem to be an
integral part of learning how to be systematic about research and disciplining yourself to continue, despite the fact that everything seems eventually
to become predictable if the work is proceeding as it should
...
It is
very tempting to pursue some of these new avenues, but if you are to
complete the agreed research programme in time it is important to concentrate on the problem in hand and not be sidetracked
...
Not being able to follow up results, ideas and theories is a constant source of dissatisfaction and frustration for most research students
during the thesis stage of their PhD
...
It is only by understanding the need for precision and having
the ability to apply yourself in a disciplined way that you will eventually
get to the point where you have the right to follow up interesting leads
and explore a series of ideas that arise out of the work in hand
...

In his autobiographical novel The Search (1958), C
...
Snow gives an
excellent account of how he coped with the kinds of frustrations that

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result from a systematic programme of research
...
I had to prove myself
...
It was not exciting but almost certain to give me some
results
...
I had done
enough for place and reputation and I could afford to gamble
on what might be a barren chase
...
Don’t let your frustrations allow you to deviate
...


A job to be finished
In Chapter 3 we described the different ways in which research students
talk about their PhDs as they come to the end of their period of registration
...

In Chapter 2 we mentioned the way in which this idea of ‘brilliance’
inhibits the development of new postgraduates
...
In
the same way they do not see themselves as outstandingly clever and so
are sure that they do not now, nor will they ever, merit the coveted degree
...

This realization is a step towards a changed perception of the PhD
...
If you have not managed to make this switch in the way you think

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about your research by your third year, do spend some time analysing
precisely what it is that you realistically hope to achieve in your research
...
There is a job to be finished: the time has come when you
must set a deadline for completion
...

You will by now have become more skilled in the techniques and mental
attitudes that this work demands
...
The most pervasive of all
the psychological aspects of doing a PhD is the anxiety that accompanies
you through all the stages
...
As you progress, you go through periods of higher or lower
anxiety but you are never completely free of it
...

As your perception of the postgraduate situation changes, you will find
that your behaviour will adjust to match it
...
The job of work started so long ago is about to be finished;
the end is in sight
...
There are discussions to be held with your
supervisors; writing to be completed; decisions to be made about which
publications can be excluded and which must be referred to; final checking of statistical calculations or experimental results; a last look at data
that have not yet been incorporated into the story you will be telling; and
some theoretical concepts to be mulled over
...
The aim is for
your PhD to be a high-quality product
...
There is then,
when you are no longer constantly confronting your thesis, the feeling of
a gap in your life – a burden that has been lifted from your shoulders
...


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This final stage is that which occurs after you have had the viva and been
told that you have been awarded the doctorate, or that you will have the
doctorate once you have made specific alterations to the text of the thesis
within a limited amount of time
...
You gain enormously in confidence, the kind of confidence
that allows you to ask questions in a crowded room in the belief that if you
need clarification from the speaker then many others do too
...
No longer do you refrain from making a comment at a
meeting because it might not be appropriate, only to hear someone else
say the very thing that you were wondering about 10 minutes after you
thought of it
...

The years you have been working now seem worthwhile just to get to
the feeling of euphoria that permeates your whole being once you have
succeeded in what you set out to do all those years ago
...


I

Others ‘getting in first’

A recurring anxiety of many research students is that someone else will
publish something on the same topic, even taking the same approach and
obtaining the same or similar results
...
This other person may live
many miles away, even be working in another language
...
Kuhn (1970), referred to in Chapter 4, has a
very nice explanation of this phenomenon
...
This
stage cannot be reached until the scientific basis for it has been laid, but
once everything is in place then researchers all over the world have the
opportunity to make the breakthrough
...

Once the relevant published research has appeared, many students
believe that their own painstaking work is rendered null and void
...
There is no need to worry
...


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If your own work is similar to the published work but the results are
different, you (or your supervisor) may think it a good idea to establish
contact with the author and enter into a discussion that can help to
develop and improve the research of you both
...
You might want to do this via an early
publication of your own
...

The worst that can happen is not that someone else publishes on your
topic, but that someone else publishes on your topic and you are not
aware of it
...


I

Practical aspects

Time management
The psychological aspects of the PhD process that we have just discussed
develop continuously, often in recurring cycles, throughout the whole
period of the research project
...
Since
these have to be achieved within a limited period, timetabling and time
management become crucial to success
...
Of course, you will have
some idea of what you will be doing during those years but how much
thought have you given to just how and when you will be undertaking
specific activities?
These activities operate at two levels: first, the general level at which the
tasks required to complete a PhD must be realistically charted if they are to
be accomplished in the time available; and second, the detailed level concerned with setting timetable deadlines for particular tasks, and achieving
them
...

At first you will have an overall plan such as that described by Ewan at
the start of his research in nuclear chemistry: ‘I hope eventually to come
up with the shape of the molecules in solution
...
First he had to calibrate the

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viscometer that he would be using
...
Once he started to read, he realized that there was a confusion in the
literature, which had to be sorted out
...
Therefore, his overall plan could more accurately be
described as: ‘to find the shape of the molecule in solution by making
measurements with a viscometer, calibrated according to verified equations’
...

This situation is not unusual
...
Their short-term goals may be more
clearly defined: starting work on the problem, discussing what they want
to do with their supervisors and gaining access to equipment or samples
...
This is because there is
a tendency to take an unstructured approach to the project regardless of
the time constraints and interim tasks to be undertaken and completed
...
Beware
of this illusion
...
A postgraduate in biochemistry learned this the hard
way
...

Three years doesn’t seem half long enough; it seemed a long time in
the beginning
...

The importance of not losing sight of the time constraints on each part of
your project is clear
...
As we saw in Chapter 6, there is a
form to a PhD that structures the overall amount of work to be undertaken
...

These stages, in turn, will point to a series of tasks that you will have to do
...
In principle, as you carry out each of the tasks that comprise the
stages you should be reducing the uncertainty involved in your thesis
...


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The duration of the process
Overleaf is a suggested model for the form of the thesis and the stages of
the process
...
The stages
are fairly standard but there will be some variation according to your discipline
...

The figure is, and is intended to be, quite crude in that it uses timeblocks
of ‘terms’ (i
...
four months of full-time work or six months of part-time
work) and outlines only six stages of the PhD process
...
You need this framework in order to
be continually aware of how your current work fits into the overall time
allocated
...

The aim of the exercise is to reduce the areas of uncertainty as we go
from left to right along the timescale shown in the figure
...
More specifically, six
stages of the process are identified, the first four being allocated one ‘term’
each, the fifth two ‘terms’ and the last stage (writing up) three ‘terms’
...
An appropriate adaptation of this figure
for you should serve regularly to locate your current work in the overall
process, and therefore enable you to make realistic plans which motivate
you to keep going until you have completed the work
...
You may lag behind, you may have
to revise earlier stages, you may have to jettison earlier work altogether
and replace it
...
So you may well
find that you are having to work in more than one place on the figure at
the same time
...


The stages of the process
Most of the stages of the figure will be relevant in some way to your work,
although the detailed working out may vary
...
Some departments may require prospective students to
present a preliminary research proposal in order to make a decision on

An example of a time-based programme of work
...
You need to
develop, in agreement with your supervisor, an appropriate version for yourself
...
If you are in this position and need help, then
ask the departmental research tutor (see p
...
Your proposal can only
indicate the general field of interest which you intend to research
...
You are
going to spend a lot of time saturating yourself in it over the next few
years
...

You may not be in a position to make choices about your field
...
Then you have to work to kindle your
interest in the area that is available to you
...

ٗ Possible topics
...
The fact that it is not
until the next stage that a choice of the actual thesis topic needs to be
made does not mean that you can float through this stage having no
specific topics but only general ideas – quite the opposite! You should
be working up two or three topics in some detail to enable you to make
a realistic professional choice at the next stage
...
These should form the bases of discussions
with your supervisors in which you test out how viable they are in
research terms, and how realistic in time terms
...

ٗ Pilot study
...
It may involve testing apparatus, data collection methods,
sampling frames, availability of materials, etc
...
At this
stage, which may be linked to upgrading to PhD status, you are going to
work in much greater detail to establish that your proposed research
investigation (a) will address the problem convincingly and (b) is likely
to make a contribution
...

A key point to bear in mind here is that an ideal design will involve
‘symmetry of potential outcomes’
...
Thus a high mean value or
correlation will support one argument, while a low mean or lack of

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correlation will be equally interesting because it fits in with another
line of approach
...
If present, it
is a great advantage in establishing at a later stage the contribution of
the research work
...
The collection and analysis of data are
activities clearly specific to each discipline and, within that, to each
topic
...
They know
their raw data practically by heart, let alone the analytical results that
are derived from them
...
This involvement is very important as it is the psychological basis that gives researchers the facility to
see the data from different angles and in terms of different theories
...
They conceptually play with their data,
intuitively trying lots of ‘what-ifs’, and often can come up with a new,
interesting conception that makes a contribution to the subject
...
For reasons already discussed in Chapter 4, the final
writing-up stage always takes longer than intended
...
Anything less than two terms full-time
or a year part-time is unrealistic considering the nature of the task,
which includes the ‘contribution’ component as described in Chapter
6
...
There is a degree of ambiguity here, but it is clear that
those students who are aware of the existence of professional copyeditors, know how to contact them and can afford to pay them, have an
advantage over those who are more naive
...

The responsibility of a professional copyeditor is to contribute to the
thesis only in terms of improving writing style, grammar and spelling
...
But as supervisors are not usually told that an editor
has been working on the student’s thesis there is no control over the
editor’s input
...
Evaluating your
own work will also be more difficult
...
This clarity results in information on progress that you
can interpret for yourself with very little difficulty
...
If –
exceptionally, we must say – both these aspects of your work are as anticipated, then it is only the quality of the work that needs to be evaluated by
your supervisor
...

If, on the other hand, you discover that you have not managed to complete the projected work in the time assigned to it, you will be in a good
position to analyse the reasons
...
This last is the most usual
discovery
...
This realization eventually leads to a reassessment of
what may, realistically, be achieved
...
Once you know what it
is you have to get done in the immediate future, it will not matter so much
that your more distant goals are rather fuzzy
...

Sometimes the rethinking results in the overall goal of the PhD being
changed to that of an MPhil
...
The decision is based on panic, unless, of course, the original
selection was incorrect or the supervisors have completely neglected their
own part in the undertaking
...
When such a
redefinition occurs, which involves coming to terms with the limitations
of research for a higher degree, it is a very good sign that one important
lesson has already been learned
...
At first he said
that his thesis would deal with the problem of ‘how to transmit the

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building rule system of a culture in a way that can be used to accommodate change’
...
But his reading and note-taking
became much more extensive and took many months longer than he had
anticipated, primarily because he became very interested in a structuralist
approach to social anthropology and cognitive development
...

The redefinition was possible because Adam had set himself short-term
goals of writing specific sections within set time limits
...
In this way his thesis became redefined
...
He
would then have had to decide whether to take a much longer time to
complete his thesis or, alternatively, to put together whatever he had
managed to achieve in the time available and hope that it would be
adequate
...
However, many supervisors accept postponed appointments or long gaps between meetings with their research
students without putting much effort into persuading them that they
need a tutorial
...

Sometimes it is because they assign too little importance to the task of
supervision in comparison with their lecturing loads, developing their
own research and keeping up their writing output
...
Students need a goal closer
than ‘a thesis some time in the future’, but not all supervisors realize that
even good students often lack confidence
...
It seems clear
to the supervisor, particularly if the work requires a series of experiments
or interviews, that there is a natural structure which it is straightforward to
follow
...
Despite the guidelines on student/supervisor meetings, supervisors
may hesitate to take the initiative in setting up a programme of regular
appointments when they believe that part of what characterizes successful
PhD candidates is being able to organize and administer their own
working pace
...
The relationship between them is the basis for a social approach to
knowledge
...
If you have followed the suggestions contained in Chapter 2 you will have already set up some kind of verbal agreement regarding
the working relationship and the way in which you will each carry out
your role
...

Deadlines create a necessary tension between doing original work and
reporting its progress, either orally or in writing
...
Knowing
that a deadline is looming is usually sufficient for most people to get on
and do whatever it is they are supposed to do
...
But neither is it desirable, when you have a long period
of time in which to complete something, to have no steps along the
way
...

For these reasons it is crucial to ensure that you have firm deadlines all
the time
...
As you move towards them, those once-distant deadlines become
short-term goals
...
For
example, for many biology students the seasons set clear time limits to
experiments, with a year’s penalty for failure to observe them
...
In such cases it is
imperative that pseudo-deadlines are created
...
They may be set by your supervisors, agreed between you, or set by
and for yourself
...
The public
commitment that you have set up in this way strengthens your motivation
...
Your overall agreement with your supervisor
must include provision for regular reporting meetings
...

Deadlines are as important for monitoring the development of thinking
as they are for ascertaining that an agreed amount of reading or practical
work has been completed
...


I

Self-help and peer support groups

Working towards the PhD is often experienced as an isolating and lonely
time
...
If you can arrange to meet regularly with
others in your situation you will find that you can help yourself and them
in several ways
...
You will discover, when you feel depressed and discouraged and are thinking seriously about dropping out, that this is part of
the general malaise of postgraduate life and not peculiar to you and
your inadequacies
...

Further, once you are able to share these feelings and to talk about them
and their effect on your work, you will all start to feel better
...
This may sound a little like Alcoholics Anonymous and that is precisely what it is, but the difference is that you are trying
to continue doing research and writing it up, rather than trying to give up
doing something
...
Each of you states what work you want to do and sets a time
limit for its completion
...
When
that date arrives you meet, as already arranged, and talk about your progress
...
If you have not done what you intended, discuss

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with the other(s) why this is so, what the problems were and how you feel
about not having got to where you were aiming
...
As long as these reasons are
not just rationalizations, then there is nothing to be concerned about
...
Once
things have been clarified and you and your peer group are satisfied that
the way is now clear to proceed, you can set new deadlines for the same, or
a somewhat modified, piece of work
...
It is not even necessary for you to be
working in the same discipline
...
For example, Evelyn, a social psychologist, and Joyce, a geographer,
helped each other with drafts of their thesis chapters even though neither
knew anything about the other’s discipline
...
This was
sufficient for them to be of great help to each other until quite an
advanced stage of thesis writing
...
They criticized complicated sentence structure
and confusion in the structural development of a line of thought
...
They are both convinced that they would never
have completed their theses and gained their PhDs within the time they
set themselves if they had not formed this self-help group of two
...


I

Internet groups

You are also able to reduce your isolation by making contact through
email and the Internet
...
The World Wide Web allows you to make
contact with others working in your field in other universities or even
other countries
...
In addition, with the help of your university

THE PhD PROCESS

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library, you can locate theses at ...
com>
...

In Britain an important general contact that you should make early on is
that of the National Postgraduate Committee
...
It produces guidelines on a number of issues to help you in your discussions
with your supervisor or departmental head
...
It has a website, ...
ac
...
ac
...

Another useful British support group is the UK GRAD schools
...
gradschools
...
uk>, they run activities such as
an annual conference and regular week-long courses which will help both
in completing your PhD and in making a successful transition to a postdoctoral career
...


I

Teaching while studying for a PhD

Casual teaching
Larger student numbers have resulted in university departments needing
extra teaching staff
...
There has
thus arisen a long established tradition of casual teaching by doctoral students which benefits all those involved
...
In science subjects having to demonstrate in lab classes is
standard practice
...
Overworked academics get the help that they need, undergraduate
students get enthusiastic teachers and up-to-date information, and
research students, in addition to earning some much needed money, get
practice in some of the skills they will be required to develop if they wish
to go into an academic job once they have gained their PhD
...
Research students can get little or no training in the skills needed,
and be poorly paid
...

Usually the department will give you a temporary contract of employment where the gross amount of pay for the contract is calculated on a
piecework basis which clearly defines what you have to do
...
Having agreed to undertake some
teaching, you should ensure that you get a letter of appointment specifying the tasks involved and their hourly rates
...


Teaching assistantships
Teaching assistants receive funding from their university which allows
them to pursue a PhD in exchange for some teaching in their discipline
...
They often leave students significantly worse off than those on research council grants
...
So
teaching assistants may be used as cheap labour in understaffed departments
...
In this situation teaching hampers
research progress
...
Her particular arrangement was extremely ad hoc
...
) Because the
lab times were erratic, she was demonstrating far more than she had
anticipated
...

Some teaching experiments required her presence from start to finish
and she would then have to work all weekend and late at night in order to
get her research done
...
She was clearly being
exploited, and found completing her PhD a great burden
...
This is equivalent to the
maximum hours allowed by the research councils for those holding

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studentships
...


I

Action summary

1

Be aware of the psychological stages that research students go
through on the way to a PhD
...

Construct, in conjunction with your supervisor, an overall time plan
of the stages of your research along the lines of the figure shown on
page 83
...
Use
this time plan to monitor your overall progress, and thus motivate
yourself to continue on course
...

This will enable you to monitor your detailed progress
...
It may even be necessary to redefine long-term goals
...
Set realistic deadlines and achieve them
...
g
...

Establish a peer support group with at least one other PhD student in
order to give mutual criticism and encouragement and to act as
monitor on time deadlines
...

When accepting casual teaching work or becoming a teaching assistant, ensure you get a letter of appointment from the departmental
administration stipulating rates, hours, responsibilities, etc
...

Refer to the self-evaluation questionnaire on student progress in the
appendix to help you focus on the issues
...
The relationship is so
crucial that students cannot afford to leave it to chance
...
Many universities indeed require a team of three to
be set up for each student
...
It may also be that a member of the team
is appointed especially to give pastoral support
...

Supervisory teams are set up so that many of the difficulties that appear
in the one-to-one supervisor–student relationship can be avoided, or at
least reduced
...
For example, such a
person may not be an expert in the whole range of the research topic, or
may be interested in the academic field but not concerned with professional development of the student
...
One may have had little or no experience of supervision and

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR SUPERVISORS

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so may be unsure of the standards required for the PhD, another may be
highly experienced but frequently out of the country attending conferences and giving papers and so not be available when the student needs
attention
...
Problems such as these will be less likely to
completely impair progress if there is another academic on whom the
student has a right to call for supervisory help
...
Having more
than one supervisor may seem like a good idea at first; after all, two or even
three academics, instead of just one, will be involved in your research
studies
...

