Researchista

(12) Guest writer: Jimmie Leppink.

This month, I was a guest writer for the Researchista blog. In a total of four posts, I wrote about some questions and challenges that are common in a PhD project. This post provides a brief summary of what I discussed, with a link to each of the four posts if you want to read more.

Setting the bar (too) high

A certain output (end terms) is expected at the end of a PhD project. One thing that not rarely stresses out a PhD candidate is that these end terms are translated – by the candidate but in quite some cases also by supervisors – in a rather linear fashion, as in: “four years four chapters, hence first chapter ready at the end of the first year.” It is important to keep in mind that a lot of time in the first 1-1.5 years is typically spent on orientation, getting used to working with people in the new project and environment, designing and setting things up, additional networking and training, and in many cases a variety of activities more. In most cases, supervisors have enough experience to realize that the relation between time on the project and output from the project is typically a non-linear one with more output realized in the second half of the project. To read more, see the first part (until Q&A) in this post:

https://researchista.com/2016/04/03/dear-phd-fellows-hello-how-are-you/

Writing for the first time

What usually does not help in getting a lot of output in the first part of a PhD project is that writing a chapter for a PhD thesis requires a certain skillset that is acquired only with writing experience and – what can help greatly – appropriate support from supervisors, friends, colleagues, and others. Writing a PhD chapter is very different from writing notes and summaries as we do during our studies that precede a PhD project. A good chapter does not present a study as a rather isolated piece of information but tells a story that can be anchored as a narrative in a (growing) series of stories on the topic under study. After all, research is rarely if ever carried out in a vacuum. Finally, doing a PhD is not about others telling you what to do; it is about learning to make sense of input coming from different perspectives in such a way that helps you to tell a coherent story. To read more, see the first part (until Q&A) in this post:

https://researchista.com/2016/04/11/9-first-years-of-phd/

Language, meaning, and perspective

Writer’s block, deadlines, and stress are more common among writers than you may thing at first. Add to this that many of us write about their work in their second or third language, and it becomes easy to understand that writing takes some effort and patience. What can make the writing experience more pleasant is working on a topic we feel comfortable with and find worth writing about, finding good sparring partners along the way, and setting clear goals and monitoring your progress towards these goals as you go. And, last but not least, enjoy your breaks, for sometimes that is what we need to see how to advance where we got stuck for a while. To read more, see this post:

https://researchista.com/2016/04/17/11-how-to-write-a-paper-fast/

The question is what is the question

Whether it comes to interviews, experiments, mixed-methods approaches, or other methods, there is little meaning in doing something if there is no question that calls for it. Using a method for the sake of using a method rarely results in research that moves a field forward; you are unlikely to find what you are not looking for. Whichever method, design or combinations thereof you are considering, there is a metaphorical bridge between question (purpose), data collection, and analysis; it is good to keep that bridge in mind throughout the entire journey from core question to reporting the study in a chapter or article. To read more, see this post:

https://researchista.com/2016/04/24/11-writing-and-research-design/

Miscellaneous

Each of the four posts previously referred to except for the third one discuss some additional issues you may have been thinking about in the Q&A section, check it out! And for more Researchista posts, check:

https://researchista.com/

Have a great day!

The original post can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/guest-writer-researchista-thing-called-phd-project-jimmie-leppink?trk=hb_ntf_MEGAPHONE_ARTICLE_POST&trk=hp-feed-article-title-share

(11) Writing and Research Design

The question is what is the question.

Should I conduct semi-structured interviews? Do we need an experiment? Would a mixed-methods approach be more appropriate than a (mainly) qualitative or quantitative approach? How to analyze the data once obtained? These and other questions come to mind when thinking about a new study, and the answer to each of these questions boils down to the purpose or core question of the study.

Whether it comes to interviews, experiments, mixed-methods approaches, or other issues, there is no point of doing something if there is no question that calls for it. Doing interviews for the sake of doing interviews – or because we have been doing so for years – is unlikely to serve your purpose if your main question calls for an experiment. Likewise, experiments can provide a means for questions concerning causal relations between particular variables of interest and may have little added value if there is no such question to begin with.

Some may argue that in for instance a social science context, a mixed-methods approach is always better than a (mainly) qualitative or quantitative approach. However, mixed-methods research only makes sense when an integration of quantitative and qualitative findings responds to a research question or set of research questions in such a way that it tells more than two separated (one quantitative, one qualitative) studies, or: 1 + 1 = 3.

