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
Featured Posts
Latest Posts
Navigating Ethics in Projects with No Participants: A guide for social science postgraduate students
Just because you don’t have any participants, doesn’t mean you can skip ethics!
From findings to argument - writing a qualitative PhD discussion chapter
Writing up a discussion chapter for your qualitative PhD is like getting to the final, most challenging part of an obstacle course. I regularly see events on social media called “Tough Mudder” or “Mud Runner” where…
Critical analysis for qualitative PhD students - moving beyond description
Struggling with “be more critical” feedback in your qualitative PhD? This post explains the five stages of doctoral-level critical analysis - from description to positioning - and how to move your literature review beyond summary into confident scholarly argument.
Critical Analysis for Qualitative PhD Students: Moving beyond description
Many qualitative PhD students are told they need to “be more critical” in their literature review without anybody clearly explaining what that actually means. This post explores a more practical way to think about critical analysis using an unexpected analogy from learning to drive - helping you move from description towards interpretation, synthesis, and confident doctoral positioning.
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.