I come here mostly looking for encouragement but also advice as I try to navigate myself through my PhD. For context, I am technically approaching the end of my 2nd year in my PhD however at this rate it is going to take another two years or 2.5 years to complete when I should be finished in 1 year. My PhD is in business and marketing, qualitative and on large-multinational organisations.
I feel like I always writing a literature review and that's all I have done so far. Part of the problem is that I changed my topic a few months ago because I could not gain access to data on my previous topic. I had a fascinating gap in my earlier topic, but the companies I needed to interview would not talk to me. This is where a change in the topic (not a complete change) came in. My new topic is more interesting than my last and is beneficial as a contribution to academic and practitioner work as it involves current world events.
I have just received feedback from my supervisors on my first draft of the first chapter on my literature review of my new topic. I just feel confused and confused. I have been told that the basis is there but that my writing has to much detail. I do not need to write so much detail about everything the literature is discussing but I need to identify what the takeaway message or key findings is from the literature/papers examined. I need to raise the bar by being less descriptive and more analytical and saying what I think about the papers while I am doing this.
If anyone (academics or PhD students) has any tips on how to advance my writing and understanding of the literature in this way, then I would really appreciate that. In the first year of my PhD, I felt so anxious that I just wanted to quit and I am now determined to finish and get my PhD as I realise it is not an easy task, but I am just struggling with the amount of time it is taking.
Has anyone had similar PhD experiences to me? Is what I am feeling normal? I realise this board covers all aspects of higher education, but I could not find a specific PhD board to write this in.
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The challenges of a PhD and the literature review
4 replies
Freespirit24 · 18/07/2019 04:58
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