Difficulties may stem from:
ٗ Undue predominance of two supervisors over one student
...
However, such
meetings may present problems for you, the student, in terms of feeling
overwhelmed
...
Guard against this and, if necessary, let your
supervisors know that you need help in this respect
...
Where no distinction in agreed roles is established between members of staff, there is the clear likelihood that each
supervisor will regard the other as taking the lead and having more of
the responsibility
...
There have
also been cases where supervisors use the student in order to score
points off each other in their own power struggles
...
An important step is to get agreement on the
unequivocal division of the areas of responsibility between your
supervisors
...
The probability of seeing all your supervisors
at the same time is considerably less than that of seeing them separately
...
If the conflict is not major, the commonest way out for you is to
do what they suggest, in the end doing considerably more work and
delaying the progress of the project
...
It is not only the supervisors’
behaviour that might lead to problems – you, the student, also have a
dangerously seductive avenue available
...
Beware, be warned, avoid such a course of
action
...

ٗ Lack of an overall academic view
...
Who will
evaluate and criticize it as a whole in the same fashion as the examiners? The weight of the necessary self-evaluation that you have to do is
therefore considerably increased
...
There are cases where lead
supervisors feel very possessive of their students and dislike the whole
idea of sharing them with others
...

For example, one professor of engineering science in an old
traditional university said of the establishment of supervisory teams:
It will never work
...
The student–supervisor relationship is both intense
and personal
...
Supervisors need to know
that they have responsibility for a particular student
...

By contrast, in other cases it is the second supervisor who is happy to
remain purely nominal, hardly making a contribution at all
...

These are some of the pitfalls to be avoided with a supervisory team, and it
is very important indeed that considerable care be given to its operation
...

In spite of these potential difficulties there is every reason to expect
team supervision to work well, provided it is given sufficient thought
...
Arrange further meetings at least once a
term (always remembering to be aware of the cautions given above)
...
They should
be made fully aware of your progress by sending each of them a copy of
what you are currently writing, but make it clear whether it is for
‘information only’ or ‘for comments’
...
This enables you
to call on them for their special knowledge and skills and thus obtain
good supervisory support
...
You can, and certainly should,
go to them for help, advice, and criticism as often as you need them
...


I

What supervisors expect of their doctoral students

So the student–supervisor relationship is a key element in your success as a
PhD student
...
If you are to do
this well, you must understand what your supervisors expect of you
...
In a series of interviews EMP
found the following set of expectations to be general among supervisors
regardless of discipline
...
Despite the emphasis
put on independence throughout the whole period of working for a PhD
degree, there are still very important aspects of the process that demand
conformity: conformity to accepted methodologies, to departmental and
university policies, to style of presentation, to the ethics of the discipline,
and to all those things which your supervisors consider to be important
...
For these reasons it is no simple matter to
balance the required degree of conformity with the need to be independent
...
The problem was made explicit by Dr Chadwick when he spoke
of his first-year research degree student in theoretical astronomy:
Charles asks too frequently, ‘What do I do next?’ I prefer a student to
think for himself
...
The only slight hesitation
I have about him is an indication of lack of original thought shown
in an obedient attitude, which results in his doing whatever I say
...

In this case Charles went to several members of staff in the department
asking for their advice on what he should be doing
...
There’s no point in making any effort – it’s important to have
someone standing over you
...
He needed more
direction than his supervisor was prepared to give and wished to rely more
on Dr Chadwick’s assessment of his work than on his own judgement
...
Of
course, this is easier said than done
...
(It might help to take this book in – opened at this page!) If
Charles had managed to raise the subject, a lot of unhappiness on the part
of the student and disappointment on the part of the supervisor would
have been avoided
...
Do not expect your supervisor to act as a
copyeditor for your thesis
...
It also ensures that you maintain contact with
others who are interested in you, your work, and how you spend your
time
...
This leads to almost complete isolation and a feeling that perhaps it really isn’t worthwhile after all
...

These people can either be other academics, research students with
whom you form an exchange self-help relationship, or they can be significant people in your life
...
Surprisingly
you avoid the risk of becoming boring and making your work dominate
the relationship by offering drafts of written work for them to read and
comment upon
...
Also it boosts their
morale to think that somebody who is doing a PhD values their opinions
...
Hopefully the feedback will be constructive and you will be able to select from it those points which seem to you to
be of help
...

If you choose your readers carefully, you will probably find that you
want to redraft some sections, if not all, of what you have written before
giving it to your supervisor for comment and discussion
...

Presentation is a very important component of both the final thesis and
of any interim conference papers or journal articles that you will wish to
submit
...
To maximize the time you spend
with your supervisor and to get the best you can in the way of comments
and suggestions from any readers of your paper, is a valuable reward for
having made the effort to present your ideas in an easily readable way
...
The more frequent the meetings, the more casual they are likely to
be, helping to create a climate for discussion
...
Usually
supervisors expect to meet with their research students every four to six
weeks
...

We have already considered (in Chapter 2) the advantages and disadvantages of more and less frequent meetings, so you will realize the importance of ensuring that a principle is established that is satisfactory for both
your own and your supervisor’s way of working
...
In order to
be of most use to you, your supervisor will have had to spend some time
prior to the meeting thinking about you, your research and any problems
connected with it, reading anything that you have written and preparing a
focus point for the tutorial
...
It is a good strategy to agree dates for the next
tutorial during the course of the previous one
...
If you are late it produces additional difficulties for the meeting
...
If you cancel a
meeting at short notice, the time and thought that your supervisor has
already invested in it is wasted, nor does it augur well for your future
relationship or the seriousness with which future meetings will be treated
...
If you find that your supervisor is not as exemplary as the above
model suggests, you can provide encouragement by behaving in an
exemplary way yourself
...

You may even wish to phone or email a day or two before the planned
meeting to confirm with your supervisor that everything is in order for it
and to ask whether there is anything else you should be thinking about or
preparing that may not have been mentioned previously
...


Supervisors expect their research students to be honest when
reporting on their progress
Supervisors are not idiots – at least, not many of them – and they are not
fooled by absent students who leave messages saying that everything is
fine and they will soon be needing a meeting or sending in a written draft
...

If there is a problem, if you are blocked, if you have lost confidence, if
you are experiencing domestic troubles of whatever kind, or if anything
else at all is interfering with the continuation of your work, then do let
your supervisors know about it
...
For example, when Bradley asked
whether his reading was going along the right lines, Mrs Briggs told him
that he needed to know the romantic literature
...
But Bradley
decided to concentrate on four works and read them thoroughly and carefully, rather than following up a lot of leads at the same time
...
In other words he had not
received the answer he was hoping for when he requested the advice – and
so ignored it
...
Briggs
...
She felt unable to work with a
student who believed he knew what was best regardless of having asked for
guidance and so requested that he be transferred to someone else
...
When he
did find a new supervisor, she looked at what he had done to date and
then, just as Mrs Briggs, recommended that he familiarize himself more
widely with the romantic literature!

Supervisors expect their students to be excited about their work,
able to surprise them and fun to be with!
If you are not excited about your research who else will be? How can you
expect to arouse anybody else’s excitement, enthusiasm, interest? When
postgraduates are really excited about what they are doing, it stimulates
those around them
...
It works to the advantage of
the student concerned if other people want to know what is happening
and encourage conversation around the research
...
There is a world of

102 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

difference between working away for the sake of getting on with something (in an environment where there is little communicable interest in
what is happening) and wanting to tackle the next task because of the
desire to push ahead and then let everyone else know about your progress
...
If you succeed in maintaining this level of motivation then not only will your postgraduate days be days of enjoyment and
anticipation, but you will also have a headstart on managing your supervisor to fit in with your own ideas of how the relationship between you
should operate
...
To be awarded a PhD
means that you must have become expert in your research topic
...
For these reasons your supervisor will expect
to be constantly surprised by new information, evidence and ideas that
you are able to supply
...
To manage your supervisor successfully be sure
that you steer a course between surprising them and shocking them
...
Three years plus is a very long
time indeed to spend with somebody who makes you feel ill at ease
...
Just as you may take an instant dislike to
somebody, so too may your supervisor
...

What this means in interpersonal terms is that any irritant, no matter
how minor it may appear in the beginning, becomes exaggerated and
distorted over time until it is well-nigh intolerable
...
It is not that you have
to spend your time thinking up witticisms and novel ways of entertaining
supervisors, in the hope of being invited to spend more of your out-of-work
time with them and their social group
...
If you have chosen your supervisors carefully and discussed the way that the supervisory relationship will work,
then you have a headstart over those who have not gone to this trouble
...
If you begin cautiously then you
increase the probability that the two of you will gradually grow to appreciate each other and so get to the point where you might even discover that
you too expect your supervisor to be fun to be with
...


I

The need to educate your supervisors

We have already discussed the importance of keeping your supervisors
informed of new developments and findings as your work advances
...

Managing your supervisor efficiently involves an educational programme as well as a training course
...
The educational programme need not be so subtle, as it is more acceptable to acknowledge that you will know more than
your supervisor about your research topic, given time, than it is to admit
that you have a supervisor who does not know how to supervise effectively
...
All this will help to make you fun to be
with too
...
The content is important and not quite as
uncomplicated as it may at first appear
...
It
is fine to mention any new findings that are a direct result of your research,
and indeed they must be mentioned in order to demonstrate the progress
that you are making
...
But beware of doing this in such a way that it becomes
clear that you believe that your supervisor was also unaware of this information
...

Such measures will become less necessary as time passes and your own
work becomes more advanced
...

Instead of being someone from whom you need information and
approval, he or she gradually becomes someone with whom you can discuss new ideas and develop your thinking
...
Instead of a teacher, the supervisor becomes a colleague and the relationship becomes less asymmetrical
than it was
...

It may be that you will have specialized in a particular technique or
method so that your supervisor will not be able to test or replicate your
investigations without considerable new learning and practice
...
In such
circumstances your reasoning as to why you think you should have got
these results becomes an important focus in your discussions
...
All this is to the good because it gives you practice in arguing your
case, which is an essential skill both for your viva and for any conference
papers and seminars that you give on the topic
...
You
learn from your supervisors what kinds of questions are important and
how to respond to them; your main supervisor learns from you about the
new methodological development and how it might be expected to affect
the discipline
...
Supervisors do benefit from having research students and
they are aware of the role these students have in keeping them, the busy
academics, in touch with new developments and at the forefront of knowledge in their field
...

If you are at this stage and feel that your supervisors are not taking your
work as seriously as you would wish in giving comments, a good tactic is to
ask whether the report, etc
...

This makes it more likely that the work will then be fully evaluated
...
It
should also be clear that there are a variety of ways in which you can begin
to do this
...

It is first necessary to realize and remember that there is usually a difference between what supervisors actually do and what their students believe
them to have done
...

It is important to show that you are aware and appreciative of the
hidden time and effort that your supervisor gives to you
...

In fact, all too many supervisors feel that in discussion they need to
keep closely to the actual work, thus avoiding the all-important PhD
process which includes your relationship
...

An example of this comes from Professor Andrews and Adam
...
’ Here we have misunderstanding and a clear breakdown of
communication between them
...
This is partly
due to the student’s disappointment that Professor Andrews did not say
what he, Adam, wanted him to say but merely assumed that everything
was in order between them
...


Improving tutorials
The most basic lesson to be learned in managing your supervisor is the
necessity of encouraging very broad-ranging discussions
...
It is a good idea for you, the
student, to take responsibility for the content of your tutorials
...
If
necessary, ask your supervisor for an equivalent list so that a joint

106 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

agenda can be agreed
...

The way to get your supervisor talking about what may be perceived as
taboo topics is to ask direct, but positively constructed, questions revealing that you are assuming good intentions on their part
...
For example:
Am I making enough use of the learning opportunities available?
Do you think that I am managing to get enough work done in the time
between our meetings?
Are you satisfied with how I use your comments?
Are you satisfied with my attitude towards your supervision of me?
How do you think we might work together more effectively?
Such a series of questions should lead naturally into a conversation about
the relationship itself
...
There will be no need for either of you to use defensive
tactics, such as hiding behind technical details
...
Discussing your expectations and
hopes for the working relationship between you is of prime importance
...
Your
needs change over time, so part of the contract should be an agreement to
review at agreed intervals, probably annually
...

In Chapter 7 we talked about the importance of deadlines
...
You must ensure that
every time you leave a tutorial meeting there is another one agreed and
written into your diaries
...

We have seen how essential it is for you to receive effective feedback, so
do make sure that when the date fixed for a meeting arrives you help your
supervisor to make the most of the time available
...
If your supervisor says ‘This section is no good’, you should respond – tactfully, of
course – with ‘What precisely is wrong with it?’ It may be that the grammatical construction is unacceptable, or that the conceptual design is misleading or confused, or that the section is irrelevant, or any of a dozen

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR SUPERVISORS

I 107

other things
...
You may need to omit the
section completely, or move it to another part of the report, or rewrite it,
or rethink it before rewriting it
...

Once you have the information, you will be in a position to do something
about it
...

Be sure to make a short summary of what occurred during each tutorial
...
In this way all can refer to what has been agreed,
and have a continuous record of how the work and the supervision is
progressing
...
The student has
an aide-mémoire of what was discussed
...
For the supervisor, the summary serves as
a reminder of the work of that particular student, thus greatly reducing
confusion when more than one student is being supervised
...

It may even be necessary for you to help your supervisor to understand
what doing a PhD means to you
...
However, as we have explained, a
PhD is a thorough training in doing research and learning the criteria and
quality required for becoming a fully professional researcher in a chosen
field
...
Doing a PhD is a hard training ground for a specific profession
...
They should take the form of a meeting in
which you and other postgraduates can discuss your ideas for research and
the problems encountered en route
...

Finally, if you want to succeed in managing your supervisor, you have to
ensure that you do not make excessive demands and become a nuisance
...
Take the responsibility for keeping

108 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

the lines of communication open, because it is you who have the most to
lose when misunderstandings and communication breakdowns occur
...


Changing supervisors
It may be that you will feel that the relationship with your main supervisor
is not developing satisfactorily, and you might therefore consider changing
...

There is usually a formal mechanism that allows for the possibility of
such a change, but it cannot be emphasized too strongly that this is a
course not to be undertaken lightly
...
But a change made
after that period, or made for any other reason, requires considerable
heart-searching
...

There are the formal (legal) mechanisms for doing it, but the results are
achieved inevitably only after considerable emotional upset
...
Thus it is bound to be a difficult
process – often ending with metaphorical blood on the walls
...
There should be such a person available
...
If there is nobody specifically allocated to this task,
then it is always possible to approach your head of department, who has
overall responsibility for the academic working of the department
...
This role is also vital to finding ways of getting your current
supervisor to accept a change, if that turns out to be necessary, without
feeling too damaged by it
...
The
relationship between your old and your new supervisors, as departmental
colleagues, will be preserved more easily with the help of the third party
...
He was interested in working in a

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR SUPERVISORS

I 109

certain field of management operations in which research is not yet well
developed
...
After some months
he began to feel that his supervisor, Dr Newman, was not really directing
the advice she was giving him to the sort of research approach he observed
in his colleagues
...
Dr Newman, on the other hand, felt that
Nick was neglecting her advice on how to proceed, because he did not
want to put in the groundwork to make himself knowledgeable about the
field
...

Like so many students and supervisors in their position, they carried on
for the whole of the first academic year with this uneasy relationship: Nick
thinking that Dr Newman didn’t really understand research, and she
thinking that Nick didn’t really want to do research that was worth doing
in relation to her field
...

Dr Newman believed that Nick would never carry out any research in
her field anyway, so somebody else might as well have him
...
The change was accomplished because the third
party took the initiative in making all three aware of the relevant issues
...
Even so, Nick and Dr Newman avoided
each other, literally not exchanging a word, for the remainder of his time
as a research student
...
She was so
unhappy with the supervision she had received that, when asked about it a
year after having gained her PhD, she started to cry and had to struggle to
find the words to describe her feelings
...
Dr Montague’s a nice person outside of
his role as supervisor but he wasn’t the right kind of person for me
...
I’ve
blotted out most of this period except the pain
...
He
saw her for tutorials only in his own home, with his children demanding
attention
...
Nor did he offer her any
suggestions which she could build on
...
Monica could have said quite unequivocally that she would
appreciate it if Dr Montague would arrange to see her in his office during
working hours, so that he could discuss her work privately
...

In fact, Monica eventually adopted an additional unofficial supervisor
whom she felt would take her thesis work seriously
...
It happened that the other academic was the acting
head of the department and encouraging all research initiatives
...


I

Inappropriate personal relationships in supervision

There are regulations in most institutions that preclude friends or family
members from being examiners of PhD candidates, but the issue of being
supervised by someone with whom you may have a close personal relationship (e
...
your spouse or parent) is not covered by the regulations
...

The problem is that the role of supervisor and the roles of parent,
spouse, partner or lover are to a considerable extent incompatible
...
This is most effectively given in a purely professional relationship
...
In either case the intended development of the student into an effective, fully professional independent
researcher becomes more difficult
...
For example, the
student may find that others, students and staff alike, may be reluctant to
involve themselves so that the student becomes disadvantaged through
lack of discussion and other learning opportunities
...
What might have been the
development of new friends is curtailed, and even ordinary interactions
and collaboration can become viewed by peers and staff as professionally
dangerous, if the student is considered to have a special line to a
high-status supervisor
...
The medical and psychological professions regard
amorous relationships between practitioner and patient or client as
seduction
...


I

Action summary

1

Be aware that you must accept the responsibility for managing the
relationship between you and your supervisors
...

Ensure that you have a first supervisor and a second supervisor,
rather than two supervisors with equal responsibility
...

Try to fulfil the expectations that supervisors have of their students
...

You need to educate your supervisors continually: first on the
research topic, in which you are fast becoming the expert; second on
ways of understanding how the supervisory role can best help in
your own professional development
...
In addition to research content, discuss
at various times working relationships, setting deadlines, what doing
a PhD means to you, the adequacy of provision for research students,
and so on
...
Be punctilious in meeting
appointments and deadlines, so that your supervisors will be too
...

Always ask supplementary questions to ensure that you understand
fully what is being required of you
...

Avoid inappropriate personal relationships with your supervisor
...


