Thread by @PostPhDRoad

#AcademicTwitter Preparing possible VIVA Q&As & going to share some with you. Hope you find them helpful for your own VIVAs. Feel free to add yours!

@PhDVoice @PhD_Genie @dissertology @PartoutProf @career_re #AcademicChatter #Iamnotlazy #vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions #phdlife

1⃣ Summary

🔵Summarize your project/thesis/research in 3 minutes.
🔵Can you explain your thesis in a sentence?
🔵What is the dissertation about?
🔵What is the key focus of this research?
🔵Elucidate the process of evaluation.

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

2⃣ Origin Story

🔵Why started this research?
🔵What were the major motivations behind this research?
🔵What was the source of inspiration behind this thesis/research?
🔵What was the process behind the research questions you selected?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

2⃣ Origin Story

🔵Is your research inspired by some incident in your life?
🔵What motivated you to conduct this research?
🔵Describe the necessary decisions taken in your process.
🔵How did you develop an interest in this subject?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

2⃣ Origin Story

🔵Why did you choose to do this study?
🔵Why this thesis? What made you interested in this topic?
🔵Where did the idea of the project come from?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

3⃣Method

🔵What research methodology have you applied to address this issue?
🔵Why did you choose this method to conduct this research?
🔵You have used X different techniques to analyse the final results. Could you elaborate on all of them?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

3⃣Method

🔵How did you decide upon the variables to include in your conceptual framework?
🔵Why did you choose to structure your thesis by A rather than by B or some other method?
🔵Why did you write your thesis the way you have?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

3⃣Method

🔵Can you justify your use of terminology?
🔵The analysis strategy you used is quite unconventional, why did you choose it over more common strategies?
🔵Did you know the direction your dissertation was going to take?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

3⃣Method

🔵Why did you choose this specific analysis?
🔵Explain the decision-making behind your choice to use X approach.
🔵Summarise the approach that you adopted.

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

4⃣Other Methods

🔵Name some alternatives to your chosen research methodology.
🔵What were the alternatives to this methodology?
🔵Was there any chance of implementing a different type of analysis technique?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

4⃣Other Methods

🔵What would you have gained by using another approach?
🔵Why did you choose that particular method? Why not use other methods instead?
🔵If you were doing this study over again, in what ways would you change it?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

4⃣Other Methods

🔵If you had the opportunity to start this thesis from scratch, what approach would you take/do differently?
🔵What would you have done differently?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

5⃣Originality

🔵What makes your thesis work original?
🔵Where can we locate the originality in your paper?
🔵In what way is your research original and significant?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

6⃣Strength & Weakness

🔵What is the strength and weakness of your research?
🔵Highlight the strong and weak areas of your research.
🔵Can you tell me about the strongest point of your research?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

6⃣Strength & Weakness

🔵What is the weakest point of your research?
🔵Do you think your study has been limited by the use of Xs framework because ...
🔵What are you most proud of about your work?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

7⃣Literature & Scholarship

🔵Elaborate on how your findings relate to literature in your field
🔵Which pertinent research papers did you use in your research?
🔵Can you name 3 remarkable research papers in this stream?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

7⃣Literature & Scholarship

🔵Give us some insights into the references in your thesis.
🔵Explain the recent developments in this field.
🔵What is the relevance of your research in the current scenario?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

7⃣Literature & Scholarship

🔵How is your research project relevant to your fellow researchers?
🔵How can this research help other students working in the same field?
🔵Which authors influenced your thinking particularly at design stage?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

7⃣Literature & Scholarship

🔵Have you had any feedback on your work from other researchers in your field? What were their thoughts about your findings and work?
🔵How does your PhD work fit in with the wider literature?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

7⃣Literature & Scholarship

🔵How do you know you have done enough literature review?
🔵You used author X’s work, tell me a little about what brought you to this particular work, and what kind of lens it gave you when viewing your own work.

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

8⃣Chapters

🔵Take us through chapter X and explain how this connects with each of your research questions
🔵What will readers take way from the concluding chapter?
🔵Take us through the process of analysis.

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

8⃣Chapters

🔵Chapter X of your work has a short list of specific conclusions. Can you explain in different words what you did for that chapter, and how it justifies making each of the conclusions?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

9⃣Findings

🔵Which of your research observations are you most interested in/curious about?
🔵Name some prominent achievements of your research.
🔵Which of your findings is your personal favorite?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

9⃣Findings

🔵How would you summarise your findings in a few words?
🔵What surprised you about the data, what was unexpected?
🔵What is the most important finding from your PhD and can you explain why?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

🔟Contributions

🔵Tell us how your research contributes to knowledge discourse?
🔵What contributions are you looking forward to making in this area of study?
🔵Who will be more interested in this research project?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

🔟Contributions

🔵What is the implication of your work in your area? What does it change?
🔵How does your work add to the field in particular
🔵How does this particular finding help your field?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣1⃣Practicality

🔵Apart from the topic, you selected, in what other applications can your research findings be used?
🔵What are the practical applications of your research?
🔵How does your research help solving the underlying problems?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣2⃣Further studies

🔵What is the next extension to project X that you would make to improve your work?
🔵What is the next logical step(s) for this research?
🔵What is the next stage for this research?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣3⃣Publication

🔵Which aspects of your research are you looking forward to being published?
🔵Which parts of your thesis (other than the chapter you have already published) do you think will be published and in which journals? How do you know?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣4⃣Problems

🔵What was the biggest challenge that came your way?
🔵What would have improved your work?
🔵Has your view of your research topic changed during the course of the research?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣4⃣Problems

🔵What would you say were the central methodological difficulties you experienced during your research?
🔵What was the toughest part of your PhD work and how did you overcome it?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣5⃣Resources

🔵Why did you feel it necessary to spend your resources in this area of study?
🔵If you had endless funds for your research, what would you do next?
🔵Were you short of any resource while conducting this research?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣6⃣Personal

🔵Tell me about yourself
🔵What have you achieved in the process of this PhD?
🔵What have you done that merits a PhD?
🔵How would you evaluate your work?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions

1⃣6⃣Personal

🔵Is the problem you have tackled worth tackling?
🔵In hindsight what would you do differently if you started this PhD again?
🔵If you could go back to the start of your PhD, what would be one thing (if any) that you would change?

#vivadayiscoming #VIVAquestions