10 Possible Master’s Thesis Defense

Questions You Should Be Ready For

A Thesis defense, sometimes referred to as “Viva” can be incredibly intimidating and has been known to
send the shivers down the spines of countless students around the globe. However, while yes, you will face
a grilling by a select panel you should try and draw some comfort from the fact that chances are you will be
far more knowledgeable on the subject than they will be. It is important that you try and get a good night’s
sleep before your defense and that you don’t fall into the trap of turning to alcohol for comfort as that will
only lead to self-sabotage.

Don’t presume that the examiners are “out to get you” or that they will ask trick or aggressive questions.
Even in the worst case scenario that they do use that tactic, then please if there is one piece of advice that
I can give you then that would be to rise above it and whatever you do. DO NOT retaliate in kind!

You must at all times be polite, and courteous even if you want nothing more than to reach out and grab
them by the scruff of their necks. If an examiner is getting off on the power, then that’s their problem not
yours. It might seem like an eternity to you right now, but this is only a very short period out of your life. Go
with the flow. Prepare yourself as best you can for the questions and dare I say, try and enjoy it!

So, to help you prepare for this important occasion, here’re 10 possible master’s defense questions that you
should be ready for:

1. In a single sentence please summarize your paper.

2. What is the singular idea on which your paper is based?
3. Why is the issue that you have chosen worthy of your thesis?
4. Cite the two most important sources for your work
5. How did you formulate your research questions?
6. Why did you choose this particular research methodology over others that were available?
7. What advice would you give to anyone undertaking a similar thesis?
8. What value will your research bring to others in your field?
9. Did you encounter any ethical issues during the course of your research and if so how did you get
over this?
10. Do you intend to publish your work? If so, where?

The most common question you may be asked is what you learned from the study you have
done. You have to sum up your entire study in a few sentences and remember the technical
terms you have mentioned n your research because that is what your examiner wants to hear
from you.

The next question to follow by default is why you chose this particular topic or what your
inspiration behind this study was. This is one of the trickiest questions as you have to prove
your convincing power to the panel of the teachers that what you did is valuable for the
society and was worth their time. Tell about how zealous you were about this particular
problem.

What is the importance of your study or how will it contribute or add up to the existing body of
knowledge?

You may be asked to summarize your key findings of the research.

What type of background research have you done for the study?

What are the limitations you have faced while writing?

Why did you choose this particular method or sample for the study?

What will you include if you are told to add something extra to the study?

What are the recommendations of your study?

Who formed your sample and why you selected this particular age group?

What was your hypothesis and how you framed it?

If given a chance, would like to do something different with your work?

What are the limitations you faced while dealing with your samples?

How did you relate your study to the existing theories?

What is the future scope of this study?

What do you plan to do with your work after you have completed your degree?

What are the research variables you used?

Do you have any questions to be asked?

Did you evaluate your work?

How would you improve your work?

These are some of the very general but a bit complicated questions you may be asked during
your interview.

HOW TO ACE THE 25 MOST COMMON PROJECT DEFENSE QUESTIONS

October 13, 2014 By Chidi Rafael

When I wrote ‘Making Awesome Presentations: Useful Tips for Project Defense’, I never knew
it was going to be a great success story. So many success stories and commendations from
over 50,000 readers were just enough to make my year and give me more grace to write more.

Well, enough of the hyping! That great piece was still lacking some smaller pieces to make it
totally awesome as some ‘Oliver Twist-Like’ fans still needed more to it. Questions like, what
should we expect on the D-Day? What type of Questions do they committee members ask?
Can you suggest possible questions and answers that will be asked when defending a
dissertation or thesis paper? These questions fill my mail box by the day and since I adore my
readers, I have decided to write a sequel to ‘Making Awesome Presentations’. This time
around, with the help of some senior lecturers, friends and my own experience, I have
compiled some common questions you may face on your defense day and suggested
answers/approach to these questions. So as usual, Enjoy!

Top 25 Likely Project Defense Questions and Answers

Below are likely questions you may face in a defense room. Take note of these questions and
suggested answers, do good by researching more and not limiting yourself to just these
questions.

Question 1: In few sentences, can you tell us what your study is all about?
The question is simple right? Many professors will tell you that most students get choked on a
question like this. Anyways the question is simple, but a bit technical. To answer this question,
you need to know every detail of your research project from chapters one to the end. The
question needs an answer in form of a summary of the entire study, therefore, to ace this
particular question you need to know every detail in your abstract. If you wrote a good
abstract, this question will be a cross over for you.

Question 2: What is your motivation for this study?

Now you must be careful here. This question can be very tricky and it goes a long way in
convincing your panel members that your study is worth their time. Another way this question
could be twisted is WHAT IS THE RESEARCH PROBLEM?

To answer this question, you may decide to elaborate on the problem investigated in the
study. Your zeal to solve this problem becomes your motivation. Do not state financial reasons
or the need to graduate as a motivation as you may easily go off point.

Question 3: How will this study contribute to the body of knowledge?

At some point the need for justification will arise and that is when you will be asked to
mention how your study will add to the body of knowledge if approved.
Here you will need to use your methods, case study or any unique model or conceptual
framework used in the study to defend it. For more information on how to tackle this
particular question Click Here

Question 4: What is the significance of the study?

Just like stating how your study will contribute to the body of knowledge, you will need to
state the importance of your study. To answer this question, you will need to highlight how
your study will aid the government in policy development and implementation, how it will help
other students who may wish to conduct research studies on the subject matter and how
organizations and the society will benefit from your study.

Question 5: Did you bridge any gap from your study?

Every research study must have a problem. Your ability to solve this problem and explore into
areas not yet researched on gives you the full marks allocated for answering this question. You
must be able to convince the committee members that your approach is unique and it has
covered areas where much have not been done by other researchers.
Question 6: What limitations did you encounter?
This is another simple but tricky question. Most times the question is not asked to sympathize
with you, rather to get loopholes to criticize your work. To answer this question, you must be
careful with words as you may implicate yourself. Be careful enough not to sell out yourself.
Do not discourse limitations in your methods or data analysis techniques as this may imply that
your study may be biased or not well researched. Use simple limitations like difficulties
encountered in combining lectures and project instead of limiting your study.

Question 7: What are your findings?

At this point it is expected of you to present your results or findings from the study in a clear
and concise manner. Always link your findings to your research objectives/questions. This will
make your panel members to easily be carried along.

Question 8: What Methods or Sampling Technique did you employ?

To answer this question, you must be familiar with your research methodology. Your chapter
three (in Most Projects) must be at your fingertips. Your ability to justify your sample size and
technique will be highly rewarded here. For more tips Click Here

Question 9: Why choose this method?

As discoursed above, you should not only state a particular method for the study. You must
also be ready and able to justify why you chose the method in a convincing manner. At this
point you are free to quote sources or similar studies where such methods were adopted.

Question 10: Based on your findings what are your recommendations?

Recommendations are very vital in every research study and should not be joked with. In
essence you should know your recommendations off hand.

Question 11: Based on your findings what areas will you suggest for future research?
Questions like this are just there to test your reasoning and authority in your research area.
Based on your findings in a manageable scope, you should be able to suggest future research
areas in line with your study. For example, if I researched on the challenges of personal income
tax collection in Nigeria, a good area for further study will be in other forms of taxation such as
VAT, Company tax etc.

Question 12: How can your research study be put into practice?
Easy for the computer scientist and engineering students, but a bit tough for management and
social sciences since most management/social science projects are more of abstract in nature.
However, you should try your best to be realistic here. Relate your study to current trends in
your environment, office, economy, government, schools, church etc. Use of relevant
examples and illustrations will score you good point here.

Question 13: How would you summarize your study to a practitioner in a few sentence?
Your ability to convey technical information from the study will score you good points here.

Question 14: What would you change if you were to conduct the study again?
Hmmm. Be careful! Do not be too jovial. There is a loophole here! Just like your limitations,
this question can be asked to identify your week points.

Question 15: What is your measurement Instrument?

In simple terms, what data collection method did you employ for the study? Here you state if
questionnaires were distributed or data was gotten from secondary sources. For more
information on measurement instruments Click Here
Question 16: What are your research variables?
Here you will need to convince your panel members that you know what you are talking about.
You need to explain your independent and dependent variable(s) to convince them that you
are on point. Your variables are present in your project topic. You need to identify these
variables and know their definitions as well to ace your defense.

Question 17: What are your research questions?

Very simple question. It should take about 0.015 seconds to answer this question if you are
fully prepared.

