Mind Mapping

Mind Maps are an aspect of academic life that has passed me by despite suffering from Mind Map envy. I have tried paper, white board and a variety of software options without any enduring success. I was particularly envious of my 8 year old granddaughter who the other evening proceeded to explain the complexities of falling in and out of friends at school by means of a series of graphic Mind Maps on my white board. Very impressive and so natural. Whilst browsing a link from a PhD Blog that I subscribe to, I found myself sympathising with a fellow dysfunctional Mind Map drop-out on The PhD Pimpernel Blog. PhD Pimpernel Blog however, seems to have discovered an answer to the Mind Map dilemma, a piece of software for the iPad, SimpleMind. I was reminded of the occasion I was first introduced to Mind Maps, it was 1974, a programme on BBC TV Use Your Head by Tony Buzzan. I was amazed to discover Tony is actually 2 years older than myself, he seemed so young on the TV!

But what of SimpleMind,  The PhD Pimpernel Blog seemed so enthusiastic about SimpleMind and how is its simple functionality broke through the Mind Map logjam, I just had to have a try. There is a free version but I discovered that this did not allow me to do what I wanted to do (crafty) so I had to splash out the grand sum of £2.99 on the paid for version SimpleMind+.

In part 2 of the post, Mind Mapping II, the discussion tales in the various Mind Mapping options, paper, white boards etc and then moves on to software. Finishing with a very enthusiastic plug for the SimpleMind+ app for the iPad. First impressions are quite favourable. There does seem to be sparse support in the way of help FAQ's,

The SimppleMind software is also available as desktop option for Windows and MAC based computers and tablets and so as not to leave anyone out there is an Android app as well. It must be said the Desktop options are very expensive compared with the iPad  app price.

Choosing a Thesis Title: The relationship between topic, title, thesis and hypothesis

You probably gave your thesis a title when you wrote out you PhD application proposal, but you are now 18 months into the task and your research has turned up all sorts of interesting stuff and your original title doesn't seem that relevant.  What do you do? Well I am at that point, my title changes almost daily. I came across an interesting post on The Thesis Whisper blog whilst looking  for stuff about Mind Mapping. It was a blog post about the book  ‘Mapping your Thesis’ by Dr Barry White.  Thesis Whisperer had been given the book to review and was struggling (a) to read it and (b) deciding if it was a book a PhD student should purchase. After much deliberation she suggested that to her it was becoming increasingly useful as a source of material for courses she presents and was prompted to share an example.

Thesis Whisperer found the Chapter "The relationship between topic, title, thesis and hypothesis" proved useful as a source of information on how to come up with a title for your thesis. She uses an example based on her sons hypothetical interest in doing a PhD about rocks! As follows:

 Thesis Whisperer Jnr (aged 10 and 1/4) wants to do his PhD about “rocks” (with a side interest in gold). “Rocks” is a topic area, but there are a range of theses Thesis Whisperer Jnr would write on this topic depending on how he phrased the title, to whit:

• As a question: “What do school children know about rocks with gold in them?”
• As an exploration: “Rocks in ‘scrap heaps’ found in the Victorian gold districts”
• As a statement: “Why most school kids are not interested in rocks (even if there’s gold in them”
• As an investigation: “Rocks with gold in them: places they are most likely to be found”
• As a hypothesis: “If rocks have gold in them, they are more likely to be dug up”
• As a thesis: “rocks are cool, especially if there is gold in them”

I have since used this example to help hundreds of students re-write variations of their thesis title in my workshops and it’s become a crowd favourite. It’s amazing how simply re-writing your title can help you refocus and give direction to a paper, a chapter or even a whole thesis. Ever since I have used this book to help me make all kinds of workshop material. In fact it has become my ultimate authority on everything thesis related, up to and including supervision and presentations.

I found this simple example quite helpful in rethinking the title for my own thesis:

• As a question: Why do we take snapshot photographs?”
• As an exploration: “Snapshots in family albums.”
• As a statement: “The reason we take snapshots is to remember.”
• As an investigation: “Snapshot photographs: why do we take them?”
• As a hypothesis: “If snapshots are memories can we forget them?”
• As a thesis: “The snapshot is a sociotechnical construct.”

Time will tell...