Yesterday I had my MPhil viva, which somehow I managed to pass, despite having spent the last two weeks worrying about it. I still have to make some minor corrections requested by the examiners—things like “this section would be clearer with a diagram”—but assuming that I complete those by Christmas, I’ll get the certificate sometime […]
Thesis (almost) finished
Got an email from my supervisor today, just a few minor changes needed to my thesis and a final summary of conclusions saying how brilliant the research is and then it is ready to submit! With any luck, I’ll be able to make the changes by Saturday, do one more full check for spelling/grammar mistakes, […]
First draft of thesis
After another week’s worth of work, I’ve got to the stage where I have a complete full first draft of my thesis, all the way from the abstract to the conclusions. It’s now in my supervisors’ inboxes awaiting comments, though at 30,000+ words and 113 pages I suspect it will be a while before they […]
Trundling along slowly
Thesis is still trundling along at an embarrassingly slow rate, I just don’t seem to have time to work on it. I have managed to finish another draft of a technical report and email it to my supervisors, but chapters 4 and 5 are still dragging their feet into the ground. Fortunately I think the […]
Closer to completion
Still working on my thesis, though it’s getting closer to completion now. I’ve emailed two more draft chapters to my supervisors, so hopefully I will get some feedback at some point and smooth out all the rough edges before a final round or two or proof-reading. I actually enjoy writing it to an extent—especially as […]
Marching on with the thesis
I seem to have spent most of the Easter weekend working on my thesis, which was rather boring but I’ve made lots of progress—one whole chapter is redrafted and emailed to my supervisor, and a technical report template is also on its way. Things are looking much better now, all I have left to do […]
Research progress
Quick update on my research as people keep asking how it’s going… I have finally got 20 participants for my experiment, which is enough to use in my thesis, although it’s still open if you want to take part. In terms of the thesis itself, two chapters are complete and approved (no changes other than […]
Push forward the frontiers of science still further
As part of the research for my MPhil, I’m running another experiment to try and find out the keywords which people associate with related events on the Web. The survey comes in two parts – first of all you’ll be asked to look at some existing web pages and enter some keywords which you think […]
Thesis and experiment progress
After setting up my experiment a week or so ago, I’ve now moved into thesis writing mode. At forty pages, it seems to be taking shape quite well. My abstract is more or less finalised (after only two revisions with my supervisor, so I think I must have done a good job the first time […]
Keeping on top of things
I’m somehow managing to keep on top of Friends of the Earth work in Sam’s absence—probably because it’s a quieter time of the year with so many people being on holiday, although local groups conference is approaching fast (I have to organise getting the group there, as well as planning a workshop which I’m running) […]