2

3

4

5

6

7

8
9
10

I

9

I

HOW TO SURVIVE IN A
PREDOMINANTLY BRITISH,
WHITE, MALE, FULL-TIME,
HETEROSEXUAL ACADEMIC
ENVIRONMENT
I

I

University departments in Britain are largely staffed by British white male
full-time academics
...
Only about 1 member
in 20 of academic staff is black or Asian; about 1 in 50 is disabled
...
They therefore may need help through equal opportunities
policies and practices
...
Indeed, part-time research students are
in a majority overall, although there are considerable variations by
departments
...


HOW TO SURVIVE

I 113

The main problem is that of having to switch repeatedly from everyday
work to research work
...
Some students find that trying to work on
their PhD every evening after concentrating on other things during the
day is self-defeating
...

Also, once they are absorbed in the task it is just as difficult to force
themselves to stop in order to rest
...
As so much of your time is spent in
your place of work, it makes good sense to maximize the facilities and
resources that are available to you there
...

Part-time students have reported setting aside weekends for their PhD
work to overcome these difficulties
...
When this happens it is not long before they decide that the work
is not worth the effort and begin to change their minds about wanting a
higher degree after all
...
This might be, for example,
alternate weekends and all bank holidays plus two consecutive evenings
every week, or you might be in a position to take a whole week off work for
uninterrupted application to your research
...

It may be that you can arrange to have at least one whole weekday to
spend on the research each week, the best day to choose would be one that
either follows or precedes other days spent working on the research
...
For example, if you
spend a whole two-day weekend (Saturday and Sunday) on research work,
then you can turn those two days into three by selecting either Monday or
Friday as your one extra day
...

Another important consideration for part-time research students is the
financial side of working towards a higher degree
...
For you, this might
mean arranging to work fewer hours for less money over a given period, or
taking unpaid leave
...
All these situations have been
described by part-time PhD students over a period of some years
...
Success can come – and is especially meritorious – but
you must be prepared to work really hard
...

Finally, follow the guidelines laid down in this book for all research
students regarding contact with peers, supervisors, academic departments,
and research seminars
...
Hopefully
you will be able to come up with some more ideas specifically suited to
your own lifestyle, once you have started to think seriously about this
situation
...


I

Overseas students

Overseas students pay higher fees than home and EU students because
there is not a government grant towards the costs of educating them
...

In the UK there are currently three main attitudes taken towards overseas students by academic staff
...

The first attitude, somewhat traditionally, views students as part of the
British aid contribution to the Third World and the Commonwealth
...

The second attitude regards them as proof that the institution is truly
international
...

The third, focusing on the additional revenue, is as a source of fees; ‘a
cheque walking through the door’, as one academic put it
...
This stems from the fact that overseas students bring in fee income which is additional to the government
allocation for British and EU students
...


HOW TO SURVIVE

I 115

The following quotations show how the situation is seen by some
supervisors:
We’re in business for overseas students
...
We can take any number of high fee
students but we’re limited on low fee places
...
We reached the low fee quota
very early this year and had to put good people on the waiting list
...
(Sociology)
We mustn’t just take students for cash generation, it’s a moral issue
...

Not all departments take the view that large numbers of overseas students are preferable, however
...
It is important that you are aware of which situation you are
entering as it may affect the way that you are treated initially
...
You may feel
excluded by home students who cannot put themselves in your position
sufficiently to realize that the small things they take for granted, such as
shopping or going to the launderette, can be major obstacles for you
...

One study by Hockey (1994) has noted problems with a lack of established relationships that have to be overcome by overseas students
...
To illustrate he gives the following
extended quotation from an interview he had with an overseas student
who had been studying in Britain for a few months:
One aspect that really makes me miss my family every night is the
idea of going into the kitchen and cooking alone
...
You sit in the corner on your own and eat your food
...
Because of this aspect of our
upbringing, being individualistic comes a bit difficult [for you to get
used to]
...

This helps to minimize the shock of accommodating yourself to the differences in culture
...

Getting finance to live on may also be a big issue for you as a research
student from overseas
...
Particularly in science subjects, the amount of time
that you must spend in the lab makes it extremely unlikely that you could
undertake the more than 16–20 hours of paid work per week necessary to
survive financially
...

Because of these additional difficulties, you must not become impatient if
it takes rather longer for you
...
For example, you may feel
that you have lost part of your personality by having to express yourself in
English all the time
...

This could have extremely unfortunate repercussions for you and you
must ensure that you make it your business to be aware of precisely what is
needed for a thesis to be written to the required standard
...
The problem is exacerbated by the considerable
discrepancy between the English demanded for academic writing and the
everyday spoken English you will encounter
...
It cannot be stressed too strongly how
important it is for this to be arranged from the very beginning and not left
until the research work is almost completed
...
Reading with a good
English dictionary beside you has advantages for all students
...
As
their students come to the end of their period of registration and residence
in Britain, supervisors feel increasing pressure to ensure their students’
success by writing parts of the thesis themselves
...


The culture of British doctoral education
For overseas students from many countries the self-starting nature of the
British postgraduate educational process may present particular problems
...
You may come
from an educational system that is built on the view that knowledge and
wisdom come from the ancients; that the older a source is, the more senior
in status a person is, the more valued their pronouncements are held to be
...
You are here to learn from your supervisors by
doing what you are told
...
At the very least you will
expect to get approval for your idea before working on it
...
First, it is a
scientific and academic culture that values newness and change
...

Older approaches are superseded and become of historical interest only
...
We do not
regard it as a paradox that we know more about the English Civil War than
historians did a century ago, although they were living considerably
nearer to it
...
You are being helped to think for yourself, take
initiatives, argue with your seniors and so on, in order to demonstrate that
you have something to contribute to the continually changing academic
debate
...

If it is not conquered, this cultural difference becomes extremely debilitating by the time you get to the end of your period of research and have to
face the oral examination
...
It could happen
that students from cultures where they were taught to be respectful to
those in authority would find it far more difficult to engage in any real
argument with an examiner
...

It would be sensible to spend some time going to seminars and observing, and eventually participating in situations where the usual criticism,
challenge and debate take place, in order to familiarize yourself with how
this non-deferential activity is an accepted part of the academic process
...
In this connection, it
might help if you were able to join, or develop, a support network of both
new and experienced overseas students
...
This
is because in their own environment, women do not usually have a higher
status than men in the professional sphere
...
She found that he would accept neither work nor comments from
her or, indeed, acknowledge that she was his supervisor
...
He received work from Mohammed, passed it to Dr Marlow
and then read her comments to Mohammed who went off happily to
continue as Dr Marlow had suggested
...
This was not the best solution for any
of the people concerned, nor could it continue indefinitely
...

If you recognize that women are not usually in positions of authority
over men in your own country, it would be as well to realize that there are
places in the world where women can achieve the highest office
...

Less serious, but still a problem, is the attitude of some students to using
the first names of their supervisors and, to a lesser extent, being referred to
themselves in what they perceive as a familiar or disrespectful manner
...
This is because in countries such
as Japan, for example, the family name is the first in order and in, for
example, some West African countries both names sound so unusual to
British ears that either one could be the given or family name
...

Even students who come from countries where English is the main language may be surprised to discover that differences in language use cause
difficulties in understanding
...
For example, the famous English reserve can be discomfiting when you first encounter it
...


I

Ethnic minorities

There are clear differences between those students who come to study in
British universities from overseas and those whose home is in Britain
...

There is a ‘noisy silence’, as Bird (1996) put it, with regard to racism in
British universities, based in part on the belief that the liberal academy is
not a site of discrimination
...
Yet we know that one of the barriers facing ethnic minority students is a lack of comparable staff to act as
role models
...

Winston, an Afro-Caribbean student educated in the UK, spoke of the
lack of role models for disadvantaged groups
...

Carina, a black student researching minority cultures, told of difficulties

120 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

in gaining entry to a university department at research degree level
...
Carina said that when talking to
potential supervisors she had been told: ‘Black research on minority cultures is biased, and therefore whites do it better’, and ‘It has all been done
already; we know everything there is to know about the black minority in
this country
...
They have to know the university and the attitude of its
academic staff very well before they will put themselves into the position
of even being considered
...

Similarly Salmon (1992), in an insightful set of analyses of the experiences of her research students, describes the case of Jocelyn
...
At first she had great difficulty in getting this topic
accepted, being pressed to adopt the ‘neutral’ stance of traditional
developmental psychology
...
Salmon (1992: 38–9) comments:
But as a black woman she remained, throughout the ultimately successful progress of her work, keenly alive to the whiteness of her
academic context and its ever-present possibilities for disregarding,
even violating, her personal standpoint
...


Racial harassment
Many forms of racial harassment are criminal offences and there are legal
provisions which can be used against the perpetrators
...
It includes
attacks on property and on the person
...

It can take many different forms, ranging from violent physical abuse to

HOW TO SURVIVE

I 121

more subtle ways of making people feel uneasy, uncomfortable or angry
because of their race
...

It includes:
ٗ offensive jokes and comments that degrade particular races;
ٗ referring to members of ethnic minority groups by insulting epithets
or by making ignorant statements about them, undermining the
self-confidence of the individual;
ٗ bullying, humiliating and patronizing behaviour directed at a person
because of their race;
ٗ rudeness – while rudeness is not encouraged generally, in the context of
race relations at work this kind of behaviour may be racial harassment if
unconsciously the instigator feels that the victim, because of their skin
colour, is inferior
...
For the student on the receiving end it is usually all too clear that they are experiencing racial harassment, but challenging it can appear an impossible task
...

Contact your student union representative for help if you think that you
need formal support for a specific grievance or to establish an ethnic
monitoring system
...
You would be
well advised to ascertain that the university of your choice has formal
policies in place which monitor student admissions and progress as well as
staff appointments and promotions (see pp
...
You might also join
or, if necessary, set up a peer support group of other similar students across
colleges or institutions
...


I

Women students

Numbers of male and female research students in our universities are now
roughly equal
...
Indeed
in some departments a woman may find no other female students
...
The percentage of professors who are

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HOW TO GET A PhD

women has been increasing by only 1 per cent per annum over the last few
years and is now in the mid-teens
...

In this situation many women students find their postgraduate studies
to be fulfilling and experience no problems that are significantly different
from those of their male colleagues
...

A male academic with institutional responsibility for research students
said ‘leaving aside the attitude of a very small number of my male colleagues who talk down to women in a way that they wouldn’t to men
students, women don’t have any more problems than men do’ (Phillips
1994b: 141)
...
There are situations where women students face obstacles that are not encountered by
men
...


Difficulties concerning legitimacy of topics and methodology
The lack of women on decision-making committees is important because
it affects what subjects are thought to be worthy of serious research, which
methodological approaches are acceptable to investigate them, and
whether the theoretical frameworks which are employed to explain the
results are perceived as legitimate
...
The problem of finding a supervisor who
believes that the work that the student wishes to do is the kind of work
that should be done arises in many disciplines
...

For example, Ayala, a sociology student whose research was on ‘nonheterosexual women and work’ commented that, although as an undergraduate she had been taught that ‘there is no such thing as objectivity’,
she had discovered as a research student that she and other women were
criticized for not being objective in their research proposals
...

Writing oneself into the thesis and not being invisible is a gender issue
...


HOW TO SURVIVE

I 123

Problems of communication, debate and feedback
In universities, as in any large organization, some of the important work is
done during informal social time
...
Sometimes women students are
not included in these informal activities
...
Or it could be because they have
young children to rush home for and other family responsibilities to take
care of
...
The only experience
that some lecturing staff, as well as a few male students, may previously
have had with women is in the roles of husband, father, son, brother or
lover in their personal lives, or as manager or boss in their professional
lives
...

Mapstone (1998) investigated the fact that women are more concerned
than men about the potential damage to interpersonal relationships that
argument might cause
...
She explains that women expect to
be criticized for expressing disagreement and that this often inhibits them
from expressing their true thoughts
...
Except where equality has been established in a relationship, women tend not to enter into an
argument if they can help it
...
In the same way as their male peers,
they are expected to proffer arguments to support their ideas when those
ideas are under attack from people who have higher status
...
Women are less able to perceive argument as rational debate and
negotiation
...
Ask what precisely needs to be done in order to
improve the quality of your work
...
They would
not need to be highly placed members of staff but could be research
assistants or part-time tutors
...

Such a statement to your supervisor will not be easy
...
Telling well-intentioned supervisors that they are being
patronizing may not be as hurtful as you think
...
Of course if you are aggressive,
matters will be worsened as they will feel unfairly attacked for trying to be
helpful, so do tread carefully
...
In
the majority of cases this works well, but there are times when women
students may encounter difficulties as a result of not having a female
academic as a role model
...

It’s different talking to a woman supervisor than a man
...
If something personal was disturbing me
I wouldn’t be able to talk to my male supervisor but I do to my female
supervisor
...

Without her I’d never have stayed
...
Further, it
allows prejudice to be manifested
...
’ Another student of the same department, Shula, told of a specific
experience she had had at the time of upgrading:
My supervisor was happy with what I had written but I met with
considerable hostility from an anti-feminist man who wrote two
pages of personal vitriol and destroyed any confidence I had
...

Her upgrading was then agreed despite the attack on her work
...

Female PhD students need to find a peer support group that includes
other women
...

(This is something you may find you want to do in addition
...

Difficulties can also result from situations where female research students are outnumbered by male students
...
This could ultimately
result in discouraging some from completing the doctorate
...


Sexual harassment and exploitation
There are also problems for women of having to avoid sexual innuendo in
order to maintain an amicable, if somewhat uncomfortable, working relationship
...

Women students should be aware and beware of this possibility
...

Carter and Jeffs (1992) looked at the tutor–tutee relationship in professional education
...
The tutor has
power in the relationship which is similar to that which occurs between
supervisor and research student
...
They uncovered many cases of sexual harassment and
sexual exploitation within the professional training relationship
...
She was highly flattered by his
attention and made no secret of the relationship
...
The relationship continued until the end of the year when he
selected a new student from the incoming first year
...
She never really had much

126 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

to do with the rest of us after that and became a very irregular
attender
...
Innocent and perfectly acceptable social contact between staff and students becomes tainted with gossip
and innuendo
...

All harassment constitutes a particularly invidious form of discrimination
...

Sexual harassment takes many forms and can include: leering;
ridicule; embarrassing remarks; deliberate abuse; offensive use of
pin-ups; repeated, unwanted physical conduct; demands for sexual
favours; and physical assault
...

Sexual harassment is a major cause of stress at work for women and
the source of much physical and psychological ill-health
...
Women say that often harassers genuinely believe they are offering a compliment
...
Even women whose work includes an awareness of such problems – for example, journalists and broadcasters – find
it difficult to talk about their own personal grievances in this area
...
You have to respond in a particular way or you are a social outcast
...
By laughing
at a joke you don’t find funny, you are accepting whatever ideas the joke
is based on
...
But students could find that they have to contend with unwanted
behaviour from fellow students as well as members of staff
...

It is not unusual for a harasser to inflict harassment on more than one
individual
...
There are those who believe that complaining about sexual
harassment is making a fuss about nothing
...
But
students are often unaware that others are stressed in similar ways and that
there is a common source to their problems
...
You will be able to discuss
difficulties with her and discover how widespread the problem is across the
university
...

What all this adds up to is that you, as a female research student, need to
develop a degree of social skill and confidence in order to be able to cope
with any difficulties that may arise
...
Ways in which you
can help to overcome problems of sexual discrimination are given in the
action summary
...

There will therefore be a considerable number of academics and research
students in these groups
...

For example, problems concerning the legitimacy of topics and methodology are applicable to people researching on sexuality issues; and sexual
harassment may arise if either the supervisor or the research student is
openly gay or is in the closet
...
For example, even though
statistics show that most sexual abuse of children is perpetrated by heterosexual males (often a member of the child’s family) media reporting makes
it appear that homosexual males are predominantly to blame
...
As Leonard (1997) points out, while it is women who are more
likely to feel fear, in western society it is young men – especially those who
are from ethnic minorities or are gay – who are more likely to be the
subject of violence when, for example, walking home from the library
after dark
...
The worry about disclosure can affect
their work and cause much unnecessary stress
...
Gay or lesbian students who come out may find that their
supervisors are nonplussed or antagonistic and this will complicate their
relationship
...
They thus have a risky
decision to make
...
You might also try to discover
some others in a similar situation for mutual support and, if necessary, get
together to influence your university to take these issues seriously
...


Heterosexist harassment
Heterosexism is a set of ideas and practices which assumes that heterosexuality is the superior and therefore the only ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ form
of sexual relationship
...

Harassment causes distress, interferes with people’s ability to work and
can seriously restrict their opportunities
...
It includes:
ٗ physical assault;
ٗ circulation of leaflets, magazines, badges and other materials which
degrade lesbians and gay men;
ٗ heterosexist graffiti and offensive posters on the walls which act as a
continual method of humiliation
...
It can take many different forms ranging from violence and
aggressive bullying to more subtle ways of making people feel nervous,
embarrassed or apprehensive because of their sexual orientation
...
Ways in which you can help to overcome
problems of discrimination against you if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or
trans-gender are given in the action summary
...
Increasingly
married people, or those in established relationships, who have children,
mortgages and the whole range of responsibilities are deciding to do
research work
...
e
...
In
architecture, management and social work, for example, it is usual for PhD
students to have spent a period as professionals in the field before coming
back to carry out their research
...

They have a number of particular problems to contend with
...
Many have to juggle responsibility in caring for
children, elderly relatives, etc
...
They, even more
than their younger peers, may be constantly having to demonstrate their
intellectual ability
...

Mature students also have to relate to fellow students who are of a much
younger generation and fit in with them
...
Members of academic
staff and students further along in their studies are more likely to behave
in protective ways towards younger students than they are towards older
ones
...

New mature students are particularly vulnerable in such situations since
their learning must include how to play the role of student again
...
There may be resistance to
accepting guidance, with students unconsciously feeling that they should
know better than their younger supervisors
...
As a mature student, you have to make a
particular effort to meet the supervisor in an adult to adult relationship
...
DSP is particularly proud to have been the supervisor of Dr
Edward Brech who has been in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest
British recipient of a PhD degree at the age of 85
...
Suggestions
for tackling some of the problems associated with being a mature student
are given in the action summary
...
Indeed many universities have some disabled
people on their academic staff who can serve as role models
...
You must therefore discover
whether your own particular requirements are satisfied
...
dfes
...
uk/studentsupport> or from your LEA
...
For example, it is unlawful
for an institution to turn a disabled person away from a course, or mark
them down in a written assessment because they were dyslexic or an oral
examination if they were deaf
...

