We’ve put together a list of resources that postgrad students can use if they are struggling with their mental health.
Your university’s wellbeing team
Most UK universities have professional counsellors on their staff with whom you will be able to make a free appointment to talk. On a personal note, PGPR owner Johanna has had counselling at almost every university where she has studied or worked (which is quite a few) and she has always found university counsellors to be excellent. There is often a short waiting list as well. Of course, this might not be the case at your uni, but it’s a solid place to start.
Your GP
GPs are also a good starting point if you need some support with your mental health. They can talk over how you’re feeling and refer you to a mental health specialist. Additionally, this NHS page has some useful ideas for improving your mood.
Student Minds is the UK’s mental health charity for students. They empower students to develop the knowledge, confidence and skills to look after their own mental health, support others and create change. They offer peer support and workshops. You can read more about the support they offer here.
Mind are a UK charity who offer support to anyone struggling with mental ill health. Their website is chock full of useful blogs, stories from people who are living with various challenges and ideas for better wellbeing. You can also call their helpline on 0300 123 3393, or email them on info@mind.org.uk
This charity provides support and services for those dealing with various societal challenges, including money problems, navigating the system to get the right support and understanding loneliness and isolation. Like Mind, their website has lots of useful resources and ideas. Their wellbeing plan and five top tips for good mental health might be useful starting points; you can download them here.
The Samaritans run a free, 24-hour helpline which is there to support people going through mental health crises, including suicidal feelings. You can ring them any time on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can read about other ways to contact them here.
Additionally, it’s important to know that if you ever feel that you are in danger of hurting yourself, you can call 999 for help.
Your mental health matters, and it’s always OK to talk about not being OK.
Whether you’re preparing a thesis, a paper or an essay, if you’re reporting on a study you have conducted, the method is crucial. This is the section that your readers will use to check how you conducted your research, so it’s vital that you clearly demonstrate what you did and how you did it. You can have the most beautifully nuanced findings in the world, but if the reader doesn’t know how you got to them, they won’t be able to trust in the validity of your work.
This sounds super serious, but don’t panic – although important, methodologies are one of the easier sections to write, as they tend to follow a specific structure and are all about reporting what you did. The good news is, you did that stuff! So you are the most uniquely qualified person to write about it. Check you out.
The level of detail you need in your method section will vary depending on the type of paper you’re writing. For example, a systematic review will need a much longer and more detailed method section than a small interview study. The following tips will be useful no matter what type of method section you’re working on.
Write your method first; in fact, start whilst still doing the study
When you’re in the midst of recruiting participants, juggling interview schedules or scouring databases for papers, it can feel like you will never forget the steps you took to get from A to B (and then to C and E and H). However, you’d be amazed at how quickly these details can vanish if you haven’t been taking careful notes. As such, we recommend starting to write your methodology section almost in real-time – as you’re doing the actual study. Yes, you’ll need to edit it later, but getting those key facts down while they’re fresh in your mind can save you a whole host of hair-pulling further down the road. Additionally, since the method can be straightforward to write, this is a great way to combat empty page syndrome. Yes, you’ve still got some of the longer sections to write, but you’ve made a start, and that’s always a good feeling.
Juggling the different parts of the methodology can feel like a struggle, but getting those key facts down while they’re fresh in your mind can save you a whole heap of time. Photo by Marije Woudsma on Unsplash
Follow the subheadings set out by your target journal or your institution
In their guidance for authors, journals often include a list of subheadings that they expect to see in a method section. This can be helpful, as the headings make it clear exactly what you need to include and what you can leave out. If you’re writing up a thesis, check with your supervisor or in your institution’s handbook to see if they also suggest subheadings. If they do, use them. Start by writing each subheading into a Word document, then make bullet points of all the relevant info for each one. You can shape those points into paragraphs in the next step.
Succinctly provide enough information so that someone can follow the steps you took and (where possible) replicate the study
Traditionally, the point of the method section is to give your readers enough information to replicate the study if they want to. This idea is more suitable for quantitative experiments – where you have a certain amount of control over the various variables – than qualitative research, which is led by participants and their stories. However, the principle still applies. Following the suggested subheadings, as per the point above, should help with this.
