The Proposal Defense

There are few things that bring as much as fear to a doctoral student as the word "defense". What are faculty looking for? Why is a defense necessary? (Keep in mind that you should have a discussion of these issues with your own committee, as they may have different ideas/ philosophies).

Despite its name, a doctoral defense is rarely confrontational, it is an opportunity for everyone to hear the full study one more time and make sure any possible bugs have been eliminated. As a faculty reviewer, I am looking to see that the student understands the study they are discussing. Today, in a time of massive concerns of cheating and plagiarism, I want to be sure that this has really been the student's ideas.

In a proposal defense, I want to hear a brief discussion of the literature and theory, enough to put it into context. I expect to have the student discuss the research questions and how they relate to his or her research method. I want to hear about the method in detail so I can determine if there are any issues that we should discuss. My questions will primarily be clarification ones, e.g., how will recruitment be done? Have you considered what you will do if you cannot get sufficient participants? How would you interpret results that do not come out as expected, how would that effect the theory you are using?

It is ok to admit that you do not know something, but offer to find it out and report back on it. If you are not sure how to handle a method issue that arises, ask for your committee's suggestions. Keep in mind that in research you are going into the unknown, there are often a variety of way to reach the destination.

Next time we will consider the IRB. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu