PhD diary
A journey as a doctoral student between 2017 and 2020. I keep these posts because, looking back from my early days, I can see how much my perspectives have shifted as a reminder of the learning journey.
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Week 74: 75% Progress
Listening to the audio data I collected and creating summary tables with detailed descriptions is time-consuming, but I thought it was a necessary and crucial process. While writing, I think of each patient participant, and I can recall every person’s face, the atmosphere, and the houses I visited. In the research field, I wrote in read more
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Week 73: Sorting data
This week, I spent Monday to Friday working on my report: listening to audio data that I had collected, filling in summary tables and writing detailed descriptions. It is still in the pre-transcribing stage. I am trying to make precise summaries (of participants, nature, and data content) so that I can discuss them with my read more
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Week 72: Focusing on writing
This week, I have worked on sorting out the data I collected in Japan, as well as writing and editing the fieldwork report, even though it was beautiful and sunny outside. My writing routine has improved. When writing my thesis, my most productive timeslot is 10:00 to 13:00. My concentration is not great after 16:00. read more
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Week 71: Socials and DIY
This week has not been very productive. I spent a few days reading some random books that are not relevant to my research. I was struggling a bit to get my energy into writing my chapters. I met up with my friend for coffee, and later met my colleagues for dinner. I told them that read more
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Week 70: Returning to the UK
I have returned to England after spending 18 weeks in Tokyo conducting fieldwork, which included observations, audio recordings, one-to-one interviews, focus groups, and reviewing local sources. Combined with my preliminary fieldwork, I spent a total of six months collecting data. I also sent a box of books from Japan to my address in England. At read more
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Weeks 68 and 69: The last day of observation
Last week, I started my observation with the last physician in my fieldwork, who is a bit different from the other physician participants. He is the chief doctor at a clinic, has about 12 years of experience in medical practice, and is very modest. What impressed me the most was the excellent staff at the read more
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Week 67: Slowdown
Because I only had one case for my observation this week, the last few days were a bit more relaxed, with reading and dinner with my friend. Presentation skills course This week, I also finished the presentation skills course I have been taking since January. The evening class was taught by an American teacher read more
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Week 66: Notification letter
I have received a notification letter stating that my proposal has been accepted for an oral presentation at an international conference in September. This will be my very first presentation at an academic conference. Reading the letter, I realised I have to do many things before September and wondered whether it is realistically possible. I read more
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