Telling the story of how you designed your study is an important step! Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
You need to tell the story of what you did and how you did it. How did you contact and recruit participants? Where did you conduct your interviews? How did you record them? Which methodology did you use to analyse your data? Did you use any software to help you? Who gave you ethics clearance? All these questions will need to be answered. And, importantly, they should be answered using as few words as possible. This section is about presenting the facts, not flowery language. If you’re writing for a peer-reviewed paper, you’re likely to have quite a tight word count. If your method section is concise as possible, this frees up more words for your findings.
Think carefully about anonymisation vs information about participants
If you’re writing up a qualitative study, as most PGPR clients are, you need to think carefully about how much information you’re going to provide about your participants. Demographic details about the participants which have a bearing on the research question need to be provided, but participants’ identities must be protected. This information will often be presented in a table. Let’s say you’re writing up a study about what it’s like to give birth to your first child. Your table might include participants’ pseudonyms/ID numbers, their age, the age of their child and their ethnicity. You might choose to leave out where they live and their occupation. However, if your study is about young working mothers, occupation is more important, so you would include that, but perhaps leave out other details. Always check your consent form to be sure you’re not conveying any information that participants haven’t given you permission to share.
Ensure you provide enough info about the fit between your research question and your method
Unfortunately, there are still quite a few reviewers and examiners out there who don’t understand or trust qualitative methods. As such, you need to ensure that your justification for using the methodology you’ve picked is ironclad. You may only need a sentence or two, but do include some lines to explain why qualitative methods are the perfect fit for your study, even if it seems really obvious to you!
You need to ensure that your justification for using the methodology you’ve picked is ironclad. Photo by John Salvino on Unsplash
Save discussion of difficulties for the limitations section
Research is unpredictable. Things go wrong, and that’s fine. You might not have been able to recruit as many participants as you’d hoped. Some interviews might not have recorded perfectly. You might be new to qualitative methods and have struggled with analysis. None of these are reasons to beat yourself up; we’re all learning, all the time. If things have gone less than brilliantly, state that plainly in this section. You can then go on to talk about the implications of those hiccups and what you might do next time in your limitations section, all whilst reminding yourself that even the most esteemed professors run into difficulties at times. You’ve still completed your study and that is brilliant.
Contact PGPR
If you’re struggling with your method section – or any other area of your write-up – just get in touch with us via the box below. We’re a friendly team of qualitative and mixed methods experts who can help you with feedback, proofreading and word reduction on this and any other section of your thesis or paper.
Collecting good data is one of the key elements of conducting a qualitative project. Of course, analysis, writing up and situating your findings within the existing literature are all important, but if you don’t have rich, relevant data, the rest can just be window dressing.
As qualitative researchers, we’re often speaking to participants about emotive and difficult subjects. Chronic illness, bereavement, burnout, experiences of discrimination – these are just some areas which tend to be the focus of the kind of work we do.
Additionally, there are the practical elements of recording data. Is the recorder working properly? If you’re meeting the participant in person, will the train getting you to them be on time? If you’re meeting virtually, will all the tech work OK?
Travelling to meet your interviewee? Make sure you’ve planned your trip and have a back-up plan in case of delays or cancellations. Photo by kwan fung on Unsplash
These elements combined can mean that conducting interviews takes its toll on the researcher just as much as the participant. If, like me, you find that conducting research interviews can be anxiety-provoking, here are some tips for handling that stress.
Create a flow chart you can follow before and after each interview
Knowing exactly the process you need to follow to ensure you’re prepared for an interview can remove the pressure. I’ve created a flow chart to follow so that I don’t need to worry I’ve forgotten anything. The chart has steps for when a participant first signs up to take part in the study (such as ensuring that I have their consent form and have filled in all the relevant paperwork), in the half hour before the interview (ensuring that anything which makes a noisy notification is switched off, that the recorder is charged and that I have a glass of water) and for afterwards (loading the audio file onto my machine and making field notes).
Test all your equipment
Before I start any research project, I tend to call a friend or relative and have a quick chat with them in the space from which I’m going to be conducting the interviews. These days, much qualitative interviewing is done either on the phone or via video chat. If that’s the case for you, test out both these options with someone friendly, and (with their permission!) record your conversations. That way, you can spot any difficulties in advance and feel reassured that those all-important interview recordings will come out crystal clear.