Note however that the new provisions do not require institutions to
lower academic or other standards to accommodate disabled students
...
You should be aware of your rights and
the university’s responsibilities under this Act
...
This does not
alter the fact that harassment of people with disabilities causes distress,
interferes with their ability to work and can seriously restrict their
opportunities
...
Harassment
of disabled people can, like the others, take many forms ranging from
violent physical abuse to more subtle ways of making people feel uneasy,
uncomfortable or angry because they have a disability
...

Ways in which you can help to overcome problems of discrimination
against you if you are disabled are given in the action summary

I

Action summary

The overall message for all these groups is to get what social support you
can for your disadvantaged interests
...

For part-time students:
1
2
3

4

Choose a research problem that is related to your work
...

Keep in regular contact with supervisors, peers and the department
...

Explore the possibility that some financial support may be available
from universities and research councils
...

Join or establish a support network of both new and experienced
overseas students
...

Use university societies where people from your home country meet
together to help minimize the shock of accommodating yourself to
the difference in culture
...
If not, enrol in a convenient language school where you will
be able to improve your written English
...

Observe, in the first instance, and participate eventually in situations
where the usual criticism, challenge and debate take place, in order
to familiarize yourself with how this non-deferential activity is an
accepted part of the academic process
...


For students from ethnic minorities:
1
2
3

4

5

Join or establish a peer support group
...

Whenever necessary enlist the help of your student union representative or a member of staff, possibly from another department, to
whom you can explain your experience of unfair treatment
...
Gauge that you are
able to cope with the level of prejudice that you may expect to find
...


For women students:
1
2
3

4

Join or establish a peer support group that includes other women
...

Use assertion techniques in tutorials in order to get precise information about how to improve your work or to cope with interpersonal
difficulties
...


HOW TO SURVIVE
5
6

7

8
9
10

I 133

Don’t get romantically involved with your supervisor or accept
personal favours
...
If necessary contact
others for help
...
If they are not in place, press for their establishment
...

Discuss the problem with others and you may discover that you are
not alone
...


For gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender students:
1
2

3

4
5
6
7
8

Join or establish a peer support group
...

Be aware that it is possible for heterosexist issues to affect the outcome of your work in cases where there is some controversy over the
research topic, methodology or style of reporting results
...

Don’t get romantically involved with your supervisor or accept
personal favours
...

Discuss the problem with others and you may discover that you are
not alone
...

Contact your student union representative for help if necessary
...

In this network, discuss the relevant issues particular to your situation, for example: share experiences and discuss strategies for combating ageism; identify feelings of resistance and resentment; share
them with the group as an aid to facing and overcoming them
...


134 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

For students with disabilities:
1
2
3
4
5
6

Familiarize yourself with your rights and entitlements under
government legislation
...

Enlist the help of your university’s officer for disabled students when
you need support
...

Discuss the problem with others and you may discover that you are
not alone
...


I

10

I

THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM
I

I

Each university has a plethora of its own formal procedures concerned
with the award of the PhD degree
...
Hopefully, you will have sufficient
regular informal guidance from your supervisor(s), the appropriate section
of the academic registrar’s department, and so on to keep you away from
possible pitfalls
...

The purpose of this chapter is to make you aware of some of the key
points at which the examination system is likely to impinge on you
...
You must study the particular regulations that apply
to you
...
After a period, between one
and two years into your research work, you have to be recommended for
upgrading to PhD student status by your supervisors
...
The procedure of upgrading can vary from an extremely formal
review with written reports to a less formalized process
...


136 I
I

HOW TO GET A PhD

Giving notice of submission

The examination of your PhD is the summit of the process, coming as it
does at the end of years of hard work
...
You should realize that you have to
make the decision to be examined, in accordance with your professional
understanding, although you will discuss the matter fully with your
supervisor(s)
...


I

The appointment of examiners

After you have given notice of submission, the formal procedures are set in
motion for the appointment of examiners
...
The
usual pattern is for an academic in your department other than your
supervisor(s) to become the internal examiner
...

The responsibility for recommending the names of the examiners to the
appropriate university board is that of your supervisors and head of
department
...

It is important for you to know who your examiners are going to be
before you actually finish writing your thesis
...
One
rule of thumb is to give first consideration to the British academic whose
work is referenced most frequently in the thesis bibliography
...
Examiners are only human (you are yourself on your way to being one, remember) and they will certainly expect
their work to be appropriately cited and discussed
...
There are rules about the maximum
length of your thesis, the language in which it must be written (English,

THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM

I 137

unless permission has been previously obtained in special circumstances),
the adequacy of its literary style, the size of the pages, the size of the
margins, the type and colour of the binding, the number of copies you
have to submit, its material state (suitable for deposit and preservation in
the library) and so on
...

All institutions require the candidate to submit a short abstract, of about
300–500 words, summarizing the work and its findings, in order to orientate the examiners and, later, other readers to the thesis as a whole
...
This is a professional skill that you should develop for
both publications and conference papers
...
In addition to your thesis you should
submit to the examiners as supporting material any academic work to full
professional standard that you have already published
...
(You may be a keen philatelist but papers in that field
cannot help you if your PhD is in plasma physics
...

Joint papers which are relevant may be submitted, and in these cases you
have to specify precisely your own individual contribution to them
...
However, some universities allow
others to sit in – though not, of course, to take part
...
Supervisors may be
allowed to be present (in some universities only with the agreement of the
candidate) but usually they cannot take part
...
They are going to
argue with you, ask you to justify what you have written in your thesis,
and probe for what you see as the developments which should flow from
your work
...
So you need practice
...
This ‘public’ does not have to be big – a couple of academics in your department who are not going to be your examiners but who
have had experience of examining would be ideal
...

Just as you need practice in writing during your study years if the thesis
is to be well written, so you also need practice in public discussion and
defence of your work
...


I

Preparing for the viva

You also need to prepare for the oral examination in a systematic way
...
Useful introductions to it are
given in Murray (2003) and Rugg and Petre (2004)
...
178–9)
which provides information on the form that the meeting will take
...
First you take a maximum of three
sheets of feint-ruled A4 paper (try to manage with two if you can)
...
You now have
two sets of about 35 lines, i
...
70 half-lines
...
Now you number each half line
...

Next you take your time, say about two weeks, to write on every half line
the main idea contained on the corresponding page of your thesis
...
These tree diagrams give a visual representation of which
elements and which constructs cluster together
...
An example of this is Ewan’s

THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM

I 139

two constructs ‘Escape/Has to be done’ and ‘Boring/Interesting for
me’
...
Because of this
reversibility, complete mismatching between constructs is as significant as complete matching
...

‘Matching’ in this context refers to elements or constructs that are
highly related to each other while ‘mismatching’ refers to constructs
that are negatively related to each other
...

CORE
The grid technique was also used to monitor change over time for
each of the postgraduates as they proceeded through their three
year course
...
This
program analyses two grids, comparing each element and each
construct with itself and prints out those constructs and elements
that have changed the most in the way the postgraduate is using
them
...
86

C reversed; matching and mismatching; CORE intr’d
...
82–9 sub-section Analysis of Grids
p
...
289–91; interpretation same
p
...
84 Focus > > > > > 85 diagram of grid
p
...
86 C reversed; matching and mis-matching; CORE intr’d
p
...

p
...
scores; 40% cut off, clusters and isolates
p
...
from re-sorted grids
...

First, you will have revised, in the most detailed way possible, the whole of
your thesis and, second, you will be in a position to pinpoint – at a glance –
the precise location of any argument, reference or explanation you wish to
use during your viva
...
You can!
In addition to these obvious advantages, you will be able to do last
minute revision from the sheets of paper and not the thesis itself
...
Your precious sheets of paper are in your handbag or
your pocket to be looked at whenever you feel it appropriate or necessary
to do so
...

Of course this revision has to be carried out within the context of your
overall understanding of your work, as Tinkler and Jackson (2004) point
out
...
e
...
41) in
one, or possibly two, sentences
...
e
...
59)
...


I

The results of the examination

People who have not thought much about the nature of the PhD examination usually believe that candidates will either cover themselves with
glory and obtain the PhD immediately or fail and leave in disgrace
...

ٗ The PhD will be awarded immediately after the viva
...

ٗ The degree will be awarded immediately, but subject to certain corrections and minor amendments, which usually have to be carried out
within one month
...
’ The changes in this case are usually
minor: an incorrect calculation that does not affect the argument,
incorrect or inadequate referencing on a particular point, an
inadequate explanatory diagram are examples
...

ٗ The examiners say ‘Yes, but
...
They will tell
you what the weaknesses are, and why, and you will be allowed a certain period – usually up to two years – to complete the work and
resubmit it
...
If the examiners have been impressed with your
performance at the viva, they do not necessarily have to give you
another oral examination on the resubmission
...
Students usually need a couple of
weeks to scrape themselves off the floor and put themselves together
again, but the best strategy then is to get on with the extra work as soon as
possible
...
The examiners will typically specify in very
considerable detail what they think is lacking in the work and what should
be done about it
...
But don’t take too long to get restarted: the emotional
blocks can easily cause you to waste the two years
...

Once you have resubmitted and obtained your degree, then of course it
doesn’t matter – no one will ever know
...
You would be surprised at the number
of established academics who have had to resubmit their theses
...
This is a much less usual result but
it underlines the fact that the doctorate is given for professional competence
...
If you
are in this position you will be asked to re-present yourself for another
viva after a certain period (six months to a year), during which you
will have read much more widely in your field and gained a better
understanding of the implications of your own research study
...
They can
then set you – with due notice, of course – a written or practical examination on the subject area of your thesis work
...

ٗ The examiners consider that the candidate’s thesis work has not
reached the standard required of a doctorate and they do not see
any clear way by which it can be brought up to the required standard
...

This is a considerable blow; not just because the PhD was not awarded, but
principally because the examiners do not see a way of improving it, so it is
not likely that the candidate will
...
The
whole burden of this book is to get you to understand and become skilled
at the processes of PhD-getting, so that you do not end up in this situation
...

ٗ The examiners may say that the candidate has not satisfied them, and
that the standard is such that resubmission will not be permitted
...
It can occur only when the supervisor not
only has no conception of what is required for a PhD but does not really
understand what research is all about
...
However, if the supervisory process and research degree system
matched up to anything like the standards we have been discussing in this
book, it would not occur
...

You avoid the disaster of failure coming as a bolt from the blue by ensuring
that you seek out and learn from those who do know what the process
requires
...
They usually enable you to appeal against what you consider to be
unwarranted decisions taken against you
...
You
may appeal against this if you provide appropriate evidence, and it will be
considered by a subcommittee that contains independent members
...

Appealing against the results of the examination, particularly when a
resubmission is required or an MPhil is awarded, is possible in most

THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM

I 143

universities
...
You usually have
first to demonstrate that your appeal is not ‘vexatious’, i
...
that you have
some prima facie argument for your case
...
Obviously that does not
come about in any simple way: chemists are not appointed to examine
candidates in psychology, for example
...

That sort of appeal may be considered
...
The problem
is that with a marginal thesis the more the examiners, the less likely there is
to be a favourable result
...
A student might appeal on the
grounds that the supervision has clearly been inadequate and detailed
evidence must be produced to support this
...
Details of special personal circumstances experienced by the student
during the registration period (illness, divorce, etc
...

After hearing the evidence, the appeals committee might decide that it
is equitable in all the circumstances for the student to be allowed, with
good supervision in place, to improve the thesis and resubmit in due
course
...

In recent years universities have incorporated a transparently independent element into their appeals procedures
...
It is now therefore possible
for students who feel they have not been fairly treated by their university
to appeal to this office
...
oiahe
...
uk>
...
The Office cannot deal with issues of academic
standards or cases where litigation is pending
...
The contention was that the university, while taking
the student’s fee, had failed to fulfil its side of the contract by providing
only an inadequate service of education
...
One PhD student complained to his university about the
completely inadequate quality and quantity of the supervisory support
that he received
...
However, the
student decided to go to court, but no further award was made
...
That decision cannot be made on legal
grounds
...

The regulations concern upgrading to doctoral registration, submission of thesis, appointment of examiners, the viva examination, and,
in some cases, the appeals procedures
...

Prepare for the viva by summarizing your thesis, and ensuring that
you have a practice mock viva
...
We shall be considering a series of strategies for improving supervision
...
But this
chapter will also give students some insights into the tasks of their
partners in this enterprise, thus helping to improve the quality of the
relationship on both sides
...
Once you have this ‘inside information’ you
will be in a better position to develop the skills necessary to teach the craft
of research, maintain a helpful contract and encourage your students’ academic role development
...


I

What students expect of their supervisors

In a series of interviews EMP found the following set of expectations to be
general among students regardless of discipline
...
Academics,
under pressure to research and publish as well as teach, consult and do
administration, may find that doctoral students require too much of their

146 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

time
...
This is
very different from the, perhaps idealized, conception of supervisors and
students engaged in a high level meeting of minds which they enjoy and
from which they benefit
...
Dr Johnson had arranged to see her only irregularly – indeed
there was one period of over six months during which they did not meet
...
Her research was concerned with mothers’
attitudes to breast-feeding, and she tried to encompass both a librarybased historical and anthropological study and a detailed attitude survey
across two NHS regions
...
When she submitted
her thesis, it came as a shock to her when the examiners at the oral examination said that she had tried to do too much and that neither component was adequate
...

Dr Johnson had not suggested this before, although after the oral he was
adamant that this was the thing to do
...
Dr Johnson’s view was that if Julia had been
good enough she would have been able to encompass both aspects of the
topic
...

This is an extreme case, but such inadequacies of communication
between supervisor and student are not unusual
...
He should also have taken care that these meetings included detailed discussions of the whole project so that he would
know whether she was covering adequately the amount of work that they
had agreed between them
...
If he had done
this systematically he would never have permitted her to get to the point
of a final draft that did not appear to be comprehensive enough in all areas
of the work undertaken
...

More subtly, the feeling of not being well supervised can derive from the
fact that students define the concept of ‘supervision’ quite differently from
supervisors
...
Freddy said: ‘He really oversupervises, he’s in twice a day to see
what results I’ve got
...
’
What was happening was that Freddy counted every contact with his
supervisor in the laboratory as a meeting, while the professor thought only
of the formal tutorial appointment as contributing to supervision
...
This is very different from thinking
merely in terms of ‘keeping tabs on results’, which is how Freddy
interpreted his supervisor’s role
...
He said: ‘I feel just another pair of hands for my supervisor
...
I still see him twice a day
and he’s still on my back trying to get me to do more practical work – but I
won’t
...
If the two
had talked to each other about this situation it could have been resolved at
a very early stage, instead of continuing, as it did almost to the end of the
research period
...
One
type is minor and frequent and part of the continuing relationship
...
The difference in purpose needs to be made explicit
...
Often students’ only previous
experience of receiving feedback on written work has related to undergraduate essays
...
Their idea of a tutorial is to discuss in detail
all the points made by the supervisor
...

Most supervisors prefer to focus on specific aspects of the students’ work
and discuss these in detail
...
By ignoring the related, but irrelevant, issues raised by research students they hope
to communicate their satisfaction with those areas of concern which
should be developed
...


148 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

However, this way of dealing with written work can lead to considerable
bad feeling and a breakdown of communication between students and
supervisors
...
I realize now that my supervisor is not going to
be of any help to me
...

Professor Andrews: Each time I choose a single aspect from a paper he
has written and suggest that he develops it, I see his work evolving
and developing very satisfactorily
...
It is here
that it is essential that communication is clear between the pair
...
The script should form the basis for a discussion
...
The script may be put away and
used later as an aide-mémoire for the thesis, parts of it may even be
included as it stands
...
It is the task of supervisors
to make clear to their students how they intend to use written work to
further the research
...
It is good practice
for supervisors regularly to take coffee or lunch with their students – or to
buy them a drink (not necessarily alcoholic) – in order to facilitate easy
communication
...

Even if the secretary has been told that research students may make
appointments whenever they wish, the postgraduates themselves may
have difficulty in going through this formal channel to ask their supervisor something that might be considered quite trivial
...
On the other hand this situation engenders frustration on the
part of the supervisor, coupled with doubt about the student’s motivation
...

Sheila found that if she met her supervisor as they were walking down a
corridor, or across the campus, she had difficulty in getting beyond the
superficial exchange
...
There have even been cases where students and
supervisors have travelled a few floors together in a lift and the student has
still been unable to say there is a problem or that a meeting is needed
...

When supervisors make it clear that they do not welcome impromptu
meetings with their students because of the weight of other commitments,
it becomes almost impossible for many students ever to pluck up enough
courage to request a tutorial
...


Students expect their supervisors to be friendly, open and
supportive
In Chapter 2 we referred to the difficulties experienced, even by mature
students, in informal social contact with their supervisors
...
In this chapter
the focus is on the more formal aspects of the relationship
...
Supervisors often feel that if they
have established an easygoing, first-name relationship, their students will
perceive them to be friendly and open
...
For example, Charles, who was doing a PhD in
astronomy, said:
It’s very difficult to prise things out of Dr Chadwick, so I’m not sure if
this meeting today will result in a big step forward for my research
...

I don’t get much help, information or encouragement from him
...

Here, Charles is expressing dissatisfaction with tutorial meetings to the
point of trying to keep out of view of his supervisor
...


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HOW TO GET A PhD

Dr Chadwick, however, still felt that things between them were reasonably satisfactory:
Our relationship is friendly, even though I never see him outside the
formal interview situation
...

They last up to half an hour but could be as little as 15 minutes
...
These programs will be used a lot and so have to be very
efficient
...
Although Charles avoids using Dr Chadwick’s name when talking to
him, the fact that he brings problems along confirms his supervisor in his
belief that he is being friendly, open and supportive
...
An effective supervisor, on the
other hand, would not merely stick to academic issues but would create
regular opportunities to discuss their relationship
...
It is the supervisor’s job to criticize and
provide feedback but the manner in which this information is given is
absolutely vital
...
It is important to remember also,
that giving praise whenever appropriate is one part, often neglected, of
providing feedback
...
Doing a PhD
is a very emotional, as well as intellectual, experience for most research
students
...
We have already discussed this in some detail in Chapter 7
...
As they become better able to mediate for themselves
between their efforts and the results, by comparing what has happened
with what they expected would happen, they will need to rely less and less
on you for feedback
...

