Pat Thomson
@patthomson.bsky.social
Academic, educator, silversmith. Researching arts ed, school change, leaders work. Patter academic writing blog - Patthomson.net. Semi-retired. Working part-time @ U Nottingham & U South Australia. #FAcSS
This week on patter The difference between methods and methodology. A short explanation patthomson.net/2025/11/23/m...
methodology v. methods
Miss Marple, the quintessential ethnographer If you’re a doctoral researcher, you’re often expected to understand the relationship between methodology and methods from the get go. These two t…
patthomson.net
November 24, 2025 at 2:56 AM
This week on patter The difference between methods and methodology. A short explanation patthomson.net/2025/11/23/m...
This week a very short guide to writing a thesis or research problem statement patthomson.net/2025/11/18/t...
the problem statement
Most research proposals, dissertations and funding bids start off with some kind of problem statement. A research/thesis problem statement needs to do several interconnected things to work well. At…
patthomson.net
November 18, 2025 at 5:34 AM
This week a very short guide to writing a thesis or research problem statement patthomson.net/2025/11/18/t...
Three strategies to link paragraphs and improve the flow of
your academic writing. patthomson.net/2025/11/08/t...
your academic writing. patthomson.net/2025/11/08/t...
three ways to link paragraphs
One of the things that separates just OK academic writing from really good academic writing is how smoothly it flows. You’ve probably read papers where every paragraph feels like a fresh star…
patthomson.net
November 9, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Three strategies to link paragraphs and improve the flow of
your academic writing. patthomson.net/2025/11/08/t...
your academic writing. patthomson.net/2025/11/08/t...
Research aims and objectives aren’t the same thing but are related It helps to understand the differences and connections patthomson.net/2025/11/01/r...
research aims vs. objectives – what’s the difference?
You’re finally sitting down to write your research proposal and you’ve hit that section where you need to outline your aims and objectives. You stare at the page. Aren’t these bas…
patthomson.net
November 2, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Research aims and objectives aren’t the same thing but are related It helps to understand the differences and connections patthomson.net/2025/11/01/r...
Good luck. Ups and downs are common & taking charge of a down period is A Very Good Idea.
October 30, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Good luck. Ups and downs are common & taking charge of a down period is A Very Good Idea.
Reposted by Pat Thomson
Free access
If you teach research methods, this is an amazing resource for inspiring approaches 🤩
www.ncrm.ac.uk/resources/tr...
www.ncrm.ac.uk/resources/tr...
Sparking ‘Aha’ Moments: A Resource for Teaching Research Methods
NCRM delivers research methods training, produces learning resources, conducts research and supports methodological innovation
www.ncrm.ac.uk
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Free access
The PhD experience varies a lot. Like you I enjoyed mine when I did it (last century). But not everyone is the same. As a supervisor you have to understand and respond to diversity and different needs. And there’s a lot of research (some of it mine) to show how varied PhD experiences are.🤷🏻♀️
October 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
The PhD experience varies a lot. Like you I enjoyed mine when I did it (last century). But not everyone is the same. As a supervisor you have to understand and respond to diversity and different needs. And there’s a lot of research (some of it mine) to show how varied PhD experiences are.🤷🏻♀️
Doing a PhD can feel like wandering through a forest with no map. You’re constantly questioning whether you’re smart enough, working hard enough or heading in the right direction. If you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone. More importantly, you’re not broken. patthomson.net/2025/10/25/b...
Building confidence during your PhD
Doing a PhD can feel like wandering through a forest with no map. You’re constantly questioning whether you’re smart enough, working hard enough or heading in the right direction. If yo…
patthomson.net
October 26, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Doing a PhD can feel like wandering through a forest with no map. You’re constantly questioning whether you’re smart enough, working hard enough or heading in the right direction. If you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone. More importantly, you’re not broken. patthomson.net/2025/10/25/b...