Meditation and deep-breathing exercises before an interview can help to de-stress the body. Photo by Le Minh Phuong on Unsplash
Take 10 minutes to meditate before each interview
I’ve started doing this recently and have found it immensely helpful in dealing with the anxiety that interviewing can cause. I sit on a comfy seat, away from my desk, and set a timer on my phone for 10 minutes. I then shut my eyes and take time to focus on my breathing. I observe any thoughts that come into my head, then try to let them go. This means that when I come back to my desk to conduct the interview, I am calmer and clearer headed than I would otherwise be.
Engage in self-care after each interview
Find something you can do at the end of an interview to look after your mental health. That might be going for a walk around the block, writing in a research diary, taking your lunch break or whatever it is that gives you a break. Your mental health is every bit as important as the health of the participants in your study, so take the time to look after it.
Recording tech has come a long way, but it’s still always a good idea to test everything before starting your interview. Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash
Talk to your supervisor or university wellbeing team
If the pressure of conducting a series of interviews starts to get you down, have a chat with your supervisor or a university counsellor to help you deal with and process the emotions that interviews are stirring up in you. Research is always a team effort, so don’t feel bad about asking for support from the people you work with. Universities often have good wellbeing departments, so it’s worth reaching out to them if you want to talk about stress caused by interviews or any other element of your research journey.
Let PGPR lighten the load
Here at PGPR, we understand how stressful research can be. While we obviously can’t conduct your interviews for you, we can help by discussing your interview schedule with you in a video consultation, transcribing your audio files and offering feedback on your analysis. We’re a friendly, experienced team who are always happy to help. Get in touch via the button below to hear more about how we can help you.
Postgraduate research is hard work. You need to design a
study. Pass ethics. Find participants. Gather and analyse data. Write up your
findings. Get into journals and conferences. And, usually, do all this whilst
you’re also juggling work, family and occasionally trying to have a bit of fun.
If something goes wrong – and sooner or later with research
(as with life in general), something will go wrong – it can be hard to carry
on. Perhaps you’re having to jump through a hundred hoops to get ethics
clearance, or maybe participants keep cancelling on you. It could be that your
supervisor is pushing you extra hard. In situations like this, you might find
yourself wondering why you’re bothering.
It can be hard to find the motivation to carry on after months of hard graft!
Does the world really need another piece of qualitative
research? (Answer – yes it does!) Do you really have something to say? (Answer
– absolutely, you do, you total badass!)
If you’re struggling to carry on with your postgrad
research, here are five tips from PGPR to help you get back into the swing of
things.
Take a break
Put your pen/laptop/tablet down and go outside. Look up at
the sky (as long as it’s not raining of course). Read a good book, watch some
reruns of Jane the Virgin. Gather your mates or your kids and go for a pizza.
When you’re in the thick of a PhD, it can feel all-encompassing, but a good
first step to tackling any research problem is to get things back into
perspective. Other things in life can bring you joy – take a week off and go
have some fun.
There is very little a pizza party with friends can’t solve!
Whatever issue it is that you’re facing, you can bet your
bottom dollar (whatever THAT is) that someone else has had the same problem.
Whether it’s a logistical issue or an analytical one, have a poke around on the
internet, do a Google Scholar search and see if you can read a bit about how
others in your situation have solved similar problems. Postgrad research can
feel pretty lonely, but there are many other people out there doing what you’re
doing, and we can all help each other.
Academic Twitter is (in my experience anyway) a pretty darn supportive place, so it might be worth asking a question on there. Trying using the hashtag #AcademicTwitter or tagging @AcademicChatter and hopefully, both answers and support will come along shortly.
Break the problem down into steps and tackle
them one at a time
Challenges can feel overwhelming if we try to solve them all
at once. Try instead to break the problem down into small, manageable chunks.
Can you face the first one? Great – do that, then have a bit of chocolate.
Leave part two till tomorrow. Rinse and repeat until the problem is dealt with.
By the time you’re into the swing of it, I bet you it won’t feel as
unsurmountable as it did to start off with.
Indulging in a few choccy treats as a reward for doing a bit of work is a-ok in our book!
