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 |
AI and PhD Research | Paid PhD Resources
Featured Posts
Latest Posts
Which PhD Survival Guide Is Right for Me? Here's how to choose
Right. You've had a look at my PhD Survival Guides, and now you're wondering which one is actually right for you.
Fair question!
There are four of them, covering different parts of qualitative PhD research, and although they're designed to work together, you don't necessarily need all four.
Can I use Braun and Clarke's Reflexive Thematic Analysis with Critical Realism?
Can you use Braun and Clarke's Reflexive Thematic Analysis with Critical Realism?
Yes! But I think there's a much more important question you should be asking yourself:
Is finding two approaches that CAN be used together the same as understanding WHY they work together in YOUR research?
Nopety-nope-nope. Not the same thing.
Qualitative research in the age of AI - What still matters?
Qualitative research and AI. Two terms that make a lot of academics shudder when you put them together in the same sentence. Like, eww.
I think the conversations around AI and research, especially qualitative inquiry, have reached the kind of volume that risks distorting the sound. You know when someone turns the noise up so much that it just sends your ears all weird and you’re like, “Make it stop!”.
Is AI making you a less independent PhD researcher?
PhD researchers - is using AI making you a less independent researcher?
Recently, I've been asking PhD researchers to share their AI experiences, questions and concerns* with me recently and I've quickly come to realise that this goes far beyond the whole "To use AI, or not to use AI?" debate.
What Does Degree Doctor Sell? A Guide to My PhD Resources
If you've found your way to Degree Doctor through my blog, YouTube channel or social media, you might be wondering what I actually DO here. Apart from talking about the various ways a PhD can drive an otherwise perfectly reasonable adult human being completely bonkerpants, that is. 😂 I also make things that people can buy. Because, well, I have bills to pay and a cat who expects a certain standard of living.
Is AI making PhD researchers doubt themselves? Should you use AI in your PhD?
I'm starting to worry that AI is making some PhD researchers LESS confident in their own thinking.
Last week, I had a chat with a PhD researcher that really concerned me and I want to put my take on this “out there”. The PhD researcher in question is okay with me sharing this anonymously BTW so I’m not betraying any confidences and they read and approved this before I posted it.
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…
PhD researcher doing qualitative data analysis? You're the family tech support now. Sorry.
Qualitative data analysis during your PhD can feel a bit like trying to untangle the cables behind your TV. “Wait, what's this one for?”, “Where does this go?”, “It's not even connected to anything!”, "Should we just call Tom?" (every family has someone who knows how to mop up a techy mess, ours is Tom, he's the law-abiding equivalent of Harry de Souza from MobLand).
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).
Read someone else's PhD thesis and now feel awful about yours?
People told you it was a good idea to read other people’s published PhD theses, so you could see what doctoral research “looks like” when it’s written up. It sounded like a sensible idea at the time, didn’t it? Then you went and read a few PhD theses.
How do you know if your qualitative analysis is good enough? Quality criteria to judge analytical work
Maybe you’re questioning your analysis right now. “Is this good enough?”, “Are my themes strong enough?”. One of the most uncomfortable parts of qualitative analysis is that nobody can give you a neat, reassuring answer to your question: “Is this right?”
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…
Why your qualitative PhD feels so uncertain - and why that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong
If your qualitative PhD has started to feel uncertain - like your themes might be wrong, your data isn’t enough (or somehow too much), and you’re not sure whether any of it is actually rigorous enough, this post unpacks why that feeling shows up, and what it really means.
Research ethics in qualitative research: beyond the approval form
Research ethics in qualitative PhD research is more than paperwork. This guide explores anonymity, confidentiality, consent, and defensible ethical judgement for serious researchers.
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!”…
Reflexive Thematic Analysis: A practical step-by-step guide for qualitative PhD researchers
Staring at transcripts and unsure how to turn them into themes? This step-by-step guide to Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis explains how to code, construct themes, and write up with clarity and confidence.
Struggling with IPA in your PhD? A practical guide to analysing and writing up Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Collected your IPA interviews and now unsure what to do next? This post explains how to analyse, interpret, and write up Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with clarity and confidence.
Is qualitative research less rigorous? Debunking the myth in your PhD
Ever wondered if your qualitative PhD is “rigorous enough”? Let’s unpack where that doubt comes from and what rigour actually looks like in qualitative research.
Struggling with qualitative research? 4 common problems and how to handle them
If your qualitative data feels messy, contradictory, or impossible to write up, you’re not alone. Here are four common struggles and what to do about them.
I’m guessing you’re here because you’ve chosen to do a qualitative study for your PhD but things have started to feel a bit… slippery. You like how qualitative approaches value people’s lived experiences and you’re researching something you genuinely care about so that’s why you felt drawn to it. However, recently you seem to have unlocked a whole new level of confusing and it’s all gone a bit Alice in Wonderland.