The Postgraduate Networking Project

Linda McLoughlin Department of Politics and Communication Studies, University of Liverpool Nationality: British Self-Funded Part-Time Registration: 1996 Transfer to PhD: 1997 Completion: 2004 Director of Studies: Prof.John Corner Second Supervisor: Dr.Kay Richardson The aim of the PhD To examine the effects on readers of information contained in a particular genre contained in teenage girls' magazines referred to as 'The Sex Special'. Experience in stages towards the PhD From the outset, I felt that I was completely responsible for my research in terms of design, literature searches, fieldwork and analysis of data.  The feedback received from my supervisor was always very helpful. I was not asked to work to deadlines, merely to write a progress report annually, but I appreciated a flexible approach as I was teaching full time and had family commitments.  I think I would have crumbled if I had a supervisor who insisted on my working in a particular order or to particular dates Support I was invited to a function shortly after embarking on the research when I met other students who were studying in the faculty but I'm afraid I did not become involved in this network due to various other commitments.  I was asked to give a presentation on my research during the final year and feel that I benefited from the positive feedback received. An area which I feel I could have been better supported is in relation to having my research published.  I experienced disappointment in having a submission to Discourse and Society rejected and would have appreciated some guidance on how best to present articles for publication and to which journals. What you would suggest to a new PhD student... From a practical point of view, I found it helpful to keep a record of books or journals I had read with full bibliographic references in the form of an index.   For references which I thought I might cite, I photocopied the relevant page. This saves time later when compiling the bibliography. I also found it useful to keep a diary for fieldnote entries. Abstract of the Thesis: Click here to open/download a chapter of the thesis Publications and Papers (2000) The Language of Magazines London: Routledge    (2000) ''Boys Are Us!': The Commodification of Sex in Teenage Magazines' in Consuming for Pleasure Hallam, J. and Moody, N. (eds) Conference papers 2003 University of California Santa Barbara Interaction and Culture Conference 'The Construction of Female Sexuality in Teenage Magazines'. Prize winning poster presentation at the International Gender and Language Association conference held at Lancaster University. 2005 Liverpool Hope University Those Shimmering Horizons Conference , 'The construction of female sexual identity in the 'Sex Special' 2005 University of Birmingham Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Studying Gender and Language BAAL CUP Seminar, 'Can the analysis of the dissemination and reception of texts improve CDA as a methodology?' Current Job I am a senior lecturer and Pathway Leader for English Language at Liverpool Hope University.  Contact details Dr Linda McLoughlin Pathway Leader Humanities Deanery, Liverpool Hope University Hope Park, Liverpool L16 9JD Telephone: +44 (0) 151 291 3250 Fax: +44 (0)151 291 3444 E-mail: mclougl@hope.ac.uk