So ...You have just started a PhD!

Comments and Bibliography by Gavin Stewart, Research Student

Introduction

In the next few.years you will find yourself undertaking a unique educational experience. No one has yet travelled the path that is appearing before you. I am pleased and sorry, therefore, to tell you that I don't know enough about you or your subject to tell you how to conduct for your PhD in detail. That is your job I am afraid. However, what I would like to share with you is all those things about the PhD process that I wish I had known prior to signing-on for the three year tour of duty. In particular, What is a PhD? What is the process? What is it good for?

When I began my PhD research in October 2001 I had very little idea about undertaking a doctorate. To be honest, this did not worry me at the time. I was enjoying myself, exploring my literature search and developing a host of ideas about my chosen subject. However, as time went on I began to notice that there was a process and an outcome - but they were not being spelt out to me. Was this a conspiracy? Part of the apprenticeship? A test of my research skills? A weird academic initiation ritual?

When I began to speak to older academics I came to realize that they too had only vaguest ideas about the process and its outcomes. They told anecdotes about long hours in the Lab/British Library/The Field and smiled wryly when I asked questions about professional training. The University's Graduate School, of course, provided seminars about various aspects of the research process - preparing for teaching, ethical issues etc. - which were very informative. However, what I wanted was an overview, a route map of the whole PhD process to place these pieces into context. I wanted someone to address the central question - What is a PhD ?

After spending a lot of time working on my specialized literature review I felt jaded by my subject area. I decided to take a break. I feel embarrassed to admit now but I felt at the time that I was goofing-off as I wandered off into a different part of the library. However, what I discovered was that there are a number of good, up-to-date general resource books that deal with the issues of the PhD process and outcome. What I also found was that by reading and acting on these references I found a number of the vexing research issues I was currently wrestling with began to solve themselves, as I placed my kalaidoscopic thoughts into a wider context.

The founding idea behind these pages was to provide an introductory resource for MA students and 1st year PhD students. To this end I will provide the briefest introduction to the subject and then the brief bibliography of the references that I found useful. I have listed the books in a suggested reading order. However, you should note that as I am a research student in a UK-based university and my references will address that system alone. Hopefully, someone in your country has been kind enough to put together a page similar to this one for you to use ( let me know if you find one so that I can add a link to it). If you can't find an introductory resource then you might like to create one from your research diary. It would be of interest to compare student experiences in different academic traditions.

Comments

As Phillips and Pugh note, historically a PhD was a "licence to teach" at the highest levels of education (Phillips and Pugh 1987: 18). This notion has been modified in the last one hundred years or so that ( to paraphrase Ian Fleming) a PhD holder is licenced to research and teach. They argue that this licence is granted to individuals who are "in command of the field of study and can make a worthwhile contribution to it" (Phillips and Pugh 1987: 18). It sounds rather daunting when it is expressed in black and white. However, it is important to remember that as a research student you are being trained to demonstrate these key competancies. The PhD award is, of course, a highly subject dependent qualification, and the expectations of the PhD's holders capabilities and competancies very from subject to subject. However, there are some standardized features and key attainment aims.

At present in the UK, PhDs are normally take about three years full-time. You will be directed by a supervisor (or is that soup-ervisor) and provided with instructions about how to conduct your work. However, most of the time you will be setting the the day-to-day agenda.

The PhD is awarded through an unique examination process.

Bibliography

Phillips, Estelle M and Pugh D.S. (1987) How to get a PhD: A Handbook for students and their supervisors Buckingham and Philadelphia Open University Press

Orna, E with Stevens G (1995) Managing Information for Research Buckingham Open University Press

Dunleavy, Patrick (2003) Authoring a PhD: How to Plan,Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation Basingstoke and New York Palgrave Macmillan

Murray, Rowena (2002) How to Write a Thesis Buckingham and Philadelphia Open University Press

Tinkler, Penny and Jackson Carolyn (2004) The Doctoral Examination Process: A Handbook for students, examiners and supervisors Maidenhead Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press

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