Another problem with – well – problems, is that when we have
one, we can make it mean something personal about us. I couldn’t write a great
discussion section the first time around, so I must be a failure and a terrible
person. Try to stop thinking like that, because trust me, you are not a
failure. Anyone who is doing postgrad work is a superstar and a brainiac to
boot. This work is meant to be difficult, so the fact that you’re
occasionally finding it difficult means that nothing has gone wrong. And it
certainly doesn’t mean that you are anything other than amazing.
If you’re finding that hard to believe, try making a list of
all the successes (big and small) you’ve had since you started your research
career. Include everything from acing that undergrad exam to being accepted
onto your master’s to recruiting your first four participants. You could also
include cooking a lovely dinner for your family last night and mastering that
impossible-looking posture at yoga.
Once you’ve mastered your research, you can do anything!
If you managed all of those things, you can definitely
manage this one too!
Book a PGPR VC
If you’re still feeling stuck with any element of your qualitative postgrad research project, a great solution could be to book a video consultation with PGPR. In these VCs, we spent an hour looking over your work and notes before the session, and then another hour talking the problems through with you via Zoom or Teams or whatever platform you like. Discussing the issue with one of our friendly team of qualitative experts is a great way to brainstorm, gain confidence and beat whatever issue is stopping you.
Get in touch with us via the button below to book.
Are you a postgrad student using qualitative methods to explore a social science topic?
Are you wrestling with your analysis, your themes, your write up? Or maybe you’re feeling nervous about your viva?
Qualitative research is an intense process that requires a lot of careful thinking. You need to hold many ideas in your mind as you consider connections between your themes and how your research fits into the wider picture. It’s no wonder analysis can cause a headache.
That’s why PGPR offers video consultations: hour-long sessions in which one of our team of qualitative experts talks you through the challenges you’re facing in your research project.
If you’re wondering whether a PGPR VC can help you, read the following examples to see how we’ve helped clients in the past…
Aimee was working on resubmitting a reflective assignment as part of her psychotherapy doctorate. She was finding it challenging to revise her previous submission to ensure she met the assessment criteria while expressing her lived experiences clearly in a formal academic style. Aimee sent us her original submission, along with the feedback from her assessors and the assessment criteria. Through a series of video consultations, we explored how Aimee could relate psychotherapeutic theory to both her personal and professional experiences. We identified specific areas where she could demonstrate her relevant understanding in relation to the required learning outcomes. By explaining her ideas verbally, Aimee felt more confident communicating her knowledge, and successfully reworked her assignment with a clearer narrative arc.
We helped Aimee with her reflective assignment through a VC
Bob had completed the write up of his interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) findings for his doctoral thesis. He had received feedback that his work was descriptive rather than interpretative and was unsure how to address this. Bob sent us his results chapter and we had a chat about how we could best support him. We agreed that a general discussion about how to be interpretative would be too abstract, so decided he would select some quotes from his findings which we could explore together. During the hour, we talked through a small selection of extracts in depth. This allowed Bob to get a sense of how to approach his data interpretatively, what to look for and the types of questions he could ask himself. He then felt more able to apply this to the rest of his findings chapter, which he continued to revise on his own.
Thanks to a PGPR VC, Bob was able to rewrite his results chapter
Cathy had completed her PhD viva and was unsure how to approach her revisions. She sent us her viva report and thesis. In a series of video consultations, we focused on the different amendments required. In one session, we made a detailed plan for a chapter she had been asked to re-structure so that she could go away and organise her writing with clarity. In another, we discussed the examiners’ request that Cathy acknowledge the influence of her position on the research. We decided that writing a single reflexive statement would be appropriate and talked through what she might include in it. Cathy later sent some sections of her amended thesis for proofreading and written feedback to iron out the last details. Her revised thesis was accepted.
If you decide to book a VC with PGPR, we will spend an hour looking at your work before the session, and then an hour discussing the work once it’s done.
Previous PGPR VC client Andrea K said:
“I found my consultation meetings with Rachel incredibly helpful. When I felt stuck in my analysis, Rachel helped me to understand better what I am doing well (which motivated me to continue) as well as areas for further learning by discussing specific examples in my data. She definitely helped me to understand better how to put theory (IPA principles) into practice (analysis). Each consultation was used very efficiently thanks to Rachel’s clear focus, and she also made sure we had some time to discuss any questions/dilemmas that I had. I would recommend these consultations to anyone who feels stuck or wants to learn what they do well and what they can improve. Do not hesitate to contact the team if you have any other issues in your research study as they seem to consider individual needs and requests very well.”
