Defend you research like a PRO

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How to defend your research like a pro
Coming together is a beginning.Keeping together
is progress.Working together is success. - Henry
Ford
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BEFORE THE DEFENSE

• GIVE A COPY OF YOUR THESIS TO THE PANELISTS AT
  LEAST ONE WEEK BEFORE THE DEFENSE
• DONT FORGET TO GIVE THE EVALUATION FORM/RUBRIC
  (for the paper) TO YOUR PANELISTS BEFORE YOU
  DEFEND

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PRACTICE

• The old adage "Practice makes perfect" still
  holds. Gather some friends and classmates to do
  the "mock orals" for you. Allow any of them to
  depict the questioning style of your committee
  members, and do the practice as realistically as
  possible.

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PREPARE YOUR SLIDE PRESENTATION

• NO GLARING ERRORS
• APPROPRIATE ILLUSTRATIONS
• ENHANCES THE ORAL PRESENTATION

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• Make sure text is large enough to be readable
• Present only the following
• Short background
• Thesis statement
• Data and Results, (Part of Interview)
• Conclusion
• Recommendation
• Ensure any inserted graphics, tables, etc. are
  clear
• Use spellcheck, but ALSO proofread. Do both, not
  one or the other
• Save often, keep multiple copies - (Murphys law
  inevitably strikes, just be ready to recover)

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• DO YOU HOMEWORK
• MASTER THE PART YOU WILL BE PRESENTING.

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PLAN OUT THE PRESENTATION AS A TEAM.THOROUGHLY
DISCUSS THE SEQUENCE OF THE PRESENTATION
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• Support your teammates.
• Dont put them down, try to show you are better
  than they are or try to compete with them.
• Try to come up with the possible questions that
  will be asked by the audience.

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On the day of the defense
Make sure you brought everything with
you. (Envelope with evidences.) Make sure all
the parts of the thesis are in place. Presentatio
n is ready and you arrived early to set up.
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• Prepare well but dont forget that there are many
  things that are beyond control.

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DRESS WELL.

• Put on a name tag

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• BE CONFIDENT BUT NOT ARROGANT!

BE ANIMATED. PROJECT YOUR VOICE WELL.
USE CORRECT GRAMMAR AND DICTION.
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Avoid verbaltics
Ah,umm I mean You know So Like Actually
Basically Okay Right Po Ho
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• Dont go beyond 45 minutes in your presentation.
• Remember the panelists read beforehand your paper.

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• The most essential parts of your presentation are
  your OVERVIEW and the most important finding to
  your study.

Don't ever bluff! You are in front of respectable
and knowledgeable people. It is alright to say "I
cannot have the explanation offhand," "I can't
seem to remember a good explanation," or "I don't
believe that I have an answer to that." Yes,
honesty matters to your committee next to mastery.
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• The phrase "That's a good question" is useful. It
  flatters the asker and may get him/her onside, or
  less offside it gives you time to think it
  implies that you have understood the question and
  assessed it already and that you have probably
  thought about it before. If absolutely necessary,
  it can be followed by a bit more stalling "Now
  the answer to that is not obvious/straightforward.
  .." which has some of the same advantages.

When asked
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•  If someone has asked a simple question, and you
  answer with a torrent of jargon, or refer to some
  complicated equation, the other observers will
  probably conclude that you haven't answered a
  simple question with a simple answer. Now this
  may be both true and honourable some simple
  questions cannot be answered simply. However, if
  you have to resort to complexity, you could begin
  by translating the question into your terms,
  defining them as you go, and, when you think you
  have answered, at least make an attempt to
  rephrase it in the language of the question.

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• Be ready for a 'free kick'. It is relatively
  common that a panel will ask one (or more)
  questions that, whatever the actual wording may
  be, are essentially an invitation to you to tell
  them (briefly) what is important, new and good in
  your thesis. You ought not stumble at this stage,
  Rehearse answers to the questions "What is your
  thesis about, what are the major contributions
  and what have you done that merits a passing
  grade in ENGLISH 2?

