Pat Cryer, The Research Student's Guide to Success (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2000)

THE RESEARCH STUDENT’S GUIDE TO SUCCESS Second edition PAT CRYER

Open University Press Buckingham · Philadelphia

�Open University Press Celtic Court 22 Ballmoor Buckingham MK18 1XW email: enquiries@openup.co.uk world wide web: www.openup.co.uk and 325 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA First Published 2000 Copyright © Pat Cryer 2000 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 9HE. A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 335 20686 7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cryer, Pat. The research student’s guide to success / Pat Cryer.—2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0–335–20686–7 (pbk.) 1. Study skills—Great Britain. 2. Doctor of philosophy degree—Great Britain. 3. Report writing—Great Britain. 4. Dissertations, Academic—Great Britain. 5. Graduate students— Great Britain. 6. Research—Great Britain. I. Title. LB2395.C787 2000 378.1′70281—dc21

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Typeset by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain by Biddles Limited, Guildford and Kings Lynn

�CONTENTS

Foreword to the second edition Preface to the second edition 1 Introduction The rationale for this book Who the book is for How the book is designed How the book is sequenced What the book does and does not do Developing and reﬁning your work strategies and study skills Exploring the opportunities for postgraduate study and research The profusion of options for postgraduate study ‘Level’ of postgraduate study ‘Structure’ of postgraduate study ‘Mode’ of postgraduate study Fees and sources of funding Deciding whether postgraduate work is right for you Choosing the type of postgraduate programme Choosing an institution Liaising with institutions The importance of liaising effectively with the institution Making personal contact with an institution Checking out the system of supervisory support Choosing and reﬁning a research topic Writing the proposal for what you want to do

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Agreeing work with or for an outside organization Visiting the institution Handling an offer Using waiting time constructively 4 Setting yourself up in a supportive way of life: the pervasive inﬂuences of personal circumstances The importance of recognizing the need for adjustment The full-time/part-time divide Preparing for the effects on family life Preparing for being a ‘mature’ student Preparing for the inﬂuences of living accommodation Preparing for working in a western culture Preparing for working in English as a foreign language Preparing for working ‘at a distance’ Preparing for working on a project in or for an outside organization Preparing for being employed by the institution Preparing for being on a grant Recognizing and preparing for the inﬂuences of other personal circumstances The three necessities: health, motivation and support Settling in as a new student The importance of being integrated into the academic community Responsibilities for your integration Familiarizing yourself with departmental accommodation Familiarizing yourself with departmental facilities and services Familiarizing yourself with the system of supervisory support Familiarizing yourself with departmental and institutional research training and support Familiarizing yourself with departmental staff and research groups Familiarizing yourself with departmental and institutional procedures Familiarizing yourself with departmental resource centres and institutional and other libraries Locating other institutional facilities and services Identifying national and international sources of support

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Towards recognizing quality in research The importance of recognizing quality in research Research areas, topics, themes, foci and problems Research methodologies Competence in research Academic argument and academic discourse Outcomes of research Documentation of literature Use of literature Use of data Originality in research Signiﬁcance of research Reliability in research Validity in research The nature of ‘truth’ in research: research paradigms and frameworks Where next? Interacting with your supervisor(s) The importance of the student–supervisor relationship The roles and responsibilities of supervisors and students The developing nature of supervision Arranging meetings with a supervisor Taking notes during meetings with a supervisor Asking a supervisor for feedback and advice Responding to feedback and criticism from a supervisor Handling unprofessional behaviour from a supervisor Changing a supervisor Getting a co-supervisor The formal position Keeping records The importance of keeping records Purposes of keeping records Keeping records of supervisions Keeping records of ongoing work Keeping records of what you read Keeping records as draft thesis chapters Keeping records of achievements Planning ahead The importance of planning Departmental planning schedules The project management approach to planning

