Do your habits define you?
Focus on your identity and not on the outcome The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes a part of who you are, i.e., when your behaviour is congruent with your belief. For example, reframe your sentence FROM “I am trying to quit smoking” TO “I am a non-smoker”. This requires focusing on your identity and not on the outcome. Act like the person you believe yourself to be. Your actions transform your self-image You can also become somebody you didn’t believe you could be and all simply through your daily habits. As the evidence accumulates around your actions, your self-image changes e.g. you are an author or a researcher. So, decide whom you want to be and then move in that direction: prove it to yourself with small daily habits. Remember this happens over time and not overnight. Our image emerges through the small things we do every day. Each…
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
A piece from my own thesis written in 2017: To guide my analysis, the data for this study were used to identify themes appropriate to my overarching research aim. The six phases of thematic analysis, based on the work of Braun and Clarke (2006), served to guide my analysis. Firstly, this is because thematic analysis is relatively easy to learn, is flexible enough to be applied across a wide range of theoretical frameworks, and is beneficial as a rudimentary method for the following reasons: (1) it can be applied to a wide range of research questions; (2) it can be used to analyse diverse data types; (3) it can be applied to large or small data sets; and (4) it is able to produce either data or theory-driven analyses (Clarke & Braun, 2013). Secondly, according to Burnard and colleagues (2008), thematic analysis is considered the most used method of data analysis in qualitative research:…
Reflection: My thesis journey
By Shireen Mukadam I had one formal coaching session with Caroline in December 2020. We were neighbours and she’s a thesis coach. I’m doing my Masters. It felt like fate! Caroline helped me to see the bigger picture and to break down what I needed to do into practical steps. She also helped me figure out what information I needed to get, to adequately plan. After this session, my thesis changed from something I felt overwhelmed by, to excitement. In February we walked. I felt a bit stuck. Caroline asked me why I am doing this. When I answered, my answer was about the stories of migrants, and my passion for documenting migrants’ lived experiences. She advised me to focus on the interviews and to enjoy it! That’s exactly what I did. After taking a break, I took a different approach to the interviews. The space I was in (excited)…
Thesis Writing: Doing Data Right
The middle of the academic year is always the time where students find themselves in a frenzy over just one thing: DATA. How many participants? Where and how to find them? And then what? It’s overwhelming. Now is the time to take stock of the overall picture– where you are at and if you’re progressing on schedule. Take double stock of your data– this is the backbone of your thesis. Data handling has many moving parts, and many students do not make the transition from student to researcher with ease. It’s a giant leap and requires meticulous record-keeping and strategy. If you’re lucky, your research will yield plenty of studies to use as your scaffold, but you will have to conduct your own research, compare it to previous findings, and come to some (hopefully) new and fresh conclusions. If you’re in the throws of your thesis year, you’ll know I’m…