UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination

Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 1 of 11

UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research

Preparing for Viva-Voce of

Thesis/Dissertation Examination

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 UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 2 of 11

CONTENTS:
Pages
Why is Viva-Voce conducted? 2
The standard operating procedure (SOP) of Viva-Voce
A. Composition of Board of Examiners (BoE) 3
B. Viva-Voce 3
Slide presentation 6
What should I do during the Viva-Voce presentation? 8
What are the common questions asked by the Board of Examiners (BoE)? 9
How to respond to my research weaknesses? 10
Decorum during the Viva-Voce proceeding 11
References 11

Note: list of abbreviations

BoE : Board of Examiners (Thesis/Dissertation Examination)
DEAS : Division of Examinations, Award & Scholarships
IPSR : Institute of Postgraduate Studies & Research
PSU : Postgraduate Studies Unit (in IPSR)

Why is Viva-Voce conducted?

The aim of the Viva-Voce is to establish, through an oral examination that your work is of
sufficient high standard to merit the award of the degree for which it is being conducted for.
Specifically, the purposes of the Viva-Voce are to:
 demonstrate that the thesis/dissertation is your own work;
 confirm that you understand what you have written and can defend it verbally;
 investigate your awareness of where your original work sits in relation to the wider
research field;
 establish whether the thesis/dissertation is of sufficiently high standard to merit the
award of the degree for which it is submitted; and
 allow you to clarify any area of your written thesis/dissertation in response to the
examiners' questions.

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 UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 3 of 11

The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of Viva-Voce

A. Composition of Board of Examiners (BoE)

The Board of Examiners (BoE) for the Viva-Voce and Thesis/Dissertation Examination
comprises of:

1. the Director of Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research (IPSR) or in his

absence, the Deputy Director of IPSR, who shall be the Chairman;
2. the External Examiner (s) (or report(s) in lieu of);
3. the Internal Examiner;
4. a representative of the Senate; and
5. a representative of the Faculty.

The Board of Examiners shall invite the Supervisor / Co-Supervisor(s) / External Co-
Supervisor(s) (if appointed) and may invite the Dean of the Faculty/Institute / Head of
Department to attend the Board of Examiners meeting as invited members.

B. Viva-Voce
Before Viva-Voce
1. PSU officer will arrange for the thesis/dissertation examination once all necessary reports
and documents are received. In doing so, he or she will
(i). get feedback from BoE members on suitable date/time/venue for the meeting;
(ii). send Notice of Meeting to all BoE members;
(iii). inform candidate to prepare and be present for viva voce;
(iv). prepare photocopies of all examiners’ reports, recommendations by examiners and
other necessary documents for the meeting.

During Viva-Voce
2. The BoE members will review the reports from examiners and supervisors as well as the
recommendations of the examiners (without the presence of candidate).

3. The Chairman shall request the candidate to enter the room. The Chairman will introduce
the BoE members and brief the candidate on the Viva-Voce proceeding.

Viva-Voce
Candidate is given a maximum of 20 minutes for oral presentation which shall cover the
following:
a. Research background which includes the critical literature review and research
questions/ problem statement,

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 UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 4 of 11

b. Research objectives,
c. Research methodology/analysis & design,
d. Implementation/results & discussion, and
e. Conclusion & future work which includes the significant contribution of the
research.

During the Q&A session on defence of thesis/dissertation, supervisors are not allowed
to answer on behalf of the candidate unless requested by BoE members.

Viva-Voce assessment
(i). Satisfactory, or
(ii). Satisfactory. However, candidate may be required to attend the 2nd Board of
Examiners meeting to clarify revisions made to the dissertation, or
(iii). Unsatisfactory.

Note: Only BoE members can make recommendation for the Viva-Voce assessment.

