PhD Musings PhD Musings Postings From a Serving PhD Student Rod Pitcher Free Edition from www.obooko.com  Copyright 2012 Rod Pitcher Published by 3P Publications, Canberra, Australia. Distributed worldwide by obooko This edition is available free of charge exclusively to obooko members for evaluation purposes: it may be amended and updated at any time by the author so please visit www.obooko.com to ensure you have the latest edition. Although free of charge, this work remains protected by Copyright and must not be sold in digital or printed form. For more free e-books and to list your fiction or non-fiction book for free publication, please visit www.obooko.com Rod Pitcher Contents Introduction .......................................................................... 2   Doing a PhD and Living to Tell the Tale .............................. 3   Coping with PhD Depression .............................................. 10   Publication ........................................................................... 13   Breaking the Writing Block ................................................. 15   The Use of Metaphors in Teaching and Learning ............... 17   On Writing .......................................................................... 22   Avoiding Your Supervisor .................................................. 24   How My Research Changed My Life .................................. 28   Metaphors and the PhD ..................................................... 30   Writing a Thesis is Like Weaving on a Loom ..................... 32   Conclusion .......................................................................... 34   Previous Publication ........................................................... 35   About the Author ................................................................ 36 Rod Pitcher Introduction This book is a collection of the postings I’ve had on internet forums, so all of them have been found acceptable for publication elsewhere. I cover a lot of ground, from the philosophical to humour to advice, but all the chapters are related in some way to my experience of being a PhD student. I hope that you find the book interesting and that some of the ideas expressed herein are useful to you. The subtitle of this book – “Postings of a serving PhD student” – came about partly as a description of the contents, that is, they are postings from various web forums. Also it satisfies my delight in words that have multiple meanings. ‘Serving’ has three relevant meanings here. Firstly, ‘serving’ refers to doing ones time and duty in an important position such as that of a diplomat or in the armed services. It can also refer, of course, to ‘doing time’ in prison. I feel that, in one or other of these senses (take your pick), I am ‘serving’ my time as a PhD student. Secondly, it can refer to delivering something to a person, such as a meal. I see this book as ’serving’ up some interesting bits to you, the reader. I am ‘serving’ the postings up to you for your delectation. Thirdly, in tennis, ‘serving’ means sending the ball across the court to one’s opponent for him or her to return and so to set up a backwards and forwards interaction. Thus I am ‘serving’ the pieces here to you, my readers, with the hope that they will join the ‘game’ and take part with me. At the back of the book is a listing of the forums where these articles were first posted in case you would like to see the original publications. They have pictures and other graphics on them which I have not included in this book. Also there are feedback and comments from some of the people who read them that you might find interesting. 2 PhD Musings Doing a PhD and Living to Tell the Tale There have been some great and important changes to me over the time of my candidature. I have learnt a great deal about the meaning of research, both as an activity within itself and in its effect on the person doing it. I now believe that it is not possible to do research without being changed by it. That does not only mean that the knowledge gained by doing the research will change the person acquiring it but also that the person will be changed in their outlook by being involved in doing the research. Thus research is a process that changes the individual doing it because it changes the researcher’s conceptions of themself and their world.. At this stage, nearing the end of my candidature, I conceive research as being a process of growth, not only in the knowledge produced but also in the researcher. I believe that no- one can pursue research for any length of time without growing and developing as a person. That, I would like to think, is one of the most important features of research, that it effects the observer as well as the observed. I believe that my research has caused me to develop as a person. I have learnt that research is a painstaking process. It must be pursued diligently and with care, as well as honestly and with an open mind. That is the only way to achieve the required level of objectivity and validity. The researcher must always have those factors in mind lest s/he succumb to the temptation to ‘massage’ the data to give the required answers. There can be no justification for falsity. Only complete honesty is good enough. Research as building and a story I conceive of research as a process of building knowledge. Most researchers simply add a tiny bit to the overall edifice, but some, the geniuses, will add larger pieces to the building or even help