Overcoming Problems in Studying for a PhD

How to Overcome Difficulties With a Doctorate or Graduate School

Aug 12, 2009 By Alistair McCulloch

When students begin to study for a PhD or enters a new graduate school, they begin a highly significant period in their life. A PhD, or doctorate, involves making a contribution to knowledge and can also result in significant changes in the way the student thinks about the world.

However, because a PhD involves this sort of transformational experience, and also because it takes a minimum of three years and sometimes more than ten, real problems can emerge during the period of study. Here are the main problems with studying for a PhD.

Problems With Identifying a Good Research Topic

A good research topic is vital to a good PhD. It must be rooted in the academic literature, as this is one of the functions of the literature review, to identify an issue that no-one else has approached in the way the student intends.

Loss of Motivation

The best way to avoid loss of motivation is for students to really know why they want to do a PhD and to select a topic, institution and supervisor that they know will excite them for the long run. Understanding motivation will also help the institution (through the supervisor) support and encourage the student in the best way.

Experiments That Don’t Work

All scientists know the frustration that can arise when an experiment doesn’t work. If this happens to a research student, he should seek help from his fellow students, from the supervisor, from other researchers in the department and also from scientists working at other Universities and research laboratories.

Problems With Data-Collection

Sometimes social science research students face problems collecting their data. This can be due to difficulties in recruiting respondents. Sometimes their responses will not allow students to address their research questions in the way they had expected. If numbers of respondents are insufficient, the selection criteria may be extended or the number of case studies increased. If the responses are not what was expected, there may be an opportunity to revise the theory or model being tested and this may result in a better thesis.

Isolation

The further a student gets into his PhD, the more likely he is to experience isolation, a consequence of studying something completely original. Joining student societies and trying to maintain a life outside university are two ways of combating this. If there’s no doctoral student society in place, a student could try to organise one.

Running out of Money

PhD students on grants often find it very difficult to complete their studies once their grant has run out, and part-time students are likely to find it hard to make ends meet throughout their studies. It is possible to suspend a doctoral registration, but it is not uncommon that students who do this find it hard to re-start. If it is essential that a suspension be put in place, students should keep in touch with both their research project and their supervisor during the period of suspension. Maintaining links improves the chances of eventual completion considerably.

Problems With a Supervisor

Problems with a research degree supervisor can arise from overwork, personality clashes, a change of topic or a multitude of reasons. Whatever the reason, it is important that the student discuss the situation openly with the supervisor. If that is impossible, go to the Departmental Research Degree Coordinator or the Graduate School. If none of these are possible, talk with the student union or student association. It is a student’s right to have good supervision and a university’s failure to provide it leaves it liable.

What if Someone Publishes a Student’s Original Idea Before He Does?

A student shouldn’t worry about this because it very rarely happens. If it does, and it is worth reiterating that the chance of someone reproducing independently a student’s programme of work is very, very slim. In that case, re-orientate the thesis so that it focuses on a different aspect of the research. Think about drawing on a different aspect of the literature review or do some additional empirical work to move the idea on. The latter option may not be a satisfactory situation, but it may well save the doctorate the student has put so much work into.

Read more at Suite101: Overcoming Problems in Studying for a PhD: How to Overcome Difficulties With a Doctorate or Graduate School http://graduate-schools.suite101.com/article.cfm/overcoming_problems_in_studying_for_a_phd#ixzz0wpSpZoQ1