Get in touch via the form below to book a session with one of our qualitative experts.
Ask any seasoned researcher if they’ve ever got into a muddle with references, and they will have a war story or two to tell. Whilst references are an essential part of any scientific piece of writing, they are undeniably a massive pain in the you-know-what.
It all makes sense. You’re writing your beloved thesis, the mind-blowing ideas and ground-breaking theories flowing from your fingers. You know the literature, you know where your research question came from and how it’s added to our knowledge. You’re in Csikszentmihalyi’s magical state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde, 1993) (that, my friends, is an example of a reference) and you’re not going to break that off for a tiny little detail like who wrote the paper proving that positive mindset is the key to everything. You’ll come back to that! So instead, you insert something like (positive mindset paper, pink folder????, come back later) and carry on writing.
That’s fine if this is your strategy for one or two references.
It’s really not so fine if this is your strategy for the 500 or so which make up an entire PhD!
Fear not – here are PGPR’s five top tips for staying on top of your references from the outset.
Ask any researcher about references and they’ll be certain to share their war stories…
This is essential. I know the software might seem alien and off-putting at first, and sometimes these systems are pretty clunky, but hand on heart, I think the best move I ever made as a researcher was to get to grips with EndNote from month one of my PhD.
Think of your referencing software as an online library where you store all the details of the reading you’ll do over the course of your thesis/paper/project. Most of them are simple to use once you’ve got used to them. Google and YouTube are also crammed full of helpful tips and videos for working these programs, or you can book an appointment with your uni librarian, who will walk you through it.
As stated, I use (and am a fan of) EndNote Web, which is free, but there are plenty of other choices out there, including the paid version of Endnote, Zotero and Mendeley.
Reading some of these blogs might help you to decide which to use. Or ask your PhD supervisor which they would recommend.
2. During the lit review, record each reference, with notes, as you go
One of the first steps of any research project, big or small, will be doing a lit review. This is good as it means you can get to grips with your new software early in the process and become confident with it. Every time you read a paper, chapter or web page, import or record its details in your software and make some notes. These notes will help you remember which paper is which when you come back to them in a few months. You can also keep different reference records in different folders for different projects, which will help you locate that finding you know you read somewhere at a later date.
Top tip: If you’re unsure what details you need to record, look for the paper in question in Google Scholar and then click the ‘cite’ button. This will tell you all the details you need to know (for journal articles, this will be title, authors, year and doi as well as publication name, volume, edition and page numbers), which you can then either import or copy and paste into your software.
3. Use your software system as you write
Now that all your references are neatly filed in your software, do ensure that you use that software to insert the in-text references as you write. If you use EndNote, you need to install a plug-in which then shows up in Word. Click ‘insert citation’ each time you need to do just that, and EndNote will format the in-text citation for you and put the full reference at the end of the document.
Writing references needn’t make you glum if you’ve got the right tools for the job.
Inevitably, as you write, you will need to look for more references as questions arise, or to respond to feedback from your supervisor or peer reviewers. By this point, you will be confident with your software, so just keep adding to it as you go, being disciplined about recording all those details and notes with every paper you need. Then use the software to insert the new reference as you write.
4. Find out which referencing system you need to use for this piece and set that in your software
There are several systems for citing references in scientific papers, which include APA, Harvard, Vancouver and so on. These all differ slightly from each other and, to make matters even more confusing, differ within themselves as well. Harvard referencing, for example, is an umbrella term which is interpreted differently depending on which institution you’re at, while APA has 7 versions.
The intricate differences in these systems can lead to further confusion if you haven’t been staying on top of your references throughout the process. But this is where referencing software is so handy. If all the references in your thesis are linked to your software, you can change which referencing system the software uses to present those references, switching from APA7 to Vancouver at the touch of a button. This job would take days and days by hand and runs the risk of you throwing your laptop out the window in frustration.
