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Tag: examiner expectations

Nathan

Good Practice

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Academics have a sense of what is right when they come to examine a thesis. This is underpinned by regulations but also informed by what they believe is the right way to do things. These beliefs are a mix of their previous experiences and those of friends and colleagues. This then leads to common situations like:

  • Vivas beginning with simple opening questions;
  • Vivas structured around the flow of information in the thesis;
  • The length of a viva being typically in the two to three hour range.

Good practice builds in communities. Colleagues in a department talk now and then about the vivas they have been part of and this also produces “ways of doing things”. This leads to departments that regularly ask for prepared presentations to begin a viva or let a candidate know to expect a certain length.

Good practice isn’t good as opposed to bad! It helps to know that there is a history, a process and a way of doing things that helps the viva – and helps the candidate.

The viva is not a great unknown and so can be prepared for.

Nathan

Not Exclusive

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Your thesis is not written only to pass the viva, or only to live up to your examiners’ expectations. That’s worth keeping in mind as you write it, but also as you prepare for your viva.

To share your contribution you have to write it for whatever audience you imagine will be interested and receptive to your research. To share that with your examiners in the viva, you might have to know a little about them and what they do. You might need to prepare and think about the language you would use to explain something in a discussion – as compared to how you might express it on a page.

Remember that most candidates are asked to complete corrections of some kind: while that request will come from your examiners it is never simply to satisfy them. They are asking either because they have found simple mistakes that can be amended simply, or because they think a change is needed to help your thesis be the best it can be now that it is going to be finished.

Your thesis will be studied, examined, questioned and probably changed by your examiners. But it’s not for them – at least, not exclusively.

Nathan

An Absence Of Publications

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An infrequent-but-troubling question at viva help seminars is “What will my examiners think if I don’t have any publications by the time I have my viva?”

Or worse, “Can my examiners fail me if I don’t have any publications?”

Examiners might ask or might know if you don’t have any publications. They could ask you why not, and there could be many reasons you could offer:

  • I’ve been focussed first on finishing my thesis, but have plans to publish…
  • I’m exploring publishing a monograph after I’ve completed my PhD…
  • I don’t want to publish papers based on my PhD because…

An examiner can have opinions and expectations on what is the right way to do things. Everyone’s allowed an opinion, but in the viva an absence of publications cannot count against a candidate. The thesis and the work done to produce that is being evaluated.

Other publications could be seen as a good thing, but the absence of them can’t be taken as a negative.

More than anything, prior publications are a confidence boost for a candidate. If you have some then you have a little more support for feeling that things will go well because others have accepted your work.

But if you don’t have publications, it’s likely that you’ve invested your time in other ways – not bad, just different – and have taken other steps to show yourself (and your examiners) that you are a capable researcher.

You don’t need publication to pass your viva.

Nathan

A Simple Introduction To The Viva

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The viva is an oral exam at the end of your PhD. Typically two examiners study your thesis and prepare for a discussion with you centred on your work and ability as a researcher.

You’ll have plenty of time to prepare. Vivas happen to others all the time, so there’s lots you can learn about the process. This helps you prepare too.

Through all of this you can be ready for the time you’ll spend talking with your examiners. Viva candidates most commonly pass their viva.

You will too.

Nathan

Five Questions About Your Examiners

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When you’re certain of who your examiners will be for your viva, ask five questions about them.

  1. Have you cited either of them in your thesis?
  2. What do you know of your internal’s recent publications?
  3. What do you know of your external’s recent publications?
  4. How well do you know them by reputation?
  5. Given their interests and research, what do you think they might want to explore from your thesis in the viva?

Of course, these questions invite other questions. If you’ve cited them, how have you cited them? What connections exist between your work and theirs? If you read their recent papers, what is familiar to you? What might you need to know more of?

And so on, and so on – but you don’t need to exhaustively check your examiners. Knowing a little about them helps you to engage with them in the viva.

