Annual Progression Review, a PhD update
Well, for those that have been following me, I have been doing this PhD for a year now, and I am about to have my first of three Annual Progression Reviews (APR).
A meeting between myself, one of my supervisors and two other academics, to discuss my progress so far.
What does the APR do, well the work that I have done is assessed and some feedback is given.
Have I discovered, examined and discussed enough of the opposing arguments within the relevant job insecurity and personality literature? Have I made some initial thoughts as to the types of measures that I will use when investigating personality and job insecurity?
What could the feedback entail? Well, it could be that further literature research is needed before venturing on to the next stage, which would require an additional APR, or that I can continue with my methodology, but some subjects need to be addressed.
What is the next stage for me if I pass the APR? That is the methodology. what data do I need to collect, how I am going to collect it, and what analysis I will be doing?
I have to admit I am a little worried, but I think I am going in on a firm footing, however, we will have to wait and see, if I get the advice that some further research is required, but I can continue or that I am unable to continue onto the next stage until specific feedback points have been addressed.
The Feedback was
Robert should try and operationalise the research going forward. In particular, it was unclear whether personality traits and job insecurity could be operationalised in a research question per se as it might be too ambitious.
A further recommendation was to focus on observable, measurable behaviours (for instance, adaptative behaviour with regard to automation and IT). Demographic characteristics might be enough of a focus (which categories of employees are most likely to ‘adapt’ to IT and update their skills, therefore potentially experiencing less job insecurity).