5. Contact PGPR for help
If you’re reading this blog thinking, well, that’s all very useful but I’m already two years into my thesis and it’s all too late, don’t worry! PGPR can help. Our expert reference checkers can ensure that every in-text and full-length reference is formatted correctly for the system you’re using, locate any missing details and even cross-check your thesis to ensure that every in-text citation appears in the bibliography and vice versa. We even have some crazy people on our team (Hannah and Shannon) who enjoy this work! So just hand it over to us and you can get back to uncovering more thrilling new findings.
We’re always happy to help. Just get in touch via the form below.
If you’re working on the final stages of your thesis, there’s probably a lot of writing going on in your world right now. It’s also likely that you’re juggling that with a job, cooking dinners, spending time with your family and trying to get out of the house once a day for fresh air. Therefore, despite your best intentions, writing might not be happening as often as you’d like.
Here are
some tips for carving out some time every day to get those brilliant findings
and interpretations committed to the page.
1. Plan
ahead
As much as possible, try to plan your weeks so that writing time is scheduled. Of course, life is unpredictable and sometimes we can’t stick to our plans, but if you at least know what you’re aiming for, you’re more likely to get there. If your schedule looks jam-packed, try to think creatively. Can you get up earlier a couple of days a week? Work in the evening while everyone else is watching TV? Get the kids to make the dinner one night so you can spend that time working? (Age of child dependent, of course!)
2. Tell
your housemates/partner/family that you have to shut the door
If you’re a housemate, a mother, a father or a spouse, you might feel that you need to drop everything the moment you’re needed by the people you love. Genuine emergencies aside, this is not the case. Can you set a time for working when you tell everyone that you’re not to be disturbed? Even if it’s only for half an hour a day, those half-hours will start stacking up, and so will your word count.
Setting clear boundaries with your loved ones is essential when working on a big project!
There’s no
point telling your family that the door is shut if you’re going to spend all your
time behind that closed door frantically checking Twitter and replying to your
favourite WhatsApp group chats. Put your phone on silent, don’t open your
emails and try to resist the urge to start Googling things as you write – it’s
all too easy to fall into an internet rabbit hole that way. You can always look
up how to spell phenomenological later; for now, just fudge it and get those
words down.
4. Recognise and reward the wins
Writing a thesis is really hard, even when there isn’t a global pandemic. You are doing an amazing job and you deserve to be rewarded. Sadly, most of the time, everyone else is too wrapped up in their own challenges to recognise how awesome you multi-tasking postgrad students are, which means you might need to reward yourself. And that’s just dandy, cos no one knows what you like better than you do! If you pass a milestone, no matter how small, book yourself a day off, buy your favourite cake, settle down with a novel and convince your other half to rub your feet. You’ve earned it.
Celebrating those wins along the way will help you eventually cross the finish line!
It can be
really tempting to start setting yourself huge targets: I’m going to write
2,000 words every single day without breaking a sweat. Sound familiar? The
problem with these unrealistic targets is that if you can’t stick to them, you
might start feeling discouraged, which makes it harder to come to your desk
feeling positive and energised the next day. Plus, if you know you don’t have
time for your 2,000 words that day, you might think well, there’s no point
starting – I’ll begin tomorrow instead. You can see how this thinking can
quickly lead to a week with no words written at all. Some of you might find it
easier to set a time limit for each day instead or to think in terms of
sections per week.
Do you have any tips for writing every day? Do let us know if so. And of course, once you’ve finished writing, you can always book us to proof-read your work so that you can be confident it’s as polished as it can be.
If you’d like to book PGPR to help you with your writing, just get in touch via the form below.
Completing postgrad qualitative research is an adventure. It can be thrilling, enriching and rewarding… but it can also be arduous, stressful and exhausting.
Here at PGPR, we can help you through every step of your journey. Here are seven services we think will benefit you as you progress through your project.
The PGPR team is on hand to help you every step of the way!
Collecting your data is so important. Asking participants the right questions can unlock access to the rich, lovely data which will underpin your entire study. We can look at your interview schedule and talk it over in a video consultation, giving you pointers for ensuring your questions are open, comprehensive and ordered in a way that is likely to generate rapport.
