Tag: Psychology

Common thematic analysis pitfalls – and how to avoid them

If you’re a qualitative researcher, you will be familiar with Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis (RTA). Originally outlined in their 2006 methodological paper “Using thematic analysis in psychology”, it is probably the most common ‘first foray’ into qualitative research for psychologists. Since 2006, Braun and Clarke have refined and reworked their 6-step method, producing papers, books, YouTube videos (from both Clarke and Braun) and an entire website dedicated to supporting the conduct of quality RTA.

Despite this clear and helpful guidance, we regularly come across a handful of common errors in the conduct and write-up of RTA studies here at PGPR.

1. Themes do not emerge!

If you’ve ever used the term “the themes that emerged…” or similar in your RTA study, you’re in good company – it’s an error so commonly commented on that it’s spawned its own meme.

Pin badge (now discontinued, sadly) designed by Dr Heidi R Green, “Science On A Postcard”

But why does this seemingly innocent phrase cause so much uproar in the RTA community? It comes down to its positivist implications: saying that the themes emerged, were identified, or even were found in the data, suggests that, if we look hard enough, we can find objective themes which truly exist, regardless of the researcher’s analytic process.

Themes, in an RTA sense, are not real – they are constructed through the analytic process. Braun and Clarke, true to form, say it best: “In reflexive TA, themes are generated, created or constructed (for example), they are not identified, found or discovered, and they definitely don’t just ‘emerge’ from data like a fully-grown Venus arising from the sea and arriving at the shore in Botticelli’s famous painting” (Braun & Clarke, 2022). Is this semantic pedantry? Some might argue that it is, but this edict has become the shibboleth by which seasoned RTAers recognise whether or not their students have familiarised themselves with Braun and Clarke beyond 2006!

2. So where do themes come from..?

They are developed! You won’t know what your themes will be until you’ve engaged in the analytic process, so none of this “we expect the themes to be…” nonsense in your introduction, please. Depending on your research aims and specific approach (inductive, deductive – RTA is delightfully flexible), you may have specific areas of the data you want to focus on, but try to also allow for unexpected insights. And definitely steer clear of topic summaries as theme names – a theme named “how patients use online patient portals” doesn’t tell an interpretative story (and probably doesn’t go much beyond the initially stated research aim). But theme names such as “taking ownership of my healthcare” communicates a core message – a message that cannot be conceptualized prior to analysis.

To put it simply: themes come from a combination of the data, the analytic process, the sociocultural context in which the data was collected and analysed, and the specific context that you, as the analyst, bring to the analytic process. If, for example, Johanna and I were to analyse the same set of transcripts, we would very likely construct a different set of themes. If we were to analyse the data together, a third distinct set of themes would probably be developed. And that is because…

3. You are a tool of the analytic process

…not a contaminant to be contained. Again, this comes down to a question of philosophical frameworks – RTA is not constructed on a bedrock of positivist paradigms.

Photo by Lachlan Donald on Unsplash

Unlike in much quantitative research, the aim of RTA is not to control for or eliminate researcher bias – the reflexive aspect of RTA acknowledges that the researcher plays an active role in developing themes. As the analyst, your position, context, and yes, bias, bring something unique to the analytic process – so own it, don’t deny it. Engage reflexively throughout the analytic process to explain how and why you developed the themes as you did. This can be done as a group process, with multiple coders or analysts, but not in an effort to “control for bias”. Inter-rater reliability has no place here.

4. Leave the concept of saturation to the grounded theorists

In a similar vein to “inter-rater reliability”, we all too often read references to saturation in RTA studies. I wonder if this is in an effort to appease positivist editors or supervisors, or a desperate bid to cling to something concrete to guide sample sizes. You might be showing your positivist hand if you insist that “interviews will be conducted until data saturation is reached”. The concept of saturation is that there comes a point after which “no new information” is produced by further interviews (or focus groups, or whatever mode of data collection is being undertaken). This makes sense in a grounded theory study, where the analyst is interested in finding the solution to a specific problem and will use theoretical sampling to simultaneously collect data as they analyse, thus allowing them to narrow down further and further towards an understanding of their new theory.

However, in RTA, Braun and Clarke have been pretty clear on the topic: “…when it comes to reflexive TA, data saturation is not a particularly useful, or indeed theoretically coherent, concept” (Braun & Clarke, 2019). The more data you collect, the more possibilities for interpretation arise – the themes you develop after 10 interviews may look very different from the themes you might have developed if you conducted 20 interviews. You’ll just have to make a pragmatic, interpretative judgement (and possibly be guided by Braun & Clarke’s Thematic Analysis FAQ). Try to be comfortable with the uncertainty.

5. There isn’t just one approach to Thematic Analysis

…although you’d be forgiven for thinking so. Braun and Clarke’s 2006 methodological paper “Using thematic analysis in psychology” has several hundred thousand citations now, and their approach is used across a broad range of disciplines. However, theirs is not the only way, even if it is my favourite – clearly, I’m not alone in this! There are other modes of thematic analysis, some of which have more neo-positivist roots. Thematic analysis’ multiplicity is part of the reason why, post-2006, Braun and Clarke chose to differentiate by naming their method reflexive thematic analysis.

If you are undertaking an RTA study, be explicit about this by naming it as such – and try to cite sources beyond that 2006 paper, to demonstrate your reflexive chops. And don’t forget: be reflexive!

If you want help ensuring that your RTA is working as well as it can, just get in touch with us via the box below. We’ll be happy to help.

How to use the new IPA terminology

Whether you are new to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) or have been using it for a while, you may have noticed some differences in the language associated with this qualitative approach to research.

This might seem confusing at first but don’t worry; help is at hand!

Confused? PGPR are here to help

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The guidance and steps suggested to conduct your analysis remain the same. So do the underlying principles. All that’s changed is some of the terminology.

Terms like emergent theme or superordinate theme, which you will see in most IPA papers published pre-2022 and in the first edition of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research by Jonathan Smith, Paul Flowers and Michael Larkin (2009), have been updated, as explained in the table below.

Old term New term
Emergent Theme Experiential Statement
Superordinate Theme Personal Experiential Theme (PET)
Master Theme Group Experiential Theme (GET)

Emergent Themes are now known as experiential statements, superordinate themes are now called personal experiential themes, and master themes are now referred to as group experiential themes.

This change in terminology can actually make things clearer as you work through your analysis. Experiential statements are just that, statements about the experiences captured in your data in terms of their meaning for the participant.

Let the new IPA terminology light your pathway through analysis

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In the new book Essentials of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith & Nizza, 2021), the authors provide an example analysis of a participant’s holiday experience.

The example transcript includes the lines “so I really had to put in the effort and judge people quite quickly as well. So, yeah, I just had to put stuff out there quite a lot”. One of the experiential statements to arise from this analysis is ‘Selectively and purposively bonding with strangers’ (p. 41).

This statement is both concise and rich. It captures the participant’s description of forging relationships with other travellers and their sense of this being a deliberate, active process. A statement such as ‘Meeting new people’ or ‘Social aspects of travel’, although still reflective of the data, would not provide the same experiential detail.

The new IPA terminology is nearly as much fun as meeting new friends whilst travelling. Honest!

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Thinking in terms of experiential statements – rather than emergent themes – can help you orient yourself during the earlier analytic stages. An experiential statement involves summarising the meaning in a short portion of the text – perhaps just a few lines. At this stage, being too concerned with the bigger picture of ‘themes’ can distract you from looking carefully at each section of the transcript in a close, fine-grained fashion.

Personal experiential themes or PETs, are themes developed through an analysis of a single case, meaning they are personal to that individual.

Group experiential themes or GETs are developed by looking across individual cases for patterns of convergence and divergence. They are themes which represent the group.

As you can see, the revised terminology makes finding your way through the analysis easier.

Doing IPA can feel like tackling a maze. The new terminology can help you find your way.

Photo by Benjamin Elliott on Unsplash

This new terminology, and guidance for each stage of the analysis, are included in the two new books mentioned. These are the 2nd edition of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research by Jonathan Smith, Paul Flowers, and Michael Larkin (2022), and the new APA Essentials Book Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis by Jonathan Smith and Isabella Nizza (2021).

The new terminology is also used in the recent paper I wrote with Jonathan Smith: ‘Making sense of an artwork: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of participants’ accounts of viewing a well-known painting’ (Starr & Smith, 2022).

This blog was written by Rachel Starr, one of PGPR’s IPA experts. To book a video consultation with Rachel, contact us via the box below.

Using anthropomorphism in academic writing

It’s not uncommon to read “this study concludes…” or “these findings suggest…” in academic writing. I would hazard a guess that nearly every researcher has used similar phrases at some point in their career. You may well have used them yourself and thought nothing of it. However, these ubiquitous and seemingly innocuous phrases cause quite a stir in certain circles.

They are just two examples of anthropomorphism: incidences where the author attributes human characteristics to inanimate or nonhuman objects or concepts. Under APA 6 guidelines, academics would be chided for implying that their data had the power of speech – how can data say anything? Anthropomorphism was to be avoided at all costs.


It can be tempting to give human qualities to anything and everything!

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

And logically, rationally, this makes sense. Data, findings, “the study” – all these things lack agency. Research doesn’t think, explore, or conclude; researchers do! Active verbs belong with people, not abstract concepts or inanimate objects.

If you are only now learning of these particular guidelines, you may be groaning, rolling your eyes, and wondering if you have to go back through your entire dissertation to awkwardly juggle clauses and remove agency from “the study”. If you’re writing in the first-person, this is fairly straightforward. What was “this chapter describes…” becomes “in this chapter, I describe…”.

However, whilst first-person writing is an increasingly popular choice for qualitative researchers, not all supervisors, examiners and journal editors will accept this format…a topic for a whole other blog. De-anthropomorphising sentences in the third person is possible, but it can lead to some verbose and awkward phrasing. For example:

This research explores the impact of dog ownership on people’s happiness.

Could become the slightly wordier:

In this study, the researchers explored the impact of dog ownership on people’s happiness.

Or the clumsy, back-ended passive-voice version:

          In this research, the impact of dog ownership on people’s happiness was explored.


Every dog has its data
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Perhaps you’re wondering what all the fuss is about. Surely this is pedantic in the extreme; we know that it’s the researchers, not the research, who are doing the exploring, describing and suggesting! Anthropomorphism is a useful and engaging stylistic shorthand which can facilitate clarity and conciseness, rather than create confusion. It’s unlikely that we will read “the study suggests…” and go away thinking “gosh, that study has acquired the power of speech! And isn’t it remarkably articulate?”

And to an extent, it seems the APA style guide finally agrees (or should that be “the authors of the APA style guide agree” …?)… to an extent. Under APA 7 guidelines, the rules around anthropomorphism have been relaxed, meaning your study can now be allowed to speak. Only a little, though, and only under strict circumstances. There are limits to the active verbs which can be ascribed to non-human entities. For example, it’s now fine to state:

The data suggests…

The findings indicate…

The table presents…

Some phrases which might be acceptable (but use with caution):

This chapter describes…

The questionnaire assessed…

But definitely steer clear of:

The study concluded… (this suggests that there is one objective conclusion to be drawn from the data).

The literature claims… (this suggests that from a whole body of literature on a given topic, one unified view can be drawn).

Whilst there is arguably room for clarification around these new guidelines, I wouldn’t hold out hope for a comprehensive list of suitable verb-subject pairings. A good rule of thumb may be to question why you’re employing anthropomorphism – does it clarify your writing (perhaps by avoiding long, awkward sentence structuring), or does it muddy your intended meaning? If you spot anthropomorphism in your writing, is there another way this could be phrased? While there is no longer a blanket ban on anthropomorphism in APA, it’s generally good practice to reflect on your writing, and what you may be implying by employing this device.

You can read more about the changes to the rules here.


Sometimes it’s a case of moving the pieces around.
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If this all feels overwhelming, or confusing, or you’re not sure where to start, then there’s always help available. Get in touch with us about your writing concerns! Whether it’s specifically about anthropomorphism or more broadly about APA style, we’re happy to provide expert guidance and friendly support. Just fill in the box below to contact us, and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

Three challenges dyslexic post-grad students may face – and how PGPR can help

Written by PGPR admin assistant Layla

Did you know that around five per cent of university students in the UK are dyslexic?

Dyslexic students can struggle with things other students may take for granted, such as understanding textbook materials, spelling and grammar, note-taking, and organising and expressing their ideas on paper.

Undertaking a PhD is a big commitment and a lot of work. If you’re a PhD student with dyslexia, this can make things all the more difficult.

However, with the right support in place, it can also be a rewarding experience that not only looks great on your CV but can enhance your future career prospects.

Here are three challenges that PhD students with dyslexia might face and ways that PGPR can help:

  • Spelling and grammar

The standard of writing expected from a PhD is high. If you are a dyslexic student, you might find negative comments or feedback in this area demotivating, especially when you have spent hours diligently checking your finished paper. Text-to-speech software and grammar checkers can be useful for common spelling and grammatical errors, but quite often they miss details that can only be spotted by an eagle-eyed professional proof-reader.

Our basic proof-reading service is designed to spot those typos and punctuation errors, checking each line, suggesting alternative word choices and highlighting areas of text that are difficult to understand. You get two copies of your work back – one clean edit and one tracked, so you can easily and quickly spot what changes have been made.

PGPR can help you put the right letters together

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  • Organising your ideas

Being able to manage your time effectively whilst working on a PhD is essential. Many dyslexic students can find it difficult to organise their thoughts on paper or find they need to spend longer re-reading academic texts to ensure they fully understand what is being discussed.

It is easy to become overwhelmed with the workload involved in a PhD even with additional support from your university. PGPR’s feedback service can help you to successfully organise your ideas so they are the best they can be.

One of the team will go through your work and provide expert advice and feedback to help improve your structure, methodology, findings and discussion sections. We also offer a service that combines basic proof-reading with feedback for students who feel their English or academic writing skills could use an extra boost.

Feeling overwhelmed? We can help

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  • Lack of visible support

Students with dyslexia often comment on how their experiences of studying at a post-grad level are vastly different from an undergraduate degree.

Universities often have a good support system in place for undergraduates, such as extra time for exams or a project deadline, trained on-site support staff and specialist equipment to help dyslexic students. Embarking on a PhD, however, means a lot of working on your own, and getting extra time to plan or write your thesis can be difficult.

If you feel that you need more support, consider discussing this with your supervisor. Many supervisors will be able to work with you on a plan to guide you through your PhD. Others may be dyslexic themselves or have previously worked with dyslexic students.

You may also benefit from PGPR’s popular one-to-one Skype sessions, which are designed to allow you to discuss your work with one of our experts. These one-off or regular sessions provide support, guidance and deeper insight into your work and can help assuage any worries or fears you may be experiencing.

Everyone needs a helping hand from time to time

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Get in touch with The Post-Graduate Proof-Reader

The team at PGPR offer a wide range of services designed to help you achieve your personal best. Whether you need your lecture notes transcribed into a clear and readable format in a dyslexia-friendly font, or a dry-run of your ground-breaking presentation via Skype to help you practise speaking in public, we are here to help.

There are also unlimited resources for students with dyslexia online. Some of our favourites include The British Dyslexia Association and The International Dyslexia Association.

Still not sure if we can help you? Get in touch and let us know the details, and we will do our best to support you in your studies.

Five tips for looking after your mental health as a postgrad


Postgraduate work is rewarding and can advance your career. But it can also be hard, lonely and scary. When your brain is full of ethics forms, analysis and recruitment, it can be hard to take care of yourself. Looking after your mental health is always essential but is especially important when you’re so busy you feel you don’t have the time. As the Zen proverb says:

‘You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour’.

Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

Here are five tips for maintaining your sanity while completing your master’s or PhD.

1. Fight isolation

Postgrad work is often groundbreaking. This is exciting, of course. But the problem with breaking new ground is that there might not be anyone else breaking that ground with you. This means you can end up feeling isolated.

Is there anyone else at your university doing similar research to you? If so, drop them an email, see if they fancy lunch. If not, have a look online for groups of people doing similar work to you. Lots of PGPR clients are conducting qualitative research using interpretative phenomenological analysis; if you’re one of those people, check out the IPA groups.io gang, which is a supportive place to ask questions and make contacts. Despite its reputation for being toxic, Twitter can also be a friendly space for academics. You might want to start out by following @AcademicChatter, @PhDVoice and PGPR’s account @DrJohannaSpiers for some interesting online conversations.


Postgrad work can be lonely
Photo by Fabrizio Verrecchia on Unsplash

 

2. Take breaks

When you’re drowning in deadlines, it can feel tempting to keep working on into the night, only stopping to cram crisps into your mouth every now and then. But we all know this is a bad idea, right?

Make sure you work regular breaks into your days. Does your uni have a gym? Go for a yoga class or a game of squash. Are you working from home? Go outside, sit in the sun, read a chapter of a novel. Is it Sunday and you’ve been working for 15 days straight? Stop it! Watch some Ozark and put your feet up. You’ll feel much better, and you’ll be more productive when you do get back to your desk.

3. Ask for support if you need it

There’s no escaping it; doing a master’s or a PhD is tough. You’re leading your own research, which is unpredictable and has many elements outside of your control. You’re probably skint. You’re watching your friends and family fill their evenings with fun while you’re conducting analysis and writing discussion sections. And you might be juggling family responsibilities while doing all this. If you need help, ask for it. Many universities have free counselling services which are quick to access. Your personal tutor is there for you to talk to. Asking for help is a sign of strength, so don’t be scared to reach out.


We all need a helping hand from time to time
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4. Celebrate the wins

If you’ve read this far, you might be forgiven for thinking postgrad work is nothing but doom and gloom. However, there are many triumphs along the way: getting accepted onto the course, passing your status upgrade, getting ethics approval, recruiting your first participants, writing your first paper, presenting at your first conference. These are all amazing achievements – remember to enjoy them!


Celebrate your postgrad wins whenever you can
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5. Contact PGPR for extra help

If you’re feeling stuck with spelling, tense about tenses or grouchy over grammar as you’re writing up your findings, get in touch for proof-reading help. We can also offer written and video-based feedback for qualitative social science work or help with your interview schedules and conference presentations. Just fill in the form below to find out more.

How writing can help your qualitative analysis

By PGPR team member Elly Phillips

You’re committed to completing a rigorous, thorough and well-developed analysis. You’ve collected your data and spent hours immersing yourself in coding and organising your codes into themes. When are you ready to start writing up?


When is the best time to start writing?
Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pixabay

How final is the final report?

It’s useful to address the perception of qualitative research as a linear process with writing up as the conclusion. If you follow this model, you may be reluctant to move on until you’re sure your codes are ‘finished’. Perhaps that idea comes from quantitative research, where you analyse your data then write up your report to present to others. Based on this, your concerns might be mostly about judging when you’re ‘ready’ to move onto writing.

Writing as a process

Instead, consider writing as an integral part of continuing your analysis. The use of writing as an analysis tool crops up across social sciences and qualitative methods. You might have read about memo-writing in grounded theory, for instance. Hermeneutic psychology writers have suggested writing should be an integral part of developing an analysis.

In this vision, the writing is less about reporting your fully formed ideas and more about refining your thinking, ideas and arguments about your data. Codes only capture a small part of your thinking and don’t allow you to explain or explore. As you write, you can capture and develop initially nebulous ideas about your work.

How does writing help?

Initially, writing can be for yourself. You can test your arguments and reasoning. You might start setting down your analytic claims about your data. How did you make sense of the participants’ words? Which parts of the text do you think were particularly relevant? These don’t have to be final ideas, but they can help you decide what might be useful.

Writing can also help you get feedback from others. A narrative with quotes, analytic commentary and overarching comments communicates your ideas with more depth than code names or standalone quotes. A written account helps an outsider understand the reasoning that took you from data to themes and how you’re interpreting the data.


Sharing your ideas
Photo by Startupstockphotos via Pixabay

A short, written analysis example can reassure your supervisor that you’re engaging in a thorough analysis. They will then be able to see your work’s structure, content and analysis style, which can be vital to ensure you’re creating a well-developed piece of analysis.

What to write?

There are many options for when to write and how much. Personally, I like to write often, even if many of those narratives only collect virtual cobwebs on my laptop (I always believe I’ll use them one day). You can write a brief reflection on each interview and after transcription. You might want to write up some key themes from one transcript, explain what you think is important about a small group of quotes, or write a full analysis of each participant’s account.

Strange things happen when you write. Despite rigorous attention to coding, our analytic ideas can prove frustratingly slippery when we try to explain them. You might find that some themes develop beyond their original scope as you find more to say about them. Others may turn out to be uninteresting once you start writing. Either situation should nudge you to return to your data and see what was happening (moving back around the hermeneutic circle). Are there multiple ideas within one initial code that might benefit from more thought? Are there other parts of the data that might elaborate your ideas and develop those dull themes? If you encounter these questions early, it’s an exciting way to advance your analysis.

How can PGPR help


We can help you take the plunge
Image by Anja via Pixabay

If you’re unsure or reluctant to take the plunge, we can help. A Skype session might help make decisions about writing. If your supervisor can’t review all your developing ideas, you can ask for feedback from our team. We can review early drafts and help you refine and focus further analysis.

Starting to write and explain your ideas is an exciting time in your research. Take the plunge to see where it can take you.

What you can expect from PGPR’s different levels of service

If you’re reading this blog, you’re either a PGPR client or you’re thinking about becoming one. Either way – welcome! We hope we’ll get the chance to read some of your research soon.

We offer several levels of service here at PGPR. This is a blog to explain what you’ll get when you book each of those services.

1. Standard proofreading

First and foremost, proofreading is about ensuring that your spelling and grammar are correct. You probably realised that, but PGPR proofreaders also look out for and help you with more than just those factors. Those extra areas include:

  • Tightening your writing by cutting down overly long sentences
  • Clarifying confusing text
  • Ensuring consistency of formatting, terminology, punctuation and so on
  • Improving readability by removing repetition and style
  • Checking for anthropomorphism (more on that here)
  • Checking your in-text references

We’ll amend your piece using Word’s track changes feature and send you back two copies: one with the changes still marked and one clean copy. We will also include some comments to ensure we haven’t changed your meaning, ask any questions or check that you agree with any suggested re-formatting.


The PGPR team really love reading

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Who should use our basic proofreading service? Clients who are happy with the structure and meaning of their work, but who struggle with English or academic writing.

 

2. Light proofreading

We also offer a light proofreading service which is perfect for those on a tight budget or those whose work is 90% there. With this service, we just check spelling, punctuation and grammar, rather than looking for those extras included in our standard service. This service is quicker and cheaper than our standard service. 

Who should use our light proofreading service? Clients who are on a tight budget and/or those who are confident that their writing is strong and just want a second pair of eyes. Please note that we have to check that work is of a high enough standard to qualify for light proofreading as this is not always the case.

 

3. Feedback only

PGPR consists of Johanna Spiers and Astrid Coxon, both of whom are qualitative methods experts. As such, we can offer feedback on your structure, methodology, findings and discussion sections. We might ask whether you could dig a bit deeper with a certain interpretation, or if you can find links between certain themes. We may also suggest papers which would be useful to read, point out methodological errors or highlight sections of your thesis which your examiners might question you about.

We can also offer feedback on earlier stages of analysis, such as tables of themes or transcripts. It might be helpful for you to consider a Video Consultation with us if you’re at this earlier stage – more on those below.

If you book feedback only, you’ll get a single copy of your work back, marked up with helpful comments from one of our team. Read more about our brilliant team here.


The PGPR team will tell you what’s working and what needs more polishing

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Who should use our feedback only service? If you are confident that your writing is strong, but you feel less sure about whether your analysis or methodology are as robust as they can be, this is the service for you.

4. Proofreading plus feedback

This is our deluxe service and is fairly self-explanatory! If you book this service, we’ll combine all the elements of basic proofreading and feedback. This means you’ll get two copies of your work back: one with the tracked changes still there for you to look at and one clean copy. Both copies will include the feedback comments.


PGPR clients are great; we genuinely enjoy giving you feedback
 
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Who should book proofreading plus feedback? If you’re feeling unsure about your English or academic writing skills and need some extra assistance with your analysis, book this service.

5. Video consultations

We also offer video consultations for our qualitative clients. These are an ideal opportunity to talk through difficulties you’re having at any stage of your research project with either Johanna or Astrid.

Once you’ve booked a session, you can send some examples of your work for us to look over. We will then spend up to an hour discussing the work with you via a video chat. Note it’s fine to turn the video function off if you feel shy – you’ll still be able to hear our advice and questions.

You can read more about the benefits of our video consultations here.


Use one of our friendly VC sessions to steer you in the right direction
 
Photo by visuals on Unsplash
 
 

Who should book a video consultation? Anyone who is feeling stuck with any stage of their qualitative research project.

 

6. Per-hour feedback 

We now offer written feedback for tables of themes and other early stages of analysis. We charge per hour (instead of per word) for this because a table of themes might not have many words yet is likely to include a lot of material for discussion. We will comb through the documents you send us and offer our feedback via comments on the page and a written report. You can set the amount of time you want us to spend on your documents or we can estimate how long the job will take before we start. Just get in touch to hear more. 

Who should use our per-hour feedback service? Clients who are at an early stage of their analysis and want written feedback to help them move forwards. 

 

7. Referencing services

Reference sections can be a huge challenge for postgrad students. Fortunately, PGPR can help! We offer two referencing services. In the first, reference checking, we will proofread your reference list and ensure that every entry follows the exact format of the referencing system you’re using, whether that’s APA, Harvard, Chicago or any other system. In the second service, cross-checking, we will ensure that every reference on your list is included in your thesis and every in-text citation in your thesis appears on your reference list. This means we will flag up any references you can delete or that you need to add.

Who should book our referencing services? Anyone who is in a muddle about their reference list and can’t bear to sort it out themselves… We know there’s a lot of you out there!

 

8. Formatting

Our final service involves ensuring that your thesis looks as polished and professional as it can. We will ensure that all your headings are consistent and correct, that your table of contents is up to date, that your tables are formatted correctly and that everything looks just as it should. We recommend that you book our formatting service as the very last thing you do before submitting your thesis, so that everything is perfect before you send your precious research out into the world.

Who should use our formatting service? Anyone who isn’t that techy but still wants their work to visually dazzle – and to follow academic guidelines for presentation.

Our formatting service will ensure that your thesis is perfectly ordered

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If any of these services sound like they might be helpful for you, get in touch via the form below and have a chat with us about what we can offer.

How a PGPR video consultation can help you with your qualitative analysis

Would talking with a friendly qualitative expert help you to move past hurdles in your project?
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Feeling stuck

There are times in any research student’s experience where they lose a sense of direction or need some reassurance. We all sometimes feel stuck! Unfortunately, students don’t always get the support they need or want from their research supervisors (we’re not blaming supervisors as many are often over-stretched and under pressure). This can sometimes mean students need help in:

  • Formulating a concise qualitative research question
  • Figuring out which qualitative method would fit the best with the research question
  • Understanding if their interview schedule will elicit the best qualitative data
  • Getting feedback on a table of themes to see if the analysis is appropriately in-depth
  • Advice about their project from an independent qualitative expert
  • Thinking through what they might say at a viva to defend their project

Maximising the focus of your precious time

Many postgraduate students work long, solitary hours on their projects, and for some, these hours are undertaken after the ‘day job’ or while juggling other commitments. Time is a precious commodity and it is frustrating to not have a clear sense of direction when a few hours have been carved out.  For full-time students, the single focus of the research programme can be overwhelming, to the point where students ‘can’t see the wood for the trees’. Does any of this sound familiar?


At times students struggle to find a clear way forwards with their research
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Moving forwards

Sometimes, having a human-to-human conversation can be a much-needed antidote to needling concerns, unanswered questions, and, at times, a sense of isolation for postgraduate students. Having someone encourage, give direction, affirm and offer insight into an element that has been problematic can pave the way for a more productive way forwards.

We’ve been there! Our experienced team have empathy for postgrad students and recognise that sometimes you just need to have a helping hand. This is why we now offer one-on-one video consultations with our qualitative experts. Our team appreciates how important timely supportive and empathic feedback is, and we work hard to make our time with you as productive and helpful as possible. And we’re friendly!

Here’s how it works…

You contact us and tell us a little more about what you need. If a video consultation seems like a great fit, we’ll arrange for a mutually convenient time for you to talk with one of our team. They will spend an hour in preparation for the session reading your work, so you might want to send material relevant to your discussion beforehand; although do bear in mind that we can’t read an entire thesis in an hour. You might also give some thought to the main aims you’d like to achieve in the hour of talk-time. Then we’ll contact you and talk with you for an hour, based on the agreed session outline.

Previous students who have engaged with our video consultations have really appreciated them:

I would say what helped me the most was just having a discussion with you as it was absolutely paramount in building my confidence. I felt more confident going into the viva and definitely answered the questions with a lot more conviction. So again, I just want to thank you for all your help! (PhD student)

So, if your project needs an injection of human-to-human discussion, please get in touch via the form below. Sometimes a little support is all it takes for your project to take flight again.

Photo by Wynand van Poortvliet on Unsplash

Why should you work with one of the PGPR team?

If you’re reading this blog post, you are either an existing PGPR client, or you’re thinking about using our services. Either way – thank you! We are so appreciative of your business. Everyone on our team finds the research you send us fascinating, meaning that a day’s work for PGPR is better than a day off from a more traditional job in academia.

I have been personally recommended to many of my clients, which means some people feel a bit unsure when I tell them that it won’t be me looking at their work. If this describes you, this handy blog post will explain why you are in safe hands at PGPR, no matter which team member tackles your thrilling thesis.

  • The team are carefully vetted 

I am ultra-careful when recruiting PGPR team members – after all, our reputation relies on their excellence. Most of our clients are working in the field of qualitative psychology. As such, I ask experts in that field for recommendations of people who might want to work for me, and then I follow those recommendations up. All potential team members complete a series of tests before being interviewed, meaning I am satisfied that their work is excellent and their values align with those of the company; those values being honesty, efficiency and kindness, in case you were wondering.

Feel the love with the PGPR team
 
Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash
  • All of the team are experts

Every member of the PGPR team is an expert in their field. Some are expert proof-readers with years’ experience on a multitude of texts. Others are experts in qualitative methods, with PhDs of their own. Some teach at universities. Others were taught by Jonathan A Smith, who devised IPA, the method so many of my clients use.  

All of our team have read at least one book this big, so you know you can trust them
 
Photo by Jasmine Coro on Unsplash
  • You will be matched with the right member of the team

We will always ensure that our clients are matched to the team member who best aligns with their needs. Are you looking for a super speedy and accurate proof-read, but don’t need any feedback? Then Hannah or Rosy are your women! Need feedback on your qualitative work, but feel confident your English is strong? We’ll pass you on to Fiona or Lydia. If you need proofing and feedback, then Rachel, Astrid or Elly will be perfect for your project. Between us, we have expertise in a range of qualitative methods, so we’ll ensure that your proof-reader’s skills fit with your research.

  • Quicker turnaround times

When I started PGPR in 2018, I had no idea it was going to be so popular. I quickly found myself with a waiting list more than four months long, which was no use for stressed-out students working on a deadline. Expanding the team has meant that we can offer much tighter turnarounds, which is good news for everyone.

  • Four eyes are better than two

There are times when it’s useful for a client to work with more than one proof-reader. For example, they might have a huge thesis with a turnaround time which is just too tight for one person to complete. If so, we can put several proof-readers on the case for you. Or a client’s supervisor might be giving feedback which conflicts with ours. When that happens, we can ask for a third opinion from another member of the PGPR team.


Two heads are better than one
 
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

I hope this blog has calmed any concerns you might have had about working with my team. Of course, if you have any more questions, please do get in touch on info@postgradproofreader.co.uk and we will happily answer those queries for you.

To book a slot with one of PGPR’s excellent team, visit www.postgradproofreader.co.uk

How to get your qualitative study ready for publication in five easy steps

Are you a postgrad student with a comprehensive, beautifully written qualitative thesis? You know your research deserves to be read by a wider audience, but after looking at journal word lengths, you’ve realised you’ll need to cut your gorgeous study in half (or maybe even quarters) to be eligible for publication.

How on earth can this be done?

Don’t panic! This blog will outline five easy steps to help you cut your study down into a bite-sized, publishable piece without losing any of the nuance you’ve put your blood, sweat and tears into.

1. Select a journal Think about audience, word-length and style

Before you even start thinking about making cuts to your precious study, the first thing to get straight is which journal you’re writing for. Who is your ideal audience? Do they have a key publication? If so, that could be the one for you. Run a quick search through your chosen journal’s archive to ensure they are open to qualitative publications; it will be a waste of your time and theirs to send your gorgeous IPA findings to a publication which only deals with stats.

Wow your audience with your awesome findings
Photo by Wendy Wei on Pexels

Once you’ve found your ideal journal, search their website for their instructions for authors, and note down their word length and style guidelines. Some journals might ask for a certain number of pages rather than a word length. Most will have requirements for font, point size and spacing, which you will do well to adopt from the outset so you don’t get a nasty shock when it turns out you have to double space the article you’ve spent hours getting down to 30 single–spaced pages.

2. Re-read your study What are the novel points? What will be of particular interest to your chosen journal’s audience?

Once you’ve selected your ideal journal, go back and re-read your study. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to fit all the findings from a master’s or PhD study into one paper, so think about which findings are the most novel, or which will appeal most to the audience of your chosen publication.

3. Choose two to three themes Which would work as an individual paper?

Feeling overwhelmed by words? The Post-Graduate Proof-Reader can help!
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

You might have to make some big choices at this stage. Have you got five themes? Perhaps there will only be room in this paper to present two of those. Don’t worry – it could be that you could put the other three into a second paper for another audience. Maybe there’s just one theme that you feel is really hard-hitting. That’s fine too – you can pull that out of the study and present it alone.

4. Re-write your lit review and discussion Tailor these to your chosen themes

Once you’ve selected the theme/s you want to focus on for this paper, you’ll need to tailor the introduction, method and discussion sections to fit. Which papers from your lit review are relevant just for these fewer themes? Add a short section in your method explaining that you have (for example) selected two themes from a wider project, and explaining why you’ve chosen to do this. You might also want to include some recommendations and reflections towards the end of your discussion section.

5. Send your paper to the Post-Graduate Proof-Reader

Your study should be looking much more like a publishable paper now. It will be shorter and more tightly focused towards a specific audience. Congratulations! But… you may still be a little beyond that elusive word limit. Could you make your points more succinctly? Perhaps you don’t need all those limitations you’ve humbly included in your discussion section! Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is needed at this stage. Visit http://postgradproofreader.co.uk/ and I’ll be happy to help you get your piece down to the correct word length and help you share your fabulous research with the wider world.