Question 18: What do you plan to do with your research project after Graduation?
Here you are at liberty to say your mind. If you intend to publish it, this is the best opportunity
to discourse and interact with the committee members-maybe a professor there can help.

Question 19: What source of data was employed for the study?
At this point you have to state the source(s) you got data from. In general you have to state
whether data was gotten from primary or secondary source or both. You can further convince
the committee members by discoursing on literature reviewed for the study-both theoretical
and empirical.

Question 20: What theories or theoretical framework is your study based on?
This is a very technical question but interesting. Before you step into the defense room, you
should know at least two relevant theories that relate to your study. For example, the “impact
of motivation on employee productivity” will be based on Maslow’s Theory and other theories
of motivation. If you cannot find relevant theories to back up your study, consult your
supervisor for help.

Question 21: How would you relate your findings to existing theories on the study?
To ace this question, one will have to read extensively. You should know existing theories on
the subject matter as well as empirical studies too. Your ability to link your findings to previous
research studies (Whether they agree or not) will go a long way in validating your study. You
will score good points here trust me.

Question 22: What recommendations do you have for future research?

Your problem solving skill is put to test here. You should be able to identify areas that will need
more research.

Question 23: What is the scope of the study?

This one is a cheap or should I say bonus question? Here you quickly state the delimitation of
the study in brief.

Question 24: What question(s) do you have for the committee?

Not a likely question in our Nigerian context, but I have defended a seminar project where this
question was asked and I was shocked to my marrows. This is an opportunity to interact with
your committee members and ask some constructive questions. Do not ask silly or too difficult
questions as the goal should be to make the committee members feel as the “boss”. It will also
go a long way in showing that you are a brilliant individual.

Question 25: Do you have any closing comments?

This is praising time! Use this opportunity to thank your committee members for their time
and questions. Tell them how much you have learnt from them and how you intend to correct
errors (if any) identified in your work. This can go a long way in impressing your internal and
external supervisors. All the best!

BONUS TIPS

o When confronted with a difficult question, adopt a strategy to make them

rephrase or repeat the question. This will give you more time to think.

o If your research project is Empirical in nature,or you used any statistical tool to
test hypothesis, try to know how you arrived at such conclusion. Also know
how your data was analysed and the various tools used for the analysis.

o Before your defense day. Practice with your supervisor or your friends. Make
them to drill you with likely questions.

o Talk calmly with confidence. Do not talk too fast as this may pave way for
tension and stage freight.

o Read your project thoroughly. Know basic definitions and terms used in the
study.

o Expand the likely questions to 50. Feel free to add yours in the comment box
below. Thanks and God bless you.

o If you need ideas on contemporary project topics sample

1. Can you start by summarising your thesis?

2. Now, can you summarise it in one sentence?
3. What is the idea that binds your thesis together?
4. What motivated and inspired you to carry out this research?
5. What are the main issues and debates in this subject area?
6. Which of these does your research address?
7. Why is the problem you have tackled worth tackling?
8. Who has had the strongest influence in the development of your subject area in theory and
practice?
9. Which are the three most important papers that relate to your thesis?
10. What published work is closest to yours? How is your work different?
11. What do you know about the history of [insert something relevant]?
12. How does your work relate to [insert something relevant]?
13. What are the most recent major developments in your area?
14. How did your research questions emerge?
15. What were the crucial research decisions you made?
16. Why did you use this research methodology? What did you gain from it?
17. What were the alternatives to this methodology?
18. What would you have gained by using another approach?
19. How did you deal with the ethical implications of your work?
20. How has your view of your research topic changed?
21. How have you evaluated your work?
22. How do you know that your findings are correct?
23. What are the strongest/weakest parts of your work?
24. What would have improved your work?
25. To what extent do your contributions generalise?
26. Who will be most interested in your work?
27. What is the relevance of your work to other researchers?
28. What is the relevance of your work to practitioners?
29. Which aspects of your work do you intend to publish – and where?
30. Summarise your key findings.
31. Which of these findings are the most interesting to you? Why?
32. How do your findings relate to literature in your field?
33. What are the contributions to knowledge of your thesis?
34. How long-term are these contributions?
35. What are the main achievements of your research?
36. What have you learned from the process of doing your PhD?
37. What advice would you give to a research student entering this area?
38. You propose future research. How would you start this?
39. What would be the difficulties?
40. And, finally… What have you done that merits a PhD?