Doctoral Research | Update

It’s been some time since I last posted about my professional doctorate which examines policing service provision for Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers. Indeed, I’ve not posted very much over the last month or so, as I’ve submitted my thesis and been preparing for viva voce examination.

The preparation was challenging. Anticipating and noting answers for every question I might be asked about a sixty-thousand word thesis was time-consuming, whilst I was always aware that it’s the question that you’ve not prepared for that will trip you up. I was also reminded by the convenor of the exam that it’s called a defence of a thesis for a reason – the examiners’ job is to see if you are able to talk about and justify five years’ worth of decisions.

The viva itself was robust but never antagonistic. It was a real pleasure speaking to people who had read my work, and in particular to my external examiner for whom my subject area is a life’s work. I was asked about methodology, data collection, data analysis, applicability to practice, and any number of other areas. I ceded ground on some areas, defended on others.

After 90 minutes I was sent out of the room for what felt like an interminable amount of time, but was probably half an hour. I was brought back in with one of my fantastic supervisors and told the news – I had passed with minor amendments. It was a huge relief and reward for five years’ hard work from me and my wonderful wife.

Also an extra bonus – I get to go back to real writing now.

*Thanks for reading, folks. My recent short stories include ‘Rendered Soft‘ and ‘Across the Glassine‘.

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Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com.