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In the dark? Preparing for the PhD viva

Penny Tinkler (Penny Tinkler is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK)
Carolyn Jackson (Lecturer in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK)

Quality Assurance in Education

ISSN: 0968-4883

Article publication date: 1 June 2002

2545

Abstract

In a climate of tightening quality controls and audits within higher education, the transparency of doctoral examination practices is increasingly the subject of scrutiny. Examines quality and standards issues that arise in relation to setting up, and preparing for, the examination of the research PhD. Specifically, the ways in which the examination is organised and the ways in which candidates prepare for the viva are addressed. The discussion draws on three sets of data collected between 1999 and 2001: institutional policy data; questionnaire data from PhD candidates, examiners and supervisors; and interview data with candidates before and after their PhD vivas.

Keywords

Citation

Tinkler, P. and Jackson, C. (2002), "In the dark? Preparing for the PhD viva", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 86-97. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880210423573

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited

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