If students do not receive helpful information of this sort, there is a high
probability that they will become discouraged, lose confidence and decide
that they are incapable of ever reaching the standard necessary to do a
PhD, which, of course, will affect their future careers
...
155)
...

But, especially when students and supervisors have been assigned to each
other after registration, it is possible that the supervisor is not expert in the
student’s area of research
...

Students should be able to use other members of the academic staff as a
resource
...

Alternatively, the supervisor could ensure that students are well catered
for by introducing them to specialists from other universities
...

(The reasons for being awarded the PhD degree include an acceptance that
the candidate has become an expert on that particular problem
...
The relationship between students and supervisors is a dynamic
one that is constantly changing
...


Students expect their supervisors to structure the tutorial so that it
is relatively easy to exchange ideas
Such an expectation would appear, at first, to be relatively simple, but it is
one with which supervisors find it extremely difficult to comply
...
We have already seen that there is a discrepancy between the students’ and the supervisors’ perceptions of degree of
familiarity and approachableness
...
In understanding students, the supervisor needs to be able to draw out their ideas
...
Students may speak or write in a complex or convoluted manner for fear of being considered too simple, or they
may not yet have managed to clarify their thoughts
...
They may, however, need to learn some simple techniques for
eliciting information from people who cannot express themselves
coherently
...
For this reason students’ expectation that
their supervisors will have the courtesy not to answer the telephone during a tutorial is not unreasonable (but it is always greeted with a laugh
when it has been put forward to groups of supervisors)
...
There is nothing more frustrating than to be interrupted in midstream when trying to explain a complex and, as yet, unexpressed idea
...

If there are several interruptions the student feels insulted and the work
becomes devalued
...

During tutorials supervisors should switch off their mobile phones and
arrange for telephone calls to be diverted to voice mail
...
It is just bad manners
to permit any but the most urgent call to intrude into a meeting that has
been arranged and for which work has been prepared
...

These seminars provide a training ground invaluable for developing thinking through discussion, helping students to structure their ideas into a
form that facilitates writing
...
On occasion you, as a
supervisor, should also attend such seminars yourself so that your students
get to know you in the role of seminar participant and leader as well as
personal tutor
...
) Gradually,
the seminars should help the students to gain the confidence to openly
discuss all the aspects of their research with you in tutorials
...
It is important that
the supervisor takes into consideration the student’s current need for help
...
For some students it
may be necessary to give an actual photocopy of the article if it is difficult
to obtain in order to get them started
...

At a later stage, conference papers reporting the newest developments in
the field need to be brought to the student’s attention
...
In fact, the exchange of papers
should be seen as an essential aspect of communication and a source of
discussion
...
These specialists should be able to give
the students more information than the supervisor alone
...


Students expect supervisors to be sufficiently involved in their
success to help them get a good job at the end of it all!
This expectation is becoming more and more important each year as it
gets more and more difficult for supervisors to do anything about it
...
They are willing to be supervised by busy, jet-setting academics, even though they know that they will be left alone for long periods
since their supervisors will be difficult to contact
...
They decide
that to have a personal reference from such a well-known authority is
worth three years of isolation in learning to do research
...
Equally,
there are those who consider that a supervisor’s tasks are at an end when a

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HOW TO GET A PhD

PhD degree is awarded
...
Encouraging students to participate in UK GRAD Schools
...
ac
...


I

Establishing a role model

This is a very important aspect of your task as supervisor
...
The way you
conduct yourself in your dealings with your research students is therefore
vital to their later development
...
Nothing could be better
for them than your being deeply involved in your own research and writing papers about it that get published in reputable journals
...
What it all adds up to is giving potential
researchers a mode of behaviour towards which they can aim
...
Similarly, if your priorities are orientated
to undergraduate lecturing, postgraduates will soon understand that
doctoral supervision has a low rating on your long list of responsibilities
...
Professional codes of conduct and high standards of integrity are
as important to their learning as how to conduct an experiment or carry
out an interview
...
However, most of this teaching will take place by setting
a good example rather than subjecting your students to lectures
...
They do not
even think of supervision as being a part of their teaching role
...
Important aspects of the
teaching task are: giving feedback effectively, developing a structured
weaning programme, maintaining a helpful psychological contract
and encouraging students’ academic role development
...


Giving effective feedback
Giving criticism is one of the main activities that supervisors of doctoral
students have to undertake
...
If the criticism is
overly harsh, or perceived as such by the student, feelings of resentment
and hurt can last well into their professional career
...
Overseas students too, are unlikely to be aware of the wider
implications of the terms
...
The word reminds supervisors that they must strongly communicate their recognition of what has
been well-achieved as the basis for identifying what is inadequate and
needs to be improved
...
If it is badly done, it results in one of three unfortunate
results:
ٗ bewilderment and depression on the part of the student, who does not
understand what is being criticized, but realizes that the work has
failed;
ٗ rejection of the criticisms by the student, who becomes defensive and
self-justificatory;
ٗ complete acceptance of the criticisms, often with limited understanding of them, which then increases the dependence of the student on
the supervisor
...
If students do not
receive helpful information, it is likely that they will become discouraged,
lose confidence and decide that they are incapable of ever reaching the
standard necessary to do a PhD
...
This may appear a

156 I

ٗ

ٗ

ٗ

ٗ

ٗ

HOW TO GET A PhD

strange rule
...
This
can be done in the ways suggested below
...
Establish, and
regularly reaffirm, that the doctoral process is a joint enterprise
between student and supervisor, and that the point of feedback is to
enable the student’s knowledge and skills to improve
...

Give the good news first
...
Point out its strengths,
and the improvement achieved compared with the previous submission
...
The
appreciation must be genuine
...
’ and then immediately concentrate on the
important criticisms to be made of the work
...

Maintain a balance between the appreciation and the criticisms
...
A
good rule of thumb is to match the number and gravity of the criticisms
with an equal number of detailed points in appreciation of what has
been achieved
...

Present criticism impersonally
...
’ Start by asking students what inadequacies they are themselves
aware of
...
Preface a major critique by saying ‘I’m going to act as
devil’s advocate here’
...

Present feedback related to the current piece of work
...
Do not
refer back to similar mistakes in previous work, since harping on past
inadequacies reduces students’ confidence
...
Avoid

HOW TO SUPERVISE AND EXAMINE

I 157

general comments on the personality or abilities of the student
...
So,
do not say ‘You obviously have a superficial mind; you must get a
greater depth of understanding of this
...

Again, avoid comments on the student’s abilities, such as: ‘Your
English style is execrable
...
The comments should be related to the work and
should suggest changes to be made
...
’ These
comments give pointers to what should be changed
...

ٗ Present feedback clearly; work to minimize ambiguity in criticism; gauge how
much the student can usefully absorb on this occasion
...
This is not as easy as it
sounds
...
This is often regarded as an art form in
itself, replete with its appropriate allusions, nuances and put-downs
...

In the earlier stages of the research however, critical feedback should be
given with regret, be as clear and specific as possible, and be related to
the level of development of the student
...
If you give too much information about what is in need of correction the student may become overwhelmed and think that the task is
impossible
...
Your reaction should demonstrate
that you have taken account of what they say in the development of
your views
...
Always remember
that effective feedback is that which is accepted by the recipient as a
basis for further work, and you have to demonstrate your ability to
accept feedback too
...
This ‘action
replay’ is vital to avoid misunderstanding
...
The joint establishment of deadlines is important
...

Finally, students should be encouraged to write a summary of the meeting on one sheet of A4 and, having agreed it with the supervisor, make a
copy for the supervisor’s files
...
Apart from being specific
about what precisely is wrong with the student’s performance, it is also
necessary to know what kind of criticism is appropriate at a given point
in the student’s research career
...
You
could tell the student that when an unavoidable delay occurs, which
prevents the carrying out of an experiment or an interview for example,
students should not just stop working
...

At the same time a regular check can be kept on developments relating
to the removal of the obstacle
...

No matter how obvious it may seem to you, it is essential that you spell
out to the student, in very precise terms, just what it is that needs to be
redone and why
...
It is
primarily in this way that students can discover what it is they should
be watching for in their own work and so become better at judging
what is acceptable and appropriate
...
In the longer term, they have to be
taught how to become independent researchers in their own right
...
Doing a PhD is a very emotional experience, which
involves the whole person
...
Throughout their registration period it is highly
probable that you will need to take account of their personal lives
...
While
this is true of life at work in general, it is even more true of life within the
academic community
...
So it is important that you
understand that research students are emotionally more involved with
their work than are most people at work
...

There is much less likelihood of finding those skills within the academic
community, however
...
It is far worse for the student to think for a long time that everything
is reasonably satisfactory, only to discover at a very late stage that the work
is not suitable for writing up, or that the thesis will be entered only for an
MPhil after all
...
It is far preferable for the student to have some definite information
upon which to base decisions about future behaviour than to worry that
something isn’t quite right without knowing why
...
He said: ‘I’d like to if I possibly could, but if Dr Chadwick
thought I wasn’t capable of it I wouldn’t be too upset as long as he told me
...
’
Dr Chadwick was disappointed with his student’s slow progress and lack
of initiative
...
’
However, Charles had reported:
I asked him if he knew of any review articles but he doesn’t think
there are any
...
I still haven’t learned how to communicate with Dr Chadwick
...
I saw him in the lift
accidentally on the last day of last term and all we said was, ‘Hello’
...
I decided that he was so bored with what I wrote that he couldn’t
be bothered to criticize what I did
...

Adam had not enjoyed his years as a research student but was feeling
much better as the end came into view and he had some measure of
success at a conference
...
’ It is sad that this only happened once Adam had received support
for his ideas from others, who actually did consider them to be excellent
...


Introducing a structured ‘weaning’ programme
Supervisors can help research students become progressively more academically independent by introducing a process of weaning into their
style of supervision
...
This
can be achieved by a structured programme that gradually reduces the
amount of dependence as the research student gets further into the work
...
Later, students can be left to undertake a more complex piece of work
over a longer period
...
If the student has to move from the date originally arranged, an
adequate explanation is required
...

In the final stages the onus should be more on the student to initiate the
contact than it was in the beginning, but you should still be aware of a
responsibility to chase up a student who does not seem to be keeping to
the agreement
...
Get to this point by encouraging the following activities:
ٗ First the student prepares a rough draft that sets out ‘This is what I
think’, then corrects and rewrites the draft without referring to you
...
’ Then the student can again give the draft to you for
comment
...
At the end, all well-written records can be used and
integrated into the thesis itself
...
In Chapter 7 we described in some detail the
setting of goals within a time management programme (see diagram
p
...
It is important for you, as supervisor, to be aware that the length of
time that it takes for research students to become autonomous researchers
depends on the type of supervision that they receive
...
If they are left to their own
devices too early, however, or given deadlines that are too far into the
future before they are ready for this degree of unstructured planning, then
they will not learn how to cope on their own
...
Some students will take a relatively long time to
develop the necessary confidence
...
Other students will need
to be given general guidance from quite early on in what they should be
doing rather than detailed direction
...

One student requiring guidance early on was Greg, who was researching
in ancient history
...
I didn’t have to chase him
...
He works extremely well
...
Every bit of additional knowledge
served to motivate Greg to explore further
...


162 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

A possible paradigm for a structured weaning process in your overall
supervision could be:
ٗ Early direction
...

ٗ Intermediate weaning
...
The work is discussed with the student, and joint
decisions are made about what should be attempted and how long it
should take
...

ٗ Later separation
...
By now the supervisor should expect a detailed critical analysis of the work from the
student without prompting
...
The main requirement here is that supervisors
should recognize the stage that students have reached in their need for
support
...
Supervisors also need to
teach students, by example, how academics evaluate the results of their
own work and use this evaluation as a basis for revision and improvement
...
In addition, by
making explicit the interaction between what they plan to do and what
they have already done, supervisors can teach their students to be more
cautious and not to get carried away with overambitious projects
...

Once students have learned the skills and acquired the confidence
necessary to assess their own efforts, their dependence on you as supervisor begins to be superseded by self-reliance
...


I

Maintaining a helpful ‘psychological contract’

Cast your mind back to the start of this chapter and you will recall that
Freddy did not discuss with his supervisor how to conduct the research or
to what extent and how often Professor Forsdike should be kept informed
of results
...
They never discussed this problem,
and the situation continued without change for most of the time that
Freddy was working toward his PhD
...

A similar lack of communication existed between Adam and Professor
Andrews
...
The conversation would have been opened up enough
for the professor to convey his knowledge of the content and express his
doubts about the scope of what Adam had done
...
Professor Andrews would have been more expansive in his
comments, and Adam would not have spent most of his postgraduate
years believing that he was almost totally unsupervised
...
Putting a tick at the
bottom of each page as you finish reading it will inform your student that
nothing has been missed
...
The process of learning to do research and becoming a fully professional researcher involves periods of doubt and disillusionment, when it
seems that the only thing to do is to give up
...

Do not be taken in by rationalizations no matter how persuasive they
may be
...
Of course, you should be supportive when support
is needed
...

If there is a good reason for a year’s break, then set it out formally as a
break within the institutional framework
...

It is damaging to the contract between you for the student to live with
uncertainty or lack of constraints
...

Handling the situation in this way would ensure that the student felt the
supervisor was neither uncaring nor lacking in control
...

In order to maintain the psychological contract at an appropriate level it
is important that you play your role as supervisor in a firm way
...
The help you need to
provide is to chart a course for the student, avoiding the extremes of, on
the one hand, easing the path completely and, on the other, leaving the
student to founder, simply so that you might appear more sympathetic
...


I

Encouraging students’ academic role development

It is not sufficient for supervisors merely to ensure that postgraduates’
research and their reporting of it are progressing satisfactorily
...
But becoming a full
professional means more than having completed a research project to a
satisfactory standard: it means being able to contribute fully to academic
life
...

This preparation entails encouraging your students to give seminars on
their research and related topics and to attend seminars that others are
giving
...
Research students
should also gain experience of attending conferences, speaking from the
floor (as they have learned to do in seminars) and giving papers of their
own
...
You could
also give them a helping hand by introducing them to your own network
of contacts and encouraging them to get in touch with colleagues who are
working in their area of interest
...

Giving such support to your students will not take up very much of your
time and energy
...
Similarly, inviting them to lunch with you once
or twice when you are meeting a friend from another university does not
make much of a demand on you, yet it has dividends for the students out
of all proportion to the effort needed
...
By non-traditional we mean any of
those student groups covered in Chapter 9
...
In this section
we discuss these issues from the perspective of the supervisor, assuming
that you have made yourself familiar with the appropriate section of
Chapter 9
...


Part-time students
Part-time students are now in a majority in many disciplines where
appropriate arrangements are made for their requirements
...
Even when they are no longer a minority,
part-time students still have particular difficulties because most of their
life is spent not as a student
...
Library times,
for example, should be extended so that students who are not available
during usual working hours can still gain access to books and journals
...
As
well as limiting their exchange of information with peers, they can be
further disadvantaged if communication of changed locations or cancelled seminars does not reach them in time
...
As supervisor you should ensure that arrangements are made
for them to have all the access that they need
...
Supervisors must
ensure that the Registry is satisfied that the student will not suffer extreme
hardship nor be overlooked for possible financial support
...
The main psychological difficulty experienced by them is that of
having to switch from everyday work to research work in order to proceed
...

Guidance and help concerning how best to manage their work might
include the advice we give to all students in Chapter 5 on writing the
thesis that, when they do leave their research work, they should leave it in
the middle – mid-sentence, mid-idea, mid-design – rather than at a natural
break
...

Supervisors should always remember that part-timers need reinforcement of their student identity and a supportive framework for their
studies
...
They inevitably have extra problems, particularly if they come from non-English speaking backgrounds
...
They have to make
huge adaptations to study at our universities
...

They come from a large variety of countries, all of whom may be
experiencing different difficulties so that, as Geake and Maingard (1999)
observed, there are more individual differences among such students than
between them and native English-speaking students
...
Therefore supervisors, as well as becoming aware of their
common difficulties, must be sensitive to differences among them
...
They could be disconcerted
by avoidance of eye-contact when speaking to Malaysian students, and yet
discover the need to maintain eye-contact for longer than is necessary in
the British culture when holding the attention of their Arab students
...
While Japanese students may fear giving an incorrect answer and so ‘losing face’ by being
wrong, Chinese students may believe they will be considered arrogant and
bad-mannered if they seem to answer too confidently about their work
...
The attention given to
time constraints or the apparent neglect of them, is another issue
that often requires adjustment of previous norms on the part of the
student – with the understanding help of the supervisor
...
Eastern students have to
be helped to understand the major contrasts between the Asian and the
western attitudes to knowledge
...
Eastern academic traditions emphasize
consensus and harmony in place of the western tradition of challenge and
argument
...

It seems self-evident to state that a basic problem for students from nonEnglish speaking backgrounds is the language
...
So we blithely
encourage students’ participation in academic discourse which must be
informed by analysis, critical and reflective thinking, speculation and synthesis of ideas and information
...
There is the additional complication that, to a student who is not a native English speaker,
academic writing is almost a different language from everyday spoken
English
...

Even with language training there is also, for many supervisors, the
difficult decision to make as to how far to go in editing students’ written
work – or even in rewriting it
...
Knight (1999) makes the point that a relatively small
amount of rewiting (e
...
one small section of one chapter) would be justified on grounds of giving an example for the student to learn from, but it
would be difficult to defend a greater amount of rewriting
...
The
use of copyeditors, which university regulations do not normally proscribe, raises the same issue
...

We think it right that supervisors should very carefully restrict their
contribution, if the examination process is not to be undermined
...
It would be patently
unfair for students to be confronted with this problem in its entirety only
at the writing-up stage of their project
...
In many non-western cultures, for example, the
practice of meticulously giving credit for quotations used is not common,
and therefore students may be unwittingly guilty of plagiarism
...
This view may seem strange to us now, but we
should remember that it was not that long ago that it was considered
perfectly appropriate for a professor, for example, to take material from his
student’s report and simply include it in his own published papers
...

