I need to type this out so I don't scream. I’m in the 18th month of my dissertation fieldwork and writing. I thought I was past the major hurdles. I sent my advisor what I thought was a solid draft of my theoretical framework chapter. We had a Zoom call an hour ago. It went well for the first 10 minutes, and then came the hammer.
She gently suggested that I need to "step back and perhaps reconceptualize the entire framework to better align with the emerging themes."
She used words like "iterative process" and "this is the exciting part of research." I sat there nodding, pretending to take notes, while internally my soul was leaving my body and floating out the window.
I’m already exhausted. I’m an ABD zombie who survives on coffee and the vague hope of graduating before my funding runs out. The thought of going back to the literature, of re-coding my data, of re-writing months of work... it feels physically crushing.
I know she's probably right, and I want the dissertation to be good, but how do you find the motivation to make such a huge pivot when you're already running on fumes? Is this just a normal part of the process that nobody tells you about? Tell me I'm not alone in this, please. I could really use some stories of survival right now.
She gently suggested that I need to "step back and perhaps reconceptualize the entire framework to better align with the emerging themes."
She used words like "iterative process" and "this is the exciting part of research." I sat there nodding, pretending to take notes, while internally my soul was leaving my body and floating out the window.I’m already exhausted. I’m an ABD zombie who survives on coffee and the vague hope of graduating before my funding runs out. The thought of going back to the literature, of re-coding my data, of re-writing months of work... it feels physically crushing.
I know she's probably right, and I want the dissertation to be good, but how do you find the motivation to make such a huge pivot when you're already running on fumes? Is this just a normal part of the process that nobody tells you about? Tell me I'm not alone in this, please. I could really use some stories of survival right now.