4. BoE members shall then make the following recommendation for the assessment of
thesis/dissertation.

For Master’s Programme

The BoE decides on one of the following recommendations:
(i). PASSED.
(ii). PASSED, subject to minor changes and amendments as indicated in the
Examiner’s report.
(iii). RESUBMISSION of dissertation to Board of Examiners, subject to major
changes/ corrections.
(iv). RESUBMISSION of dissertation for re-examination.
(v). FAILED.

For PhD Programme

The BoE decides on one of the following recommendations:
(i) PASSED.
(ii) PASSED, subject to minor changes and amendments as indicated in the
Examiner’s report.
(iii) RESUBMISSION of thesis to Board of Examiners, subject to major changes/
correction.
(iv) RESUBMISSION of thesis for re-examination.
(v) Awarded a degree of Master in the appropriate field, after having been
satisfied that the thesis has reached the required standard for the award of a
degree of Master.

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 UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 5 of 11

(vi) FAILED.

After Viva-Voce
5. The candidate will be officially notified by IPSR of the decision by the BoE.

6. The candidate needs to make amendments (if any) to thesis/dissertation in consultation

with Supervisor/Co-Supervisor and complete the Corrective Action Taken form.
- To be completed within the period decided by the BoE members

7. Supervisor(s) will confirm that corrective actions had been taken.

8. The candidate then submits the amended thesis/dissertation and Corrective Action Taken
form (after being endorsed by supervisor(s)) to the PSU officer. IPSR will forward the
amended thesis/dissertation and the Corrective Action form to the External Examiner (if
necessary) and Internal Examiner for verification of the corrective actions.

9. Internal examiner and External examiner (if necessary) need to confirm corrective actions
had been taken.

10. PSU officer will notify the candidate of the Internal/External Examiner’s suggestions
whether:
(i) further revision is required; or
(ii) no further revision required.

11. PSU officer will arrange the 2nd BoE or BoE (Graduation) meeting to decide on the
thesis/dissertation.
Remark:
 If candidate did not obtain the satisfactory result in the 1st Viva-Voce, then the
candidate has to attend a 2nd Viva-Voce.
 If BoE decision in item 4 was “Resubmission of Thesis/Dissertation for re-
examination”, the 2nd Viva-Voce will be arranged.

12. Senate will consider the BoE (Graduation) recommendation.

13. Candidate will receive Letter of Conferment of Degree signed by the Registrar from
DEAS.
Note: DEAS issues letter of Conferment of Degree (Graduation Letter) after Senate’s
approval

For details process, please refer to the Standard Operating Procedure, "QP-IPSR-PSU-012
Board of Examiners (BOE) and Viva-Voce for Thesis/Dissertation" from the Student
Portal.

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Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 6 of 11

Slide presentation

 Literally, "Viva-Voce" means by or with the living voice - i.e., by word of mouth as
opposed to writing. So, the Viva-Voce is where you will give a verbal defence of your
thesis/dissertation. Simply put, you should think of it as a verbal counterpart to your
written thesis/dissertation. Your thesis/dissertation demonstrates your skill at presenting
your research in writing. In the Viva-Voce, you will demonstrate your ability to
participate in academic discussion with research colleagues.

 You are given maximum 20 minutes to present for the Viva-Voce. This will be followed
by a Q&A session.

 The presentation should cover the following:

Cover Page  Consists of title, student’s name, supervisor(s) information, date
and venue of Viva-Voce.

Background of  The student is required to give background of the study to include

the Study the research question(s)/problem statement. Be mindful that the
assessors may not be in the same area.

Objectives  The objectives of the work must be clearly explained.

Methodology  Explain the major methodology used briefly.

Main results  Only provide those findings that the examiners, academic, and
policy makers are concerned of.
 Simply writing or reporting the data analysis statistical results does
not constitute research, nor do they comprise as an interpretation of
data findings.
 Researchers need to state the implications (implicit understanding/
logical relations/ indirect suggestion) of data findings.
 You need to make an attempt to interpret or explain your findings
or provide the possible alternative explanations for these findings.
 Confirm the hypothesis & compare with past studies’ results.

