It's in!

Here follows the people Nick has thanked for all their help in submitting his PhD. Suffice to say, a milestone has been reached.... some would say thank **** for that!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


This thesis was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council award.

Although a PhD is often characterised as a lonely and solitary period of study the writing of this thesis would not have been possible without the support of many other people.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Karen Legge and Paul Edwards who have acted as my supervisors throughout the process. Their breadth of knowledge has been inspirational and their ability to help me focus on certain key features of my research has been invaluable. Furthermore, their willingness to read the variety of items I have sent their way, allied with their efficiency, thoroughness and encouragement, means I feel honoured to have had their support over the past four years.

There are many other people who deserve to have their name permanently associated with this thesis for the various forms of encouragement, (financial, intellectual and emotional), that they have given me. In no particular order I would like to thank, Peter and Courtney; Sam; The Thurlbys; The ‘junior’ Circuits; Nan; The Gillis’; The Gaskells; the LaVeReGos Society; James Brassett; Eliza Gaffney; Mike Nottage; Deborah Dean; Nick Llewellyn; Mel Simms; and all of my other colleagues within the IROB Department at WBS. I am only sorry I am unable to expand upon their contributions further.

Particular thanks must go to my in-laws Janice and Pete who have given so much of their time and energy to supporting my family and I. I would also like to thank Heather Connolly whose friendship I have come to value so much. I’m not sure what would have become of me had I not had someone to share my deepest intellectual anxieties with and Heather has always been willing to listen and ‘lol’.

I still struggle to find a way to properly say thank you to my Mum and Dad without whom my life would be very different. All I will say is that if I provide half the love, support and encouragement to my children that they have given to me then I would consider myself to have done very well. And to my daughters Jessica and Madeline; thank you for helping me to keep things in perspective and because it’s amazing what occurs to you when you are awake at 2.00am.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my best friend and wife Liz, who has always been there for me. Sorry for the delay, but remember, TW makes the DW – love you!

Nick Wylie
December 2006