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Nathan

EDQs

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Or Extremely Difficult Questions.

You could make some educated guesses at what these might be for your viva:

  • A question on a topic you struggle to talk about.
  • A question about the bit of your PhD you didn’t like.
  • Something which is all about an examiner’s work.
  • Something completely unexpected.

It might be a surprise in the moment or something you’ve been dreading but an EDQ isn’t the end of the world – or, worse, the end of your viva.

If you’re faced with an EDQ then:

  • Pause and think before you respond – which is good advice for a REQ* as well.
  • Remember you can ask for clarity. Ask your examiners to say more.
  • Remember to take your time. More than simply pausing, remember it’s not a race or a rush.
  • Explore your thesis to help you support what you’re saying.

Remember that every question is an opportunity for you to demonstrate something but you are not expected to know everything. EDQs don’t have to dominate how you engage with your viva or be on your mind as you prepare.

 

* Really Easy Question!

Nathan

Clarify & Respond

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Could you repeat that please?

Can I just check…?

Before I respond, can I confirm that you…?

At the viva you need to make sure you’re comfortable with the question you’re trying to respond to.

Clarifying isn’t evasion: you’re not trying to dodge a question but be sure.

You’re not using up time as there’s no time limit: you have as long as you need to respond as well as you can.

Clarify the questions you need to so that you can give the best responses to your examiners.

Nathan

Expecting Questions

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You can’t know for sure what questions you will get at your viva but there’s a lot you can expect.

  • You can expect your examiners to have done their homework and come with questions.
  • You can be certain that your examiners want to know more about what you did beyond what it is in your thesis.
  • It’s reasonable to think they might want to dig deeper into methods, results and conclusions, however you’ve presented them.
  • It’s unlikely they would miss a chapter out in their plans – but also unlikely they would have one or more questions in mind for every page.
  • You can expect them to ask a lot of why questions.
  • You can expect that you will be asked questions you’ve not anticipated at all.

There’s a lot you can expect even if you can’t know what questions you’ll get until you’re in your viva. You can have very good guesses because of your knowledge and experience: you know your work better than anyone else.

When it comes to expecting questions at your viva you can’t know it all but you can expect a lot. Make sure that you invest time in preparing to respond to your examiners’ questions.

Nathan

All The Questions

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Simple questions aren’t necessarily easy to respond to at the viva. They can be simple because you understand them with no trouble, because they’re short or because they’re expected. You might still have a lot to say.

Complex questions might not be hard. A question with lots of points could be straightforward because of how much experience you have with that topic.

An easy question is just easy. A small question. A clarification. A detail.

A hard question is hard. Opinions. First thoughts. Unknown or unexpected. Not impossible though; asked because it needs to be asked for some reason, never to haze, harass or harm.

Difficult questions are common at the viva. Consider the level you work at. Consider the standard of your significant and original contribution to research. Consider the nerves you might feel and the outcome you’re working towards.

Difficult questions account for a lot of questions at the viva – but you have a lot of experience with difficult work.

 

All the questions you’ll get at your viva are unconfirmed until you hear them. You can have expectations and good guesses but you won’t know until you’re there.

Rather than worry, do the work: rehearse and find a way to engage with any question you’re asked. Don’t just hope you get easy or simple questions. Acknowledge the reality of all the questions you’ll be receiving on your viva day.

Nathan

“No”

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It might be the start of your response to a particular question at the viva.

It’s unlikely to be the only thing you can say or the only thing you need to say in response to that question.

 

(see also: “I don’t know”, “My supervisor told me to” and “I’ve not thought about that before”)

Nathan

Every Question

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The viva is a facilitated discussion. Your examiners have a plan with notes and prompts. They’ve prepared. They come to the viva with questions, comments and ideas to invite you into conversation.

There are many possible questions they could have for you:

  • Easy questions;
  • Difficult questions;
  • Closed questions;
  • Open questions;
  • Questions you’ve heard many times before;
  • Questions you’ve never considered;
  • Questions you know the answer to;
  • Questions you’ll need to consider your opinion on;
  • A question that sounds simple but when you think about it, it really isn’t;
  • A question that seems complex but has subtle ideas at the heart;
  • Questions you want;
  • Questions you don’t want;
  • The one question you love to talk about;
  • And the one question you hope never to get.

With all of that said, you don’t need to write a big list of possible questions ahead of the viva and make notes on them all so that you’re ready.

You can prepare for every question simply by rehearsing for the viva. Get experience by finding opportunities to practise responding to questions. Mock vivas, conversations with friends and seminars can vary in how close they will be to your actual viva but all can give support.

Have a plan (which you can practise in advance too!). Whatever the question, take your time to think. Maybe make a note in some way. Pause, take a sip of water. Then take your time to carefully respond. There’s no rush to get the viva done quickly.

Treat every question as important and you’ll give your examiners what they need at your viva.

Nathan

Not At The Viva

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Expect the unexpected at your viva but don’t expect:

  • Tiebreaks, lightning rounds and top tens.
  • Sudden death, all-or-nothing questions!
  • Written responses, trial by combat and surprise guests.
  • Irrelevant questions, impossible tasks and cunning riddles.

Expect an unexpected question. Expect an unexpected opinion. Expect that your examiners might have less understanding or require helpful explanation. Don’t expect them to change the rules or broader structure of the viva.

Expect the unexpected but expect that the unexpected will still be reasonable and relevant for your work.

Nathan

Offering Why

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At the root of a lot of viva questions and discussions is a why.

Why did you do this? Why does it matter? Why is it helpful?

Why this and not that? Why now? Why did you choose X over Y?

It could be explicit or quiet, it could be a why you have thought about for years or a why you are finding for the first time.

As you get ready for your viva, consider all the whys you know in your preparations. Consider what happens as you rehearse and offer whys in your mock viva and other spoken preparations.

What can you do to help yourself be more ready to talk about the whys?

Nathan

On Opinions

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There’s a good chance, whatever your research area, that you can be asked a question at your viva for which you have no answer. There’s a chance even that you could be asked a question for which no-one has an answer – there are simply opinions.

When you have an opinion – or are called to think and explore your opinion in the moment – it helps to pause and think a little. There’s plenty of time to do that in your viva.

  • You can check something in your thesis if you need to.
  • You can make a note or write down a few thoughts.
  • You can ask for information.

None of this is evading the question: it’s all geared towards you offering the most considered opinion you can depending on the situation.

In fact, to engage well at the viva, whatever the question, pause and think before you respond. Even if you have an answer ready, something you’ve considered and refined for years. Pause and think just in case there is a subtlety in the question that you’re rushing past in your desire to show what you know.

When you’re called on for your opinion at the viva give yourself a little time to respond well.

Nathan

Who Knows?

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If you and your examiners all know about something then you can talk with the same reference points.

If you know something and your examiners don’t then you might have to explain something to them so that you can have a fruitful discussion.

If your examiners know something and you don’t then you will benefit from being ready to ask questions so that you know more and can respond to their questions.

Neither you nor your examiners can know everything! There might be topics or questions where no-one knows the truth and none of you have given much thought to it previously. That doesn’t mean you can’t take the opportunity of the viva to use what you do know to consider and discuss.

Whatever you or your examiners know or don’t know, because the viva is a conversation you have space to think, ask questions, offer ideas and make the most of the opportunity.

 

Inspired by thinking about the Johari Window model!

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