Discussion and  Relate the research findings to the objectives.

Conclusion  Discuss whether you have accomplished the research objectives.
 Describe the contribution of your research to public/ private policy
makers.

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 UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 7 of 11

 Provide tactical solutions rather than general solutions.

 Limitations of current research should be revealed frankly.
 Provide the recommendation for future research.
 Do not show too many words on each presentation slide. The text should be readable;
suggested type and font size is at least Arial 26. Please make sure the displayed images
have high contrast.

 Please do not read the text shown on the slides while presenting.

 If the Viva-Voce is focusing on particular modules, candidates should be forewarned of

this: prepare additional slides for explanation and/or bring appropriate materials with
them.

 Finally, remember that your examiners may be very precise in their questioning, referring
to particular pages in your thesis/dissertation - so do not forget to take a copy of your
thesis/dissertation with you during the Viva-Voce.

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 UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 8 of 11

What should I do during the Viva-Voce?

 Getting ready for your Viva-Voce isn't something you need to panic about. It's normal to
be anxious.

 Plan your travel ahead of the Viva-Voce. Aim to arrive 15-30 minutes early and this will
give you time to settle and make any last minute preparations.

 There is no standard Viva-Voce length and it can vary between disciplines. Usually they
last between one and two hours. Your supervisor can advise you on what is normal in
your discipline.

 Your examiners will expect you to have a good understanding of the structure and
contents of your thesis/dissertation. Re-read your thesis/dissertation carefully; do not
panic if you notice any mistakes - make a note of them so that it will not come as a
surprise to you if they are mentioned in the Viva-Voce and so that you can address them
when you are making corrections for your final submission.

 It's a good idea to have a notepad and pen in case you want to make a note of any
comments that are made at the end of the examination.

 The most important thing to bring your own copy of the thesis/dissertation. You are not
expected to memorise your thesis/dissertation and you may want to refer to it at points
during the examination. However, the examiners will be unimpressed should you need to
flick back and forth through your thesis/dissertation to find what you need.

 You should have a good idea of where things are in your thesis/dissertation and many
research students find it useful to use Post-It notes to locate pages that they think they
may need to refer to.

 Think positively! Positive thinking will help you to feel in control of the situation which
will increase your confidence.

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Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 9 of 11

What are the common questions asked by the Board of

Examiners (BoE)?

Every Viva-Voce examination is different, so it is not possible to know in advance exactly

what the examiners will ask you. Once you have re-familiarised yourself with your
thesis/dissertation, you can move on to practising your responses to some common viva exam
questions.

General Questions
 What is your contribution of new knowledge to academics?
 Which overarching philosophical or theoretical assumptions have you been working
within? Why? How successful were you working within these assumptions?
 What would you do differently if you were starting again?
 What has been happening in your field since you completed your research? Is a
further literature review necessary? How does your research fit into this updated
context?

Research Context
 What developments have there been in this field since you began your postgraduate
study? How have these changed the research context in which you are working?
 You do not say much about the ... theory in your thesis/dissertation - can you explain
why you have not focused more on that?

Research Methods
 How well did the study design work in practice?
 Did you have any problems with the data collection process?
 You used an existing research method and developed it further - can you tell us why
this further development was needed?
 What were the main ethical issues of conducting this research?
 How did you establish the limits around the scope of your data collection?

Analysis and Findings

 Why do you use this method of analysis? What do you think other methods are less
appropriate?
 Did you encounter any problems with applying this method of analysis?
 Do you think the data you collected were the most appropriate to answer your
research question or are there any other data you would have liked to have collected?
 Can you interpret your … finding in a few sentences?

