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Nathan

Defending or Defensive?

Daily Post

In the viva you may have to defend your work. Ideally, you need to do so without becoming defensive.

Defending: “This is why I made this choice…”

Defensive: “I made the right choice!”

Defending: “…that’s a fair question. I think…”

Defensive: “…that’s not relevant because…”

Defending: “…well, I think I addressed this point in Chapter 3…”

Defensive: “…oh yeah? Well what would you know!”

Stay on the right side of defending in the viva. No thesis or PhD is perfect. You can defend, explain and explore your decisions and conclusions, of course, but don’t make it personal. Make your examiners’ comments about the work.

Take a step back and breathe if you feel that you’re being criticised. If your examiners don’t agree, ask them why. Listen and then bring it back to what you did and why. That’s what will help your answers.

Nathan

The 99th Percentile

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“Excuse me, can you reach that?” Usually, yes. I’m six feet and four inches tall and in the 99th percentile for height in the UK. I didn’t have to work on it much, it just happened.

PhDs don’t just happen. Nobody gets onto a PhD programme, or gets through one, by being lazy or unskilled. You have to know things and you have to do things. Yet you compare yourself to others and you grow to doubt yourself. The viva comes around and you wonder, “What will the examiners think? What will they ask? How will they rate me?”

There’s a background fear in some candidates that examiners are just better. And not in a small way. “Examiners are at the 99th percentile!”

They’re six feet four, looking down on you.

Right?

I’m not so sure. It matters what you measure. Does it matter, assuming that it’s true, that your examiners are at the 99th percentile? Are you being examined on your total knowledge of your field? And if you were, wouldn’t you comfortably be in the top 90% or higher?

And what percentile are you at when it comes to more than your field? Where are you when it comes to you niche? When it comes to your research? Your thesis?

Your examiners may know a lot, and they may have experiences and knowledge that you don’t – but they don’t have YOUR knowledge and YOUR experience, or YOUR considered perspective from years of study.

Nathan

Boss Battle

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A possible screenshot of the viva has people imagining it’s like facing end-of-level baddies in a computer game.

After all of the trials and tribulations of doing research, your examiners appear through the fog, two mysterious and challenging foes! Whatever you’ve done before, the rules don’t apply to them!! They’re bigger than the other baddies, tougher, hit harder and if you’re not careful you’re doomed!!!

Well. That’s one way to look at things.

If we accept it then we have to accept everything else from the picture: you’ve reached the end of the level. You’ve fought your way through, and you’ve got there, and it’s not by accident. While a boss battle can seem much tougher, they’re based around all of the same moves that you’ve done in the rest of the game. There’s a different focus maybe, and a different challenge, but it’s well within your capabilities.

There are no cheat codes in the viva – but you don’t need them if you’ve got there.

Nathan

Internal Vs External

Daily Post

Candidates focus on the distinction between internal and external examiners a lot. Have you heard these nuggets of examiner-related folk wisdom before?

  • Your external is likely to be more of an expert in your field than your internal.
  • Your internal will ask the easier questions.
  • Your external is going to take the lead.
  • Your internal is on your side.
  • Your external and internal will act differently.

They sound right, but from all of the conversations I’ve had about vivas, I’ve only seen some evidence to support the first point.

And really, when you break that down, it’s wholly dependent on the candidate, their research, their field and who is available in your department and elsewhere. The other four bits of wisdom sound like neat ways to sum up your examiners, but aren’t accurate and wouldn’t help all that much if they were.

Two simple truths that help:

  • First, your examiners are prepared: they read your thesis, are ready to examine you and are competent to do the examination.
  • Second, your internal is local: they know what the requirements are, and while they’re not on your side exactly, they are there to make sure it’s fair. (some institutions go a step further and have independent chairs in vivas, to ensure candidates get a fair exam).

Forget folk wisdom. Focus on what’s true about your examiners.

