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<b><h4>How do you keep a record of your research?</h4></b>

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<b>Caitlin Shaughnessy, PhD Researcher, University of Roehampton</b>

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I keep a record of my research in a number of ways. Because I'm in social science, my research kind of expands over a long period of time usually about a year. So I try to make regular reports every time I go and see the participants, because those small details can add up in the future. I think because I'm doing a PhD, you naturally have to kind of keep records for your supervisors. 

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And in order to validate your decisions, in case your examiners at the end want to know about it. If I do a pilot project, that's always quite a good way of writing a summary of what's going on so you can see the challenges, and the problems that you might have had with it. So that you can change before you start the main part of the project.
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<b><h4>Why do you feel it is important to keep a secure record of what you have done?</h4></b>

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<b>Mate Suba&scaron;i&#263;, PhD Researcher, University of Liverpool</b>

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In my case, as I did for example, interviews with ordinary people that are anonymised, I really need to keep those secured once I transcribe them. But overall, there is a need to keep your record safe. Because your record is everything to you. 

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If in the future anybody asks you about your research, if you're uncertain about something, you can always just go and check what your thoughts were. It is very important also because often you go off the track, and research records can help you to take a couple of steps back, and to see what were your ideas, and where you took the other direction. I think that's really important and helpful often. 

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<b>Caitlin Shaughnessy:</b> I think it is important to keep a secure record of what you have done, because it's important to see how your research process has changed. And to make sure that you remember why you made those decisions. Because at the time, it might seem like the most logical thing for you to have done. But after two years into your PhD, why you've changed someone's framework, or why you made the decision to use a different framework might not seem so logical. 

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It also again gives you evidence, should you be questioned by people that are reading your research, or by people that are examining your PhD, as to why you made those decisions. Also working in social science, the data can really get quite messy, if you're working with real people, in real life context. So making sure that you have your own account of what you've done means that you can look back and it makes more sense to you than it might at the time. 
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<b><h4>Have there been times when you should have kept a better record of your work?</h4></b>

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<b>Mate Suba&scaron;i&#263;:</b> Every now and then, I'm considering or thinking about what would happen if I had kept my records better. And this is especially relevant for my fieldwork. I was there, and I was putting in notes, sort of ideas, after each interviews. But as the interview schedule became more and more complex, I stopped doing it. And now, as I transcribe those interviews, I missed those ideas. And I know that I had the idea, but I can't remember what was it. And I wish I kept them. It's not essential, but it would really help me.

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Also, with the literature from the first year, I haven't been consistently organising my literature, and now in my last year, I have literature all around. And that causes certain delays, when I'm writing, when I'm trying to come up with a new idea. I wish I was more consistent. But I also think that is a skill that you develop throughout your PhD.