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Inquisitive questions

• If a question goes beyond the scope of your
  research - and you do not know it - explain that
  you dont know and that your research is not
  intended to address that area

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Hostile questions

• Dont let the question get to you - remain
  professional
• Sometimes a case of a committee member out to get
  you or a conflict between two committee members
  or evidence that you didnt do all the work you
  were supposed to do
• Answer to best of ability, but DO NOT fake
  answers
• Best if your professor/advisor comes to your
  rescue
• If committee member is flat out wrong, point out
  error, but do not engage in an argument with him
• If you are wrong, admit the error and move on as
  quickly as possible

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Curious questions

• The panelist simply wants to know more about what
  you did or the field under study

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DONT BE DEFENSIVE

• Defense does not mean to be defensive.
• You dont have to defend your thesis to the
  death.
• To defend means to justify the decisions you
  have made in choosing the variables and methods
  of your study.

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• No one can make a perfect study.
• Theres always a room for improvement.

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Show full knowledge of the topic

• Evidence that you conducted the research
• Cite specific experts that support your viewpoint.

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TAKE YOUR TIME

• This is not the same thing as 'Keep calm'. Most
  of us simply wouldn't be able to keep calm in
  this situation. Further, being excited or a bit
  nervous is actually helpful with extra
  adrenaline, you can think more quickly. No, you
  don't want to be so nervous that you freeze up,
  but on the other hand, don't be scared because
  you are nervous recognise that a bit of
  nervousness is a good thing. However, in spite of
  your nervousness, remember to take your time
  don't rush.

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• Record the comments of the panelists.
• You can ask a classmate to write down the
  comments.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS ON ORAL DEFENSE

• Abstract -
• What is it all about?

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
What are the limitations of your study and how
would you have done things differently if time
and money were not an issue?
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Review of Related Literature/Body

• To what extent is this relevant to the research
  study?
• Has the researcher slipped into Here is all I
  know about x?
• Is there evidence of critical appraisal of other
  work, or is the review/body just descriptive?
• How well has the researcher mastered the
  technical or theoretical literature?
• Does the researcher make the links between the
  review and his or her methodology explicit?
• Is there a summary of the essential features of
  other work as it relates to this study?

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• METHODOLOGY-
• What precautions were taken against likely
  sources of bias?
• What are the limitations in gathering the datea?
• Is the methodology for data collection
  appropriate?
• Are the techniques used for analysis appropriate?
  
• In the circumstances, has the best methodology
  been chosen?
• Did you give an adequate justification to the
  methodology (survey/interview)?

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• Presentation of Results
•  Have the hypotheses in fact been tested?
• Do the solutions obtained relate to the questions
  posed?
• Is the level and form of analysis appropriate for
  the data?
• Could the presentation of the results been made
  clearer?
• Are patterns and trends in the results accurately
  identified and summarized?

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• Discussion and Conclusions. 
• What was achieved?
• Do you believe in it?
• Are you aware of possible limits to
  confidence/reliability/validity of your work?
• Have the main points to emerge from the results
  been picked up for discussion?
• Are there links made to your literature or body?

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• 6) Is there evidence of attempts at theory
  building or reconceptualisation of problems?
• Are there speculations?
• Are they well grounded in the results?

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RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLICATIONS

• 1) What are the practical implications of your
  findings?2) What policy recommendations might
  you make?3) What is the next study that you
  might design?4) How do you plan to disseminate
  your findings?

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Bibliography

1.  Does it cite the right things?
2. Has it been published already? Most panelists
   scan your list of references looking for the
   important works in the field. Truth be known,
   most examiners also look for their own
   publications if they are in the topic area of the
   thesis.

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remember

• Your ENGLISH PROFESSOR can just observe and take
  note of the salient points in the defense but
  cannot help the presentors/researchers, in case
  they find some difficulties in answering the
  questions of the panelists.

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AT THE END

• The Chair panelist shall summarize/recapitulate
  all the suggestions of the panelists to improve
  the manuscript.

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After the DEFENSE
SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION FOR THE HELP OF YOUR
PANELISTS BY GIVING THEM SNACKS AND/OR
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION.
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• Transcribe the comments and suggestions of your
  panelists.
• Revise your thesis accordingly.
• Make your table of contents, cover page and
  submit it to your professor/adviser.

DEADLINE October 13,2012 _at_ 9a.m. GIVING OF FINAL
GRADES (thru class mayors) with hardbound
submission _at_NB 602 _at_430-600p.m.