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I keep a record of my
research in a number of ways.

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Because I'm in social
science, my research kind of

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expands over a long period
of time usually about a year.

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So I try to make regular
reports every time

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I go and see the participants,
because those small details can

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add up in the future.

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I think because I'm doing
a PhD, you naturally

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have to kind of keep records
for your supervisors.

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And in order to
validate your decisions,

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in case your examiners at the
end want to know about it.

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If I do a pilot
project, that's always

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quite a good way of
writing a summary of what's

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going on so you can
see the challenges,

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and the problems that you
might have had with it.

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So that you can change
before you start

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the main part of the project.

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In my case, as I did
for example, interviews

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with ordinary people
that are anonymised,

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I really need to keep those
secured once I transcribe them.

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But overall, there is a need
to keep your record safe.

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Because your record
is everything to you.

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If in the future anybody
asks you about your research,

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if you're uncertain
about something,

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you can always just go and
check what your thoughts were.

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It is very important
also because often you

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go off the track, and
research records can

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help you to take a
couple of steps back,

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and to see what were
your ideas, and where

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you took the other direction.

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I think that's really
important and helpful often.

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I think it is important to keep
a secure record of what you

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have done, because
it's important to see

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how your research
process has changed.

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And to make sure
that you remember

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why you made those decisions.

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Because at the
time, it might seem

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like the most logical
thing for you to have done.

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But after two years
into your PhD,

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why you've changed
someone's framework,

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or why you made the decision
to use a different framework

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might not seem so logical.

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It also again gives you
evidence, should you

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be questioned by people that
are reading your research,

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or by people that are
examining your PhD,

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as to why you made
those decisions.

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Also working in social
science, the data

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can really get quite
messy, if you're

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working with real people,
in real life context.

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So making sure that you have
your own account of what you've

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done means that
you can look back

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and it makes more sense to
you than it might at the time.

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Every now and then,
I'm considering

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or thinking about
what would happen if I

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had kept my records better.

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And this is especially
relevant for my fieldwork.

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I was there, and I was putting
in notes, sorts of ideas,

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after each interviews.

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But as the interview schedule
became more and more complex,

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I stopped doing it.

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And now, as I transcribe
those interviews,

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I missed those ideas.

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And I know that I
had the idea, but I

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can't remember what was it.

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And I wish I kept them.

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It's not essential, but
it would really help me.

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Also, with the literature
from the first year,

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I haven't been consistently
organising my literature,

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and now in my last year, I
have literature all around.

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And that causes certain
delays, when I'm writing,

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when I'm trying to come
up with a new idea.

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I wish I was more consistent.

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But I also think that
is a skill that you

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develop throughout your PhD.