Decision Log
A PhD involves hundreds of decisions about questions, samples, methods, structure and scope. Writing each important one down, with its reason, saves you from reopening settled questions and makes your methods chapter and defence far easier.
How to use it
- Log any decision that changes your questions, design, data, analysis, structure, scope or timeline.
- Write the reason while it is fresh.
- If a decision might need revisiting, write the condition, such as “if recruitment is under 20 by March”.