• tips for MScs/ PhDs

• essential writing guide

graduate studies - a survival guide

http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/martinc/msc/ (click ‘news’)

some eternal truths

• you didn’t get here by mistake

• MScs work disproportionately harder– MScs are advanced UGs, but expectations are FAR higher

• you don’t need to be a genius– MSc/PhD = reasonable intelligence + tenacity + interest

UG

MSc

PhD

higher education effort scale!

some eternal truths (cont)

• you’ll probably get miserable!

• writing-up makes you fat!

– Langdridge, D. (2004). Research Methods and Data Analysis in Psychology. London: Pearson Prentice Hill.

• stats are tough

– you will get over it

– http://www.student-counselling.ed.ac.uk/

so why put yourself through it ??!?!!????

• to enrich your life

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

tips

• ask someone– head of PG studies, lecturers, post-docs, older post-grads, peers

– The Advice Place: www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/advice/

• academic issues, accommodation, council tax, harassment, health, legal, money, sexuality, sexual health, disability

– Centre for Teaching Learning & Assessment: www.tla.ed.ac.uk

• one-to-one sessions on study difficulties• workshops this term on:

– Reading/Lectures/Your Time/Your Studies/Essays/ Long Essays and Dissertations/Exams/Procrastination

tips (cont.)

• beware isolation!– take time to socialise: come to the BP!

• keep a routine– stop work-time spreading over into rest-time

– uni diary £5.70 (7-11 Nicolson Street)

• take initiative– supervisors have more work that you imagine

– choose essay/thesis titles early (talk to lecturer)

– for changing courses etc. act early, act quickly!

politics

• foster good relations

– don’t forget that the person you clash with today will be the reviewer of your paper tomorrow

– appreciate the support staff

“your success in graduate school and beyond depends a great deal upon your ability to build and maintain interpersonal relationships, with your adviser, the research staff, the support staff and your fellow students.”

tips: tension with supervisors

• it happens! assess how serious it is…

– let off steam to your peers? (but remember the politics!)

• if detrimental– protocols for switching supervisor

– Code of Practice for Supervisors & Students

– departmental PG contact points: Louise Kelly; Sergio della Sala; MSc’s: Martin Corley

– School/College level: Ronnie Cann/Chris Clarke

• irritating but not detrimental?– take the time to explain how you feel (your supervisor

can’t read your mind.. so say it)

how not to get a PhD/MSc

• not WANTING one

• underestimating it– be prepared to work

• overestimating it– your thesis should be your 1st piece of work, not your best!

• losing contact… with your supervisor/peers– don’t get lost!

• supervisory problems (see above!)

• Phillips, E. M. and Pugh, D.S. (1987) How to get a Ph.D. A handbook for students and their supervisors. OUP Milton Keynes.

References

and finally…

• be enthusiastic about your strengths

• find someone to complement your strengths

• don’t struggle in silence

A guide to essay writing. Or...

how not to throw away marks…

finding references

• helpful on-line resources– web of science

– http://wos.mimas.ac.uk/

– click ‘login WoK’, then ‘ISI Web of Science’

– science direct– http://www.sciencedirect.com/

– google scholar– http://scholar.google.com/

APA format

• APA = American Psychological Association– provide a guide for formatting journal articles

– you’re required to follow this for MSc/PhD

– APA style guide can be found:– in detail in

– Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition)

– Concise Rules of APA Style (2005)

– in brief

– in MSc handbook

– as follows…

citing others

• must cite with surname(s) and year– Ward and Simner (2003) show blah blah blah …

1st mention: in full

2nd/3rd/4th etc. mention: et al.

• If 3 or more authors (up to/incl 5)– Simner, Glover and Mowat (2005) showed that...– Simner et al. (2005) showed that...

• If 6 or more authors– Simner et al. (2005) showed that... all instances: et al.

referencing others

mention: in full• If 1 or more authors (up to/incl 7)– Simner, J., Ward, J., Lanz, M., Jansari, A., Noonan, K., Glover,

L., & Oakley, D. A. (2005). Non-Random Associations of Graphemes to Colours in Synaesthetic and Non-synaesthetic Populations. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22, 1-17.

