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Thursday, June 26, 2008 3:51 PM

Description versus interpretation

A recent examiner has noted that the thesis he was considering was heavy on description but light on interpretation. He thought that descriptive theses are acceptable at the Masters level but that the goal of the PhD is to generate new knowledge and go
Posted by robyn.owens | 1 Comments
Sunday, May 25, 2008 9:23 PM

theEzone is still alive

It's been a while since I've blogged on theEzone, but not for want of having something to say. Rather, time has been the issue. However, I thought a short note on where we are up to so far this year might spur on a few near-completers. Since January 1st
Posted by robyn.owens | 0 Comments
Friday, December 07, 2007 9:48 AM

The reflective examiner

I love it when an examiner talks about "the PhD" in general, rather than simply the particulars of the one under consideration. When this happens, we get an insight into what examiners are looking for. Usually, such reflection occurs when the examiner
Posted by robyn.owens | 0 Comments
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Sunday, November 18, 2007 7:02 AM

Images of originality

Any diagrams, figures, or images in your thesis must be treated in the same way as your text: they must be your own, or they must be appropriately cited. However, unlike text, when an image is copyrighted (and it is safe to assume that all are unless
Posted by robyn.owens | 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 06, 2007 12:27 PM

Justifying your thesis

I know it is hard enough actually stating what your thesis is, but once you have articulated it, you then have to be able to convince the world that it is important enough to be worthy of 3 years' consideration, and that what you have found is a substantial
Posted by robyn.owens | 1 Comments
Monday, October 08, 2007 5:18 PM

Me Write Pretty One Day

Examiners all appreciate a good story. The entire study was characteristic of being well thought out, well organized and professionally and scientifically conducted. The Thesis (and research) flowed very nicely from one step to the next and told a very
Posted by robyn.owens | 1 Comments
Friday, September 28, 2007 7:15 AM

A good idea

Sometimes, in passing, examiners present good ideas for all. The abstract should have a short paragraph in which contribution(s) to knowledge are claimed and the major finds of the thesis and their implications noted ... It would also help retrieval of
Posted by robyn.owens | 0 Comments
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Friday, September 14, 2007 2:27 PM

Back to basics

The thesis begins with an excellent introductory chapter that reviews the background literature in an intelligent, scholarly and accurate manner. The candidate takes a commendable 'back-to-basics' approach, reviewing some of the very early (and indeed
Posted by robyn.owens | 5 Comments
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007 11:13 AM

The Thesis

I have recently been examining a PhD thesis of a student from another university (in another country). Overall, it was, in my opinion, an adequate dissertation: the candidate had clearly done a lot of work, there were some original contributions (although
Posted by robyn.owens | 7 Comments
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Tuesday, July 24, 2007 2:18 PM

Theses, books, and articles

Frequently examiners comment on the candidate's publications, or the potential for publications. Here is the gist of three independent comments on the same piece of work; these comments provide an interesting calibration for measuring the thesis against
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007 2:47 PM

The oral exam

Some examiners assume that there will be a viva. Overall, the experimental methodologies and statistical analyses applied are appropriate for the research undertaken, and the thesis is easy to read and understand. However, the candidate has used different
Posted by robyn.owens | 2 Comments
Monday, June 18, 2007 9:55 PM

Self plagiarism and salami slicing

Self plagiarism occurs when you re-use your own published work in your current work, without citing the original published work. It's considered an academic crime because in the act of publication you have assigned the ownership of your original work
Posted by robyn.owens | 4 Comments
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Sunday, June 17, 2007 12:18 PM

The most common mistake

I am sure it must be true: the most common mistake in English writing is to use "it's" as a possessive. I know we are all taught this in primary school. "It's" means "it is". Nevertheless, it is a common comment from examiners to PhD candidates: "You
Posted by robyn.owens | 1 Comments
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Saturday, June 09, 2007 5:04 PM

Proofreading

I read an examiner's report today with 22 pages of minor corrections! It's worth proofreading carefully.
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Friday, May 25, 2007 2:50 PM

When "not perfect" is an asset

We sometimes worry when our research doesn't turn out the way we wanted it to, or that the results don't seem clean or easy to explain. One examiner didn't find this a problem at all. "I particularly like the inherent honesty of her writing, highlighting
Posted by robyn.owens | 0 Comments
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