to redesign it. Each piece of data gradually helps the whole edifice develop. One small bit might seem unimportant at the time of discovery, but might become vitally important at some 3 Rod Pitcher later date when others have either added to it or built up the structure around it. Knowledge develops like a building. First the ground floors must be built and reinforced to support the load of the upper storeys as they are added. Then the upper storeys (and stories) can be added. The result will be like a building with different rooms and storeys devoted to different ends and subjects of research. Each room and story will have its own story of how it was started, developed and grew to be accepted as part of the network of knowledge. Sometimes part of the structure will collapse because the foundations are weak or haven’t been built properly. Maybe part of the structure will have to be rebuilt due to faulty or inadequate workmanship, but the growth is ever upward. Weeding out the weak parts is also good research as it strengthens the whole structure. In my work I have taken the initial form of MIP and developed it further than the originators did. In that way I have, at least partially, replaced the original MIP with a more sophisticated version. That is part of my contribution to the building that is knowledge that I have replaced a useful tool with something better. My contribution is not a new storey nor even a new room, it is more like a cupboard in the room about metaphor analysis that someone in the future might open in search of new ideas. Perhaps then my story might stimulate them to produce a further development. Research is also the construction of a story, and a never ending one at that. Each researcher adds or revises chapters and develops the story further. Some will completely rewrite the book on a particular subject or throw away the old book and start a new book by means of a revolution as described by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1996). Even when a new book is started some of the old knowledge will remain as a core on which the new knowledge can form. The chapters will be the separate research projects, the characters are the researchers and the participants in their research. It must be remembered that the people who provide the data in the form of survey or interview transcripts are as important as the researcher. They are like the lesser characters in a story who are important for the development of the plot. Without the relatively minor players 4 PhD Musings there would be no story: Without the people being interviewed or surveyed to provide it there would be no data for the research. Therefore the interviewees are also an important part of the research story and must be treated with respect and courtesy, both in the gathering and the use of the data they provide. When I started my candidature I had a very simplistic view of research from my reading as an undergraduate. Due to my background in anthropology I thought that it was only necessary to observe a group of people for a short time to be able to understand their actions and motives. I imagined that most of the data would be gathered by simply sitting talking to the people and forming ideas about what motivated them. This understanding was then used as the data for giving an account of the people involved. It came to me as something of a surprise when I had to arrange gathering my own data by planning the nature and delivery of my survey. It became plain that the planning part of data gathering is much more involved than simply asking a few people a few questions. The need for planning As part of the planning for my survey I had to obtain ethical clearance for my research. Answering the questions about who I would survey, what information I would elicit, and what I would do with the data after brought home to me the ethics involved in research. I realised then that research was more than just fronting up to the participants and asking questions. Studying the responses to my survey, reading and re- reading the responses over and over again, sorting out the important parts and figuring out what they mean, brought home to me some of the tediousness of research. The result of that tediousness was a temptation to rush or otherwise compromise the work that had to be resisted. Research requires care and attention. Sometimes that care and attention must be taken to extremes which are almost unbearable in their tediousness. However, only by persisting can a satisfactory result be obtained. The cost of research is the sometimes hard and tedious work that must take place; the benefits which result from the work are research in which pride 5 Rod Pitcher can be taken and which will be of value to the researcher and others. My reading of the literature, against which to place my own research, was also a somewhat tedious process for me. I didn’t want to sit reading other people’s work I wanted to get on with my own. I soon learnt that a knowledge of the work done by other people is the cornerstone upon which further research is built. Only by understanding what has gone before can the researcher decide what to research next and how. It came as something of a shock to me to see how often different researchers disagreed with each other. I wondered how I could ever make sense of the arguments and counter- arguments. That I eventually did so I put down to persistence and the pressure from my supervisors. It was a salutary lesson that I won’t forget