Financial problems can loom large, because students from non-English
speaking backgrounds lack the required language skills and work experience and consequently end up in poorly paid jobs
...
Such students also encounter problems
in negotiating with unfamiliar bureaucracies
...

Finally, overseas student expectations of supervisors may be inappropriate
...

But overseas students often expect an unrealistically high level of

HOW TO SUPERVISE AND EXAMINE

I 169

contribution from their supervisors towards the research and the thesis
...
Ryan and Zuber-Skerrit (1999),
based on work in Australia, is a collection of insightful analyses and case
studies highly relevant to the problems of supervising overseas students in
both Britain and Australia
...
Supervisors need to
be aware of the difficulties and differences and provide the greatly needed
sympathy and support
...

Therefore, it is important for supervisors to be aware of the more unusual
difficulties which such students have to face
...
They may experience discrimination by staff
and other students, which can take the form of unfounded perceptions
that emphasize deficits in abilities and underachievement due to their
background and culture, and incorporate ideas that, for example, black
individuals cannot be as clever as their white peers
...
Black individuals are conspicuous by
their absence from this level of education in the UK, so there is a clear lack
of role models for students from a wide range of ethnic minorities
...
Gundara (1997) gives a full discussion of the cultural
issues involved
...
Jewish students contend with anti-Semitism and disabled students struggle to establish their independence
...
Since 9/11 (the events in New York on 11 September 2001) the
world has become more afraid than ever of the possibility of attacks by
terrorists
...

Many of the suspects held captive by the Americans, as well as some who
succeeded in their suicide bombing of the World Trade Center, were
known to be university students
...
The suspicion is
likely to be greatest in politically-sensitive subjects such as nuclear physics
or aeronautics
...
Worries about the threat of
harassment or attack prevented some Jewish students from joining
...

For these reasons many minority students may be feeling cut off from
the main group which would have given them the much needed peer
support we recommend for all students
...


Women students
Even though women research students are no longer a small minority in
most subjects, there can still be problems of gender difference in the
supervisor–student relationship
...
Supervisors should
ensure that the allocation of scarce resources such as money for conference
attendance or part-time, paid research or teaching work does not
discriminate against any group
...
In a review of the
literature on gender differences in behaviour in small groups, Conrad and
Phillips (1995) found clear evidence that in mixed working groups men
tended to dominate
...

In the not unusual situation of a male academic supervising a female
student, it may be the case that the supervisor believes (wrongly) that
women are more emotional than men or feels that they would not know
how to cope with tears if they occurred, and so limit their criticism
...

Then the male student is given an advantage denied to his female colleague through no fault of her own
...
The moral is: do not hold
back important negative feedback from your woman student because of
being afraid that she may cry
...


HOW TO SUPERVISE AND EXAMINE

I 171

In Chapter 9 we refer to the rights that students have if they feel that
they are being harassed or treated in any way that makes them feel
uncomfortable
...
In order to ensure that you do not
inadvertently put yourself in a position where you can be accused of such
behaviour with any of your students, you must beware of unwittingly
acting in an inappropriate or overly sexual manner
...
It could be that a woman student
(or a student from a less tactile culture) would misinterpret such an action
and be upset by it
...
We believe that it is as important for supervisors to beware of
such relationships as it is for their students
...
(2004) note,
the power dimension to supervision complicates the notion of any consensual sexual relationship between student and supervisor
...
The result is that the work,
as well as the people, suffer
...
Non-traditional students are more
likely to be the victims and this is particularly the case with gay, lesbian,
bisexual and trans-gender students
...

Discuss with your student any problems in the gender aspect of the
student–supervisor relationship
...

Field trips could present a problem in this regard
...
Leonard (2001) gives the example of openly lesbian geology and geography students who have experienced problems with sleeping arrangements on such trips
...
If you are supervising students who you
know to be in one of the minority categories it would be a good idea to
suggest that they check such arrangements before setting out
...
As we pointed out in Chapter 9, people who have crossed

172 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

the gender divide have a very strong desire to be accepted in their new
identity
...
You
should show your awareness of the currently practising highly successful
trans-gender legal and medical specialists
...
Leonard (2001) relates the case of a bisexual
academic, accused of sexual harassment, who used as her defence of her
affairs with both male and female students, that teachers should use
every means at their disposal to excite them
...
We utterly disagree with this view and would suggest that the
fact that the supervisor in question was having to defend herself against
a sexual harassment charge points to its glaring limitations
...


Mature students
Universities have been quite successful in recruiting a wider range of
people who are returning to do a research degree after some years out of
education
...
The average age of academic
staff has remained in the early forties for some years and you, as supervisor,
may find that you have someone of the same age as a research student
...
In
fact some mature students might suddenly discover that they have been
thrust into a socioeconomic level of relative poverty
...

As we have stated in Chapter 9, there are departments where mature
students are the norm but it is also true that there are many departments
where they are very much in the minority
...

They, more than their more conventional colleagues, will feel that they
have to prove their ability to work at this high level
...
This is far from the
truth
...
They have the additional difficulty of learning all over again how
to play the role of student and how to interact with an academic superior
who may be their own age or, worse still, younger than them
...
It is up to
you, as their supervisor, to recognize the stress incurred by either of these
situations and point them in the direction of appropriate support
agencies
...
This group of students needs your protection as much as the
other groups discussed in this section
...
It requires
universities to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to ensure this
...
It will put
you in a good position to be of help to them if required
...

In summary of the whole of this section, we would say that nontraditional students are inevitably vulnerable in a system that is not
immediately geared to their needs
...


I

Supervising your research assistant

The tasks facing the supervisor which we have been analysing become
more complicated if the student is also a research assistant
...

This is the result of regulations brought in by research councils and
funding bodies who have discovered that often their thesis work and the
scientific research they are paid to do are not necessarily the same
...

However, if you do find yourself in the position of supervising your
research assistant, there are two roles which both the team leader/
supervisor and the research assistant/student have to play
...
Understandably the research team leader must have as
a main priority the completion of the research programme for which the
assistant is a human resource
...
At the same time the subordinate, in
the capacity of student, is entitled to the same service of supervision as all
other doctoral students
...
If the student’s thesis is on a different topic this gets squeezed out
...

Effectiveness in this situation requires three elements of good practice
from the supervisor
...
The second agreement
needs to be on what amount of time it is appropriate for the student to
spend on thesis work – perhaps a minimum and maximum per week as a
guideline
...
In their understandable commitment to managing
research projects to a successful outcome, they must not neglect the
important educational service, as described in this chapter, which they
need to give as supervisors of their students
...
Such an outcome would include:
ٗ a doctorate of quality completed on time;
ٗ advancing the topic as a result of the research;
ٗ a paper presented at a conference, so that the student has faced external
criticism;
ٗ meeting other professionals, allowing the student to argue with and
impress them so that they may be used as possible additional referees;
ٗ a paper published in an academic journal, so that the student has
experienced the journal refereeing process;

HOW TO SUPERVISE AND EXAMINE

I 175

ٗ a commitment by the student to postdoctoral research and publication;
ٗ a stimulating experience for both the student and the supervisor, which
has started the student on a research career
...

I

Training for supervision

Training for supervisors to increase their effectiveness is now the norm for
new staff, and more experienced academics are also encouraged to attend
...
Topics such as the university’s
guidelines on higher degrees, the role of the internal examiner, ethical
issues in research, how to aid students in formulating their research
question, and other problems in supervision are commonly discussed
...
You will meet other academics from different
departments and disciplines of your university and have the opportunity
to share experiences with them
...
In addition you will become
more confident that you are a good role model for future researchers
...
Over the years
research students will continue to feel neglected and depressed if their
needs are ignored
...

I

How to examine

Supervisors are not allowed to be the examiners of their own students, but
they are often called upon to examine others
...
How should they set about this important task?
First, we must reiterate that it is not possible to set rules and regulations
that allow the standards for a PhD to be established in a mechanical or

176 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

bureaucratic way
...
There is
usually basic agreement within a discipline concerning what they are
looking for in a good candidate
...
They
tend to see each as a unique product not open to generalizations
...

The regulations of the university usually include phrases like ‘making a
significant contribution to knowledge or understanding’ and ‘demonstrating a capacity to undertake independent research’
...

Examiners, like students, have to be aware of what standards are being
applied in their discipline by regularly reading and pondering upon newly
successful PhD theses
...
The
examining process may be helpfully compared to refereeing articles submitted for publication to journals
...
They help examiners to cope with such
questions as: Does the thesis show impressive depth? Does the student
demonstrate excellent critical understanding of the issues involved? Has
the student creatively integrated the research material to indicate attractive future lines of work? These are questions which often have to be
reformulated into: Does the thesis show enough depth? Does the student
demonstrate adequate critical understanding? Has the student sufficiently
integrated the research material to indicate future work? As in any examining situation, while examiners hope and look for excellent work, even at
this high level they are soon faced with the question: Is this good enough?
It may be helpful to reflect that, just as a First and a 2
...

However, students are often confused about what is required of them
and would like guidelines on method and form at the beginning
...
One student expressed what many were feeling when he
said: ‘At the seminar where the basic outline of a thesis was recommended
there was an emphasis on the problems of having to reduce an exotic,
once in a lifetime experience to a dry as dust thesis format’ (Phillips
1994b)
...

One topic that is often raised in the discussion subsequent to the oral
defence, is the problem of dealing with the candidate who has clearly been
the victim of inadequate supervision
...
Indeed
it was for this very reason that supervisors were eventually precluded from
being internal examiners as used to be the procedure in most universities
...

As we noted in Chapter 3, research councils put considerable pressure
on universities to complete the process of doctoral education and get candidates to submit their theses within four years of registration
...
But this change has lead some to wonder whether the time
limitation has caused a rush to submission and therefore an increase in the
proportion of candidates who are referred for further work, since this is
acceptable under the research councils’ rules
...

A less fortunate outcome would be pressure on examiners to allow
borderline theses to pass on the argument that the university department
needs to achieve a satisfactory number of successes for research council
appraisal purposes
...

As we discussed in Chapter 10 on the examination system, the aim of
the PhD process is to get the student to the stage of being a fully professional researcher
...
The degree is
awarded on the candidate’s academic achievement which includes the
thesis itself, defence of it at the oral examination and any supporting
material in the discipline that the candidate has carried out and published
...
This is for two reasons
...
They even have to sign a declaration to that effect
...
The PhD will not
then be awarded and a new oral examination will be set up, after a certain
period, to allow the candidate to get a better understanding of the implications of the research and thus to conduct a better defence
...
In Australia at the present time, the general
practice is to rely primarily on the written material with a supplementary
oral defence only in some cases
...
)

The oral examination
The oral examination is what remains of the original formal public disputation that took place on the presentation of a thesis in the Middle Ages,
after which the audience voted on whether to award the doctorate and
admit the candidate as a member of their faculty
...

There are considerable variations in the conduct of the viva
...
We give what we consider to be a useful
structure for the examination that avoids these two extremes
...
However, some
recent publications have tried to rectify this situation by going into some
detail which can help both candidates and examiners concerning what to
expect (Leonard 2001; Murray 2003; Tinkler and Jackson 2004)
...

Since nobody talks about it formally, much of what candidates believe
happens is told to them not by their supervisors but by other research
students
...

They usually learn that there will be general discussion of the whole thesis,
and they have sometimes heard stories of enormously long PhDs being
criticized on just one small detail
...
They see it as a battle and most are terrified
...
It is good practice therefore for an experienced examiner (who may well be the supervisor) to
discuss with the student the form that the examination will take, who
will be present, how long it will last, etc
...

In fact the oral examination, as the PhD degree itself, is not a battle since
the examiners and the candidate are on the same side
...
The examiners (one internal and one external) will ask questions
which require the candidate to respond, to defend the thesis and thus to
demonstrate the research professionalism expected
...
(If, on particular
multidisciplinary topics, two externals are appointed, then the four will
participate
...
The first is to
provide a friendly face to the candidate in an inevitably tense situation at
the beginning of the session
...
It is the supervisor’s responsibility to oversee subsequent
changes
...
They thus
have the responsibility to ensure that the discussion is conducted in a clear
and orderly fashion
...
For
example they will agree an order of asking questions, at least for the
beginning of the examination
...
This is preferable to a free-for-all where nobody in the room is sure
who will speak next or on what topic
...

As in all formal interview situations, it is good practice for chairpersons
to begin by asking a couple of simple questions to allow candidates to gain
confidence by hearing the sound of their own voice being attended to
seriously
...
If it is
necessary to go on beyond this time, then the chairperson should suggest
a break to allow the examiners to review what has taken place and the
candidates to renew their energies
...
If you are not able to fulfil some of them, or think
them inappropriate, do not simply neglect them
...

Be aware that you inevitably act as a role model for research students
...

Be aware that supervision, like undergraduate teaching, has to be
considered as an educational process and thought must be given to
the most appropriate teaching approaches
...

Since students can easily become discouraged, a significant part of a
supervisor’s task is keeping their morale high
...

Set up a helpful climate in which there are outline agreements on
what the student and the supervisor have to do
...
Review the agreements in
discussion and renegotiate them if necessary
...

Be aware of the pitfalls that can occur when you are supervising nontraditional students
...
Do not
expect to solve their problems but do give them support and understanding and point them in the direction of those who are able to
help them
...

Prepare for the task of examining by analysing accepted PhDs in
your field in order to ascertain what are the current standards of
professional research required for the doctorate
...


I

12

I

INSTITUTIONAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
I

I

This chapter is aimed at university decision-makers
...
Since a considerable proportion of university research is
carried out by postgraduates, it is clearly incumbent on institutional
authorities to ensure that they provide an environment which facilitates
good work by research students
...
Within the last decade, pressures from the Funding
Councils, the Research Councils, the Quality Assurance Agency and other
bodies have, to a considerable extent, brought this about
...
But the issues of the appropriate
education, professional development and practical support of PhD
students are now taken seriously
...

The public policy shifts that are acting as drivers for change can be
usefully summarized under four headings (Stainton-Rogers 2004):
1 The need to ensure that doctoral graduates are competent professionals
...
So there is the intention that in the course of carrying
out the specific research project, the student not only learns discipline

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HOW TO GET A PhD

based technical knowledge and skills, but also develops generic skills of,
for example, computer literacy, communication and work planning
...
The opportunity to learn and exercise
them should be provided by the university
...
It is now felt to be inadequate for an individual research
student to be working in isolation, having one or two supervisors whose
primary task is teaching
...
Universities should develop groups of
researchers in an environment that values research highly, and that has
the appropriate financial and other support to be productive
...

3 The need to adopt the principle of reflective learning
...
This is
achieved by their undertaking personal development plans (PDP) which
list their prior achievements, their aspirations and therefore the learning
that they need to carry out
...
The use of a system of documents to
support reflective learning should be standard university practice
...

There has been a steady increase over the years in the proportion of parttime research students
...
This trend
should be encouraged as being economically more viable, with the corollary that appropriate study, research and financial arrangements are
made for such students
...

Clearly, not all of these policies are without controversy and there are
bound to be tensions as the changes evolve
...
A capable supervisory team, an
adequate research environment, success indicators such as targets for
completion times and rates, effective monitoring and feedback mechanisms, among other provisions, all have to be in place
...

In this chapter we outline what we see as the present responsibilities of
the university in providing structures, policies, regulations and resources
in order to fulfill these guidelines
...
Universities must ensure that their
policies and practices in regard to PhD students continue to improve
...

This provides institutional recognition that PhD students are an integral
component of the university for whom resources are available
...
The first is to provide support for students, by helping faculties and departments carry out good
doctoral education
...

The second task of the school is to provide support for supervisors,
including provision of resources for training (particularly in the nontechnical, relational aspects of the supervisor’s role) and in recognition for
teaching credit of supervisory activity
...
This should include
providing guidelines for supportive research environments, developing
supervisory arrangements that provide access to experienced supervisors,
and establishing good feedback mechanisms
...


I

Participation in a regional hub

In previous editions of this book we have advocated the advantages of
universities participating in collaborative relationships with others in the
same region
...
They cover the whole country as listed on the UK GRAD
website ...
ac
...

The hubs are a collaborative effort between the participating universities, with some support from the research councils
...
The hubs also offer assistance in encouraging networking between
academia and regional employers as a contribution to increasing the
career options of doctoral graduates
...
187ff )
...
The Yorkshire and NE Hub workshop ‘showcases a variety of postgraduate skills training options available to suit all budgets’
...

As part of the future development of hub activities universities might
also engage in more collaborative research and coordination so that students from other universities can attend relevant seminars at their local
university
...
During the long
summer vacation, when university facilities are underutilized by more
conventional students, study rooms and libraries could be made accessible
to additional postgraduates
...


I

Support for students

Facilities for departments to support doctoral research activity
Every department should have the space and resources to provide a room
with desks, available for the use of research students
...
The institution should ensure that there are adequate
facilities for research students including, for example, laboratory space
and apparatus, access to a technician, as well as the more general resources
of adequate library and computing services
...
These would be relatively modest, probably not
more than would be required to support such activities as the occasional
postal survey for social science or business students, additional cultures
for biology students, microfiches for history students, conference fees,
photocopying and travel costs
...
Library hours, for example, may need to be extended so
that students who are not on campus during usual working hours can still
gain access to books and journals
...


A university-wide structured induction procedure
All institutions should adopt a university-wide structured induction procedure for newly registered research students
...
It is important that new students know that
there are identifiable academics who have a major responsibility for them
...
In the beginning they should cover informative topics about the university: how to
make the best use of the library services or the academic computing
services; where to find relevant academics or research students in other
departments
...
‘Leave them
to their own devices to settle down’ is a most inefficient and punitive
strategy for this stage of the proceedings
...
As recommended by the research councils, sessions
encouraging the development of the generic skills of communication, personal effectiveness, team working and career management, should be part
of this programme
...

Such a programme achieves, at the very beginning, the raising of awareness of the processes involved in undertaking a three-year period of
research training
...
This will not protect them from experiencing boredom, depression and the rest but at least they will be able to
recognize what is happening to them when it does happen and this will be
valuable
...

Such a series of meetings enables students to identify others in a situation similar to their own and so makes them feel part of a community,
rather than reinforcing the differences between disciplines and faculties
...
Finally, it
creates a network and enables them to choose whether they wish to continue meeting as a group, perhaps without any member of staff, to discuss
their progress and their problems
...


A handbook for university research degree students
The handbook for university research degree students should be regularly
updated
...