Whichever method, design or combinations thereof you are considering, there is a metaphorical bridge between question (purpose), data collection, and analysis; it is good to keep that bridge in mind throughout the entire journey from core question to reporting the study in an article.

by Jimmie Leppink

*********

Q&A

PhD I. asks: “I don’t know what to do after my PhD which ends 1 year from now. I would like to stay in academia pr research institutes that do high quality research, but there are no so many offers out there. Please advice”

Jimmie answers: “This is a question I receive quite frequently, as it is a question that many PhD candidates at this stage deal with (it was certainly a question on my mind back then). Given that a change you may have in mind will probably take some time (application, paperwork, move, etc.), it is good that you are having this question now, about one year before the finish of your PhD project. If you know you would like to continue doing research at an academic institute, the next question is what institutes attract you and why. Three things to consider in this why question: (1) Topics; (2) Culture; (3) Geography.

(1) Topics. In many cases, specific institutes come to mind because they are working on topics that are of interest to the PhD candidate. Read more about the topics of research that the institutes you wish to consider are known for. What defines each of these institutes topic-wise and how does that align with your own interests and, to some extent, with your current activities?

(2) Culture. I have learned that writing style (articles) and presentation style (conferences) can tell quite a bit about the culture and mindset of people from a particular institute. Moreover, formal collaboration with other institutes as in joint authorship on articles and presentations can serve as an indicator of the extent to which an institute under consideration is open to collaboration and idea exchange with other places.

(3) Geography. If you have a partner and/or (young) kids, you or your loved one(s) may be less willing to move. It is then very important to discuss this factor in an early stage and see what the outcome of that discussion means for your options. Even if you are currently not in a relationship and have no kids, it is recommendable to reflect on this factor early on. If an institute that interests you is in a different country, are you willing to make the move, and if so, what investments – emotional, financial, other – are you willing to make for that move to happen?

Once you have reflected on these factors, it is important to start making connections with one or two of the institutes you still have in mind. Is there some project or perhaps article you can work on with some people from that institute? Is there a conference where you may meet some of the (key) people from that institute? Do your supervisors have connections with that institute? Especially if continuing in your current institute – for instance due to funding issues – is not an option, your supervisors may actually be willing to help you connect with people in the institute you have in mind.

There is a lot more to say about this question, but the issues I have addressed here can be of help in your stage – one year before the end of the PhD – as well as in subsequent stages of your career.”

(10) Tips on how to improve your writing

Writing about your work is not an easy thing to do, especially in the beginning of your career. Writer’s block, deadlines, and stress are more common among writers than you might think at first. Add to this that many of us write about their work in their second or third language, and it becomes easy to understand that writing takes some effort and patience. However, there are some things you can do to make the writing experience a bit easier.

To start, having to write about a topic “because we have to” rather than because we find an intrinsic meaning in doing so can make writing a real struggle. Writing typically becomes easier when we focus on a topic we feel comfortable with and which we find worth writing about.

Once decided on the topic, it is important to find good sparring partners. These can be colleagues, co-authors, friends. Having a diverse group of sparring partners – including both people who are well familiar with and people who are laymen in the topic you have in mind – can help greatly to write an article that may attract a wide audience.

Finally, it is important to set clear goals, monitor your progress towards these goals as you go, and find a good balance between writing activity, other work-related activity, and time off! Really, enjoy your breaks, take your time off, for sometimes that is what we need to see how to advance where we got stuck for a bit.

by Jimmie Leppink

(9) The First Paper.

The journey to the first chapter of your PhD thesis or the first paper to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal is typically one of challenge and struggle. Here are some tips that may help you on this journey of the first chapter or first paper.

Dr. Jimmie Leppink

Firstly, writing a PhD chapter or journal article is very different from writing notes or summaries as we do during our Bachelor’s and Master’s phase, and overdoing is punished rather than rewarded. The art of doing a PhD is to explain your topic to people who are unfamiliar with your topic as concisely as possible. Besides, the more concepts and terms you mention in your paper, the more you need to explain and refer to other work. Most journals have wording limits; if you clearly exceed those limits with no good reason, you will most likely not see your work published. So you will have to make some choices.

Secondly, when writing your paper, keep in mind that you are not just presenting a study, but that you are telling a story, and that you are going to tell readers of your paper how this story can be anchored as a narrative in the (growing) series of stories on the topic under study. Keep in mind that research is rarely if ever carried out in a vacuum; there is virtually always a drive in the form of a practical problem or a theoretical issue that is considered worth studying

Finally, you have probably experienced that when you ask two supervisors about an issue related to your topic you may get three different opinions, which may partly conflict with each other and may or may not align with your own thoughts on the matter. Keep in mind that you are the captain of the ship called “My PhD project” and that the thoughts from your supervisors form a (probably, and hopefully, not random) sample from a population of possible thoughts on the issue. You have to make sense of their input and – together with your own thoughts – use them to make a coherent story.