quickly. However, I now realise that it is through disagreements over results and procedures that knowledge is built and tested for validity. If all researchers agreed on what is correct there would be no way of tearing out the errors in knowledge and replacing them with better versions of the truth. The new versions of the truth may eventually also prove to be wrong and have to be replaced, but each version of the truth will, hopefully, be better and more correct than its predecessors. It is through the discussion of differences in methods and results that progress is made. Even when I settled on a method of analysis I wasn’t finished. I found that the literature on my chosen method left much to be desired. I had to work out for myself what to do. I eventually ended up critiquing the method because that was the only way to make any satisfactory progress. In critiquing the method I learnt how to consider, add to and argue against the work of other researchers. Hopefully, in my critique of the method I have produced something worthwhile that will be my contribution to the edifice of knowledge and a better way of analysis. If other people can use my modified method usefully then I shall be well satisfied. Over the time of my candidature, as can be seen from the above, I have changed my conception of research and the work 6 PhD Musings involved in it. Gone is the simplistic view I started with, to be replaced by a more sophisticated understanding of what research means and what it is meant to achieve. That understanding has changed me as a person, as well in that I have developed a deeper understanding of the methods of research and what it means to be a researcher. Perhaps most importantly, I have learnt that research is hard work when done properly and well. It involves much work in gathering data, analysing it and writing up the results. The ‘New’ me Before I started my candidature I had a vague idea that the data could be gathered, the results written up and publication take place all within a few weeks or months at the most. Now I know better. It can be years between the start of planning the data collection and the resultant journal paper seeing publication. If I wished to be cynical I might suggest that a lot of research is well out of date (Dare I say obsolete?) before it sees publication. The long time between research and publication has implications for the growth of knowledge. Anyone referring to other people’s work only has information that can be years out of date, unless the latter researcher is willing to share the results of her or his work privately. Thus it would seem that to stay up-to-date a researcher needs a large list of private contacts in the field who are willing to share their as yet unpublished work. However, sharing one’s work before publication can be unsatisfactory and dangerous since some important and original idea might be stolen by an unscrupulous competitor before it can see publication. Priority of publication is so important that it is not unbelievable that such theft does go on. During the time of my candidature I have also become more able to make decisions regarding my work. At times I have had to make decisions about procedures and the writing up of results. Some of those decisions have been painful and worrying. However, it has all been a part of the learning process and I have gained from it in the long run. At times I felt myself unable to 7 Rod Pitcher carry out my own decisions due to having to come to a compromise with my Supervisory Panel. Mostly I had to bow down to their superior knowledge about the PhD and follow their instructions. Sometimes it irked me not being able to go my own way, but I suppose that it’s all been for the best. When I began my PhD I thought that my Supervisory Panel would tell me what to do every step of the way in matters such as my research and writing. However, I now realise that they are more like colleagues and co-workers who are working on a research project with me. They want to see what happens and what result is produced as much as I do. They also have a vested interest in me completing my PhD as it will reflect on their abilities as supervisors and academics if I do not complete or fail my PhD. The standard of my PhD work is a reflection of the care and attention which my Panel have devoted to my development as a researcher. I have a great deal for which to thank them, for their encouragement and their devotion to duty in teaching me the ins and outs of doing my PhD. An ending. Or a new beginning? It can be seen from the above that my research has changed me and my outlook. It has given me much to think about, and in so doing has changed my thinking about the processes and the results of research, both my own and other people’s. It has also helped me understand better what actually goes on in research and how doing research affects the person doing it. As well as a better understanding of myself as a researcher I now have a better understanding of my colleagues as researchers. I have some understanding of what motivates them and drives them to be academic researchers. In that way, as well as many others, my research has broadened my mind and my life. Never again will I be the same person as I was when I started my candidature as a research student. That person now appears to me to have been very naïve about research and the nature of knowledge. He had little understanding of the academic world, the world of research and the world of the researcher. He has 8