2. Feedback on analysis
Analysis can feel fun and fascinating – and it can feel overwhelming! Trying to conduct analysis without many qualitative colleagues or at a university without many qualitative experts can feel especially lonely and daunting. Fortunately, the PGPR team loves analysis, so we’re always excited when a client asks for feedback at this stage. We can offer written feedback or feedback via one of our video consultations. We’ll look at whether your data truly supports your conclusions, if there are areas where you can dig deeper, and whether your analysis fits in with your chosen methodology.
3. Feedback on word length and structure
Once you start putting the chapters of your thesis together, you might find that you’re several thousand words over your university’s word limit. Don’t panic – this is a common problem and is something we can help with. We’ll read your chapters and offer feedback which will help you tighten up your structure and delete those unnecessary words.
While we love giving feedback, we’re also all huge word nerds here at PGPR, so you can come to us if you need any sections of your thesis proof-read. We’ll correct any spelling and grammar issues, ensure that you’ve used terminology consistently and offer suggestions to make your sentences read as smoothly as possible.
5. Checking references
Reference sections: can’t get by without them – but you CAN offload them to us! When you’re immersed in analysing your beautiful data or wrangling with that tricky discussion section, ensuring that your reference list is also perfect can feel incredibly onerous. Don’t worry; we’re here to help. Our proof-readers Hannah and Shannon particularly enjoy checking reference lists, so it’s likely that one of these two superstars will undertake this job for you. They find it soothing – clearly, we need to clone them!
Enjoy more time to relax while we proof-read your reference list for you!
Word has lots of features that can help you present your thesis in a professional manner; unfortunately, it often feels like you need a degree in IT to be able to get them all to work. We have several Word experts on the team who will be more than happy to create tables of contents, ensure that your headings are consistent and caption all your figures for you.
7. Conference check package
Once your research is complete, it’s time to share it with the wider world. If you have a conference coming up, PGPR can offer feedback on your slides and give you an opportunity to practice your presentation via video for a friendly audience. Just get in touch to find out more.
We look forward to hearing from you – just fill in the contact form below and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
We will ensure that your work reads well and is in good English. Depending on the level of service you have paid for, we will also offer feedback on structure, methodology and analysis. However, we won’t change the meaning of your work or re-write any sections for you.
We’ll make sure your paper reads well and is in good English!
We will aim to get your work back to you as quickly as possible. We can usually proof-read 5,000 words per day, meaning a 15,000-word piece takes three days after we start.
Johanna often has a waiting list, so you might have to wait longer if you are specifically requesting to work with her.
We can work to your schedule; if you have some sections finished earlier than others, we can start work on those while you complete the rest of your thesis. Please note that we don’t book work in with a member of the team until we have a copy of that work.
Why can’t I book a slot before my piece is ready?
Postgrad work is unpredictable. It might take longer to recruit your participants than you had hoped. Your supervisor might go off sick. You might really need a break. For this reason, we no longer book clients in until their pieces are ready to go. This saves you having to feel stressed about a deadline that is no longer realistic and saves us reserving time for work which doesn’t materialise. We have a large enough team of experts that we can still offer quick turnaround times.
You’re already working to multiple deadlines, you don’t need to with us!
Send your work to us in Word: either .doc or .docx. This is essential because we use Word’s track changes function to proof-read your work.
Why will you send me back two copies?
Many proof-reading services will only send you back one clean copy. You may feel that this approach would mean less work for you. However, since this is your project and is so crucial for you, we feel it’s important to offer you the chance to collaborate. Ultimately, it’s your choice whether to accept the changes we suggest. Including a copy with the track changes on it gives you the option to accept or reject those changes. The clean version means that if you are happy to trust our judgment, you can work with this version rather than going through the changes we’ve suggested.
What is included in the service?
We will proof-read your work and, depending on the level of service you are paying for, suggest feedback as well. See how it works for more detail about this. We are also happy to answer short questions via email and may, in certain circumstances, agree to brief video chats to talk through the work.
If you have booked a video consultation, we will spend an hour beforehand reading the work you have sent us, and then an hour talking it through with you online. If you need more time, that can be arranged with the team on a case by case basis.
PGPR is not a supervision service, so we cannot offer ongoing extended conversations about your work or emotional support for the ups and downs of postgrad life.