Both to myself and Irina (Researchista) took about 2.5 years to see the first paper from the PhD project published in an international journal. At that point, I thought it might take six years to finish my PhD. However, about one year later, I defended my PhD with more chapters than expected, and that work has been one of the cornerstones of my research since (the past four years).

I hope these three tips will help you on your journey to the first chapter or article. I will share some more tips on how to write effectively and efficiently in a next post, so stay tuned!

Jimmie

More on the topic: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/focus-purpose-all-rest-extraneous-jimmie-leppink

*****

Q&A:

Clinician asks: I am considering to do a PhD project but I wonder if it is worth the effort given the many roles I am having already not just career-wise but also family-wise (kids).

Jimmie answers: This is an important question that quite a few people in my network have been asking themselves. It is one thing to start a PhD in the mid-20s, when most of us have not really started a career in a particular area and many of us are still not responsible for kids, but it becomes more difficult when we have started a career in a particular field and also have kids.

Luckily, our self-regulation skills tend to increase with time. That is, where it may have taken effort to manage different things at age 20, we become more skilled in it with practice. We become more aware of our skills and limits, and learn to anticipate when certain things require too much. Moreover, where we may struggle to figure out what we want in life and what things we find interesting career-wise in the mid-20s, we tend to develop a somewhat more defined view on these things in the years that follow. From this perspective, people who start a PhD at a somewhat later age than usual – be it at age 40 or perhaps after age 50 – may have some things in favour compared to younger candidates. This is even more so if the PhD aligns to some extent with your current career. For instance, I know dozens of people who have 5-20 years of experience in clinical practice and at some point go for a PhD project in medical education while continuing their careers in clinical practice. This combination works out well in many cases, because the clinical experience is of great value throughout the PhD project.

However, one should not take it lightly and think that doing a PhD next to family life and ongoing career is peanuts. This combination will require an ongoing careful regulation and planning of activities, such that responsibilities and joys of family life and career will not be under pressure. You may not be able to go as fast as some candidates in the early 20s, who do not yet have to take care of family and/or career, and that is okay!

When reflecting upon the question whether or not to start a PhD next to family life and career, a good question to ask is what is your goal of doing a PhD; what do you hope to get out of it? For instance, many clinicians who go for a PhD in medical education do so because they want to become more involved in teaching and perhaps research in medical education and less involved in the clinical work (and sometimes: clinical research) they have been doing. If you are considering a similar trajectory and see a way to do a PhD without compromising on the roles you are having already, time may be right to get started.

(8) Hello dear PhDs, how are you?

We hope that our post finds you well. Nobody knows better than yourself what is the best way to advance in your PhD. You are the boss of your life, of your time and the master of your skills. We trust you are making the best of it and hope that the posts to come in April will help and inspire you with new ideas or different approaches to solve your challenges and concerns. Isn’t it more joyful to have a companion on the road, at least for a while?

Continue reading “(8) Hello dear PhDs, how are you?”

(7) Knowledge & Happiness III

Writing about happiness in times like this is like in the song on “try sleeping with a broken heart” (‘Brussels attack’). Knowing that we are facing challenging times around the world, does not make us happy, but knowing and choosing to stay calm and kind to each other, might help.

Continue reading “(7) Knowledge & Happiness III”

(6) Knowledge is Happiness? II

This is the 2-nd post out of the trilogy on: how knowing more can make us more happy & how to find the right balance (because knowing more can also make us very unhappy)

Is knowledge happiness? Of course it is, Researchers might say. All we do is dealing with knowledge. This is basically our source of happiness, the daily motivator and driver, the joy and glory. Well, that’s it then, the question is sorted out.

Continue reading “(6) Knowledge is Happiness? II”

(5) Knowledge and Happiness: don’t match? I

Most of the time, Researchers hope and aim to produce new knowledge by finding out new things about the object or subject they research about. This is pretty much the final destination where one wants to arrive in Research: to discover something new in order to improve an older condition or to come up with some ground breaking discoveries to open up a whole new dimension of the world we never knew before…

Continue reading “(5) Knowledge and Happiness: don’t match? I”

(4) Are Researchers boring?

Considering that the number of Researchers (PhDs included) in Europe and across the world is high and that it is only in recent years when research has become a ‘paid job’, I find it important to clarify some things:

Continue reading “(4) Are Researchers boring?”

(3) How many Researchers there are?

Have you sometimes wondered how many Researchers in fact exist in Europe? or in the US? How about the worldwide scenery? Would you like to know the answer to these questions? Me too, but some recent comparable data is apparently difficult to find. Apart from the comparative challenge (since Researchers might be defined slightly different in the EU than in China for example), the data is usually segregated by types of Researchers (faculty members, graduate students, full-time/part-time, professors, doctoral students, post-doctoral, etc.) which makes it challenging to give one final single answer.

Continue reading “(3) How many Researchers there are?”