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Examiners Reports on Theses and Dissertations
(2007 & 2008): Some Insights and Observations
R. SubramaniamAssociate Professor
Natural Sciences & Science Education AGNational Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
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Role of examiners
Act as quality control inspectors for theuniversity in respect of research done
by graduate students
Gatekeepers of academic standards
Provide an avenue for rigorous peerappraisal of research done by graduatestudents
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Number and type of
examiners Masters thesis: one internal examiner
and another examiner, who could either
be internal or external Doctoral thesis: two external examiners
and one internal examiner
Masters dissertation: two internalexaminers, one of whom can be thesupervisor
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How do examiners
approach their work? They are not out to find fault with a thesis or
dissertation!
Often they approach the task with a sense of curiosityand hoping to learn something from the exercise
They take their role seriously
Reports are often comprehensive and detailed:typically 2 to 10 pages
Thesis or dissertation are often annotated with editorialcomments and/or remarks seeking clarifications
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Supervisors and examiners
It has been noted that there is oftensome apprehension on the part of
supervisors and students when awaitingexaminers reports!
External examiners reports areespecially seen as a report on not onlythe student but also on the supervisorand the university!
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Usefulness of examiners
reports Comments can help to improve the thesis or
dissertation
Review of examiners reports can provideuseful pointers to potential supervisors onwhat to look out for and pitfalls to avoid
Let us look at the distribution of examinersdecisions on theses and dissertations - this isbased on a review of their reports on about100 theses and dissertations in 2007 & 2008
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Examiners decision
(MSc by Research)Examiners decision %
No corrections + Minor corrections 50.0
Minor corrections + Minor corrections 50.0
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Examiners decision
(MA by Research)Examiners decision %
No corrections + Minor corrections 16.0
Minor corrections + Minor corrections 52.0
Minor corrections + Major corrections 24.0
Major corrections + Major corrections 8.0
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Examiners decision(MA/MSc by Coursework & Dissertation)
Examiners decision %
No corrections + Minor corrections 16.4
Minor corrections + Minor corrections 59.0
No corrections + Major corrections 3.2
Minor corrections + Major corrections 14.8
Major corrections + Major corrections 6.6
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Examiners decision(MEd by Coursework & Dissertation)
Examiners decision %
No corrections + No corrections 1.4
No corrections + Minor corrections 17.6
Minor corrections + Minor corrections 40.5
No corrections + Major corrections 2.7
Minor corrections + Major corrections 24.3
Major corrections + Major corrections 8.1
Minor corrections + Resubmission 4.1
Resubmission + Resubmission 1.3
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Examiners decision(PhD)
Examiners decision %
No corrections + No corrections + Minor corrections 10.5
No corrections + Minor corrections + Minor corrections 15.8
Minor corrections + Minor corrections+ Minor corrections 42.1
Minor corrections + Minor corrections+ Major corrections 21.1
Minor corrections + Major corrections+ Major corrections 5.25
Minor corrections + Major corrections + Not awarded the degree 5.25
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Observation 1: Typos andgrammos
Syntactical and typographical errors abound inabout 99% of theses and dissertations
Perception among examiners that they are alsobeing used as proof readers, spell checkers andcopy editors of theses and dissertations!
It is imperative that student (and supervisor)carefully comb through thesis or dissertationand correct these mistakes before it is sent forexamination
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Excerpts from examinersreports on typos and
grammos Examiner A: I strongly recommend the candidate to proofread
or get a friend to proofread before submission
Examiner B: The thesis seems to be completed in a hurry withlittle proofreading!
Examiner C: It is a rather cheap thing to do for an examinerto meticulously check all the writing style and formatting errors!
Examiner D: The dissertation should have been proofreadmore carefully before submission and it looks like a draft than afinished document!
Examiner E: The dissertation has been poorly proofread orperhaps not at all!
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Observation 2: Overallorganization of thesis or
dissertation
Some sections are mis-numbered
A few tables and figures are not inrunning order
Formatting not uniform - difficult to
justify since there are tools in thecomputer to take care of this
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Observation 3: Recency ofliterature review
Literature review is often not up to date
Main reason could be that student did theliterature review at the start of the study
When doctoral thesis is submitted about 3-4years later, there has not been adequateupdating of the literature review
Typically, a lag of 6 months for recency ofliterature review is tolerable
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Observation 4: Inadequatecritique of literature review
Tendency for literature review to be
just a summary of what others havedone
Little attempt to critique the studiesand contextually situate the studyin a proper framework
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Excerpts from examinersreports on literature review
Examiner F: Each section (of the literature review)seems to be independent and without a reflection
on the review work for a persuasive argument forexample, on p7-11, a review of literature is merelya summary or abstract of articles
Examiner G: The literature review consists of briefclusters of concepts with multiple headings andsubheadings. This content should be synthesizedbetter with fewer headings and a clear conceptual
thread
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Observation 5: Incompletereference list
Important references in research area missing
References not cited properly in text and inbibliography
References used in text but not cited in
bibliography
References used in bibliography but not citedin text
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Excerpts from examinersreports on references
Examiner H: Sloppy references are a
sign of academic tardiness and cannotbe tolerated at this level of study andhave to be fixed
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Observation 6: Lack of journalpublications at time of
submission About 95% of Masters dissertations have not
fetched peer-reviewed papers in international
journals About 90% of Masters theses have not
fetched peer-reviewed papers in international
journals About 75% of doctoral theses have not
fetched peer-reviewed papers in internationaljournals
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Observation 7: Less thanoptimal research design
Difficulty in answering research questions isoften due to the fact that research design has
not been properly thought out before start ofstudy
It would be useful for supervisor and student
to get feedback on research design from afew knowledgeable colleagues before studentembarks on study proper
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Excerpts from examinersreports on design of study
Examiner J: A more rigorous methodological designwould have better addressed the questions raised in
this dissertation Examiner K: The research design appears to be the
result of mere convenience or impromptu (work).As such, it is a pity that it lacks conceptual rigor
Examiner M: There was lots of theorizing onresearch methodologies, but candidate did nottranslate these theories into operational frameworks
for analyzing data in his study
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Observation 8: Discussionsection written in isolation
In several dissertations, discussionsection is confined to just an exposition of
the results obtained
There is little or no attempt to situate thefindings in the context of what otherresearchers have done
Consequently, the value of the researchdone by the student is not clear
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Excerpts from examiners reports on
discussion done in isolation
Examiner N: The dissertation can be more fully appreciatedif the candidate were to position and situate her study withinthe field and other prior research more explicitly
Examiner P: I find that the findings are not discussed in thelight of the literature review
Examiner Q: It would be needful for the candidate to help
the reader understand the meaningfulness of the results bydrawing back on the literature for linkages
Examiner R: There is very little discussion on the comparisonof the data collected in this work with other works in the
literature
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Excerpts from examiners reports ondiscussion done in isolation (contd)
Examiner T: There were no references madeto previous studies or other relevant literature in
your discussion chapter. How does your studycompare with others? How does it contribute toour pool of knowledge in the area oftechnology-supported language learning?