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Developing a style of plan for your own use Identifying what is to go into your plan Planning extended work on location Coping with things not going according to plan 10 Managing yourself and your time The importance of managing yourself and your time Finding out where your time goes Using time efﬁciently when supervisions and seminars are cancelled Matching the task to the time-slot Handling interruptions Managing time at home with partners and family Managing time on the Internet and at the computer Keeping ‘ofﬁce hours’ versus using the ‘psychological moment’ Keeping going for hours at a time Matching your approach to your preferred learning style Using music to manage yourself Directing your research to suit your personal needs and preferences Fitting in teaching work Maintaining a healthy lifestyle Being realistic with yourself 11 Taking responsibility for your own progress The importance of taking responsibility upon yourself Taking up formal training Keeping up with your subject Networking and serendipity Using research seminars Protecting the ownership of your work 12 Cooperating with others for mutual help and support The importance of mutual help and support Receiving advice, feedback and criticism The ethics of using help from other people The ethics of giving help to other people Supporting and getting support from other students Getting support from academic staff Soliciting help from academics in other institutions Getting support from family and friends Getting support from colleagues in the workplace Giving advice, feedback and criticism

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13 Producing reports The value of reports in a research programme Developing the content of a report Structuring the report Using word processing features to aid structuring Constructing the introductory paragraph as an orientation to the report Constructing the ﬁnal paragraph for effective closure of the report Incorporating references to literature Using appendices Developing an academic writing style Further advice on writing Using reports to get feedback and advice Towards producing the thesis 14 Giving presentations on your work The value of giving presentations on your work Identifying the purposes of a presentation Developing the content of a presentation Structuring the presentation Developing the presentation and producing visual aids Rehearsing the presentation Drumming up attendance for a seminar presentation Giving a conference presentation Giving other types of presentation 15 Using the research programme as preparation for employment The importance of paying attention to skills Ways of thinking about skills Appreciating the skills that you already have Collecting and using evidence to demonstrate skills proﬁciency Keeping your skill set up to date Departmental and institutional skills-related activities Professional careers services National skills and careers development programmes Finding a job 16 Progress checks and hurdles – and the transfer from MPhil to PhD The rationale for progress checks Handling progress checks The special case of the transfer from MPhil to PhD Preparing your case for transfer from MPhil to PhD

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17 Coming to terms with originality in research The need for originality in research Originality in tools, techniques and procedures Originality in exploring the unknown Originality in exploring the unanticipated Originality in use of data Originality in outcomes Originality in byproducts Originality in the experience Originality as ‘potentially publishable’ The variety of interpretations and conﬁgurations of originality The balance between originality and conformity The ownership of original work Putting originality into perspective 18 Developing skills for creative thinking The importance of creative thinking Recognizing how intellectual creativity works Techniques to facilitate creative thinking Talking things over Keeping an open mind Brainstorming Negative brainstorming Viewing the problem from imaginative perspectives Concentrating on anomalies Focusing on byproducts Interrogating imaginary experts Viewing the problem from the perspective of another discipline Using ‘the solution looking for the problem’: serendipity Using mind maps Creativity and free time Testing out the techniques Creativity and routine work Creativity and planning 19 Dealing with ﬂagging Understanding and coping with ﬂagging Lacking a sense of direction Feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of work ahead Aiming for perfection Worrying about being pipped at the post Feeling disorganized Losing interest, becoming bored and getting depressed

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Interacting ineffectually with associates Everything seeming to go wrong Frustrated at the difﬁculties of part-time study Facing a time-consuming emergency Feeling stressed and unable to cope Wanting to get on with the next stage of life Not wanting to get on with the next stage of life Other reasons 20 Producing your thesis The importance of the thesis Orientating yourself for the task ahead Developing a framework of chapters Developing the content of a chapter Sequencing the content of a chapter Linking chapters into a storyline Cross-referencing in the thesis The writing process Presenting the thesis in accordance with institutional requirements 21 Preparing for the examination and conducting yourself in the oral/viva The importance of the examination Entering for the examination How orals/vivas are conducted Preparing yourself for your oral/viva Setting up tokens of appreciation Dressing for the oral/viva Conducting yourself in the oral/viva Preparing for the result 22 Afterwards! Handling the outcome of the examination Into the rest of your life Useful websites Further reading Select bibliography References Index

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�FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

High quality postgraduate education is of central importance to the creation of the ever more highly skilled workforce that is necessary if business and industry is to ﬂourish in an increasingly complex and competitive world. It also brings great beneﬁt to individuals and, through them, to society as a whole. And over the past decade we have witnessed some really quite dramatic and challenging changes in the shape, nature and volume of education at this level; changes that not only support our immediate needs for the workforce and knowledge-based economy but also reﬂect today’s remarkable and rapidly advancing technology. Of course, such changes don’t come for free and I am only too well aware of the various pressures to which postgraduate education is subject, pressures that in turn impact upon staff and students alike. It is against this backdrop that I truly welcome Pat Cryer’s comprehensive study guide for research students. The ﬁrst edition was immensely successful, as is so evident from the world wide sales, the number of printings, a translation into Chinese, an Indian reprint, being recommended reading for many postgraduate programmes, and most notably being adopted as an Open University set book. Pat’s second edition is a complete rewrite and has much wider remit, not only addressing the plethora of different types, modes and levels of postgraduate study – an issue I’m only too well aware of from the 1996 Review of Postgraduate Education that I chaired – but also the now omni-present use of IT. I’m convinced that this new edition will be even more successful than the ﬁrst, successful with both postgraduate students and their supervisors. If only this book had been available when I was a research student. Professor Sir Martin Harris Chair of the National Review of Postgraduate Education Vice-Chancellor, The University of Manchester February 2000

�PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

When the ﬁrst edition of this book went to press, I didn’t even have an email address. Since that time, less than ﬁve years ago, the use of information technology (IT) has grown at a rate that few of us could ever have imagined. It is now a mainstay of countless aspects of many walks of life, and research students have not escaped its impact. This is one reason why I felt it crucial to update this book – to help research students to capitalize on the growth of IT. There are other reasons for a second edition. All are set against the background that the ﬁrst edition proved more successful than I had ever anticipated. Letters of appreciation from students were touching, the reviews were pleasing, so were the sales. The book became set or recommended reading for a number of postgraduate programmes both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and a set book for an Open University masters programme in the United Kingdom. I had designed the ﬁrst edition mainly with PhD students in mind, but it was clearly being found useful by students undertaking research at other levels. To meet this use, this second edition has a wider remit. Throughout, it addresses students on any postgraduate programme with a research component, anywhere where the language of instruction is English. Many such students are mature, in employment and studying part-time, and this second edition addresses their concerns much more than did the ﬁrst edition. There are two new chapters in this edition. One (Chapter 2) stems from the 1996 Review of Postgraduate Education (HEFCE 1996) which noted, inter alia, the profusion of options for postgraduate study and research. This new chapter offers guidance to help aspiring postgraduates decide on what seems best for them. The other new chapter (Chapter 15) responds to a number of high-proﬁle calls (e.g. HEFCE 1996; National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education 1997) in connection with key skills and employment issues for postgraduates.

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A feature of this edition is that, apart from the two new chapters, all the updates have been integrated into the existing chapters. That seemed entirely right, as they need to be regarded as integral aspects of students’ research programmes, not as separate entities. In consequence, this second edition is a complete revision of the entire book, which it supersedes. I am grateful to the following colleagues for checking over various parts of the book: Dr Derek Bell of Bishop Grosseteste College, Lincoln; Professor Paul Cammack of the University of Manchester; Jamie Darwen of Warwick University’s Student Union and the National Postgraduate Committee; Dr Pam Denicolo of the University of Reading; Professor Lewis Elton of University College London; Ann Tothill of the National Research Foundation of South Africa; and Mark Wainman of Shefﬁeld Hallam University. I am also grateful to the following colleagues for advice on speciﬁc issues: Professor Paul Bridges of the University of Derby; Dr Janet Carton of the Dublin Institute of Technology; Dr Will Coppola of University College London; Professor Martin Swales of University College London; Nikolaos Tsarmpopoulos of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology; and Professor Steve Wratten of Lincoln University, New Zealand. Errors are of course my own responsibility. I enjoyed researching and writing this second edition, and I hope that it proves useful. Pat Cryer Research and Graduate Support Unit, University of Manchester June 2000

�INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION Fortune favours the prepared mind. (Louis Pasteur, address given on the inauguration of the Faculty of Science, University of Lille, 7 December 1854)

The rationale for this book Research should be fascinating and fulﬁlling, packed with intellectual excitement. If this is to be your experience, you need to appreciate that ways of working which proved effective for taught courses, important as they still are, are no longer enough. New skills and strategies need to be developed. This book introduces them, as collected from students and supervisors across a range of disciplines and from a range of universities, colleges and other institutions of higher education.

