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VIVA PREPARATION
Jamalludin Harun
Department of Educational Sciences, Mathematic and Creative Multimedia
Faculty of Education, UTM
VIVA PREPARATION
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VIVA PREPARATION
CONTENTS
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VIVA PREPARATION
WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE?
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WHAT IS UNACCEPTABLE?
Is poorly written
Has spelling and grammatical errors
Has a sloppy presentation
Contains errors or mistakes
Plagiarizes or deliberately misreads or
misuses sources
Does not understand basic concepts,
processes, or conventions of the discipline
Lacks careful thought
Looks at a question or problem that is trivial
weak, unoriginal, or already solved
Does not understand or misses relevant
literature
Has a weak, inconsistent, self-contradictory,
unconvincing, or invalid argument
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VIVA PREPARATION
PREPARATION
The submission of a PhD is like climbing to the top of
a mountain. Preparing, Planning, Undertake
sustained effort to reach the summit (and its not the
end of the journey).
Sohow you can prepare yourself?
1st..have a seat and pat yourself on the back : NOT
everyone submits.
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VIVA PREPARATION
PREPARATION
Preparation falls into two domains:
technical and inter / intra personal.
Technical
Assessed primarily on the product submitted
Be familiar with your work
Understand the purpose and procedures related to
the viva
Understand the roles of those present
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PREPARATION
Intra-personal Matters
Manage your anxiety
Deep breathing
Relaxation strategies
Positive self talk
Aim to have a conversation - never an argument
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VIVA PREPARATION
PREPARATION
Inter-personal Matters
Examiners may never have met before
They may be anxious that the other has identified
something they had missed
They are performing and may feel under scrutiny
Anxiety can be contagious
They are individuals subject to the same pressures as
you and I
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..THE EXAMINERS..
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EXAMINERS BEHAVIORS
Different examiners have different personalities,
styles & levels of experience
Ask you to justify your arguments not only those in
the thesis but also those not in the thesis
Discuss strengths & weaknesses of your work
critical appraisal
Expect you to discuss any developments that may
derive from your work in the future.
Ask about wider implications of your work you
need to think broadly about your research about
future research.
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VIVA PREPARATION
EXAMINERS BEHAVIORS
Examiners can be polite, encouraging to strict or
hostile feeling.
Therere also examiners :
like to provoke (student and/or other
examiner/supervisor).
argue certain points with you
Mr(s) Im always right
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..THE VIVA..
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DELIVERING PRESENTATION
Think about your panel or examiners
Decide what is important in the thesis
Explain the significance of your work
Organise your presentation clearly and simply
think logically
Use body language effectively
Speak slowly and clearly
Maintain eye contact
Make effective conclusion
Summarize & close
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DELIVERING PRESENTATION
What to Present..
Background of the problem (2 min)
Goal/Objective of research (1 min)
Theoretical Framework (2 min)
Methodology (3 min)
Findings (10 min)
Recommendations/Contributions (2 min)
Its no a public lecture. Examiners already read your
thesis
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DELIVERING PRESENTATION
Highlighting Strengths of Study
Value
Impact
Benefits
Strengths
Effectiveness
Contributions:
Don't be modest
be clear on your contributions!
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What is it about?
What did you do?
What did you find?
Why does that matter?
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Murray (2003)
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PAY ATTENTION
Dress formally
Reach the office before the given time
Keep the number of slides within the allocated time
Dont read the slides during presentation
Use simple words to express yourself
Accept criticism and be open
Avoid long discussions or debate
Be honest if you do not know the answer
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A PERSONAL STOCKTAKE
1st Dont try to think of the exact questions the
examiners will ask you.
It is better to prepare yourself for anything. Hence
summaries your thesis into smaller blocks. Consider:
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A PERSONAL STOCKTAKE
For each question, prepare between 3-5 bullet points in a
condensed form do not use lots of sub-clauses.
This exercise is good for summarising your work and
reflecting back on it; ie did I really find that out??
Task : In 3 minutes, summarise your thesis. Drawing upon
the bullet points that you have already made.
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A PERSONAL STOCKTAKE
2nd The all important methodology. Key points are how
generalizable are your findings, and how valid
3rd What do you plan next? How do you plan to
disseminate your work.
4th What is (are) your major contribution(s) ?
Above allremember : a this moment in time, you are
probably the worlds leading expert on the specific topic
of your thesis. Stay calm, relaxed and demonstrate the
depth and breadth of your knowledge
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TYPE OF QUESTIONS
Probing Questions
Thesis defense committee members would like you to
broaden its most controversial aspects
Curious
Thesis defense committee will like you give an overall
view of the field under study and your contribution to it
Hostile
Thesis defense committee will expose an area of
insufficiency
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GENERAL QUESTIONS
Some questions you might want to entertain and might be
asked
In one sentence, what is your thesis?
What have you done that merits a PhD?
Summarise your key findings?
Whats original about your work?
What are the contributions (to knowledge) of your thesis?
Why is the problem you have tackled worth tackling?
What are the strongest / weakest parts of your work?
What are you most proud of, and why?
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GENERAL QUESTIONS
Why did you decide on this particular research
question?
What have you found the most interesting aspect of
your research?
How did your thinking about this topic develop as you
went through this research process?
Now that you have completed the research, which
part of the process would you say you enjoyed most
and why?
Were there any surprises along the way?
How did doing this research change you as a
researcher?
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Value-added and originality
What are the most original (or value-added) parts of
your thesis?
Which propositions or findings would you say are
distinctively your own?
How do you think your work takes forward or
develops the literature in this field?
What are the bottom line conclusions of your
research? How innovative or valuable are they? What
does your work tell us that we did not know before?
Origins and the scope of the research
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Value-added and originality
Can you explain how you came to choose this topic
for your doctorate What was it that first interested
you about it? How did the research focus change over
time?
Why have you defined the final topic in the way you
did? What were some of the difficulties you
encountered and how did they influence how the
topic was framed? What main problems or issues did
you have in deciding what was in-scope and out-ofscope?
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Research Methods
What are the core methods used in this thesis? Why did
you choose this approach? In an ideal world, are there
different techniques or other forms of data and evidence
that youd have liked to use?
What are the main sources or kinds of evidence? Are they
strong enough in terms of their quantity and quality to
sustain the conclusions that you draw?
Do the data or information you consider appropriately
measure or relate to the theoretical concepts, or
underlying social or physical phenomena, that you are
interested in?
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Research Methods
How well did the study design work in practice?
Did you have any problems with the data collection
process?
You used an existing research method and developed it
further - can you tell us why this further development
was needed?
What were the main ethical issues of conducting this
research?
How did you establish the limits around the scope of your
data collection?
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Analysis & Findings
Can you talk us through your methods of analysis?
Did you encounter any problems with applying this
method of analysis?
Do you think the data you collected were the most
appropriate to answer your research question or are
there any other data you would have liked to have
collected?
Can you describe your main findings in a few sentences?
What do your results mean?
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Analysis & Findings
How do your findings fit with or contradict the rest of the
literature in this field?
How do you explain the differences of findings, or
estimation, or interpretation between your work and that
of other authors? What next?
What are the main implications or lessons of your
research for the future development of work in this
specific sub-field?
Are there any wider implications for other parts of the
discipline? Do you have next step or follow-on research
projects in mind?
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Discussion
If you were starting your research again now, are there
any changes in the way you would plan it?
You interpret these findings as ... but do you think there
could be an argument for interpreting them as ... instead?
You said in your thesis that ... - can you expand on that
point?
In what way do you consider your thesis to be original?
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RANGE OF QUESTIONS
Conclusion
What are the empirical, practice, and theoretical
implications of your findings?
How would you hope that this research could be followed
up and taken further?
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VIVA PREPARATION
SUMMARY
The viva voce or oral examination provides the
opportunity for you to meet the examiners, to
explain and defend your thesis, and to spend an hour
or two discussing the topic on which you are an
expert.
This is a unique opportunity for you to engage with
two independent academics who are independent
from your work and have read and considered it
carefully.
Do enjoy your viva. No GUTS no GLORY.
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REFERENCES
Burnham P. (1994). Surviving the viva: Unraveling the mystery
of the PhD oral. Journal of Graduate Education, 1: 30-4.
Murray R. (2003). How to survive your Viva. New York: Open
University Press.
Hartley J. and Jory S. (2000). The viva experience. Higher
education review. 35(1): 24-30
Green D.H. (1998). The postgraduate viva: A closer look.
Leeds: Leeds Metropolitan University.
Graduate School, University of Leicester (2013). Preparing for
Your Viva Examination.
Twigg D. (2003). Preparing for the PhD Viva Voce A Personal
Reflection. Paper presented at the Warwick Business School,
Doctoral Programme, University of Warwick.
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Thank You
jharun@utm.my
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