Category Archives: mess

learning from live pandemic research

I haven’t taught research methods for a year or so. But right now I do wish I still was. I’m not asking for additional workload. Not at all. It’s just that there is so much potential for learning in the … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, epistemology, mess, methodology, methods, ontology, pandemic, research methods | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

a little Romantic messiness

A post for National Poetry Day. It is pretty common for research methods courses and books to suggest that qualitative researchers read through their data – such as interview transcripts – several times. Reading through happens before you get down … Continue reading

Posted in data, interview transcripts, John Keats, mess, negative capability | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

analysing blogs is messy, but that’s OK. #acwrimo work in progress

This post is from Inger, Thesis Whisperer, about the process of researching academic blogs. Here she discusses making decisions about method, and provides a glimpse, via a link to her google doc, of actual data analysis happening in real time. … Continue reading

Posted in academic blogging, acwrimo, data, epistemology, grounded theory, mess, qualitative data, spread sheet | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

can you write about mess in your thesis, and if so, how? part one

This post is written by Dr Peter Matthews who works in the School of the Built Environment at Herriott Watt. Peter’s blog is Urbanity…History and he tweets as @urbaneprofessor. I asked him to show and tell how he talked about … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, interview, mess, PhD, reflection, research methods, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

doctoral training and the messiness of research

This post is written by Simon Bailey, a Research Fellow in the Business School at the University of Manchester. As a unique contribution to knowledge, doctorates are by definition very individual things. Though planning is very important, plans must be … Continue reading

Posted in doctoral education, learning, mess, PhD, research methods, research project, scholarly identity | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

messy research – the benefits of following your nose

One of the problems with research plans is that they set up expectations. The plan is it. Once it’s down on paper in a Gantt chart or a timetable, that’s your guide to action. Apart from the obvious fact that … Continue reading

Posted in healthy schools, mess, research plan | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

why mess in a PhD can be a good thing

This guest post is by Dr Ben Kraal, who is a Research Fellow in the School of Design at Queensland University of Technology. At the moment he mostly works on the Human Systems part of the Airports of the Future … Continue reading

Posted in Human Computer Interaction, mess, PhD, research plan, research project, voice recognition software | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

messy research: the ethics of recruiting participants

This guest blog by Dr Simon Bailey, a research fellow at the Manchester Business School, addresses a very messy area in research – that of the basis on which we recruit people to our projects. WHAT’VE THE RESEARCHERS EVER DONE … Continue reading

Posted in ADHD, ethics, mess, research methods, research plan, rules of engagement | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

academic travel diary: coping with mess

So on this trip home to Australia my passport disappeared. I maintain it was stolen in Tullamarine somewhere in the jostle between Customs and the car park. This was almost a disaster because not only did it mean that I … Continue reading

Posted in mess, research methods, research project | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments