How Will My Thesis/Dissertation/Portfolio Be Examined and Judged?

Abstract

There are various models for examining postgraduate research outcomes, depending upon where in the world and which university you are undertaking your degree: examination by an internal panel or committee, examination by external experts, examination by oral defence or a viva or some combination of these models. Ultimately, it is through the examination process that quality assurance is achieved, and educational standards are maintained. However, what you must realise is that the examination process involves the exercise of human judgement, which means there will always be an element of subjectivity associated with it (much the same issue is associated with peer-reviewing of journal manuscript submissions). Subjectivity creates inconsistency and fears about inconsistency simply add to the overall anxiety felt when your major research outcome is examined. However, there are ways to cope and we explore those ways in this chapter.