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Although departmental and institutional codes of practice lay down procedures for a wide range of situations in which research degree supervisors find themselves, they still leave considerable areas open for individual autonomy. It is in these areas that supervisors often experience dilemmas, because arguments can be made in favour of alternative courses of action, and it is not necessarily or immediately clear which are the best to take in particular instances. The pages in this section aim to help supervisors - particularly at the doctoral PhD and DPhil level - prepare themselves for acting promptly when faced with such dilemmas. Without preparation, remedial action can get delayed, and matters may, in the meantime, get out of hand. A common outcome can be a great deal of unnecessary and stressful work, or it can lead to withdrawal, which denies appropriate supervision to the students concerned. |
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The dilemmas considered on this website include:
Other issues of concern are:
The suggestions are not prescriptive, which means that they do not, in general, favour the perspectives or likely value systems of any one of the interest groups which may be involved; neither do they normally favour any one resolution of a dilemma over another. They describes a dilemma and then go on to present and consider some alternative courses of action for resolving it. The intention is to stimulate supervisors' own thinking, to help them decide on courses of action which are appropriate for themselves, taking into account such matters as the culture of the department and institution; the norms of the discipline; the student-supervisor relationship; the ability of the student; the stage in the student's work; and of course personal predilections. There are seldom uniquely 'right' resolutions to the dilemmas presented here, and one individual's considered resolution may be very different from another's, even though, on the face of it, the dilemmas may seem to be almost identical. This website assumes expertise and experience in research and matters related to research in supervisors' own disciplines. Consequently, not considered here are dilemmas concerning research design, research strategies, research techniques, research methods and the nature of evidence, reliability and validity. As early in students' programmes as seems appropriate, discuss expectations, understandings and courses of action with them so that they know and can influence your 'rules of the game'. Supervisors and academic managers do not have identical rules of the game, even in the same department. So without open discussion and negotiation, students have no alternative but to make assumptions which may easily be wrong. You may find it helpful, early on in the partnership, to negotiate a form of agreement or expectation between yourself and your students, as is standard policy in some institutions and departments. You may, though, prefer to keep negotiations on-going and informal, since formal documents can be overtaken by events and have unfortunate legal implications. edited extract from no 2 in the Guides series
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