Who the book is for This book is primarily for students undertaking research for a higher (postgraduate) qualiﬁcation. Perhaps you are registered on a programme in which a research component is assessed alongside taught components, or perhaps your programme is ‘entirely’ by research (there is more on this in Chapter 2). As a student on either, or a prospective student on either, you should ﬁnd this book useful irrespective of your research topic, ﬁeld of study, stage of work or institutional attachment. The book will also be useful to a lesser extent if you are working on an undergraduate project requiring a dissertation. Some parts of this book will be more relevant for you than others. One reason is that to do its job properly, the book has to be designed for the hypothetical student who needs a great deal of guidance, help and support throughout the entire span of a lengthy research

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programme, and who has a very wide range of uncertainties. You are not such an individual. You bring to your work your own unique background, experience and needs, and the research component of your programme may be relatively short. Furthermore, although the advice in the book does have a wide applicability, it is not made up of absolute rights and wrongs, and there is no reason why you should not reject what does not seem likely to be helpful for you and use or adapt what does. You may possibly assume or be persuaded that this book must be of limited use to you or anyone else because it is interdisciplinary, and the needs and requirements of each discipline are different from those of any other. To dismiss the book on this basis would be a mistake. Although it is unquestionably true that different disciplines do require different strategies and skills, the differences are often only in terminology and emphasis. Where fundamental differences do exist, the book points them out. So you should ﬁnd it useful, irrespective of your discipline, provided that you continually bear in mind that your task is to interpret the advice for your own needs. Certainly this was the case for the students from a range of disciplines who worked with the ﬁrst edition and the pre-published drafts of this edition. Although the main studies on which this book is based were in the United Kingdom,* this does not necessarily limit its usefulness elsewhere. Differences do exist for students in different countries and cultures, but these too are often a matter of terminology and emphasis. For example, the terms ‘postgraduate student’ and ‘supervisor’, as generally used in the United Kingdom, are equivalent to the terms ‘graduate student’ and ‘adviser’ as used in certain other English-speaking countries. Examples of different emphases might be whether students studying part-time are permitted a formal (and cheaper) ‘part-time’ mode of registration as is common in the United Kingdom but not necessarily elsewhere; the various types of postgraduate programme; the nominal duration of the research components within them; the nature and extent of any associated assessed taught components; the administrative structure of supervision; and the form and even existence of the oral/viva examination. Yet the process of research is essentially the same worldwide; so is interacting effectively with people with whom researchers have to work. So, provided that you accept the task of interpreting the terminology

Smaller scale studies were also carried out in Australia, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and Sweden, and individuals from a wide range of other countries were interviewed.

�INTRODUCTION

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and modifying the emphases, you should ﬁnd the book useful irrespective of the country in which you are studying.

How the book is designed A criticism of many study skills books is that they merely give advice. They do not help readers to adapt the advice for their own personal requirements or to internalize it so that its use becomes second nature. To overcome this criticism, this book provides frequent activities with spaces to indicate that some form of response is required. Their purpose is to help readers to apply or interpret the suggested skills and strategies for their own personal circumstances. You may prefer to do the activities in your head, or simply read through them, or even omit them altogether. Each of these options is entirely acceptable. If you would ﬁnd it helpful to respond in writing, then make notes in the spaces provided. For lengthier written responses, use separate sheets of paper, which could usefully be kept together in a dedicated ﬁle. The nature of the activities is such that there are seldom ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers. Where, however, certain responses may have implications that were not previously mentioned, these are discussed immediately after the activity. You will be able to do many of the activities as you come to them, but some require talking to someone who may not be there, or referring to something which may not be to hand. In these situations, think about what the responses might be and mark the pages for returning to later. Peel-off stickers of the ‘post-it’ type are ideal for this. You may ﬁnd it helpful to work through the book with other students. They need not be working in the same ﬁeld because the skills and strategies involved are either independent of ﬁeld of study or are presented in such a way as to help you to identify the norms in your own ﬁeld. In fact, as later chapters will show, there are many good reasons for developing the habit of working in groups and forging links with researchers in other disciplines.

