Is there ANYONE else who is doing an MRes? It is kind of making me lose my mind :(

[ManateeEquineOhara]

All in the title really.

Sorry just a plain old MSc here - is that a Masters by "big" dissertation?

Not sure that the diss is any bigger than an MSc/MA (15,000) but it is all focused on research and is all making me doubt me ability to do this :(

Oh only 15,000 words then Research is a twisty journey full of wrong turnings and dead ends. Can you have a day off to clear your head? We all get overwhelmed by it at times.

I am taking many days off atm! I am nowhere near the diss, and only have 2 and a half modules this semester, it is just so much coursework, and I work part time so I miss lots of lectures, and I can't even really afford to be doing this :(

I'm doing my masters with the OU and am finding my current module quite challenging both for the volume of work and the speed we are supposed to get through it. I wish there was more time to enjoy the work but the pace is too quick. At least my fellow students are invisible so I don't get a sense of getting behind if I need extra time on something.

Can you get notes for the lectures you have to miss?

i'm doing a research msc... same but different.
if it helps (it won't) i'm on my second (year) extension. but i am going to finish it this summer...
i've worked all the way through. i've handed in my notice though, so i'm actually finishing work for four months to complete it full time... it's the only way i can think of to do it. we should be able to cope on dh's wages, but i'm flapping a bit. have arranged with a friend to do a full financial review this week to work out where we can make cuts to equal my (loss of) wages...
my tutors have all been really helpful. but i do feel like a complete loser at times...

(told you it wouldn't help. but at keast you don't feel alone... maybe?)

keast? and apparently i don't spllchock.
least.

Webwiz - not seeing your fellow students sounds like a huge plus. There are only 4 of us on my course and they all annoy the hell out of me, especially one woman in particular who despite being older than me was coming out with the classic UG rubbish last week about having "written that essay with a hangover".

And the lectures I miss have the slides up online, so I can look at them. I should be okay, it is just a shame to miss them when I am paying money I don't really have to be here! In my second year UG I managed to get 74% for a module where I only went to one lecture, I think it made me revise even more!

Madwoman - I am doing mine over 2 years because I just couldn't do full time in terms of fees and reduction in possible working hours. I do feel better knowing that I am not the only one struggling with it over 2 years. For me it is the coursework that kills me, I used to be okay with exams, I would just completely focus for that month or so and get them done, but the continuous deadlines are really stressy.

I did an MRes a couple of years ago and it is very intense but just keep plugging into what support u can and try iTunes for podcasts and extra lectures!

I have a year of my phd left now and am glad I Sid the MRes even though we barely touched qualitative research which is my area but I still recall the anovas/manovas/time series stats etc!

oooo, notremotely, when i get stuck with my statistical modelling, can i pm you? (am also deeply a qual girl in the middle of a quant mire)

Oooh, thanks Notremotely, hadn't thought of iTunes. (Apart from when procrastinating!).

Mine is mostly qualitative although we do have do do a generic data collection and data analysing modules which cover both.

Of course pm me if you like! Never had a pm before! Lol

are either of you an spss gurus by any chance? (16)

lor, check out the cut and paste grammar!

I did an MSc Research Track a couple of years ago, did a qualitative dissertation and now doing a mostly quantitative Phd, eeek! I didn't have children when doing the MSc but it was really tough going nonetheless. Just keep at it, make sure you do some work every day and keep a good diary (to know what you have to do each day, 200 words on that essay, couple of stats calc's etc). Little and often as they say. Balance is key too though so do take the odd day off here and there. Many of my fellow students at the time did theirs part-time so over 2 years and they were fine in the end too, or they worked while doing the degree. Good luck!

Thanks Snup :)

And I know NOTHING about SPSS!!! Whenever it has been mentioned I have always avoided it!

2 days a week (today being one of them) I have work from 8.45 - 3.30, then lectures from 4-6. The result of this is ALWAYS that I am exhausted and have an awful headache :( I will have to go to bed soon.

The good thing about the lecture today though was this module is a 3rd year module that I have been allowed to do as one of my optional modules, and the lecturer moved here from the OU last year. He has just written this course, but he is using a lot of the same case studies and general points as a couple of the OU courses I did about 6 years ago! I feel a little bit guilty but my OU credits only got me into Exeter without A Levels, they haven't counted towards anything so it should be fine! And the way I am struggling, with the MRes in general, it is great to have a course where he keeps saying things and I think "I remember that from OU!".

I used to know tons about spss but haven't used it for 2-3 years, I'm using nvivo now! Yuk....

8? i'm about to do battle with nvivo for my dissertation... it looks really interesting, don't scare me now...

It's ok, just a bit temperamental! I have learned to only have it open on my pc and to save it loads, several versions so you can go back if last save is corrupt!

I would also say don't transcribe straight into it as it takes twice as long! I used express scribe then import word docs as internals

good tip - thank you! will be doing lots of that, so you could have saved my sanity.

Stupid virtual fellow student on my course has been boasting on the online forum that they have finished the final assignment and are now looking forward to revising for the exam - the assignment isn't due in until March 10th. Note to self must not look at course forum as it is not helpful.

I am saving tips from here for when I start my dissertation at the end of this year [nervous emoticon]

Madwoman- transcribing is soul destroying... I have around 30-40 hours of interviews left to transcribe which will prob take me 150-250 hours to do as some have speech issues etc! Arghhhh need to do one tonight really and try and code it tomorrow for a workshop on thematic analysis on Friday but I am ill today (had to cancel teaching today!) and I have no childcare tomorrow! I really am envious of students with no family or work committments! Or those with family nearby who help out babysitting etc!!

i quite like transcribing - it's sort of free-style coding time in my head, where themes pop up. i have to make i sure i make notes though, otherwise they disappear again... does take a blardy age though.

30-40 hours i suspect that's where i'm heading, but am going to try not to leave the transciption until the last minute... (yeh right)

we're in canada with work. have lost count of the number of times dh and i have rowed about whose work/ study has priority and who has to chauffeur the dcs...

I had huge intentions of transcribing as I went along but ended up with some back to back interviews, reports to write, training and then procrastinating.... Lol. I know what you mean about notes though, I have done field notes before and after each interview and while hanging around waiting I have been able to do a bit of ethnographic observations and reflections which I hope to include... Some of my interviewees have also been in a documentary so I need to rewatch those and make notes/ code them...

Dont get me started on the 'whose work is more important' rubbish... It's a recurring argument here and at times I seem to be less important than me times for dh! I am definitely the default childcarer!