Welcome to my PhD blog
Worried you're doing your PhD all wrong and someone's about to find out? You're in the right place. 😂
In this blog, I cover all the stuff you might need help with. Like writing your literature review, doing your qualitative data analysis, developing your discussion chapter, and trying not to go completely bonkerpants in the process.
I'll help you work out HOW to do all those things everyone keeps telling you to do.
Expect practical PhD advice, based on the unspoken truth that nobody's PhD is nearly as neat as their finished thesis makes it look.
Have a nosey at the latest posts below, or browse by topic to find what you need.
Qualitative Methods | Literature Review | Methodology | Planning and Organisation | Writing Up | Supervision | PhD Mindset | Paradigms, Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks
PhD Researchers: How do you know when your work is good enough? Are you being thorough, or is something else going on?
As a PhD researcher you’ve probably experienced that feeling of your work continuing to expand and expand and expand because you’re unsure when to stop. You start losing the plot, getting tangled in what on earth you’re trying to achieve and feel like you’re working in a vacuum. Is it ready? How much detail do I need to go into? I just sound really un-academic. Gosh, even that phrase is unsophisticated! I wish I had a bit more faith in myself when it comes to my work.
How to connect theory and data in your PhD discussion chapter (without making it awkward)
If your PhD discussion chapter was a buffet, where theory and data were awkwardly eyeing each other from opposite corners of the room…
Conceptual framework, methodology and analysis: what’s the difference?
Conceptual framework, methodology and analysis. Ping-pong, back and forth you go, wondering what belongs where and if you’re just going to end up with three identical paragraphs that will give your examiner a black cat moment when they read your thesis (Matrix analogy, sorry-not-sorry).
Stuck with your PhD writing? Try this 10-minute reset
Writing your PhD is not all that easy. You can have a couple of hours of writing time blocked out in your calendar, a clear thing you need to be writing, yet still… no words on the page. When you do manage to tap something out, it’s just waffle, and you’re like, “Have I forgotten how to write?”.
Your PhD literature review no longer fits your findings? That’s normal
The PhD you finish is not the PhD you start. Along the way, this happens:
PhD: (Grabs you by the elbow) "THIS way! Over here!"
You: "Mmmm, but I read all that stuff and wrote thousands of words on the other thing, can't we just stay here?"
PhD Writing: Why you don’t need to understand it before you write It
One of the most common PhD writing blocks is sitting in front of a blank page thinking, “I can’t write this yet because I haven’t worked it out in my head.”
Why your qualitative PhD discussion chapter feels like a 1980s game show
“The discussion chapter is where I started wondering whether I actually understood my own PhD” - actual words from a member of my PhD community recently. The qualitative PhD discussion chapter is where a lot of doctoral researchers suddenly start feeling as though their brain has stopped cooperating.
Writing up a qualitative PhD study rarely feels linear - what my IKEA bookshelf taught me
Were you hoping that by the time you got to the discussion chapter writing stage, things would be a lot clearer? But they’re… kind of not. Like an exhausted hiker who’s just arrived at the only cafe in a 10-mile radius only to discover it’s closed. Or that it’s run out of cake - equally devastating.
Your qualitative PhD discussion chapter - brace yourself for the Green Lanes phase(!)
As you’re writing your discussion chapter, maybe you’re wondering why your study appears to have become more complicated rather than less as you’ve got further into it. Perhaps you’re thinking, “What if I’ve done all these years of work and I still can’t put my finger on exactly what my argument is?”
Why your qualitative research PhD discussion chapter feels so difficult to write
Perhaps you’re looking at your discussion chapter document and wondering, “Have I actually understood what my PhD is saying?”.
Despite having collected a library’s worth of literature and written tens of thousands of words, your argument feels slippery, the chapters feel disconnected and your literature review seems to belong to a completely different thesis season than your findings chapter.
Your qualitative analysis “needs more depth”, but what does that mean?
Maybe you’re writing your qualitative findings chapter and getting feedback like: “Needs more depth.” One of the most frustrating parts of this stage of the PhD is that nobody ever really explains what those comments actually mean. You can end up staring at your work thinking, “I genuinely do not know what else I’m supposed to be seeing here.”
Struggling to connect theory and data? A simpler way to approach your discussion chapter
Maybe you’re sitting down to write your discussion chapter and thinking, “I can’t see how this whole thing fits together.” You literature review might feel like it belongs to a completely different thesis entirely…
How to write a thesis introduction chapter for your qualitative research PhD
If your thesis introduction chapter feels vague or unfocused, it’s often not a writing problem - it’s a structural issue. This blogpost shows how to clarify the structure and thinking behind it.
What counts as contribution to knowledge in a qualitative PhD?
Many qualitative PhD researchers worry their work is not “original enough”. This article explains what doctoral contribution to knowledge actually means and how to articulate it clearly and confidently.
Critical analysis in a qualitative PhD: how to develop doctoral-level critique across your thesis
Struggling with feedback that your PhD “needs to be more critical”? This guide explains what doctoral-level critical analysis actually means and how to apply it across your entire qualitative thesis.
How to write a qualitative PhD discussion chapter without repeating your literature review
Writing the qualitative PhD discussion chapter often feels harder than the literature review - especially when you’re told to “bring the literature back in” without repeating it. This post explains the key shift in thinking that makes discussion chapters work, and how to move from summary to analytical positioning.
How to structure your qualitative PhD discussion chapter themes
Perhaps writing the discussion chapter is turning out to be harder than you expected. You might be sitting in front of your computer right now, the document open in another window, and you’re thinking, “For goodness sake, someone just tell me what this thesis is actually trying to say!”…
No time to write your qualitative PhD? A realistic three-step approach
If you feel like you never have enough time to write your PhD, the issue may not be time at all. This post explores a realistic three-step approach to building consistent writing momentum without waiting for perfect conditions.
PhD writer’s block? How to write your qualitative thesis even when you don’t feel like it
Staring at a blank document and avoiding your thesis? This post explains why writer’s block happens during a PhD and how to start writing again, even when motivation is nowhere to be found.
3 sentences to strengthen your qualitative PhD discussion chapter
Stuck writing your discussion chapter? These three sentence templates help you connect findings to literature, show criticality, and explain what your results mean without rambling.