A researcher’s ethical PhD journey
I received notification this week that my PhD was awarded on 24 August, so now seems a good time to reflect on the ethical choices of my journey up to this point and consider plans for the future, from an ethical and personal values perspective. In the examiners’ report following my viva I was asked…
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Thinking about accessibility: Part 3
Ensure all diagrams and tables are accessible and have alt text labels… PhD Examiners’ report, May 2023 Regular readers will know that since I ‘discovered’ the importance of making writing accessible it is never far from my mind. Since this post is part 3 of a series entitled ‘Thinking about accessibility’, it seems to me…
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Organising the chaos… EndNote and Word
I like to think that every challenge I have encountered on my PhD pathway is a lesson learned and worth documenting on my blog so I (and any interested reader) can benefit from my experience. This post was prompted by a few recent events – addressing minor typographical errors in my thesis, preparation to submit…
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A community-of-peer learners
In recent months I have been spending some time preparing for my upcoming viva exam and have been fortunate enough to have had not one, but two practice runs with peers during April and May. Their feedback, individually and collectively, was incredibly valuable and allowed for considerable improvements to be made between the runs and…
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As one door closes…
Regular readers will know that I’m nearing the finish line on the pathway to my PhD. Submitted in February 2023 and due to be examined later in May, my thoughts now turn to what I might do next and serendipitously, a couple of opportunities are worth pursuing. If either or both are successful then I…
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Thinking about accessibility: Part 2
In December 2020, I reached out to an alumna of my programme for some general advice on how best to manage Part 2 of the programme, with the goal of being awarded a PhD for my efforts in 2023. Her generous advice included a tip to make good use of the period between submission and…
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Copyediting and/or proofreading?
It seems like I’m putting my hands up a lot these days, but I have only recently realised that copyediting and proofreading are two quite different things. What? You thought they were the same thing too? Then read on… In November 2021, I was having a Teams chat with a classmate about our PhD project…
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Thinking about accessibility: Part 1
Hands up – I have never given much thought to the accessibility of my writing – there, I’ve said it. I recall at the outset of my PhD studies, wrestling with choosing a font I like for my module assignment papers. I didn’t want to use the default fonts, preferring something that looked nice that…
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It’s the little things
I’m not sure I would describe these as ‘little things’ given the amount of time I have spent on them in this Twixmas week (16 hours recorded so probably a bit longer if I include thinking/wondering time!). However, addressing issues in my PhD manuscript so that my supervisor doesn’t have to comment on them again…
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Just in case…
It’s almost six months since I’ve a written a post, but I’ve been busy drafting my literature review, revising earlier chapters, drafting my discussion and now thinking about my research conclusions. I also fractured my wrist in June that has slowed me down but thankfully I was able to use the Dictate features in Scrivener…
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Organising the chaos… EndNote part 2
From April 2021: It’s been a few months since my Endnote and Scrivener integration discoveries. Since then I’ve been drafting and redrafting my PhD research proposal in Scrivener along with my list of references, then copy/pasting it all into Microsoft Word for supervisor and peer review and feedback, WHAT? Didn’t I already crack referencing with…
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“Nearly half of persons aged 75+ have never used the internet”
In December 2020, as a result of a module paper in Part 1 of my PhD programme, I made a policy recommendation to the Director-General of the Central Statistics Office in Ireland: At a policy level, consideration should be given to collecting and publishing statistical data at a national level on ICT usage by households…
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Sandra Flynn 