A breath of fresh air - I wish someone had told me this beforehand. PhD student, UK This book looks at things the other books don’t tell you about doing a PhD – what it’s really like and how to come through it with a happy ending! It covers all the things you wish someone had told you before you started: • What a PhD is really about, and how to do one well • The "unwritten rules" of research and of academic writing • What your supervisor actually means by terms like "good referencing" and "clean research question" • How to write like a skilled researcher • How academic careers really work An ideal resource if someone you care about (including yourself!) is undergoing or considering a PhD. This book turns lost, clueless students back into people who know what they are doing, and who can enjoy life again. Gordon Rugg has a BA in French and Linguistics, and a PhD in Psychology. A former English Lecturer and field archaeologist, he is now based in the School of Computing and Mathematics at Keele University, and is Editor of the journal Expert Systems. His research interests range from medieval cryptography to software evaluation and why students underachieve. Marian Petre has a first degree in Psycholinguistics from Swarthmore College in the USA, and a PhD in Computer Science from University College London. Her career includes working in modern dance and in the computer industry. She is a Reader in Computing at the Open University, UK, where she set up the Center for Informatics Education Research. She is currently researching expert behaviour and reasoning in the design of complex systems.
ISBN 0-335-21345-6
9 780335 213450
Rugg•Petre
cover design: Kate Prentice
The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research
The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research
The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research
Gordon Rugg Marian Petre
THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF PHD RESEARCH
THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF PHD RESEARCH
Gordon Rugg and Marian Petre
Open University Press
Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education McGraw-Hill House Shoppenhangers Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 2QL email:
[email protected] worldwide web: www.openup.co.uk and Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121–2289, USA
First published 2004 Copyright © Gordon Rugg and Marian Petre 2004 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of t