Understanding

your identities
3 as a researcher,
supervisee, and
thesis writer

Overview
While the previous chapter was primarily about understanding who you
are and preparing for the journey ahead, this chapter considers three key
identities that emerge during the journey: those of a researcher, a super-
visee and a thesis writer. Each of these identities is associated with distinct
ways of knowing, being and doing. Researchers have different views about
the world and investigate topics from different perspectives, supervisees see
themselves in different ways and work differently in an academic context.
Thesis writers have different ways of thinking about themselves as writers
and different ways of putting thoughts together to make a compelling text.
Understanding what researching, writing and supervision means for you
and how you identify in these spheres helps avoid feelings that you are not
on the right track just because you are doing things differently. Such under-
standings are a vital step to completing a successful thesis.
Chapter 3 provides ten pointers to help you understand your emerging
identities as a researcher, supervisee and thesis writer. The first of these
pointers consider researcher identities, how they differ, their shared com-
monalities, and what a researcher identity might mean for you. The next
couple of pointers in this chapter explore your identities as a supervisee,
your preferences and expectations for a supervisor, and your ideas about the
best ways to structure supervision sessions. The remaining pointers delve
into potential thesis writer identities: whether and how much of your per-
sonal identities you might wish to embed into your thesis, how to deal with
revisions and what you can learn from examining your supervisor’s writing

24 DOI: 10.4324/9781003323402-3
 Understanding your identities as a researcher, supervisee, and thesis writer

style. Our final pointer looks at changes to your thesis writer identity at dif-
ferent points in the thesis journey.

Figure 3.1 Juggling your identities

5. Your emerging researcher identities

Undertaking a thesis means going through many transitions and taking on
many new identities. This pointer explores one of these – your researcher
identities. As aspects of your researcher identity are often influenced by your
personal interests, you can gain some initial insights into your identity as a
researcher by reflecting on your characteristic conversations with others.
Do you like to discuss practical issues, deeper policy debates, or do you
like to focus on words, what they mean and how they are used? By actively
contemplating the macro-issues that interest you, you can come to know the
kind of research that best suits you.
You can also think about your identities as a researcher by considering the
preferred types of data. Is your interest piqued when others discuss numbers,

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