How the book is sequenced The order of the early chapters is roughly that in which most students are likely to need them. So, whereabouts in the book you will want to start will depend on how far you are into your research programme. For example, readers who have not yet decided on a postgraduate

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programme will want to start at Chapter 2, whereas those close to completion may merely want to read the ﬁnal chapters. If you are a fairly new student, a good way to get the best from this book could be to study the early chapters in detail and just scan the later ones to get a feel for the type of advice in them. As your research programme progresses, your detailed requirements for later chapters will develop somewhat in parallel. Nevertheless, some later chapters will repay early study. For example, Chapters 17 and 18 on originality and creativity come fairly late because they are particularly relevant for the sorts of probationary hurdles which commonly occur some way into longer research programmes. Yet, it is never too early to start thinking about them, ﬁrst because originality and creativity invariably require lengthy incubation time, and secondly because once you are used to using creative thinking techniques you will ﬁnd all sorts of situations where they are helpful, even for relatively short pieces of research and in everyday life. Similarly, it is never too early to start thinking about writing your thesis, which is the subject of Chapter 20. As you study later chapters it will probably also be useful to return to earlier ones, because your developing experience will enable you to recognize and appreciate insights which were overlooked on ﬁrst reading. At the end of the book are four reference sections. The websites section and the further reading section are structured under a general interest heading followed by headings which reﬂect the structure of the book. The websites section provides quick and easy access to further information through the Internet and the further reading suggests some written material which you may like to consult for delving more deeply into certain topics. The select bibliography lists some of the more signiﬁcant literature which was consulted during the preparation of the book and the references section gives full bibliographical details of all the material quoted in the book.

What the book does and does not do It is important at the outset to be clear about what the book does not do: • The book is not concerned with the sorts of work strategies and study skills which are generally accepted as helpful for students on taught courses. If you feel that you need a refresher course, there is no shortage of useful material. The further reading section suggests some possibilities. • The book does not attempt to give sufﬁcient advice to guide individuals through the design and implementation of their own

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research project. Apart from the obvious limitations of length, this is for two reasons. One is that the book is for students across disciplines, and research design and practice do, for good reason, vary considerably from one ﬁeld of study to another. The other is that research design, with all that ensues from it, needs to be developed and reﬁned over time, through face-to-face discussion with people who know all the aspects and ramiﬁcations of the work and who are experienced researchers in the general discipline area. These people are, ﬁrst and foremost, supervisors. They are, or should be, closest to the work of the students in their care, and their advice should always take precedence over anything in any book. Chapter 6 does, however, as a stimulus for discussion, provide some general pointers on what could contribute to good research, and the further reading section suggests some basic reading on research design. • The book cannot be a manual for the various uses in research of IT. IT is developing at an enormous rate on numerous fronts, so there can be no substitute for current manuals and local technical support. The book facilitates use of these by indicating throughout the types of IT which are or may be helpful for particular purposes, so giving direction to your own enquiries. Becoming comfortable with IT is a skill in itself, and IT has become part of the lives of most professionals – so all students should aspire to proﬁciency with it. Yet there are individuals who are, as yet, less than comfortable with much of it. So the book tries to steer a path between the IT and the traditional ways of doing things. In places it offers both. • Where the administrative procedures associated with working for a particular postgraduate programme shape the strategies and skills required, the book touches on them, but it does no more. Administrative procedures always vary somewhat from department to department, from institution to institution and from country to country, and they are liable to change at any time. So do not rely on this book for them. Always check the current position where you are registered. • Finally, the book does no more than touch on topics which depend crucially on the ﬁeld of study or the nature of the research, or which are subject to regular updating. Common examples are research ethics, health and safety, and intellectual property rights. Responsibilities to address these lie with supervisors and institutions. In summary, the book is ﬁrmly and solely concerned with nondiscipline-speciﬁc strategies and skills for students who are involved in research.

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Developing and reﬁning your work strategies and study skills Understanding the need for work strategies and study skills, and knowing what they are, are the two ﬁrst steps towards developing them, but they are only ﬁrst steps. You need to practise them continuously, think about how well they are working for you, adapt them to suit you better and then keep on practising them. This cannot be emphasized enough.

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