DBA update

Chapter 6 - case studies report - is complete! It took a few days to write everything up, even though the work was almost purely mechanical, copying quotes from the various interviews. Presenting the data this way - let's call it horizontal - makes it much easier to see where the problems are and what the recommendations should be, as opposed to trawling through the interviews one by one (let's call this vertical). I'll start work on the final chapter in a few days. It gets very hot in the afternoons (apparently it's cooler here than in Europe at the moment) which makes it very difficult to concentrate until the evening, which is when I'm too tired to do anything serious. As I have mentioned before, Friday afternoons and Saturday evenings are very good times to work.

I was discussing the thesis' timetable with my wife the other day: assuming that I finish the conclusions chapter by the end of July (and there's nothing to stop me from doing so as it's totally dependent on me and how much time I devote to it) and perform cleanups during August ... that's it! We can then set a date for the viva exam (there's no need to submit anything to the research committee, if I remember correctly). Of course, I need good turnaround times from my supervisor but I don't think that this will be a problem.

It all seems so sudden! The Jewish New Year is late this year, right at the end of September, so waiting for the Succot holiday (when I probably won't be working) in order to travel to Scotland would mean having the viva around 15-18 October. Assuming that everything goes to plan, do I really want to wait until October when I could finish a month earlier?

Also, there will probably be a degree awarding ceremony in November; someone uploaded to YouTube a short film about his graduation ceremony on 13 November 2018, so it would be wonderful if I could be awarded my degree at a similar ceremony this year. With regard to that film, either it was held in a different hall or else they've made changes: we had raked seating in 2013 whereas in 2018 everyone seems to be on the same level. I assume that the ceremony is for the MBA degree although in comparing a picture of my gown to the graduand's, mine seems to have an extra bar.

Having come this far, it's instructive to compare how I feel now as to how I felt in January; I wrote then Another weight on my mind has been my doctorate: specifically, a failure to chase after people in order to interview them. Two interviews and one written questionnaire came in the past two weeks which is the reason for the sudden increase in tempo. I still haven't managed to interest any company that works with SAP Business One so I can write about this in the 'further research' section of the conclusions. I sent out a few emails to SB1 companies yesterday; if someone does answer in the affirmative, then I can do the interview and include their data.

Edit: The winter degree ceremonies will be held between 7 and 10 December 2019 (source).