MRes Mentorship Programme Introductory Session Lynsay Matthews

Overview of MRes Study Self-directed Student ownership Student autonomy

Overview Support and guidance from supervisors. But ultimately the MRes is … Your study Your ideas Your work Your achievement Your confidence will gradually build once your research starts to take shape.

Groundwork Look at other MRes theses Look at similar studies What methodologies have they used? What arguments have they presented? How have they presented their findings? What do you think of their writing style?

Ideas and Thoughts Scribble down ideas, thoughts, inspiration Consider a personal MRes diary E.g. use a specified notepad or Word document. Write all the time, in any style, in any confused manner. These thoughts will form the basis of your thesis writing later on.

Scribbles Physical activity is so difficult to promote within general practice. Why is that? Are GPs lazy? Busy? Ill informed? Is there anything out there to say why? (>>> Background) “Research suggests that GPs face barriers to physical activity promotion within everyday practice. Clinical priorities, increasing time constraints and lack of knowledge of current physical activity guidelines are several documented barriers (Meckell, 2012; Smith et al., 2013). Findings from other studies suggest that GPs struggle to identify patients at an appropriate stage of behaviour change, identifying the need for further training (Campbell & Turley, 2009; Carter, 2010).”

Scribbles I’d like to look at the reasons why physical activity isn’t integrated within the diabetes clinic… how can I do this.. Maybe I could interview folk or focus group.. Hhmm think about it. What have other studies done? (>>> Methodology) “A qualitative approach was used to obtain insight from health professionals on the challenges of physical activity promotion within routine diabetes care. Semi-structured interviews were performed with a variety of health professionals to gain a broad response from staff involved in routine diabetes care.”

Thesis Structure Never too early to start writing. Use Word to make thesis chapters just now. Scribble down heading and subheading ideas. Scribble some notes too. This will speed up the thesis writing later on.

‘Outline View’ Are you familiar with ‘outline view’ in Word. See example.

Role of the Supervisor To provide guidance and support on research design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. To provide feedback on written work. To help facilitate action points and timelines. To provide support in the form of an interim progress review.

NOT the supervisor’s role Spellcheck Grammar check Format layouts Find online forms and student information Find library books or journal Contact people on your behalf Chase students up for missed deadlines

Written work ALWAYS … Include page numbers Include references Format headings and subheadings Spell check and grammar check Consistent line spacing Header with ‘Version number’ – E.g. ‘L Matthews: Draft Introduction v1’

Time Management Difficult to juggle part-time study with work, family life etc. Jump many hurdles … often unforseen circumstances. Plan ahead to help overcome these inevitable hurdles. Examples include …..

Time Management Option (1) - Use Gant Charts Basic 2-year chart Detailed 6-month chart Very detailed 1-month chart

Time Management Option (2) - Use weekly calendar to pinpoint SPECIFIC action points to achieve in … 30-min time slot e.g. Arrange supervision meeting via Download 3 x NHS reports 60-min time slot Read 2 journal articles and scribble notes 2-hr time slot Design and finalise online questionnaire for data collection

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Study Books Browse library for study aids … Doing MRes/PhD research Writing for academic purpose Research methodologies Use them. They will be helpful.

Online Study Aids Browse online for study aids … Doing MRes/PhD research Writing for academic purpose Research methodologies Lots of guidance available.

Dropbox Familiar with Dropbox? A shared folder which we all have access to. Can access files anytime, from any computer. Upload useful resources to support each other e.g. I can upload template Gant charts etc. I’ve ed you all a link.

UWS Resources Graduate School Handbook (see dropbox) Progress reports (via Moodle) NHS Ethics – University/School Ethics Committee – (See guidelines in dropbox)

UWS Resources Library – students/library/ students/library/ Study Skills – effective-learning/ effective-learning/ IT Services – services/ services/ Moodle (learning dashboard) –

UWS Resources Student Support – students/student-support/ students/student-support/ Student Administration – students/student-administration/ students/student-administration/ Service for Students – students/ students/

Other Queries to get started? Searching for literature? Referencing? Etc.