Ask yourself a few questions about who they are, what they do and what all that means. That’s enough.

Nathan

Perspective, Not Perfection

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As part of your viva preparations, make sure you have researched your examiners’ most recent publications. For both external and internal, take a look at their last two or three papers. Get a sense of their interests, the methods they use and the questions they have been considering.

Compare that with what you’ve done. Look for commonalities and differences, and build an idea of what that means for you, your work and your viva. Are there questions you might anticipate? Are there topics in your thesis that you might have to explain to them because they might be outside of their knowledge base?

Read your examiners’ recent papers to gain perspective. You don’t need to become perfectly aware of everything they have ever done or everything they currently do.

A little work will help.

Nathan

Disagreeing With Examiners

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Tension is created when opposing perspectives meet, in the viva or elsewhere. In daily life that could be very challenging depending on the situation, but it doesn’t have to be that way in the viva.

Disagreement in the viva just means that there is something to talk about.

If there’s disagreement then the best thing you can do is explore why. What reasons do you or your examiners have for your positions or beliefs? What’s the evidence? What does that mean? Where do you have common ground and where do you really differ? And what does that mean?

A difference of opinion could mean simply understanding the other view. It could lead to an acknowledgment of an alternative in corrections to your thesis. It could be due to a simple mistake or error on someone’s part; discussion could help to resolve tension that’s purely accidental.

If you encounter disagreement in your viva, it may not be a big thing or a bad thing, but it’s something.

Something to talk about and resolve.

Nathan

Typo Terror

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You don’t need to be afraid of finding typos. For the most part when someone finds a typo, at worst, it will distract them. A very, very, very minor frustration. For an examiner it is something to record in some way, so that they can ask the candidate to make appropriate changes later.

If you find a typo you can do the same.

Typos don’t need to be feared, they need to be found! When you encounter them, note them down, what is needed in the future to make them right and move on.

There’s far more important work to do and far more important things to talk about in the viva.

Nathan

More Examiners

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The most common viva situation in the UK includes two examiners, one internal and one external. Some universities have independent chairs to steer and confirm the process, and in most cases a supervisor is allowed to attend with the candidate’s approval, but there are nearly always only two examiners.

Nearly always.

There are good reasons for exceptions. It could be that the research requires people with different research backgrounds and interests. A third examiner might be needed so that certain knowledge can be brought into the viva. Or perhaps the candidate is also a staff member at their PhD institution and a second external is required to ensure that the viva is seen as fair.

 

More examiners could mean more questions in the viva; more people talking could mean the viva has more hours than most.

But it doesn’t mean significantly more work in preparation. An extra person won’t take long to look into: a few more papers to consider, a little more thought to consider what they might be interested in.

A 50% increase in examiners doesn’t lead to a 50% increase in prep, questions, viva time or corrections!

Nathan

Finding The Answer

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Lots of questions have answers.

Answers are things that are known: factually accurate, true or perhaps established as a logical argument with sufficient supporting reasons and information.

If you were asked a question and needed to find an answer in the viva there are lots of things you could do or try:

  • You could stop and remember the answer, or at least attempt to.
  • You could use a piece of paper and calculate something that leads to the answer.
  • You could stand up at a whiteboard and draw while you talk to explain the answer.
  • You could check your thesis to look for a piece of information that holds the answer.
  • You could ask a question of your examiners to help explore the situation.

Lots of questions have answers and if you are trying to find an answer in the viva there is a lot you could do to find it.

 

But not every question has an answer.

Some questions seek opinions. Some are hypothetical and explore a scenario – or how someone thinks about it. Some questions have an answer – and you might not know it. Some questions don’t have answers, but they are worth exploring all the same.

If a question has an answer you might be able to find it. If a question doesn’t then you can still engage with it.

Not every question has an answer, but every question asked at the viva is something you can engage with and respond to. If there’s an answer there then there’s plenty you can do to find it – and if there isn’t you still have an opportunity to demonstrate your work, your ability and your knowledge.

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