Two research terms to get clear on, contributions and significance patthomson.net/2025/10/19/r...
research contribution vs significance
If you’re a PhDer, you’ve probably heard these terms thrown around in seminars, thesis committees, and paper reviews: “What’s your contribution?” and “Why is thi…
patthomson.net
October 19, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Two research terms to get clear on, contributions and significance patthomson.net/2025/10/19/r...
Hi Les Will Email you
@patthomson.bsky.social I stumbled on the review you wrote of Academic Diary, Pat. Thanks for such a thoughtful take. I have been thinking again about form working on a new project. Feels like the world of HE is a very different place now. Be great to be in touch again. Warm best wishes.
October 15, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Hi Les Will Email you
If you’re writing a discussion and conclusion it helps to know their relationship difference between claims and conclusion patthomson.net/2025/10/11/c...
claims vs contributions
If you’re deep in the throes of doctoral work, you’ve probably had that moment where someone asks you about your “contribution to knowledge” and you freeze up like a deer in…
patthomson.net
October 11, 2025 at 6:37 AM
If you’re writing a discussion and conclusion it helps to know their relationship difference between claims and conclusion patthomson.net/2025/10/11/c...
Reposted by Pat Thomson
Can you help us boost this signal? UTS colleagues are doing a governance project to talk back to the consultant led 'reform' of their university.
Please repost!! UTS people please have your say!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Please repost!! UTS people please have your say!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
UTS Governance Project Survey: A Staff-Led Collaborative Project
The UTS Governance Project is an independent, staff-led initiative to strengthen transparency, accountability and participation in how our university is run.
Inspired by the ANU Governance Project, ...
docs.google.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Can you help us boost this signal? UTS colleagues are doing a governance project to talk back to the consultant led 'reform' of their university.
Please repost!! UTS people please have your say!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Please repost!! UTS people please have your say!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
It helps to understand the difference and relationship between research results and claims patthomson.net/2025/10/04/r...
results vs claims
Research results are not the same as research claims. This is one of those distinctions that sounds simple but can trip researchers up. But understanding the difference can be really helpful. …
patthomson.net
October 4, 2025 at 4:52 AM
It helps to understand the difference and relationship between research results and claims patthomson.net/2025/10/04/r...
Dealing with a toxic review? Write a Dear Reviewer letter… patthomson.net/2025/09/27/d...
Dear Reviewer
Every academic writer knows the sting of a harsh review. Every one. Including me. We’ve all had them. The review that is scathing, brutal and toxic. The immediate impulse is often to fire bac…
patthomson.net
September 27, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Dealing with a toxic review? Write a Dear Reviewer letter… patthomson.net/2025/09/27/d...
Reposted by Pat Thomson
Today's post delves a bit into the history of #sociology, memories of Erving #Goffman, and his use of #metaphor as method makingsciencepublic.com/2025/09/26/e...
Erving Goffman: Memories, method and metaphors
If you do sociology or, indeed, any social science whatsoever, you’ll come across the work of Erving Goffman. I have done too but never engaged with it as much as I should have done. This was…
makingsciencepublic.com
September 26, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Today's post delves a bit into the history of #sociology, memories of Erving #Goffman, and his use of #metaphor as method makingsciencepublic.com/2025/09/26/e...
Reposted by Pat Thomson
For weekend readers, some reflections on community engagement with #AI and #ELSI makingsciencepublic.com/2025/09/19/p...
Participation at the core: AI, ELSI and community engagement
Alondra Nelson, a sociologist, STS scholar and expert on AI policy and ethics, recently published a letter in Science proposing that artificial intelligence (AI) should adopt the Ethical, Legal, an…
makingsciencepublic.com
September 21, 2025 at 6:16 AM
For weekend readers, some reflections on community engagement with #AI and #ELSI makingsciencepublic.com/2025/09/19/p...
Some pointers to writing a series of papers from the same project patthomson.net/2025/09/21/w...
Writing multiple articles from one set of data
So you’ve got this mountain of “stuff” that keeps revealing new secrets every time you look at it. Or maybe you’re doing a PhD by publication and panicking about how to sort out the art…
patthomson.net
September 21, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Some pointers to writing a series of papers from the same project patthomson.net/2025/09/21/w...
Reposted by Pat Thomson
We launched our UK Survey report from the #esrc Sustainable School Leadership research project today.
Big important findings on leaders' work (& workloads), well-being, career journeys & plans, professional learning, views on school contexts/ cultures & more!
www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/gro...
Big important findings on leaders' work (& workloads), well-being, career journeys & plans, professional learning, views on school contexts/ cultures & more!
www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/gro...
Sustainable School Leadership: Comparing Approaches to the Training, Supply and Retention of Senior School Leaders Across the UK - The University of Nottingham
www.nottingham.ac.uk
September 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
We launched our UK Survey report from the #esrc Sustainable School Leadership research project today.
Big important findings on leaders' work (& workloads), well-being, career journeys & plans, professional learning, views on school contexts/ cultures & more!
www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/gro...
Big important findings on leaders' work (& workloads), well-being, career journeys & plans, professional learning, views on school contexts/ cultures & more!
www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/gro...
Claude does satire. Who knew! @thesiswhisperer.bsky.social
Claude, "We all know among Sauron's many evils was that he ran Mordor using an Excel spreadsheet with multiple tabs. Show me the spreadsheet"
It made 12 tabs "so bureaucratically complex that even the Eye of Sauron would need reading glasses to review it." Some very funny stuff. Creative, even.
It made 12 tabs "so bureaucratically complex that even the Eye of Sauron would need reading glasses to review it." Some very funny stuff. Creative, even.
September 15, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Claude does satire. Who knew! @thesiswhisperer.bsky.social
If you’re a doctoral researcher
You need to understand and practice criticality patthomson.net/2025/09/12/w...
You need to understand and practice criticality patthomson.net/2025/09/12/w...
what is criticality?
This is a post for all the people just starting their doctoral programmes. And for those supporting them. Criticality in scholarship is the practice of approaching all knowledge claims, including y…
patthomson.net
September 12, 2025 at 7:24 AM
If you’re a doctoral researcher
You need to understand and practice criticality patthomson.net/2025/09/12/w...
You need to understand and practice criticality patthomson.net/2025/09/12/w...
A whimsy. Writing with the support of patthomson.net/2025/09/04/e...
emotional support objects
my favourite BIG mug, made by Robyn Cove Academic writing can be a pretty solitary pastime. Lonely even. There’s nobody to talk to in those moments when you just can’t seem to think your way throug…
patthomson.net
September 5, 2025 at 7:31 AM
A whimsy. Writing with the support of patthomson.net/2025/09/04/e...
Use little windows of time to progress your academic writing patthomson.net/2025/08/30/f...
Five steps towards writing in fragments
The myth of ideal academic writing time persists. We all long to be in a quiet office, surrounded by books, with hours of uninterrupted time to craft elegant arguments. But the reality is very diff…
patthomson.net
August 30, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Use little windows of time to progress your academic writing patthomson.net/2025/08/30/f...
Academic publishing can be a hot mess of mixed emotions patthomson.net/2025/08/21/i...
I’ve just been published and I feel…
When Dr. Sarah’s first peer-reviewed article appeared in the Journal of Sustainability and Urban Policy, her social media announcements said: “Delighted to share my latest research on ur…
patthomson.net
August 22, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Academic publishing can be a hot mess of mixed emotions patthomson.net/2025/08/21/i...
Reposted by Pat Thomson
Are you, might you become, or do you know a transnational scholar from the Global South? Or do you work with one or more? If so, this insightful, creatively written book will be of interest. It's part of the series I co-edit with @patthomson.bsky.social www.routledge.com/Insider-Guid...
August 18, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Are you, might you become, or do you know a transnational scholar from the Global South? Or do you work with one or more? If so, this insightful, creatively written book will be of interest. It's part of the series I co-edit with @patthomson.bsky.social www.routledge.com/Insider-Guid...
