Data Collection and Analysis

The doctoral programme chosen for this study is offered by a university in the United Kingdom（UK）.The department that runs the programme was rated in the top band in a recent national Research Excellence Framework exercise，and the staff members who belong to the research group regularly publish and are widely quoted around the world.The senior members of the group encourage the research students to aspire to become researchers of a high standard，and assist them to meet the expectation through systemised doctoral training consisting of PhD supervision meetings and regular research seminars，as well as input sessions provided by a doctoral training centre.

This exploratory study analyses the processes of socialisation of its peripheral members through the weekly research seminar and PhD supervision.The training through the graduate training centre is interdisciplinary，and therefore will not be included in the analysis.The data include observation notes from and circulars on the weekly research seminar，and an interview about the seminars with Felix（a pseudonym），a senior member of the research group（see Appendix A for the interview schedule）.It also draws on data from a series of reflections，including vignettes of illustrative scenes from the seminars，by a doctoral candidate，Lee（also a pseudonym）of her experiences of being inducted into the research and teaching community of the university.These reflections were followed by an interview.Lee was an international student，coming from an Asian country，and her contribution to the study effectively captures the process of and learning from socialisation into an educational institute（and，by extension，the academic profession），by tapping into the relationship-building between a peripheral member and “collective cognition”（Samaras，2011，p.5；see also Hamilton，1998）.

Thematic content analysis of the data was guided by the dimensions of signature pedagogy proposed by Shulman（2005）：surface structure（i.e.，the operational practices of teaching and learning），and deep structure（knowledge，theory，and underlying logic）and implicit structure（professional beliefs，attitudes，and values）.As the surface and deep structures are highly interrelated，they will be discussed together in reporting the findings.In the next section，the signature pedagogy of the research seminars and PhD supervision will be respectively discussed and compared，in terms of pedagogical practices and content.A brief summary and discussion of implications will conclude the paper.