Examiner V: The discussion section was devoidof references to the work of other studies. Howdoes this study compare with other studies?
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Observation 9: Repetitionof information
There is a tendency for candidates to
repeat themselves in the thesis Repetition tends to pad up the number of
pages
Not easy even for supervisors to spot thistrend if students submit their thesis ordissertation in parts over a period of time
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Excerpts from examinersreports on repetition
Examiner W: To satisfy the need forparsimony and economy, it would have been
advisable to avoid the repetition of information
Examiner X: There are redundant sentences,statements and paragraphs throughout the
dissertation. For example, research questionsappear a number of times, which is notnecessary
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Observation 10: Rigor indeveloping arguments
Quite often, discussions on some
important findings are not developed toa high level of rigor
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Excerpts from examinersreports on rigor in arguments
Examiner Y: Many sweeping statements are madewithout appropriate substantiation from the candidates
reading of research, reference to the background andcontext of study
Examiner Z: The distinct lack of appropriate referencingfor ideas used in different parts of the dissertation need
to be corrected
Examiner P: further interpretation of the analysisresults are necessary for a substantial contribution to thecurrent knowledge in the field
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A few negative remarks from examinerson the standard of the thesis or
dissertation
This is a very poor dissertation. The candidatehas no idea of how results should be presented,how the materials and methods should bereported, and how data should be interpreted
The author fails to demonstrate appropriate
research skills for investigating a problem andshould be given the opportunity tore-conceptualize the study and submit thedissertation again for examination
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Some positive remarks from examiners onthe standard of the thesis or dissertation
Overall, the candidate and her supervisor are to becongratulated for the quality of this thesis
I am happy to say that the thesis is solid and rigorous,which is exemplary of doctoral theses
I congratulate the candidate on a well structuredresearch project and have no hesitation in
recommending this thesis be passed The thesis is well written and contains many interesting
results. I have no hesitation in recommending theaward of the PhD degree based on the thesis
This is an outstanding dissertation
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What do examiners look forin a thesis or dissertation?
Originality of research
Good coverage and critique of the literature
Sound research design
Results making significant contribution to the field
Discussion showing critical thinking and scholarly
arguments Recognition of limitations of research there should
be no stretching of the interpretation beyond whatcan be reasonably inferred
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What do examiners look forin a thesis or dissertation?
Conclusion section summarizing key aspects of study
and highlighting why the study is unique and how itadvances knowledge
Attention to editorial matters
Proper citations of references in text and gathered in
bibliography section under APA format
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Implications forsupervisors
Do not expect examiners to be uniform in their appraisal ofa thesis or dissertation each examiner approaches the
work from the lens of his/her experience or specialization Essential for supervisors to go through the complete thesis
or dissertation a few times and provide detailed commentsvery important to keep track of comments in each draft and
ensure that students have addressed these in next draft
Supervisors comments on thesis or dissertation is a valuableaspect of a graduate students training in research bothpositive and critical comments are essential
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Implications forsupervisors
Supervision of graduate students in research is a veryeffective way to build up publications output
Important to provide graduate students an opportunity topresent their research findings in conferences or seminars constitutes part of the training of graduate students
Important to acquire experience as examiner of othergraduate students thesis or dissertation, where possible
To bear in mind that when a thesis is sent for externalexamination, the universitys standing is also at stake
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Implications for graduatestudents
Supervisors comments on various drafts of thesisor dissertation need to be taken seriously and
addressed effectively
Successive drafts must be better in quality
Carefully proofread your work and attend to
editorial matters before submitting draft to yoursupervisor
Note that supervisors need some time to go
through a thesis or dissertation
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Some suggestions
Focus on publishable research break the research
into a few publishable portions, if possible! Ensure that doctoral thesis fetches at least 1-2
publications in peer-reviewed international journalsbefore it is sent for examination
Focus on publications even for dissertations or thesessubmitted for Masters degrees
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Some suggestions
Even if paper sent to a journal is rejected, referees
comments can provide additional insights for improvingthesis before examination
Examiners are likely to be less critical of thesis if it hasfetched journal papers
Supervisors need to work more closely with studentsit benefits both parties!
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THANK YOU