The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research (Open Up Study Skills)
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Product Description
Product Description
"I feel grateful to have found this book only a year into my PhD. It has opened my eyes to the world of academia. There is more to a PhD than just research in the sense of working on a problem, getting some results and publishing your findings. This book has allowed me to open my eyes and see all the other things I should be doing to fully succeed at my endeavour of becoming a researcher myself."
Dominic Hosler, University of Sheffield
Dominic Hosler, University of Sheffield
This bestselling book on the process of PhD research provides readers with engaging discussion and comprehensive guidance on aspects that other books don't usually mention.
Covering all the key topics of the previous edition, including what a PhD is really about, how to do one well, how to decipher what your supervisor actually means by terms like 'good referencing' and 'clean research question', and how to design, report and defend your research,the authors continue to offer an accessible, down-to-earth, and insightful account of the whole PhD process. Their advice addresses how to avoid some of the pitfalls en route to a successful submission.
Updated throughout, the new edition includes new material on:
- Critical thinking
- Research skills
- The route to research independence
- Different models of study
About the Author
Dr Marian Petre is Professor of Computing at the Open University, UK, and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award Holder. Her experience includes establishing a PhD programme, running doctoral consortia at international conferences, giving tutorials on research methods in the UK, US and Europe, and presenting research workshops for PhD students as well as supervising and examining doctoral students.
Dr Gordon Rugg is a former field archaeologist and English lecturer turned computer scientist, who is now head of the Knowledge Modelling Group at Keele University. He is the author of Using Statistics (Open University Press, 2007).
Gordon and Marian are also the authors of A Gentle Guide to Research Methods (Open University Press, 2006).
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
You can't imagine, even from what you have read and what I've told you, the things I shall have to see and do. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
You can't imagine, even from what you have read and what I've told you, the things I shall have to see and do. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book during the second year of my PhD and found it to be encouraging. It gives a different perspective compared to other books on how to do a PhD. It is written in an informal way relating to students who just want to get some tips of how to survive their PhD studies. I found advice of how to plan your work and what is the right attitude for a successful student helpful. Overall, I'd characterise it as a toolbox with great tips rather than a formal to-do-list! I would recommend it to anyone both those who are planning to start a PhD and those who are almost ready to finish. Even those at the very last stage could benefit from advice on how to get through the viva.
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can't recommend this book highly enough. Think of it like your guide book, not just to doing a PhD but to being an effective researcher in general, and all distilled into just over 200 pages. The advice given is a great mixture of specifics points (e.g. how to get the best from conferences, presentations etc) and much broader background that sets your work in context. There's too much gold here to describe in detail; like one of the previous reviewers I won't bother to write more, but just suggest that you get yourself a copy immediately.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have recently been awarded my doctorate. I have bought my supervisor a drink, as advised by the authors. I feel I also owe Drs Rugg and Petre a drink, to say 'Thank you', for the guidance in this book, which has helped me and cheered me up a lot over the last four years.
When I misunderstood what was required of me, but could not find what was required, this book has often had that information explicitly laid out and pointed me on the right track again where I could find no other sources to help me.
This has led to 'light bulb' moments where I understood what I had wrong. I was able to right myself with the advice written here. I was encouraged to continue by the exact understanding and the light tone of this book.
With the 'dissertation checklist' as a guide I anticipated problems and made major changes to my thesis that I could not have foreseen otherwise. The whole tone and content of my thesis was much altered and improved as a result.
I prepared for my viva with 'how not to pass you viva' in mind.
My thesis was accepted with no changes, and rated 'well above the standard required for the award of DPhil' in the Examiners' written remarks. I was a struggling candidate totally in the dark as to how to approach scientific writing and criteria for excellence in the finished product. That I produced an acceptable document mostly without outside help I think was greatly influenced by the advice in this book.
Thank you, Drs Rugg and Petre. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all PhD students.
When I misunderstood what was required of me, but could not find what was required, this book has often had that information explicitly laid out and pointed me on the right track again where I could find no other sources to help me.
This has led to 'light bulb' moments where I understood what I had wrong. I was able to right myself with the advice written here. I was encouraged to continue by the exact understanding and the light tone of this book.
With the 'dissertation checklist' as a guide I anticipated problems and made major changes to my thesis that I could not have foreseen otherwise. The whole tone and content of my thesis was much altered and improved as a result.
I prepared for my viva with 'how not to pass you viva' in mind.
My thesis was accepted with no changes, and rated 'well above the standard required for the award of DPhil' in the Examiners' written remarks. I was a struggling candidate totally in the dark as to how to approach scientific writing and criteria for excellence in the finished product. That I produced an acceptable document mostly without outside help I think was greatly influenced by the advice in this book.
Thank you, Drs Rugg and Petre. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all PhD students.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A little bit of everything
Great little reference book, has a little bit of everything about what you need to do or at least what to think about for planning, developing and writing a PhD. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Niko Taktikos
Excellent advice about studying for a PhD
I really enjoyed reading this book and learning about the PhD process. Excellent advice is given about supervisors, reading, writing, conferences, networking, critical evaluation... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Shaun G
If you're a lost and burnt-out PhD student, get this helpful book!!
I found this book BRILLIANT! As a PhD student going through the notorious 'second-year blues', this book saved me and sorted me out!! Read more
Published 18 months ago by PurpleCat
Fantastic!
Anybody doing a PhD should read this book. It's full of pearls of wisdom you just won't get from any other book. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. Ps Hill
Good introduction to practical aspects of PhD research
Well I prefer this to the Estelle Phillips - How to Get a PhD book which was a depressing read of how to fail at getting a PhD and how to avoid being seduced by your... Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2008 by UK reader
This book is brilliant
I am about to start a PhD and bought this book having seen reviews on amazon. What a helpful and insightful book. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2007 by Wendy Jones
Helpful, if a little patronising
The only negative review I've seen of this book appears to be based on someone who 'browsed it in a bookshop' rather than read it. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2006 by Eleanor Jane Merson
Your PhD is possible!
This is a great book for anyone who has begun the long march into the night that is PhD research. It's full of tips - some obvious and some not so obvious - which remind you that... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2005 by FRANCIS JOHN CHANTREE
Rather patronising
As someone who did their PhD having already qualified in a profession, I found this book patronising and irritating. Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2005
Great Book!
This is really a gem of a book. I bought one or two of the other "How to ..." PhD books at the start of my PhD. Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2004 by "umeshpersad"
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