What if I need to cancel or change my VIDEO CONSULTATION timeslot?
If you need to cancel or change your video consultation, you need to give us 24 hours’ notice. Otherwise, your payment is non-refundable.
How can I pay?
You can pay via BACS transfer or Stripe. Please note that we do not accept PayPal.
If we are working on a larger piece, we will ask for a deposit of 50% before we commence work. We will send a second invoice for the balance once the work is done.
For larger pieces, we will work on and return a small section to begin with. This gives you a chance to check that you are happy before we go any further. Working together in this way means you can let us know if there’s anything you would prefer us to do differently. However, we are so confident that you will be pleased with our work that we will not charge you for any completed sections if you are unhappy.
If you want to book PGPR to undertake some work for you, just fill in the form below.
Exciting times here at PGPR… our team has doubled in size over the past few months. We now have more staff members who can help you with all your proof-reading and feedback needs. Additionally, our new staff are bringing new expertise to the fold, so it could be that we can now help you or your colleagues with areas you hadn’t previously considered contacting us about.
While PGPR has traditionally helped qualitative psychology students, most of whom are using IPA or thematic analysis, we can now also help criminology,humanities, history and musicology students as well as students who are using quantitative analysis, mixed methods, ethnography and discourse or framework analysis.
Here’s a rundown of our new stellar staff members.
Claire M has a BSc in psychology and criminology,
an MSc in psychology of health and wellbeing and a PhD from Keele University.
She is another discourse analysis expert who can offer feedback
and video consultations in this area, as well as transcription.
She has also edited the PsyPAG Quarterly Journal for two years and worked as an
editor on the QMiP Bulletin since 2016. She believes it’s important to give
encouraging feedback that doesn’t make students physically cringe and hide away
for a week.
Claire R is a mixed-methods health psychology and health services researcher with a keen interest in digital health, long-term conditions and implementation science. She can offer proof-reading and feedback for students working with thematic analysis, framework analysis, ethnography and mixed methods. She has worked and studied at a variety of universities in the UK and completed her PhD in improvement science at the University of Southampton. She is currently based at the University of Oxford but lives in Southampton.
Talking your research over with one of our experts can lead to a breakthrough.
Josie has been working as a lecturer in psychology, teaching BSc and MSc Psychology, for the last 12 years. She’s currently working as a teaching fellow at King’s College London. She can help you with proof-reading and feedback for thematic analysis, IPA and quantitative work as well as video consultations. She has taught research methods in psychology (both qualitative and quantitative), biological psychology, cognitive psychology, mental health, and the psychology of sleep and dreaming. She has also supervised many research projects for final year BSc psychology students, using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods and has written a popular book on the psychology of dreaming.
Nick can help you with any proof-reading needs. He has an undergraduate degree and a master’s in history and became an English language teacher after taking a CELTA course. He has also taught academic English and critical thinking skills to university-level students. Now based in Malaysia, Nick combines proof-reading and editing with tutoring. He has worked with a wide variety of texts, including journal articles for publication, dissertations, academic theses, corporate documents and university papers, while his proof-reading experience covers engineering, hospitality, political science and management.
Shannon is another proof-reading whizz with
expertise in quantitative methods. She also offers transcription.
She completed a Bachelor of Business Science and a Master of Commerce in
economics at the University of KwaZulu Natal. During her time there, she also
worked as an economics tutor and an academic coordinator. She has assisted in
various quantitative research projects, primarily working with econometric and
statistical models. Working in research led Shannon to the role of proof-reader
and editor for research papers, prior to their submission for publication. She
also proof-read postgraduate dissertations in a variety of business-related
subjects.
And last but certainly not least is Steph, a musicologist and early modern music book historian who can offer proof-reading and feedback. With a master’s degree in early music editing from Hull and a PhD in seventeenth-century music publishing from Manchester, she is now an Associate Researcher at Newcastle. She works on music in early modern England, particularly within the broader cultural contexts of print, book history and economic trade. She’s also the editor for the Northamptonshire Victoria County History Trust, meaning she is used to working with historians from a broad range of backgrounds.
The PGPR team have more degrees than you could throw your cap at
If you or any of your colleagues would like to book one of our new team members to look at your work, please just get in touch via the box below – we’ll be happy to help.