• If 8 or more authors– Simner, J., Mulvenna, C., Sagiv, N., Tsakanikos, E.,

Witherby, S. A., Fraser, C., Scott, K., & Ward, J. (in press). Synaesthesia: The prevalence of atypical cross-modal experiences. Perception.

6 authors et al.

referencing articles vs. books

Journal title: all words start uppercase• Articles– Simner, J., & Pickering, M. J. (2005). Planning causes and

consequences in discourse. Journal of Memory and Language, 52, 226-239.

Book title: first word only starts uppercase• Books– Cytowic, R. E. (1993). The man who tastes shapes. London: Abacus

books.

• Chapters within Books– Day, S. (2005). Some demographic and socio-cultural aspects of

synesthesia. In L. C. Robertson & N. Sagiv (Eds.), Synesthesia: Perspectives from cognitive neuroscience (pp. 11-33). New York: Oxford University Press.

Editors: initials precede surname

citing inside and outside brackets

– Blah blah blah (Ward & Simner, 2003).

– Ward and Simner (2003) show blah blah blah …

and outside brackets; & inside brackets

comma before date no double brackets (Ward & Simner (2003)) NO

abbreviations

– Simner et al. (2005) have shown that verbs have typical agents (e.g., doctor is more typical than waiter for the verb heal; see also McCrae et al., 1999).

full stops + comma

full stop + comma

italics

full stop

• give page numbers for direct quotations

• caption and number tables above each table

• caption and number figures below each figure

• and much, much more– see handbook, and guides…

Also

• absolutely never use an exclamation mark.

style

• scientific writing– not chatty!

• no jokes, no puns• no amusing titles• no emotionally-laden terms (this is shocking/amazing…)• no abbreviations (e.g., a.s.o.; don’t/won’t/can’t)

–Never–Ever

–Never

structuring your essay

simple rule:

1. say what you’re going to say

2. say it

3. say what you said

introduction

1. say what you’re going to say

– state structure the essay will have

a critique of methodology?

a comparison of 2 approaches?

a review of the literature? (Boring! lose marks)

• what you’re examining (e.g., rel clauses)

• AND what you’re showing about it

– state aims of the essay

body of essay

– if you want a 1st - include your own ideas

2. Say it

Provide a coherent argument– make sure the examiner knows your viewpoint

– not just a neutral description

– Evaluate! Compare! Assess!

– state exactly what you said you would in the intro

– follow exactly the structure described in your intro

• For every point you make, state:– your claim– your example– your evidence

content

• Always all 3... for every argument

– your claim• centre embedded relative clauses are difficult to process

– your example• The house the man the dog the cat scratched bit built fell down

– your evidence– name of study– task + materials– results/interpretation

– PLUS! your own interpretation, if different» your own ideas will help you get a 1st

content. eg.

all of these, every time

conclusion

– sum up exactly what was said in the essay

– don’t introduce new findings

– include your own ideas!

Rule: Don’t include anything that could fit into the conclusion of an entirely different essay

• don’t include ‘undergrad style’ vagaries– Many questions remain unanswered…

– This is an area of much debate…

3. say was you said

non-native english speakers

• marked at (approx) same standard as native speakers– slight dispensation for spelling errors

– e.g., those overlooked by ‘spell-check’ (e.g., two vs. too)

• ask a native English speaker to proof-read– they can comment only on your grammar, not content

(i.e., BEWARE PLAGERISM!)

resources for non-native english speakers

• English Language courses run throughout the year.– Contact: via International Student Homepage

(http://www.ed.ac.uk/internat/ Click on: ‘English Language Courses’ )

– e.g., “IALS (Institute of Applied Language Studies) runs a special programme, free of charge, on behalf of the University, for postgraduate students registered for a degree who need help with their English” (see: http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/international_students/lang_requirements.html)

Good luck