Prepping for your viva.
Dr Benita Mayhead
Executive Coach | Coach Supervisor | EMCC U.K. Director for Coaching Practice | Doctorate in Coaching and Mentoring | Director North-52 | EMCC Global Master Practitioner | Award Winning | Chartered FCIPD
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Prepping for a viva is an enormous undertaking, and when doing mine, I tried to remember that I knew my research better than anyone else. I’d lived it.
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Over the last couple of years since completing my doctorate, I have been asked by those approaching their finish line how I prepared for my viva. I am always glad to help and have shared the question format I prepared for myself with many others. If of any help to any of you out there, here it is, pulled from questions I researched from various university websites, and other resources readily available on the internet.
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This was just my way, and you’ll have your own, but if the questions below help steer or inform your own thinking in anyway, am glad to have helped. My own research was qualitative and in social sciences. Of course, this had a bearing on the types of questions I prepared for, and yours may be different.
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Take what’s helpful, let me know what you think, and very best of luck with the final stage!
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Dr Benita Mayhead
Why/motivation
Why did you decide to undertake this piece of research?
What made you do this course/PhD?
What are you most proud of and why?
Have you enjoyed doing this piece of research?
What was the most enjoyable part of doing this?
What was the worst part of doing this?
Topic/Thesis/Research Generally
Why is xxxx a problem worth exploring in relation to xxxx?
Why did you focus the study on xxxx? Was this a limitation of the study?
Can you summarise your thesis in 3 minutes/5 minutes?
What is your research about?
Tell us about your thesis
Tell us about your research
In one (two, or three) sentences, what is your thesis is about?
Where did your research come from? How did you research question emerge?
What are the main strengths and weaknesses of your research?
What makes your work original?
Contribution
What is the relevance of your findings/contribution to the xxxxx (industry/literature/research sector)?
What is your original contribution?
What is the main contribution of your thesis?
What is the main contribution to knowledge/theory?
What is the main contribution to practice?
Who are the main beneficiaries of your contribution and why?
Who are your envisioned end uses of your research?
Whom do you think will be most interested in this work?
How do your contributions generalise?
What are the practical applications of your research?
What is the key idea that is unexpendable to your thesis?
Structure of thesis
Why did you do things in this order?
What made you decide to use this structure of your thesis?
This is an interesting way of displaying your results; can you explain why it is presented this way?
Why have you decided to organise xxx using these themes?
Approach of research
How did you come to research this topic in this manner?
Why are your research questions interesting or important?
What were the crucial research decisions that you made?
Literature, theoretical underpinnings
What are the main issues and debates in the existing literature?
a) in regard to xxxx?
b) in regard to xxxx?
What are the main theoretical strands in this area?
What are the crucial ideas?
Who are the main contributors/protagonists?
What are the main issues (matters of debate or dispute) in this area?
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Where is your thesis 'placed' in terms of the existing theory and debate?
How would the major researchers react to your ideas?
Which areas of literature did you exclude and why?
I have noticed that you have not included the ***** literature, can you tell me why?
Can you name three/five key research papers in this field??
Findings
Summarise your key findings
What is the main finding of your research?
What is the most interesting finding in your results?
Isn't this all obvious?
Were you surprised by any of the results? If so why and what was surprising?
In one area, you talk about ***, can you explain a little bit more about this finding?
Is it possible to draw a general rule from your (single) observation(s)?
How did you analyse the findings?
Methodology
If you had conducted a case study of xxxx, what might you have gained? (or another qualitative research method)
a) more focus on the contextual issues of xxxx?
b) Why wasn't this a case study (or other qualitative research method)?
Why did you choose the particular research methodology that you used?
Can you explain figure on page *?
What did you gain by using the research approach chosen?
What were the alternative methods you could have used to address the research question?
Describe the necessary decisions taken in your process.
Explain your research paradigm, ontology, epistemology.
Further research
What advice would you give a new student/researcher entering this area?
How would you build on this research?
Limitations
What are the limitations of your research?
What would you do differently if you conducted the research again?
Reflexivity
How has your view of xxxx changed as a result of this study?
If you were doing this research again, would you consider using any other research methodology?
What are the main weaknesses with what you did and why are they there?
What is the weakest point of your research?
What have you learnt from doing this piece of research?
If you did this again, what would you do differently?
What was the biggest challenge you faced/experienced?
How did you deal with the ethical implications of your work? What were they?
What would have improved your work?
Next steps
What do you see as the next steps in this research?
What is your plan for publication?
Which aspects of your thesis could be published?
Which aspects of your work is worth publication and why?
Award of PhD/Doctorate
What have you done that merits a PhD/Doctorate?
What are the main achievements of your research?
Closing
What haven't I asked you that I should have, and what would your answer have been?
What questions do you have for us?
To find out more about my own research, do connect with me on LinkedIn.
Best of luck!
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Public Speaker & Research Mentor | Support for Doctoral Students to Finish their Degree | Expert on Employee Education Investments | Keynote Speaker | ProfDoc Programme Leader | Mama
1 周I tell people that the viva is likely the only conversation you'll ever have where the people you're talking to are actually, genuinely interested in your study! I know the process fills candidates with fear, but really, with good preparation, it should be (dare I say it?) ... fun ... Of course, that depends on many factors - how you've worked on your study, the conversations you've had on the way to finishing, your level of engagement with your study, your peers and colleagues, and your examiners. But if you've done lots of talking about it on the way through - with supervisors, colleagues, mentors and so on - it needn't fill you with fear. It's great to have this topic out there. Thank you for posting!
Award-Winning Executive Team Coach, Leadership Coaching/Consulting Supervisor. Org Performance Consult. Specialise in critical complex projects with significant human dynamics. Interim CEO, Board member. 300 hrs live TV.
3 周Thank you for sharing, Benita. Like sample Coaching Questions, there are some great ones here for Viva prep that will really help people.
Lecturer in Psychology at University of Chichester | Doctoral Candidate in Coaching and Mentoring
3 周This is really helpful Dr Benita Mayhead thank you!!
Founder and CEO @ The Thesis Coach | Empowering Postgraduate Students | Author | formulating PhD research proposal
3 周Thank you, Dr Benita Mayhead, for giving students this valuable share of experiences and findings. Working by example from others is indeed the perfect way to learn. I highly appreciate your tagging me in the post. It means a considerable amount. I have some new things brewing for 2024. We will have to make another Zoom coffee date. ??
Founder | Author | Methodology Expert | Coaching clients on how to ethically use ChatGPT for Research
3 周Thank you Dr Benita Mayhead for sharing your experiences and insights on viva preparation! I couldn’t agree more with the importance of anticipating possible questions and preparing thoughtful responses—it’s often the key to navigating such critical moments with confidence. As we always say, preparation meeting opportunity is what leads to success, and your structured approach exemplifies this perfectly. I also appreciate the mention; it’s a pleasure to be part of a community dedicated to empowering researchers through careful planning and support. Wishing everyone approaching their viva the best—this is a fantastic resource to get started!