Graduate School Dilemma

[OSHMUNNIES]

I have been in graduate school for almost two years, and I have been working on my thesis for the past 6 months. Today I definitely lost some respect for my advisor (who shall hereafter be referred to as Dr. X).

 

This morning I got an email from Dr. X, which said:

 

"I did what you are proposing for a thesis and published it in [a scientific journal] 23 years ago."

 

(by the way, I've been speaking about my thesis frequently with Dr. X, but Dr. X randomly tells me this NOW?)

 

The email, continued: "[You] need to find a thesis topic that is new unless the goal is to disprove what has been done before. I will give 100 per cent support to a project that would disprove past work, but there is nothing to be gained in repeating and confirming what has already been published."

 

I have read all of Dr. X's publications, so I am pretty familiar with his/her work. Nevertheless, I dig up the publication in question and find that Dr. X has in fact NOT conducted this research in any significant detail. The publication merely proposes this research topic, and offers theoretical results for it. Only a few sentences (which are buried in the midst of the publication, which discusses a much broader topic) are devoted to this topic. Additionally, no data sources, methods, or assumptions (which are particularly important for this specific type of research) are mentioned.

 

Backing up slightly, I have acquired abundant data which is extremely useful for this project; data that did not exist when Dr. X's paper was published. Some of this data happens to directly contradict with Dr. X's "results," and in fact render Dr. X's methods invalid.

 

After I read the email, I thought "Oh, Dr. X is just not aware of this new data." So, of course, I go and show it to Dr. X, and I get completely interrupted before I can finish explaining myself. Dr. X gives the data a quick glance, and snaps "No! I don't care what that says! THIS is real! (pointing to a paper copy of his/her own publication sitting on the desk)" Dr. X quickly changes the subject and I am left stunned. I leave, unable to think of a way to explain myself without insulting Dr. X further.

 

Here is my dilemma. It seems clear to me that Dr. X is completely ignoring valid evidence that contradicts him/her for the sake of his/her ego and at the expense of myself, his/her student. This is not what I would consider good science or good advisement, and I am not certain that I'm ready to abandon 6 months worth of work and start from scratch, just to keep Dr. X's ego intact. I'm also not certain that I'm willing to continue working with Dr. X at all.

 

I know this is really lengthy, but I cannot not emphasize Dr. X's stubbornness enough...it is something for which Dr. X is fairly well-known. I am afraid that if I press this issue, I will do nothing more than get on Dr. X's bad side. I am seriously considering dropping out of the program, because I'm not sure if I can continue to put up with this stubbornness.

 

I would really appreciate any advice you guys have to offer. I could use some 3rd party perspective before I make any decisions.....

 

 

Also, let me just say that I do respect Dr. X's work, I am fond of and friendly with Dr. X, and that no ill intent is meant here.

Edited April 4, 2013 by OSHMUNNIES

[WarmakerT]

You could try talking to him and explaining what you told here. Ask him to shut up, listen to what you have to say, and after you're done, he can talk. You shouldn't drop out of the program because of this little issue.

If he's too stubborn and he's very well known for it, as you said, then you should advise him. You said he was very well known for it, probably not just by you, but by others too. You should help him, changing someone's personality is hard, but if trully understands his problem, then it's easy, really.

 

Edit.: Since you considered dropping out of the program so easily, I assume you don't like it, if I'm right, then just drop out and find something else to do, something you would enjoy.

Edited May 21, 2013 by WarmakerT

[timo]

I know this is really lengthy, but I cannot not emphasize Dr. X's stubbornness enough.

Which seems like a sign that you should probably cool down a bit and re-organize thoughts and facts before making a decision or asking others to make a decision based on your possibly not-fully-emotionless information you provide. You may in principle be correct about Dr. X being stubborn about his research. But it's also not too unlikely that someone with more than 23 years of research experience simply can judge the prospects of a research project better than someone with half a year of experience. Another thought coming to my mind is that if your problem with Dr. X is not just on this issue, but instead you two don't get along very well in general, then considering another advisor may be a good idea. In my experience, getting along well with the people you work with is very important and helpful.

[swansont]

When I was in grad school the thesis project had to be approved by a committee, headed by the advisor. How is it that Dr. X let you do this work in the first place, if he felt that it was not worthy of a thesis?

[CharonY]

On that note, in which system (i.e. country) is this happening? Since you are in grad school for two years and only have been actively working for 6 months on your thesis I presume it is the UK/US style, which generally involves a committee as swansont mentioned. In that case it would be a good opportunity to talk to other members of the committee to get a more objective view on that matter. There is also a good chance that the data you have collected was presented not in a very concise and convincing manner (which is rather typical if you just start out) and he may have just been confused by it and running out of patience.

It would be wise not to tell your advisor to "shut up and listen", though.

 

BTW, is this not more appropriate for the science education section rather than ethics? Unless we want to discuss cases in which advisors try to suppress valid data that disprove their theories, which may or may not be the case here.

Edited May 22, 2013 by CharonY

[OSHMUNNIES]

Thanks, guys for your input. I did resolve the problem within a couple days, simply by sitting him/her down and calmly asking him/her to explain myself. It turned out that he/she had been having some family issues shortly before our encounter, hence the short fuse and stubbornness. I regret posting this now, but I was pretty flustered and uncertain at the time.

 

Edit.: Since you considered dropping out of the program so easily, I assume you don't like it, if I'm right, then just drop out and find something else to do, something you would enjoy.

 

I actually love the program. I plan to dedicate my life to the field.

But it's also not too unlikely that someone with more than 23 years of research experience simply can judge the prospects of a research project better than someone with half a year of experience.

 

In this case it was actually a communication issue, not my lack of experience.

When I was in grad school the thesis project had to be approved by a committee, headed by the advisor. How is it that Dr. X let you do this work in the first place, if he felt that it was not worthy of a thesis?

 

That was part of the reason I was so confused and flustered. My committee (including my advisor) had already approved my topic. Dr. X then turned around and told me months later that he/she had already done the same research 23 years ago. I looked into the publication in question and discovered that not only was that a gross overexageration on Dr. X's part, but the research was only vaguely related to my topic.

BTW, is this not more appropriate for the science education section rather than ethics? Unless we want to discuss cases in which advisors try to suppress valid data that disprove their theories, which may or may not be the case here.

 

Originally, I had a suspicion that my own adviser WAS trying to suppress my project in an effort to "protect" his/her reputation. Let me be clear that I have learned that this is not the case, however.

 

 

 

Thanks again everyone for your input. If nothing else, this thread was a good way for me to vent my (now irrelevant) "problems." Sometimes you need a scientist's opinion on personal matters, and can't necessarily talk to the other scientists around you.