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Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 10 of 11

Discussion
 If you were starting your research again now, are there any changes in the way you
would plan it?
 You interpret these findings as ... but do you think there could be an argument for
interpreting them as ... instead?
 You said in your thesis/dissertation that ... - can you expand on that point?
 In what way do you consider your thesis/dissertation to be original; or differ from and
better than the relevant literature?

Conclusions/Implications
 What are the empirical, practice, and theoretical implications of your findings?
 How would you hope that this research could be followed up and taken further?

How to respond to my research weaknesses?

 Inevitably, your thesis/dissertation will have strengths and weaknesses and the examiners
will want to discuss these. It is considered a positive thing, indeed an essential thing, that
you can discuss both the strengths and the weaknesses. You can think of the weaknesses
as an opportunity to demonstrate your skill at a critical appraisal.

 Remember that examiners seek to find and discuss weaknesses in all thesis/dissertations -
you should not interpret criticism as an indication that the examination will not end
successfully.

 The following are ways not to respond to a challenge of a weakness in your research:
 Do not give a general, resigned declaration that ‘this happens in every study’.
 Do not blame the collected data and/or your supervisor.
 Do not say ‘that is beyond the scope of this study’.
 Dismiss the question and answer as a different thing.

 Rather than responding in these ways, a better approach is to:

 take time to consider before replying
 remember to breathe and speak reasonably slowly
 Do not take the criticism personally
 Do not take offence
 Do not get angry
 enjoy the opportunity to talk about your research

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Guideline Title : Guidelines on Preparing for Viva-Voce of Thesis/Dissertation Examination
Policy Number : GD-IPSR-PSU-0010 Rev No: 0 Effective Date: 02/02/2016 Page No: 11 of 11

Decorum during the Viva-Voce proceeding

 The oral defence is a formal academic activity. As such, proper decorum should be
maintained during and after the proceedings. This applies to both BoE members and
the candidate.
 The Chairperson has to ensure the decorum is maintained at all times. In situation
where it becomes necessary to interrupt the normal course of the examination for any
reasons, the Chairperson may call a temporary intermission in the examination in
order to speak with the BoE member(s) and/or the candidate in private.

Good luck! Try not to worry - you can do this. And in a very short space of time you will find
yourself submitting the final version of your thesis/dissertation and getting ready for the
graduation ceremony.

References

1. Burnham P. (1994). Surviving the viva: Unravelling the mystery of the PhD oral.
Journal of Graduate Education, 1, 30-4.
2. Green D.H. (1998). The postgraduate viva: A closer look. Leeds: Leeds Metropolitan
University.
3. Guidelines for conducting Research Degree, Viva Voce examinations. Academic
Year 2014/15.University of Surrey. Retrieved fromhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk
/quality_enhancement/documents/GuidelinesforConductingVivaVoceResearchDegree
ExaminationsFINAL.pdf
4. Hartley J. & Jory S. (2000).The viva experience. Higher education review, 35(1), 24-
30.
5. Imperial College London, Examination Regulations 2014/15.Retrieved from Murray
R. (2003).How to survive your viva. New York: Open University Press. Retrieved from
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/administration-and-support-
services/registry/academic-governance/public/regulations/2015-16/exam-
regs/Conduct-of-oral-examinations-for-research-degrees.pdf
6. Preparing for Your Viva Examination, 2013-14.University of Leicester. Retrieved
from https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/gradschool/training/eresources/study-guides/
viva/print
7. The Melbourne School of Graduate Research. Retrieved from http://gradresearch.
unimelb.edu.au/handbooks/phd/thesis.html#completion
8. Thesis/Dissertation Guidelines, 2013.UniversitiTunku Abdul Rahman. Retrieved
fromhttp://research.utar.edu.my/ipsrweb/PostgraduateHandbook/guidelines/UTAR_Thesis_
Dissertation_Guidelines
9. Viva Voce Examinations, Newcastle University. Retrieved from http://www.ncl.ac.
uk/students/progress/staff-resources/examiners/chair/viva.htm

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