10 replies to this topic

[fluffybunny]

I came home today feeling so demotivated - have shown my abstract for an upcoming conference to my main supervisor. She corrected almost the whole text of 300 words just rearranging sentences but still gives the same meaning. They are not grammar errors or technical errors. I gave the same abstract to my co supervisor and she accepted my writing - giving ONLY technical comments where she saw fit.

Instead of doing my work, I am Googling "problem with research supervisors" and came upon this forum. What a good idea, whoever who first thought of it, thumbs up.

I am doing my MSc. degree for 2 yrs now. Today is the first time I've felt such demotivation because I thoroughly do not like my writing being corrected unjustly. I thought the role of a supervisor is just to guide? I am to be the main author of the abstract.

My main supervisor's actions today brought me to a revelation. She has many pending dissertations to read (has known to keep the writing 2-3 years), could her over-correcting cause the long pending list?

I have always thought to further a PhD under her. She's a very nice person socially. She doesn't make use of me when it comes to helping out non-research ways. I volunteer to do the extra administrative work (grant matters) since I think they're experience enriching.

Today, I just don't know what to do anymore. Anyone with similar situation? Or would like to give your opinion?

[hobglobin]

fluffybunny, on Sep 15 2009, 05:06 PM, said:

I came home today feeling so demotivated - have shown my abstract for an upcoming conference to my main supervisor. She corrected almost the whole text of 300 words just rearranging sentences but still gives the same meaning. They are not grammar errors or technical errors. I gave the same abstract to my co supervisor and she accepted my writing - giving ONLY technical comments where she saw fit.

Instead of doing my work, I am Googling "problem with research supervisors" and came upon this forum. What a good idea, whoever who first thought of it, thumbs up.

I am doing my MSc. degree for 2 yrs now. Today is the first time I've felt such demotivation because I thoroughly do not like my writing being corrected unjustly. I thought the role of a supervisor is just to guide? I am to be the main author of the abstract.

My main supervisor's actions today brought me to a revelation. She has many pending dissertations to read (has known to keep the writing 2-3 years), could her over-correcting cause the long pending list?

I have always thought to further a PhD under her. She's a very nice person socially. She doesn't make use of me when it comes to helping out non-research ways. I volunteer to do the extra administrative work (grant matters) since I think they're experience enriching.

Today, I just don't know what to do anymore. Anyone with similar situation? Or would like to give your opinion?

Perhaps she gave the text a better structure, i.e. kind of central thread that the reader can follow easier...students sometimes like it to write correct stuff but without any order...
I guess it was generally not to hurt or offend you but to help, even if there is lot of other work...

[HomeBrew]

For me to answer this accurately I would need to see both abstracts -- whether the abstract benefits from being rearranged depends on what it was originally and what it became after rearrangement.

Nevertheless, if all that happened was essentially sentence rearrangement, I would not be too discouraged -- I've seen many people's writing edited much, much more drastically -- to the point where it's just barely recognizable when compared to the original form....

[GeorgeWolff]

Lose the ego - she invested alot of time and energy in helping you refine your presentation.  Do you really think that was a task she really wanted to do?   You should thank her.

[leelee]

I agree with George.
Don't take it personally, she is trying to help you refine your writing style. You say that you have been doing your MSc for 2 years now, so you have been working with this person for 2 years, and are now allowing such a minor thing to affect your view of her? That is really unfair!!
One of my supervisors re-writes and heavily edits my written work often (in the same way as you describe, changing structure not content), but I don't take it as a personal affront- I learn from it. That is, after all, what we are supposed to be doing as students- learning.

[fluffybunny]

thank u all for the comments  

[swanny]

You can take  this and stew on it, or you can use it to be a better communicator (and potentially a better experimenter). If you have an opportunity, ask your PI why she re-arranged the abstract: what was it about your form of expression that was not good.

When I did my Masters, my first few reports and abstracts came back more red than black. Gradually, the red ink became less and in the end there was hardly any, apart from arrows showing where to move paragraphs, and the odd suggestion about another question to consider.

You need time to get used to scientific style. It is not the way most people write, so it is a learned skill.

[lab rat]

Hi Fluffy,

Don't take it personally. Some people like to edit to suit their own style. She may figure, "if it's coming out of my lab, I want it to match everything else that's published."

Regards,

lab rat

[fluffybunny]

lab rat, on Sep 23 2009, 07:38 PM, said:

Hi Fluffy,

Don't take it personally. Some people like to edit to suit their own style. She may figure, "if it's coming out of my lab, I want it to match everything else that's published."

Regards,

lab rat

Hi lab rat,

yeah i think ur right. Maybe its to match everything else and to suit my supervisor's style. thank u very much for the encouraging comment

[kottila]

fluffybunny, on 15 September 2009 - 07:06 AM, said:

I came home today feeling so demotivated - have shown my abstract for an upcoming conference to my main supervisor. She corrected almost the whole text of 300 words just rearranging sentences but still gives the same meaning. They are not grammar errors or technical errors. I gave the same abstract to my co supervisor and she accepted my writing - giving ONLY technical comments where she saw fit.

Instead of doing my work, I am Googling "problem with research supervisors" and came upon this forum. What a good idea, whoever who first thought of it, thumbs up.

I am doing my MSc. degree for 2 yrs now. Today is the first time I've felt such demotivation because I thoroughly do not like my writing being corrected unjustly. I thought the role of a supervisor is just to guide? I am to be the main author of the abstract.

My main supervisor's actions today brought me to a revelation. She has many pending dissertations to read (has known to keep the writing 2-3 years), could her over-correcting cause the long pending list?

I have always thought to further a PhD under her. She's a very nice person socially. She doesn't make use of me when it comes to helping out non-research ways. I volunteer to do the extra administrative work (grant matters) since I think they're experience enriching.

Today, I just don't know what to do anymore. Anyone with similar situation? Or would like to give your opinion?

That's just what supervisors do. I hand in a draft and they change it completely. Just be thankful that they're spending alot of time doing something to improve your work. You could call it a learning experience, although I haven't learned much from it myself as I don't bother going over all the corrections, I'm to sick of reading the paper as it is.

[bob1]

Just wait until you do your dissertation and your supervisor suggest you change a part, so you do, and then at the next reading, the supervisor changes it back to the original part... very annoying.