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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] be able to write anything even remotely resembling such a document either in length or quality. The world that the new research student enters, classically portrayed as an ill-defined limbo (Wason 1974) involves making a traumatic intel- lectual transition. It also involves the phenomenon of unlearning exist- ing expertise and having to start from the very beginning in order to discover slowly what one is supposed to be doing. During this period students might question the whole point of their being in the university. You should, therefore, make every effort to mitigate these unpleasant beginnings by agreeing a small initial project with definite deadlines at an early interview with your supervisor. The agreement should include the understanding that, once the work has been completed, you will discuss with your supervisor both the work itself and your feelings about it. This exercise will help to clarify any doubts about your ability to undertake research and written work. It will also help to reveal the evolutionary process (corrections, drafts, rewritings, etc.) inevitably involved in the production of theses, articles and books to publication standard which you have just read with such admiration. It is also a good idea to talk to other research students about their experi- ence of the role as well as their work. Sharing apprehensions helps to resolve them through the knowledge that the problem is not an individual one, but one that is inbuilt into a less than perfect system. There are indeed guidelines which universities are advised to follow in providing support for their doctoral students. Your student representative can help you in accessing these should it ever be necessary. GETTING INTO THE SYSTEM 17 Myths and realities of the system The ivory tower One of the commonest misconceptions about research is that it is an ivory tower activity, far removed from reality and from social contact with others. If you say you are doing research, people will often talk to you as though you had decided to spend a number of years in solitary confine- ment from which, in due course, you will emerge with your new discoveries. It is not like that at all. Although there are considerable periods when you will be working on your own (thinking and writing, for example) this is not the whole story. There is also a considerable academic network of people with whom, as an active researcher, you must interact. These include your supervisors, other academics in your department, the general library staff, the specialist librarian who deals with computer-based litera- ture searches, visiting academics giving seminars, colleagues giving papers at conferences the list is very considerable. To be an effective research student you must make use of all the opportunities offered. Research is an interactive process and requires the development of social, as well as academic, skills. Personal relationships Another popular misconception, this time of supervisors, is to believe that so long as they are on first-name terms with their research students every- thing is fine and the student knows that they are friends. Some supervisors even invite their students to their homes or take them to the pub for a drink in order to reinforce this camaraderie. But no matter how far the supervisors may go to assure new students that their relationship is that of friendly colleagues, the reality is that students take a considerable amount of time to become comfortable about this degree of informality. This is as true of mature students as of the more traditional new graduate. The reason for the students difficulty is that the supervisors already have that which the students most want the PhD. They have the title of Dr and are acknowledged experts in the chosen field of their research students. The students have admired the supervisors work during their undergraduate days, having come into contact with it through lectures or reading, or having heard reference made to it by others. They feel privil- eged to be working so closely with such individuals, and are aware of the supervisors authority in the subject and power in the relationship. You may be in a department with many research students or perhaps you are the only one in your discipline. Either way you will probably meet others at an induction seminar, introductory lecture or other meeting for new higher degree students arranged by your university or student union. 18 HOW TO GET A PhD [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |