Planning research
(within health/psychology)
I wish someone had told me this when I first started my PhD. The key to a successful research piece: simplicity.
The most basic and most often forgotten point of a study, at any level, is to have a very clear and succinct question(s) in mind that you want to answer. It sounds so straight forward and obvious doesn’t it. But it is amazing how, on a 3 to 5 year journey, you can lose sight of what your research aim is.
"If you can't describe a topic in simple terms, you don't understand it." (Einstein)
Remember, within your study, you are not going to solve the world's problems.
I started wanting to improve end of life care for all; which in hindsight was very noble of me but completely impractical!
In pragmatic terms, you have a time frame within which you need to do the study and present the results - save complexity for the reasons why you should definitely get a post doctorate post.
This simplicity then pays off in different ways:
An analysis plan will really help you to focus on what you are doing, what type of data you want to get, the frequency and location you will get data from, and the sort of analyses you will do once you have your data. It also will reduce the amount of time you waste.
Plan for things to go wrong. Plan in your little GANT chart plenty of time - time for repeated testing, delayed recruitment, rests.
Remember, nothing is fool proof or certain. Things change and evolve along the way. The analysis plan isn’t set in stone but it should act as a helpful reminder as to what your original aims were. If you are deviating from that, really ask yourself why and whether or not it is worth it.
Mum, PhD.
I wish someone had told me this when I first started my PhD. The key to a successful research piece: simplicity.
The most basic and most often forgotten point of a study, at any level, is to have a very clear and succinct question(s) in mind that you want to answer. It sounds so straight forward and obvious doesn’t it. But it is amazing how, on a 3 to 5 year journey, you can lose sight of what your research aim is.
"If you can't describe a topic in simple terms, you don't understand it." (Einstein)
Remember, within your study, you are not going to solve the world's problems.
I started wanting to improve end of life care for all; which in hindsight was very noble of me but completely impractical!
In pragmatic terms, you have a time frame within which you need to do the study and present the results - save complexity for the reasons why you should definitely get a post doctorate post.
This simplicity then pays off in different ways:
- When you come to analyse the data as all the way through you will have clear objectives and measures.
- It will help your examiners, who will actually read your thesis, to really understand what you were trying to do and why.
- It should also means that, in the dreaded vive (or exam), there *should* be less to defend as you have been clear all the way through (having not had my vive yet, i am relying on other sources for this fact).
An analysis plan will really help you to focus on what you are doing, what type of data you want to get, the frequency and location you will get data from, and the sort of analyses you will do once you have your data. It also will reduce the amount of time you waste.
Plan for things to go wrong. Plan in your little GANT chart plenty of time - time for repeated testing, delayed recruitment, rests.
Remember, nothing is fool proof or certain. Things change and evolve along the way. The analysis plan isn’t set in stone but it should act as a helpful reminder as to what your original aims were. If you are deviating from that, really ask yourself why and whether or not it is worth it.
Mum, PhD.
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