@kikuka - Lara will give you the questions as they are hers... ;-)

aside from a few typos, i've discovered a blank page in my thesis - between two chapters! -:$ and a diagram which cut out some of the text. :-( :-( :-(

for those who have done their vivas, am not too worried about the blank page, but am quite concerned about the diagram. do you think its gonna be a problem that some text is missing. am happy to take a revised diagram to the viva and to have a typo free copy of the thesis in my usb at the viva. before the diagram i explain what is in the diagram so examiners should not have a hard time guessing what was there. the thesis has already been sent out, so i definitely can't chase it up and submit new copies.

any advice?

J.

time for tea break.8-)

You should take a corrected version of the page including diagram and text as they should be, in printed form, into your viva - with enough copies to show each of the examiners. Having it on a USB stick is no good. They're not going to load it up from there. But you need to show them the fix you will make, on paper.

Don't worry though. It's a really minor thing that can be easily fixed. And your examiners won't worry about it.

======= Date Modified 20 Nov 2010 12:48:54 =======
thanks for the reassurance Bilbo. I was going to take print outs.

otherwise, i have finished reading ch.2 - the theoretical framework - the first half is really interesting and the second half feels long and boring. i don't know if its because my enthusiasm was dampened by the discovery of errors in the diagram. therefore my rating of chapter 2 will be:

Ch. 1 = 5* 8-)
Ch. 2 = 3.5 :-(

time to do something different before getting back to it. :-)

I'd suggest taking a mini break before starting another new task. There will always be a boring section or one that you will not be as happy about compared to others. Chapter 2 is obviously your 'mundane' section. Is there anything that you could do about it? Are the changes worth doing for the thesis to present at the viva? To both questions the likely answer is 'no, not really', so don't worry about it. You are doing very well with your prep and obviously being very critical and judgemental of your own work. This is the exact quality needed to show you have what is takes to be a Dr. Well done, it will all soon be over!

======= Date Modified 21 Nov 2010 22:43:23 =======
One of the points you make above reminds me of my own worries before my recent viva so hopefully my experience may help you to feel better. At the viva on my philosophy thesis I knew that I would be encountering a Hegelian thinker - he was my external - and that he might not be too pleased that I had written Hegel off in only a few short paragraphs while addressing an area that he is widely considered to be very important in. Like you I was forced to do this because of the word count.

I was worried before the viva but, again like you, I know the omitted body of work quite well. It did come up at the viva pretty early on and we talked/debated about my decision for about 10 minutes. By the end of this time, while I had not won this external over, I had at least demonstrated to him that I had this excluded material at my fingertips and that the omission was not careless but the result of a reasoned decision; a decision that he didn't agree with but was forced to concede was at least logical. He not only ended up passing me but invited me out for a beer afterwards; I had never met him before this and although he said he wanted to talk about my argument more in the pub we actually ended up just shooting the shit about life in general.

My point being; try not to worry too much about your omission but be able to justify it clearly.

One final thing. Don't panic if they don't tell you that you have passed at the beginning. My examiners forgot to do this and it wasn't until an hour into the thing that one of them blurted out "oh god, we forgot to tell him he has passed" and they both apologised. Up until this point I had had no clue how I was doing.

Good luck at the viva.

Biddysbottom

======= Date Modified 23 Nov 2010 21:13:06 =======
@biddy - congratulations! am well happy for you! great to hear that if i know my stuff i'll be fine.. will definitely try to know the stuff i cut out by heart!

I've started reading chapter 3 now after taking sunday off and spending monday at work. so far so good, nothing majorly exciting. in fact, a concern. i attached an incomplete appendix to the thesis before submission. i said it was incomplete and i hope that covers me. my problem is it has enough typos on it - like 5 of them! i must have been way too tired doing it. :$ ah well..

anyhow.. time to leave this library now and head for home where i'll do further reading. i've also avoided being on facebook 24/7, reduced friends time and don't pick phones when working on thesis so hopefully that will increase output. its definitely focussed my mind more. today after getting up at noon, i made it to the library where i managed some work on the other course am doing :-( and some reading on the thesis. am well pleased with that. :-)

but am even more pleased with my electronic acquarium (sp) that I bought on my way to uni. impluse buying! well i deserve a treat after all my hard work. i plan on placing it at my study desk at home. 8-)

am off! back later tonight.

J.

did nothing last night! but am on it today.. only for a friend to pay me a random visit. seriously :-(... anyhow.. hopefully will manage that and be back at it later.

good news is i've got to page 100! how on earth did i write so much?????????????? :-) i still have to read through two hundred more pages. the aim of the initial read through is to remember the work and i.d. and address typos as well as produce a list of them. hopefully i should be done with that by sunday and then i can read the thesis again summarising each chapter... and then hopefully the following week get more critical and summarise contributions methodology etc.

i have not heard about my examination date yet. am very tempted to ask... but on the other hand wonder if its best to wait until at least i've read the entire thesis and know what its all about so i don't panic? lol. it could be anyday now... its become very scary checking my email. i will email on monday though to ask about the date.. sigh.

hope everyone's preparation is going well.

:-)

i've just come back from work. am very tired... but i need to put in some hours into the thesis today to keep moving.. todays plan to read ch. 3 & 4.

todays motivation quote from my phd experience - you don't need to feel like working to get work done.

hopefully once i get started... will feel less tired. besides i need my brain, not my body to read....

all the best to me. :-)

haha. needless to say... i passed out after a while and found myself asleep in the library yesterday....

but i did manage to get chapter 3 done today. i should start on ch. 4 and see if i can get something done. its hard juggling work, part time studies and viva prep. but so far so good.. am halfway there and achieving my aim of familiarising myself with my thesis.

I would give chapter 3 a mark of 4. 4 because it was good but i felt it lacked the wow factor.. and i wondered if my analysis of a concept i introduced could have been a lot more thorough.. am working on an answer to that.:$ i couldn't be more thorough due to my lack of experience of that particular thing! :-( need to find a way of getting round that.

ch. 4 had better be good.

and am so pleased to hear that Charls passed despite having about 100 typos and starting prep 2 weeks before and taking 1 week off before.. really encouraging!

am definitely taking a week off work... hope i can get the date soon enough to be able to do that. i hope its in December and not January. fingers crossed.

should get some toast..

Ok guys.. i've been away doing everything else but revising for my viva - though all of it is related stuff except work. In the past week, i've been working on a publication. I promised myself to send out a paper from my thesis every month just so i can get it all behind me in a year and not slack on the publishing bit. am almost done with it and hope i can do a quick polish today and send it off. I also attended a 'how to prepare for your viva' talk which was rather distressing. I will share more on this later.

The greatest news is that they have propositioned to have my viva in early January and given me a date i can't make. :-( So hopefully they can rearrange another date. The problem however is that its real now. On the one hand am excited and then on the other i can feel so nervous just thinking about it. I chose the 'excited' feeling. I just want to get all this behind me.

So today am focusing on that publication and going to the opticians.. tomorrow and friday morning work. :( i wish i didn't have to work, then on saturday i will look at what am doing for my viva preparation afresh. i will keep you posted when i know the date for sure.

J.

date is settled. its January 5th 8-) - 27 days to go! yipee!!!!!!!!!! can't wait to be done. :-)