Key information would include: a description of the university structure,
regulations for registration, upgrading, fees, examinations, awards and a
code of practice for supervisors and research students
...
The code spells out what is legitimately expected by students
of supervisors (e
...
, appropriate expertise of the supervisor in the subject
and topic, minimum frequency of supervisory tutorials, prompt and constructive response to submitted written work) and, in turn, by supervisors
of students (e
...
, to work conscientiously and independently, to keep a lab
record of experimental work, to present written work at the agreed time)
...
This should provide guidelines particularly relevant to research students, such as ethical
aspects of experimentation and data collection, the inadmissibility of
plagiarism and data falsification
...

Remember too that it is only through ethnic monitoring that universities
can tell whether they are treating students fairly and if they are really
providing access to research degree study for a diversity of students from
different backgrounds
...


English language support where necessary
Where students from non-English speaking backgrounds are accepted for
a research degree it is the responsibility of the institution, not the

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

I 187

individual supervisor, to provide English language training
...

Native English speakers may sometimes benefit from these classes too
...
It is unacceptable to
take high fees from overseas students without providing an appropriate
service in return
...
Resources need to
be allocated to remedy this situation
...
It is
important for them to be aware of precisely the level of written English
needed for an acceptable thesis
...


Support for non-traditional students
With the increasing diversity of students, institutions should ensure that
the academic environment is free from harassment or discrimination
...
These should cover such issues as those discussed
in Chapters 9 and 11
...

A particular problem for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender students
is the fact that, unlike other non-traditional students, they have to decide
whether or not to declare themselves openly
...


I

Resources for supervisors

The training of supervisors
Training is needed in order to help academics to develop more effectively
in their roles as supervisors
...

A majority of universities are accepting this responsibility and allocating
resources to enable training groups to be mounted for new supervisors, but

188 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

only a minority arrange them for all supervisors, experienced as well as
new
...

During the training there should be the opportunity for supervisors to
think about issues specific to managing research; to listen to what specialists in the area have to say and to discuss with their peers any doubts or
problems they may have
...
Some think that everyone is using
the same framework and are astonished to discover large variations in
practice
...
The topics
covered will vary but should include improving selection of research
students, and the skills involved in giving effective feedback, supervising
students’ writing and inculcating appropriate academic standards
...

If adequate resources were allocated by all universities to enable this
activity to take place, the role of the academic supervisor would become
more clearly defined and the standards improved
...
Traditionally academics have been expected to accept doctoral students as an addition to
other duties
...
This has sometimes resulted
in research students being treated in a perfunctory way because supervisors feel that any supervision is being done out of the goodness of their
heart and supplementary to their ‘real’ duties
...
Supervision of research students should be accounted for in staff
planning schedules and budgeted for accordingly, both in staff time and
financial costs
...
This is a
particular concern with lead supervisors who will be expected to spend
considerable time with their students
...
We consider
six to be an appropriate maximum but, for this to be effective, it assumes

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

I 189

that there is good back-up support from the research tutor and other
academics in associated roles
...
Other institutions inappropriately regard
supervising PhD students as research work rather than teaching and so
give no teaching credit
...
Such a development can only take place in the
context of a system that attempts to monitor all the work of academics in
order to ensure that the teaching and administrative tasks are distributed
fairly – and this needs to be established
...
Making resources available to ensure that supervision is an integral and recognized part of an
academic’s responsibilities would greatly improve the effectiveness of
doctoral education
...
This support should allow a considerable
amount of the academic’s time, say a half, to be devoted to this post with
consequent reduction in teaching duties
...
We shall refer to it as doctoral research tutor
...


I

Providing appropriate regulations

Selection of doctoral students
Universities should have a policy to encourage their faculties to think
more broadly when considering applications from people who do not
have the standard qualifications for entry to a research degree
...
Such monitoring is a precondition for challenging tacit assumptions and helping universities to meet the goals and
targets of their equal opportunities policies, even though as Bird (1996)
points out, there are still people who perceive the whole monitoring
exercise itself to be racist
...
In classic studies
Hudson (1960) and Miller (1970) discussed the poor predictive quality of
final undergraduate examination results
...

Even though this has been a topic of discussion for more than 40 years,
little or nothing has been done about it
...
In addition to research skills,
they include skills in research management, communication, networking
and team working, career management and personal effectiveness
...

We reject those who have the enthusiasm, determination and persistence to apply themselves to research just because they have not managed
to achieve at least an upper second in their degree
...
Even experienced supervisors have difficulty in describing
the embryonic qualities that will gradually develop into the more mature
characteristics that are required of a successful research worker
...


I

Monitoring of students’ progress

Many universities have regulations that ensure the effective monitoring of
research students’ progress
...
It
is then submitted by the department to the research school
...
Regulations for
breaks in studies, suspension of registration and an appeals procedure that
is seen to offer students an unbiased review of their cases, all have their
part to play in facilitating students’ progress and the optimal use of
resources
...
It enables them
to keep a record of all their personal development activities, including
courses attended, together with any validating documents
...
If properly organized, it
assists in job applications after the PhD has been obtained
...
We would strongly recommend that, in
future, such statistical records on student progress be maintained
...


I

Upgrading from MPhil to PhD registration

It is important to have formal procedures in operation to determine
whether and when upgrading from MPhil to PhD occurs
...

Research students are usually registered for a generic degree or an MPhil
and then retrospectively upgraded to PhD registration
...
It provides information on the development of any potential problems for a given student
before the problem grows out of proportion
...

Phillips (1992) found that there is wide variety in the way that this part
of the process is handled
...
These include mandatory written
papers and a panel interview based on the written work
...

While both these approaches include talking about a document produced by the candidate, we think it important that the university should
set up a common procedure for upgrading
...
In this way only students whose work is of sufficient potential will
be allowed to proceed to the PhD
...
The thesis is the demonstration that the candidate has made
a research contribution of a sufficient standard to be admitted and to have
the title conferred
...
To maintain integrity it is important
for the regulations to state that external examiners must be in a position to
make an independent assessment
...

Two examples known to us will illustrate the dangers
...
This would, of course, be conditional on the student passing
the degree
...
It was purely by chance, since they
had different professional names, that the approving committee discovered that he was the husband of the supervisor
...


I

A forum for review of the PhD

The nature of doctoral education, like all higher education, is subject to
change
...
Four important issues, which would appear to be on
the agenda of many universities, will be considered here
...
The argument is that
the attempt to evaluate academic competence on the basis of a large ‘big
bang’ project is unrealistic – particularly as it takes place at the initial
stages of the researcher’s career
...
Thus the PhD should be awarded
on the basis of, say, four conceptually linked projects, each of which is
carried out to the standards of publishable papers in refereed academic
journals
...
It fits in

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

I 193

well with the approach that we have been putting throughout this book
on the professional nature and meaning of a doctorate
...
Useful, publishable academic contributions are
more likely to result from such a series of appropriately related studies
...
The definition of ‘reputable’ would
be the responsibility of the examiners
...
This route to the doctorate is offered by many
universities, normally to full-time staff only, and without the benefit of
supervision, although an ‘advisor’ is often appointed (Powell 2004)
...
g
...

The project route, with supervision in place, could advantageously be
offered as an optional alternative to the more traditional ‘big bang’
PhD
...
The law of intellectual copyright, which attempts to protect the
rights of knowledge generators, including researchers, is continuing to
develop fast
...

In law, all authors – including doctoral students – are entitled to the
copyright benefits from their written and published work
...
Recognition (called ‘paternity rights’ in law, even if the author is a
woman!) means that they are entitled to be named as the authors of any
writing that they produce, and this protects against plagiarism
...
The first contentious issue is that
some universities ask doctoral students (even though they are not
employees) to sign away their copyright and moral rights
...

This is somewhat of a grey area, still to be tested in court
...

A second issue that has come into much greater contention is that of the
appropriate recognition in published papers of the relative contributions
of student and supervisor
...
In the UK these pressures have been exacerbated by the research assessment exercise, which
seeks to assess the research output of universities funded by the higher
education funding councils
...
Although it
is technically possible to submit a published paper by the student alone as
one of the four on the supervisor’s list, this is rarely done, and its impact
on the assessment is more dubious
...
How
justified is this practice?
There are large variations between the cultures of different disciplines
here, as we discussed in Chapter 1
...
In these circumstances the argument
for joint authorship is apparent
...
In this situation joint authorship appears less justified, unless
the paper is actually jointly written
...
It is important therefore to have a full discussion early in the
doctoral research, so that agreement can be obtained on the appropriate
practice
...

For example the University of Hong Kong guidelines state that:
ٗ All those who have genuinely and significantly contributed to the
work (and only those) should be listed as authors
...

ٗ Authors should be listed in relation to their contribution to the work,
with the primary author being the one who has done the most work
...

(Butler 1995)
Given that conflicts may arise, clear guidelines are needed on student
recognition and those from Hong Kong might well serve as a starting point
for discussion
...


The PhD in a practice-based discipline
In practice-based disciplines such as art, music or design and technology
there is an ongoing debate on the form of a PhD
...
This is now accepted in most universities
...
In fact, there is a gradual
shift towards the artefact being the main focus of the doctoral research
with explanatory text only as a supporting document
...
This is the crucial difference between an artist’s private practice –
developing their own work just for themselves – and practice as research
(sometimes referred to as ‘research through practice’)
...
) speak for itself
...
The debate
centres around what the weighting should be between them
...
The creative part must be fully open to examination by illustration,
exhibition or multimedia presentation
...
The presentation of this developmental history might even be considered acceptable in lieu of an analysis
in words
...
They must be able to provide a rationale for
the work undertaken
...
In addition, the
project needs to be set within a larger context involving current issues
...
This contribution could change previous
work by using different materials or develop it with new tools
...
As in any PhD, there is also a need to convince the examiners that the candidate understands what is involved in
conducting the research
...

It is the responsibility of universities to define what constitutes an
acceptable PhD submission but, to date, we know of none that accept a
completed artefact without any supporting written document
...
It is known as the professional doctorate – or sometimes as the ‘taught doctorate’ – although the latter name does seem to be
a contradiction in terms in view of the fact that the doctorate is awarded to
recognize an individual’s contribution to the development of the field,
rather than just what has been studied
...

Just as the PhD requires a contribution to the advancement of the
academic field, these doctorates require candidates to demonstrate a contribution to the advancement of professional practice
...

The degrees have been named for the professional activity
...
Candidates for the Doctor of
Business Administration (DBA), the Doctor of Education (EdD) and the
Doctor of Engineering (EngD) are expected to demonstrate that they have

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

I 197

made an original contribution by undertaking an effective application of
theory and knowledge in a professional setting
...
All the programmes
involve students in carrying out specified activities on the way to the final
project in order to develop their research and professional skills
...
Each
of these modules is subject to assessment and satisfactory completion is
required before the candidate can proceed to the final project (which may
be called either a dissertation or a thesis)
...
The
supervisory team will include an academic from the university and a practitioner from the relevant organization in which the application takes
place
...
) Since successful completion of the earlier projects is
required and taken into account in the award of the doctorate, the word
length requirement of final dissertation project is shorter than that of the
PhD
...

An issue in these doctorates is the level required to demonstrate an original contribution to professional practice, and thus justify the degree of
Doctor
...
Strangely the student here
is often required to spend less time on the final project
...
The obvious answer to this question is no, a master’s degree
is the appropriate qualification for an effective practitioner
...
So
a key component of the final thesis required in many cases is a self-analysis
of the work carried out and a reflection on the use of academic knowledge
in a practical situation
...
The lessons
learned from this reflection are evaluated as a contribution to professional
practice
...
Its advocates (e
...
Scott et
al
...
2004) maintain that its professional orientation means
that it is a different activity from the PhD, with the implication that it is
different but equal
...

However the processes involved in studying for a professional doctorate,
such as issues of relationships with the supervisor, time management, the
problems of part-time study, etc
...


I

Departmental responsibilities

Departments are a key factor in successful doctoral education
...
Tutors should have this administrative responsibility
formally recognized as part of their overall workload
...
This is important because small problems, if confronted at an early stage, can be prevented from erupting into
major difficulties that threaten the very continuation of the student’s
progress
...

The problem when the tutor is a lecturer is in ensuring that all members
of the department take the role seriously
...
The appointment of a senior member of staff as research
tutor recognizes the importance of doctoral education in the work of the

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

I 199

department
...

There are a number of tasks for the tutor to carry out
...
The maintenance of standards requires that all British students be
interviewed and, wherever possible, overseas applicants too
...

To help in maintaining student progress the tutor should operate a system for six-monthly monitoring of students’ work via supervisors
...
Regular reports to the staff group on the overall
position of the department’s research students should be provided
...
Joint
meetings with student and supervisors together might also be appropriate
...
This covers the ability and motivation of the
student and the interest and commitment of the supervisors
...

The tutor will need to liaise with supervisor colleagues to ensure that
there are sufficient resources provided to back up the proposed research
...
Help in obtaining access to fieldwork sites, such as schools or
industrial organizations, may be given
...
This
requires maintaining a consistent standard, which is communicated to all
students so that they are aware of what is required of them
...
This can
inhibit their ability to study
...
They should be required to read and evaluate
recently accepted PhD theses in order to understand what it is they are
aiming for
...

Being asked to carry out a task, in pairs or small groups, helps students to

200 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

come to terms more easily with what is required
...

This analysis should be presented in a departmental doctoral seminar, so
that students may begin to acquire the confidence of presenting their
ideas to others for feedback
...

The research tutor must become an expert in the administrative
arrangements needed for submission and examination of the final thesis
...

Finally, the research tutor has a major part to play in all the activities
described in the following sections
...
In order to widen the pool of possible
applicants, we suggest that there should be a special open evening for
research students at which prospective supervisors talk about their
research interests and the facilities that can be offered
...
Selection would be improved if a wider
range of characteristics were to be taken into account
...

In addition to interviewing, classic tests of problem solving and flexible
thinking along the lines of those developed by Wason (1960, 1968) should
be considered for use
...
The correctness of the
answer is only of secondary importance in identifying research potential
...

A short test of writing in English is also an effective aid to selection
...


INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

I 201

An additional problem with the increasing number of research students
is a tendency for them to be allocated to supervisors
...
Academic staff should have the full support and
encouragement of their department to be involved in the selection of their
own research students
...

The procedures might also involve a formal research proposal together
with some evidence of having knowledge of the subject area
...
Others consider the research proposal to be more suited
to the upgrading procedures once the student has been working for a year
or more towards the research degree
...
In
fact, it is unlikely that a well-constructed research proposal would be possible before the student has spent some time developing the necessary
skills in a research environment
...
In addition, some guidance on which aspect of a topic is
likely to be looked on favourably by a particular member of staff would
make sense at this stage
...
The proposal would allow the selectors to ascertain
whether there is anybody available and willing to supervise the specific
topic, and whether the candidate is aware of what is involved in constructing and conducting the research and has sufficient background knowledge
to commence work at the level required
...
These difficulties occur in many
areas, but in particular, time allocation and financial pressures during the
period of study are common causes of stress for many part-time students
...


Selection of supervisors
An important departmental responsibility is the setting up of adequate
criteria for the selection of supervisors
...

Ideally only supervisors who are high on both aspects would be selected
– and even so they will normally require some training, as described
above, to be fully effective
...

Students who experience their supervisors as being very involved on nonresearch activities – teaching, administration, policy, consultancy – at the
expense of doing research, very soon come to devalue their research work
and are less likely to finish
...

Experience of supervision to successful completion of the student’s PhD
is such an important factor that at least one of the supervisors must have
achieved this
...
It is becoming more and
more unlikely for a student to have a single supervisor, no matter how
established in the subject, who has not had this experience
...

In addition the departmental tutor should work to encourage the good
supervisory practices described in Chapter 11
...
Non-completion has as
much to do with feelings of isolation and alienation as it has to do with
any lack of intellectual ability
...
Therefore
the context in which the students are working becomes vitally important
and departments should ensure that their research students are not
suffering social isolation
...
The research tutor needs to set up meetings for the research
students so that they have a feeling of belonging to a university and are
able to develop a sense of identity as a member of a research community
...

Research students have to be constantly reminded that they are not
working in isolation and that there are people who are interested in their
work and their progress
...
A
contributory factor in non-completion is the belief by students that they
are letting nobody down if they decide not to continue
...

Indeed, if they have research council funding, the university would be
penalized because of their non-completion
...
Considering gender differences in communication and debate,
however, it is very important that departments consider ways of introducing self-help groups in such a way so that the groups are appropriate
for all students
...

ٗ It provides a common educational core of both discipline-specific and
generic skills
...

Unless the core of studies leads to the award of a degree such as the
MRes, the courses should not be examined
...

However, the effectiveness of a doctoral programme depends upon how
stringently departments interpret the requirement for taught courses
...
Yet students want to proceed
with their research rather than take courses the relevance of which they
question
...
Therefore exemptions from
courses should be permitted if a good case is made on the basis of previous
work
...

The core teaching arrangements should include the induction programme for new students described above, opportunities for students to
present seminar papers on their work, and regular discussion of the issues
that arise in getting a PhD of the kind discussed in this book
...
Programmes have the added benefit that
they enable research students to become an identifiable section of a
department
...
The existence of a programme makes it easier to
obtain physical space and material resources for students, to arrange teaching credit recognition for the work of supervisors, and to facilitate changes
between supervisors should this become necessary
...
The
resulting structure provides a clear framework for students to identify with
and from which they can receive social support
...
In this system students are selected to work in a specific
area: for example, stress in alloys (in a department of materials science) or
stress at work (in a department of industrial psychology)
...
The cohort is led by two members of staff with an
interest in the chosen topic area, and these two people act as supervisors to
all members of the group until such time as this is no longer appropriate
...
The format is that of a workshop in which one member’s progress, problems and thinking are discussed by the staff and other students
...
In this way there is a constant sharing and exchange of
views and the group becomes a support network
...
This system is particularly appropriate for part-time
students since it provides reinforcement of their identity as students and a
supportive framework for their studies
...

It may be that even after all members of the cohort have been assigned
to individual supervisors (and the cohort leaders may act in this capacity)
they still wish to meet as a group
...

