The most important thing about taking a doctorate is taking ownership of it. Students often feel, especially at the start, that it isn't their project but rather owned by the supervisor or the university. It is important for the candidate to take ownership as early as possible, if not right from the start. Some supervisors may create a dependency culture which inhibits the student from making decisions. Over supervision can also lead to a dependency culture and like most relationships the more one partner does the less the other may do!
The student has to gain a research voice and this will show through in the final thesis but without taking ownership early on they writing may lack confidence. Even worse when they have completed they may lack the confidence to fly solo.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
PhD doctorate by publication
It is possible in many universities to complete a doctorate by publications. This usually entails writing a number of academic papers plus tying them together with maybe 80 pages of dicussion and explanation. It seems the preferred method in countries such as Finland for example. In fact I have examined a couple from there and thought they were well constructed.
The problem in many universities is that there are few precise guidelines for the standard and number of publications expected. When left without strong, clear guidelines it can often come down to the wishes of individuals.
To me, there seems to be two models commonly put forward based upon different rationales. One is the validation model where the publications are expected to be very high quality and serve as a form of validation for the quality of the research conducted over time. Because the expectation is of a very high standard, such as A and A+ papers, it is usually reserved for academics who have not completed a doctorate but have conducted research and written papers. For the examiner of such theses it seems a relatively simple task since the work has been heavily peer reviewed.
The second model is more student centered. It takes the view that the person taking a doctorate is going to get into the research and publishing game when they have completed and therefore publishing during their doctorate and making use of these papers for the examination is the way to go. So the emphasis is on skills development and writing papers as a way of developing the key skills. In this model, good papers are needed but it is unrealistic to expect A and A+ from every student, rather a conference paper (peer reviewed) in the first year, and say 3 journal papers of perhaps C, B and perhaps A would be fine. The examiner has to read the papers as well as the thesis text and come to some conclusion about their quality as a whole.
If academics are confused about the model they are adopting then they will be torn in terms of the expectations of a doctorate or phd by publishing and confuse the student too.
www.CompletePhD.com
The problem in many universities is that there are few precise guidelines for the standard and number of publications expected. When left without strong, clear guidelines it can often come down to the wishes of individuals.
To me, there seems to be two models commonly put forward based upon different rationales. One is the validation model where the publications are expected to be very high quality and serve as a form of validation for the quality of the research conducted over time. Because the expectation is of a very high standard, such as A and A+ papers, it is usually reserved for academics who have not completed a doctorate but have conducted research and written papers. For the examiner of such theses it seems a relatively simple task since the work has been heavily peer reviewed.
The second model is more student centered. It takes the view that the person taking a doctorate is going to get into the research and publishing game when they have completed and therefore publishing during their doctorate and making use of these papers for the examination is the way to go. So the emphasis is on skills development and writing papers as a way of developing the key skills. In this model, good papers are needed but it is unrealistic to expect A and A+ from every student, rather a conference paper (peer reviewed) in the first year, and say 3 journal papers of perhaps C, B and perhaps A would be fine. The examiner has to read the papers as well as the thesis text and come to some conclusion about their quality as a whole.
If academics are confused about the model they are adopting then they will be torn in terms of the expectations of a doctorate or phd by publishing and confuse the student too.
www.CompletePhD.com
Thursday, June 9, 2011
You can now follow what I am thinking about in relation to research and all matters Craig Standing on Twitter - see right column.
Follow @standingcraig
Follow @standingcraig
Thursday, June 2, 2011
What is your mission in research?
When I started out in research I wanted to complete my PhD. Of course I wanted to make a contribution to knowledge in the area of my doctorate. When I had completed my thesis I wanted to write papers on various topics and write a book or two. When they were all accomplished I sat back back and wondered why I was doing research. Sure each project has an aim that you hope will have beneficial outcomes for practice and also make a contribution to knowledge. But even beyond that, is the desire to help people develop their research experiences and become full or part-time researchers. Really, this is now the main reason I do research so that in some way it can help others develop their profile and skill set. The experiences I have only have meaning if I can pass them on in some way to others. Hence, Phd students are a key part of the mission and so are other members of staff.
www.CompletePhD.com
www.CompletePhD.com
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