Preparing for the viva voce? This can be a daunting and scary process. This is not only because there are elements of the unknown, but also because of what the event of the viva marks in the ‘PhD journey’. Anxiety and apprehension before the viva may also be exacerbated by ‘horror stories’, about vivas that have not gone well. I suggest that you put the ‘horror stories’ in the bin, approach preparing for the viva voce as another learning process in the ‘PhD journey’, and view the viva as an opportunity to discuss your work with experts in your field that are interested in your work! Williams et al (2011) suggest that the viva “allows you to demonstrate your understanding in a different way from the written form of your thesis” (Williams et al 2011: p. 85). This post is aimed at sharing some tips in preparing for one’s viva, and providing reassurance in that preparation, as well as hopefully limiting nerves during the preparation process.

 

Preparation is Key

Once you have the date for your viva you can start preparing for it. Preparation for the viva        is an iterative process consisting of:

• Reading and re-reading your thesis;
• Apprehending questions that may be asked in the viva;
• Thinking about answers to those questions; and
• Having practice sessions answering those questions.
• Also making sure that you eat well, sleep well, and get some exercise.

 

The Viva: What to Expect?

Your institution’s guidelines will provide you with an understanding of the shape and form that your viva will take. Discussion with your supervisors, colleagues, and others that have recently had their viva will also enable you to ‘build’ a picture of what to potentially expect. It is important to familiarise yourself with your institution’s regulations and/or code of practice. The University of Bristol’s Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes can be found here. See section 9.1 on the assessment process; section 9.3 on the role of the examiners; section 9.4 on the oral examination itself; section 9.5 on assessment outcomes, including the examiners’ recommendations; and section 9.6 for results. You may also want to have a look at the Examiner’s Preliminary Report Form and Examiner’s Joint Report Form, concerning the points your examiners will be considering. These can be found under the heading ‘Forms and Guidance Notes for Administrators and Examiners’ here . For discussion on the examiner’s reports, see Williams et al (2011), Chapter 18 – The examiner and the examiners’ report.

 

 Read and Re-read your Thesis                   

You know your thesis inside out; you’ve worked on it for X years and Y months. Nevertheless, you’ll still need to read and re-read it. This is a very important part of the preparation process. Whilst reading your thesis make summaries, for example one page summaries per chapter may help you prioritise the most important points to talk about per chapter, or you can make very short summaries of your chapters and findings in bullet form. Re-reading will also help you remember the physical location in the text, of particular discussions and key points. You can also use sticky tabs and/or a highlighter to allow easy access to individual chapters and places at which you made key points, which you may want to directly refer to in the text during the viva. Importantly, reading and re-reading will also enable you to view your thesis from different perspectives. In addition to reading your thesis revisit your examiners’ work so to think about the perspectives from which they may be approaching your work. Also revisit key literature to your work, for example of scholars whose points you use and/or build upon. You may also want to think about how you may structure an answer if you were to defend why using X or Y’s work. You may also want to visit new literature that may have been published since you submitted your thesis.

 

What type of Questions to Expect?

I will not here provide examples of types of questions you may be asked in the viva as there are numerous great resources available which have example questions that may be asked in your viva. For such materials see for example, ‘VivaCards’ and the list of ‘Other materials I found useful’ (see below). Use these example questions (as well as adapting these questions to your work) alongside re-reading your thesis, to think about your thesis. Including, your literature review, the methodology you used, the main findings, the original contribution to knowledge, the work’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as implications, dissemination and further research.

 

Practice, Practice, Practice

The first couple of times you sit down to do a ‘practice answering questions’ session is likely to feel strange, do not let this put you off. It is important to remember that like the Ph.D. journey, preparing for the viva is too a learning process. Although during one’s Ph.D. journey, one becomes accustomed to talking about their research with their supervisor/s, at conferences, and with the occasional person that wants to know a little more about what it is that one ‘does’ whilst ‘doing a PhD’; one is not necessarily used to moving between elements of the whole thesis in discussion or talking about their doctoral research for more than an hour, this takes some getting used to and requires practice. The process of ‘practice answering questions’ sessions will get you used to, and in the flow of, answering questions on your work for a long period of time (vivas can last from one to three hours). You can, for example, arrange to do daily half hour or one hour, ‘practice answering questions’ sessions for a week or so before the viva (but ideally not the night before), with a friend/partner/family member. These sessions will not only aid you in thinking about how to answer questions but will also get you used to continually answering this type of questions for a period of more than one hour.

 

 Have a Mock Viva

Your supervisors will have suggested you have a mock viva, or if this hasn’t come up yet ask them for one. The mock viva is another very important part of the preparation, it not only gives you a feel for what the real thing may be like, it also enables you to reflect on how the mock viva went and utilise those learnings for the real viva.

 

 Create a ‘Viva Checklist’

During your preparation put together a ‘viva checklist’ of items to take into the viva with you. The key item on your list will be a copy of your thesis (with sticky tabs and highlighted bits). Your ‘viva checklist’ may look like this:

• Thesis;
• Statute book (dependent upon the content of your thesis);
• Water bottle (talking is thirsty work!); and
• A notepad and pen/pencil for any notes you may want to take at the end.

 

Useful Preparatory Resources

Here I set out some of the resources I found particularly useful in preparing for the viva:

 Session on Preparing for the Viva

Most departments organise a session on preparing for the viva voce. These are extremely useful, especially as they allow you to gain the perspectives from a person that both has done the viva but also examines Ph.D. theses.

 

‘Viva Cards’

‘VivaCards’ These are great! Once you’ve done your initial preparation and feel ready to start practicing answering questions, you can then ask people you know to do ‘practice answering questions’ sessions with you. The VivaCards are a pack of cards with potential questions that may be asked in the viva, for example “If you could start again what would you do differently?” (VivaCards). They are grouped into four categories a) “introductory context”, b) “methods, design and analysis”, c) “results and discussion”, and d) “implications and utilisation” (VivaCards). They are a brilliant preparation tool, as they enable you to practice with anyone, irrelevant of how much or how little they know about your work.

Further materials I found useful

• Part 5 – The oral examination: the viva, in Williams et al (2011) COMPLETING YOUR PHD ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Completing-Your-Pocket-Study-Skills/dp/023029281X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450399662&sr=1-1&keywords=COMPLETING+YOUR+PHD );
• Chapter 15 – The viva, in Petre and Rugg (2010) The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unwritten-Rules-Research-Study-Skills/dp/0335237029 );
• Chapter 7 – The PhD examination process, in Finn (2005) GETTING A PhD An action plan to help manage your research, your supervisor and your project ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Getting-Action-Research-Supervisor-Project/dp/0415344980/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450399820&sr=1-1&keywords=GETTING+A+PhD+An+action+plan+to+help+manage+your+research%2C+your+supervisor+and+your+project );
• Murray (2015) How to Survive Your Viva Defending a thesis in an oral examination ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0335263887/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0335233821&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1M090DP65B4C9TWX8TH6 ).

 

Good luck in preparing for your viva!

Post by: Dr Emily Kakoullis, University of Bristol Law School.