This system has many advantages
...
Smaller departments will have difficulty in recruiting applicants who wish to study
closely related topics
...
There are inevitably potential hazards which need to be guarded

206 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

against in this development, the most formidable of which is the view that
PhD students should be trained only in doctoral programmes
...
Individual students, well supervised, have an important place, if only to set limits to the centralization of
research resources that is currently so prevalent
...
At a time when academic
policy-makers are seriously trying to improve this aspect of higher education, it is crucial that policies be defined that work to the advantage of the
whole system
...

Provide support to doctoral students through the establishment of a
research school, a structured induction procedure, facilities for
departments, additional essential information and any necessary
language tuition
...

Provide appropriate regulations for doctoral education and a forum
for the regular review of the nature of the PhD
...

Regularly review the selection methods and criteria for acceptance of
students into the department
...

Encourage collaborative groups and meetings among students
...


I

Conclusion

2

3

4
5

6
7

The ideas in this book are all based on systematic study and practical
experience, over many years, of the PhD in operation
...
As well as
improving the quality and completion rate of doctorates, these policies
would greatly improve the experience that individual students have of
actually doing a PhD
...
The items have
all been stated positively so that ideally each one of them should be
marked ‘Strongly Agree’ (SA)
...

After first completing the questionnaire individually, it would be sensible
for you to share your diagnosis with fellow doctoral students in order for
you to help each other to work on strategies and tactics for improvement
...
As you go through the questionnaire, please list on a separate sheet the reasons for your opinion
...

SA A U D SD

208 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

P2 Under no circumstances will I take a new job before finishing my
PhD
...

SA A U D SD
P4 I am confident that I can make ‘an original contribution to knowledge’ in my thesis
...

SA A U D SD
P6 I regularly set myself realistic deadlines and achieve them
...
e
...

SA A U D SD
P8 I take every opportunity to produce written work (reports, draft
papers, draft chapters) in order to improve my writing skills
...

SA A U D SD

Support from my supervisor
S1

My supervisor is an experienced researcher with a good knowledge of
my research area
...

SA A U D SD

S3

I am in regular contact with my supervisor, who is always available
when needed
...

SA A U D SD

S5

My supervisor always reads my work well in advance of our meetings
...

SA A U D SD

S7

I am always punctilious in keeping appointments with my supervisor
...

SA A U D SD

S9

I have a good friendly relationship with the departmental secretary
which helps to keep me in contact with my supervisor
...

SA A U D SD

Support from my department
D1 The department provides adequate physical and financial resources
for my research (e
...
lab or other working space, equipment, library
access)
...

SA A U D SD
D3 The department provides a stimulating seminar programme for
doctoral students to which I contribute
...

SA A U D SD
D5 The department provides opportunities for social contact with
academic staff which I have taken up
...

SA A U D SD

210 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

D7 The department organizes meetings to discuss the nature of the doctoral process and the relevant university regulations applying to my
research work which I have attended
...

SA A U D SD

I

I

REFERENCES
I

I

Bird, J
...
Buckingham: SRHE and Open
University Press
...
(1995) Communication to the electronic conference, 11 February
...
ac
...
and Jeffs, T
...
Carter, T
...
K
...
Buckingham: Open University Press
...
and Phillips, E
...
(1995) From isolation to collaboration: a positive
change for postgraduate women? Higher Education, 30(3): 313–22
...
Zuber-Skerritt (ed
...
Lismore:
Southern Cross University Press
...
and Atkinson P
...
Maidenhead: Open
University Press
...
, Atkinson, P
...
(2004) Supervising the Doctorate
...

Maidenhead: SRHE and Open University Press
...
R
...
(1976) Supervision and examination of higher degree students,
Bulletin of the University of London, 31: 3–6
...
and Maingard, C
...
Ryan and O
...
Buckingham: Open University Press
...
(1997) Professional scholars and scholarly professionals, The New
Academic, 6 (2): 19–22
...
(1997) Intercultural issues and doctoral studies, in N
...

Varma (eds) Working for a Doctorate
...

Hartley J
...

Hickson, D
...
and Pugh, D
...
(2001) Management Worldwide: Distinctive Styles Amid
Globalization, 2nd edn
...


212 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

Hockey, J
...

Hudson, L
...

Knight, N (1999) Responsibilities and limits in the supervision of NESB research
students in the social sciences and humanities, in Y
...
Zuber-Skeritt
(eds) Supervising Postgraduates from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds
...

Kuhn, T
...
(1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
...

Leonard, D
...
Graves and V
...
London: Routledge
...
(2001) A Woman’s Guide to Doctoral Studies
...

Mapstone, E
...
(1998) War of Words: Women and Men Arguing
...

Medawar, P
...
(1964) Is the scientific paper a fraud? in D
...
) Experiment
...

Miller, G
...
(1970) Success, Failure and Wastage in Higher Education
...

Mills, G
...
and Castle, A
...

Murray, R
...
Buckingham, Open University Press
...
(2003) How to Survive your Viva
...

Phillips, E
...
(1983) The PhD as a learning process
...

Phillips, E
...
(1991) Learning to do research, in N
...
Smith and P
...
London: Routledge
...
M
...
Zuber-Skerritt (ed
...

Brisbane, Queensland: Tertiary Education Institute, University of Queensland
...
M
...
J
...
) Quality
in PhD Education
...

Phillips, E
...
(1994a) Avoiding communication breakdown, in O
...
Ryan (eds) Quality in Postgraduate Education
...

Phillips, E
...
(1994b) Quality in the PhD: points at which quality may be assessed,
in R
...
) Postgraduate Education and Training in the Social Sciences:
Processes and Products
...

Phillips, E
...
(1996) The quality of a good thesis, in O
...
)
Frameworks for Postgraduate Education
...

Phillips, E
...
(2001) The induction of graduate research students, in P
...
)
Student Induction in Practice, SEDA paper 113
...

Phillips, E
...
and Zuber-Skerritt, O
...


REFERENCES

I 213

Popper, K
...
London: Hutchinson
...
(2004) The Award of the PhD by Published Work in the UK
...

Rugg, G
...
(2004) The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research, Maidenhead:
Open University Press
...
and Zuber-Skeritt, O
...
Buckingham: Open University Press
...
(1992) Achieving a PhD: Ten Students’ Experience
...

Scott, D
...
, Lunt, I
...
(2004) Professional Doctorates
...

Snow, C
...
(1958) The Search
...

Stainton-Rogers, W
...
Internal
memorandum, Open University, Milton Keynes
...
and Jackson, C
...
Maidenhead:
SRHE and Open University Press
...
, Thomas, G
...
and Robinson, E
...
(1992) The writing strategies of
graduate research students in the social sciences, Studies in Higher Education,
17(2): 155–67
...
C
...

Wason, P
...
(1968) Reasoning about a rule, Quarterly Journal of Experimental
Psychology, 20: 273–81
...
C
...

Watson, J
...
(1968) The Double Helix
...

Watson, J
...
and Crick, F
...
C
...

Whitehand, J
...
R
...


I

I

INDEX
I

abstract, 60, 137
abstraction, 56
academic role development, 164–5
academic writing, 167
access, 165–6
advice, 95, 101
ageism, 129, 173
aims
examiners, 28–9
research councils, 29–30
students, 25–6
supervisors, 26–8
this book, 5
universities, 29–30
appeals procedures, 142–4
appendices, 60–1
assertiveness skills, 118, 121
attendance, 13
attitude, 101–3
Australia, 178
bachelor’s degree, 20
background theory, 57–8
bisexual students, 127–8, 133,
171–2
black students, 169
borderline theses, 177
boredom, 76

I

brilliance, 77
British government, 53
British Universities degree structure,
20–1
British University Research Assessment
Exercise, 8
Cambridge, 21
casual teaching, 91–2
chapter headings, 60–1
Code of Practice for Research Degree
Programes (QAA), 182
codes of conduct, 154, 182, 186
Commission for Racial Equality, 120–1
commitment, 101–3
communication barriers, 105
supervision, 146, 148
women students, 123–4
conclusions, 59–60
conference papers, 153
conferences, 152
confidence, 79, 151, 156, 161, 164
conformity, 97
constraints, 52
contacts, 153
contracts, 106, 113, 183
contribution, 59–60, 194
copyeditors, 85, 168

216 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

copyright, 193–5
critical examination, 49
criticism, 99, 110, 150–1, 155
cultural diversity, 117–19, 166–7
data
collection and analysis, 85
critical examination, 49
data theory, 58–9
deadlines, 87–9, 158, 161
degree structure, 20–1
departmental doctoral programme,
204–5
Departmental Gender Subcommittee,
125
departmental rating, 7
departmental responsibilities, 198–202
dependence, transfer, 74
disability legislation, 130
disabled students, 130–1, 134, 169, 173
discrimination, 112, 119, 126, 128, 130,
169
dissertation, 44
distance supervision, 12–13
Doctor of Business Administration
(DBA), 196–7
Doctor of Education (EdD), 196–7
Doctor of Engineering (EngD), 196–7
doctoral cohort system, 205–6
doctoral education
nature of, 2–4
doctoral programme, 204–5
doctorates
meaning, 20–1
professional, 196–8
doctor’s degree, 20–1
DPhil, 21
drop-out rate, 29
Eastern academic traditions, 167
eliciting, 152
eligibility, 10–11
employment, 43–4, 153–4, 182, 191
English language, 116–17, 186–7, 200
English reserve, 119
enthusiasm, 71–2, 101–3
environment, 182
equal opportunities policies, 189

ethical values, 154
ethnic minorities, 119–21, 132
supervision, 169–70
ethnic monitoring, 186, 189
euphoria, 78–9
evaluation, 23, 58, 59, 86, 147, 150,
158, 162
examination system, 135–44
examiners
aims, 28–9
appointment, 136, 192
examining, 175–9
excitement, 101–3
exploitation, 125–7
exploratory research, 51–2, 53
external examiners, 192
facilities, 184–7
feedback, 147
effective, 150, 155–60
women students, 123–4
female academics see women
field of interest, 82, 84
field trips, 171
finance, 116, 182
Flesch Reading Ease score, 68
focal theory, 58, 84
footnotes, 66
format, 67
frustration, 76–7
funding bodies, 173, 181
future development, 8
gay students, 127–8, 133, 171–2
generalizations, 49
generic skills, 182, 185, 204
goals
completion of task, 77–8
long and short-term, 86–7
grants, 11–12
handbook, 186
harrassment
disabled people, 131
heterosexist, 128–9
racial, 120–1
sexual, 125–7
heterosexist harrassment, 128–9

INDEX
historical studies, 59
holists, 64
honesty, 100–1
humanities, 3, 67
hypotheses, 50
hypothetico-deductive method, 50–1
impartiality, 68, 122
independence, 74, 97–8, 192
induction, 185–6
inductive method, 50
institutional change, xiii
institutional responsibilities, 181–206
integrity, 154, 192
intellectual property rights, 168, 193–5
intelligence-gathering, 47, 48, 49
interest, increasing, 73–4
internal examiners, 136
internet groups, 90–1
interruptions, 152, 156
interviews, 199, 200
involvement, 73–4
isolation, 18, 72–3, 115, 166, 169, 203
IT, 13
ivory tower myth, 17–19
Jewish students, 169, 170
joint papers, 137, 194
journal articles, 153
Journal of Graduate Education, 91
knowledge, 151, 167
language, 67, 116–17, 186–7
league tables, 29
lesbian students, 127–8, 133, 171–2
limitations, 49
literature review, 8, 57–8
litigation, 144
master’s degree, 20
mature students, 129–30, 133, 172–3
meetings, 97, 99–100, 149, 152, 158,
185
method section, 65
methodology, 50–1, 122
mismatches, 30–1
monitoring progress, 190–1

I 217

moral rights, 193
morale, 163
motivation, 33–5, 102
MPhil, 10, 135, 142
differences from PhD, 24–5
MRes, 10, 11, 12, 24
Muslim students, 169–70
myths, 17–19
names, 119
National Post-Graduate Committee, 91,
92
Nobel prizes, 79
non-traditional students, 165–73, 187
notice of submission, 136
objectivity, 156
Office of the Independent Adjudicator
for Higher Education, 143
open evenings, 200
Open University, 9
openness, 48
oral examination, 137–8
cultural differences, 118
examining, 178–9
preparation, 138–40
results, 140–2
originality, 54, 61–3, 197
other researchers, 79–80
overestimating requirements, 35–7
overseas students, 114–19, 131–2
cultural differences, 117–19
racial harrassment, 120–1
settling into Britain, 115–16
supervision, 166–9
using English, 116–17
Oxford, 21
part-time students, 9, 112–14, 131,
165–6
peer support groups, 89–90, 182
personal development plans (PDP),
182
personal relationships, 17–18
inappropriate, 110–11, 171
personal voice, 68
PhD, 21
differences from MPhil, 24–5

218 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

form of thesis, 56–70
understanding, 56–7
getting down to it, 65–6
how not to get one, 33–45
nature of qualification, 20–32
not understanding, 35–9
see also doctorate
pilot study, 84
plagiarism, 154
position, 42
power relationships, 124, 125, 126, 171,
172
practical aspects, 80–5
practice-based disciplines, 195–6
presentation, 98, 99, 138, 160
problem-solving research, 52, 53, 200
process, 71–93
duration, 82–5
stages, 82, 84
procrastination, 65
professional doctorates, 196–8
professional researchers
becoming one, 22–4
professional skills, 22–4, 54
professionalism, 36
progress
monitoring, 190–1
reports, 97, 100–1
project route, 192–3
proposal, 8, 84, 201
provision, range, 9
psychological aspects, 71–9
psychological contract, 162–4
public policy, 181
publication, 68–9, 137, 141, 164
qualities
of supervisor, 149–50
Quality Asssurance Agency, 181, 182
questions, 150
racial harrassment, 120–1
racism, 119, 169
range of provision, 9
reading by supervisor, 147–8
real-world applicability, 53
realities
myths and, 17–19

recognition, 107
redrafting, 63–4, 98–9
references, 60–1, 136, 153
reflective learning, 182
refunds, 144
regional hubs, 183–4
registration, 135, 141, 143
regulations, 56, 61, 85, 110, 136, 173,
176, 189–90
reporting on progress, 97, 100–1
requirements
overestimating, 35–7
supervisor’s (lack of) knowledge,
39–40
underestimating, 37–9
research
analysis, 48
basic types, 51–2
which one?, 52–4
characteristics, 46–7, 48–9
the craft, 54–5
how to do it, 46–55
interative process, 17
research assessment exercise, 194
research assistants, 173–4
research councils, 92, 173, 177,
181
aims, 29–30
research groups, 182
research students
aims, 25–6
becoming one, 1–6
number, 188
psychology of being one, 4
qualities required, 34
relationship with supervisor, 15, 104,
171
starting out, 16
research support, 11–12
resources, 12, 187–9, 204
responsibilities
diffusion, 95
institutional, 181–206
results, 140–2
review forum, 158, 192–8
rewriting see redrafting
role models, 119, 124–5, 130, 154, 169,
171

INDEX
science, 3, 36, 58, 65
scientific method, 50
scientific research programme, 9–10
Scottish universities, 21
secretaries, 148
selection
of students, 189–90, 200–1
of supervisors, 201–2
self-doubt, 4, 6
self-evaluation questionnaire, 207–10
self-help, 89–90
self-management, 2–3, 5, 117, 162
seminars, 107, 118, 152, 164
serialists, 64
sexual harrassment, 125–7, 172
skills, 190
assertiveness, 118, 121
generic, 182, 185, 204
professional, 22–4, 54
social sciences, 3, 36, 59, 67
sonata form analogy, 56–7
speakers, 185
Special Educational Needs and
Disability Act (2001), 130, 173
specialists, 151, 153
standards, 176, 190, 199
stereotyping, 127, 128, 169–70
structure, 60–1
student portfolio, 190
student union, 128
styles, 67–8, 122
submission, 136, 136–7
summaries, 59–60, 107, 140, 158
supervision, 145–80
distance, 12–13
inadequate, 39–40, 142, 143, 146, 177
non-traditional students, 165–73
successful outcomes, 174–5
training for, 65, 175, 187–8
university disciplines, 3–4
variation in perception, 146–7
supervisors
aims, 26–8
changing, 108–10
and deadlines, 87–8
dependence on, 74–5
educating, 101–3
expectations, 97–103, 145–54

I 219

inadequacy, 39–40, 142, 143, 146,
177
knowledge (lack) of requirements,
39–40
losing contact with, 40–1
managing, 94–111
qualities, 145–54
reading the thesis, 147–8
relationship with student, 15, 104,
171
resources, 187–9
selecting, 14–16
suitability, 39–40
training, 65, 175, 187–8
supervisory behaviour guidelines,
202–3
supervisory team, 4, 94–5
limitations, 95–7
support, 89–90, 118, 125, 131, 162, 182,
203
surprise, 102
Sussex, 21
symmetry of potential outcomes,
84
the system
getting into it, 7–9
taught doctorates see professional
doctorates
teaching, 91–3
assistantships, 92–3
casual, 91–2
research, 154–5
teaching credit, 188–9
Teaching Universities, 21
teamworking, 18–19
telephone calls, 152
testing out research, 52, 53
thesis
formulation, 66–7
lack of, 41–3
term, 42, 44
time frame, 11, 83, 166
time management, 80–1
topics, 84, 122, 141
training, 65, 175, 187–8
trans-gender students, 127–8, 128, 133,
171–2

220 I

HOW TO GET A PhD

trial exercises, 54
tutorials, 9, 105–8, 147, 149, 151–3
tutors, 189, 198–200
two-way learning, 104
UK GRAD schools, 91, 154, 183
underestimating requirements, 37–9
universities
aims, 29–30
University of Hong Kong guidelines,
194–5
university responsibilities, 183
upgrading, 135, 191
viva see oral examination
weaning process, 160–2
websites, 91, 143, 154, 184
whole person, 158–9

women, 118–19, 122, 123, 129
women students, 121–7, 132–3
academic role models, 124–5
communication, debate and
feedback, 123–4
sexual harrassment and exploitation,
125–7
supervision, 170–1
topics and methodology, 122
work context
choosing, 13–14
workshops, 184, 205
World Wide Web, 90
writers, types, 64
writing, 63–7, 67–8, 85, 160, 200
as process of rewriting, 63–4
York, 21
Yorkshire and NE Hub workshop, 184



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Title: Books and masterpieces
Description: Beauty of art and literary books, in addition to precision and specialized for people with attention

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