Nathan

A Conundrum

Daily Post

Every viva is a custom exam to examine one particular person and their thesis. But every viva takes place according to practices that are consistent across the UK, and according to regulations and expectations that are consistent with an institution.

Different and the same.

Taken together this creates a slightly head-scratching puzzle, but not an impossible one. To solve it for yourself, first check your university’s regulations to see what to expect broadly. Then talk to friends to get a sense of what their vivas were like.

Finally, realise that your own will be unique. The expectations create an environment for you to thrive in. The variety comes from you and your work, not from a lack of rigour.

Problem solved.

Nathan

Exclusive

Daily Post

If you want

  • to get opinions on taking your research further…
  • finding homes for publications…
  • anything connected with your future academic career…

…there aren’t many people you could ask, who could base it on your work and not just offer general advice.

The viva is an exam, but there will be opportunities to ask for your examiners ideas and opinions. Think carefully about what you would want opinions on. Make a list of questions to help your future self.

And if your viva is some way off, think carefully about who might make for good examiners. Who would you want to be part of an exclusive little group to help you?

Nathan

Pop Quiz!

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The viva begins…

Quick! Ten words or less, what’s the main contribution in your thesis?

DING!

Why did you follow the methodology that you did? Hurry!

DING!

Rush, rush! What would you do differently if you started again?

DING!

…and so on.

Have you heard of a viva like this? No? Nor have I, and yet candidates worry about pausing before they answer. The viva’s not a rapid fire exam, a game show or a straight test of memory. Examiners are looking to explore, to host a discussion.

Get ready for a conversation, not a quiz.

Nathan

Just Think

Daily Post

A Common Viva Problem: thinking you have to know and give a definitive answer to every question an examiner asks in the viva.

There may be many cases where this is impossible! While there are lots of questions a candidate can answer swiftly and completely, they do not have to do so for every request. If you’ve not considered Theory X or Idea Y before, how can you give a complete answer immediately? You can’t. So what can you do?

Just think.

Be reasonable with yourself. Your examiners don’t know everything. They know you don’t know everything. They’re asking questions for many reasons. To generate discussion. To explore. To clarify. Because they’re interested.

If you need time to think, take it. If you need to talk through an opinion, do so. Your examiners do not expect you to know everything. They do expect you to think in the viva.

Nathan

Responsible

Daily Post

What are you responsible for in your viva? I get a lot of questions about expectations for the length of the viva, or types of questions, what examiners do, and so on. I don’t get a lot of questions about expectations of the candidate. What do your examiners expect from you?

  • They expect you’ll be prepared.
  • They expect you’ll be ready, willing and able to discuss your research.
  • They expect you’ll be ready, willing and able to discuss your field.

You were responsible for doing your research. You were responsible for getting the thesis done. You can easily meet your examiners’ expectations on the day.

 

Nathan

Missed

Daily Post

A frequent worry in the mind of viva candidates is that their examiners will say something like:

I was really surprised that you didn’t mention Famous Paper X by Professor Important in your literature review…

What if your examiners say that you’re not cited something important? What then?

Well, that’s their opinion. Your examiners are in the viva to have opinions and ask questions. You’ve not thoughtlessly compiled and read the papers that you have to help support your research. You have reasons for citing the articles that you have, and you have reasons for not citing the articles that you haven’t.

If you’ve intentionally not included Famous Paper X then discuss why – and then explore the papers that you have referenced.

Remember, there will be a lot of papers relevant to your field, it isn’t possible to read them all. If you’ve not read Famous Paper X or not heard of it then ask questions. Why does your examiner think it is important? What do they think it would have added? Listen, and then discuss with them all of the papers or work in your thesis that is relevant to their point.

The viva is an exam disguised sometimes like a conversation. Some questions are testing, others are exploratory. Your examiners might have a different opinion, but they can’t claim that you’ve not done the work. Listen to questions, listen to comments, listen to opinions. Then respond.

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