What Happens in a Thesis Proposal Defense?

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I know I can google this and ask my professors but I wanted straightforward responses.

I'm already gathering data (as some of you know), so in some ways, this is a formality. But I've never defended a thesis proposal before and I know that I have a natural failing of being overconfident.

I'm expecting that the committee will ask me questions about my lit review and why I decided to do things this way or that in my methods section. That doesn't seem like a big deal to me. But aren't I supposed to be preparing for this in some way? There doesn't seem to be anything to prepare for. I read all the stuff I referenced and there was a reason I did everything the way I did for my methods.

What am I not seeing?

This is a sociology thesis, which would probably be similar to any humanities thesis. It's qualitative.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

I don't have first-hand experience--but I've known people who have been in a "defense."

There's a panel of professors who serve as the "judges." You would be "defended" by your graduate advisor.

Basically, they ask you certain questions, and you have to give the "right" answers. Sometimes, you have to know the political persuasion of the "judges." You have to give well-reasoned, thoughtful responses to the questions. You have to know your material thoroughly.

I would say it's somewhat similar to an oral exam--except much more comprehensive.

I wonder if it will be anything like a disability hearing? I hadn't heard it compared to a hearing before. If it's like that, I might have a mental reference.

It's your proposal defence, not your thesis defence.

Indeed, you will be interviewed about how you want to perform your research and why you chose that way.
if you have put some thought in setting up your thesis (which i'd assume you have), there isn't really a lot of extra preparations to take, except perhaps think of some alternative methods.

In this stage, the professors are also likely to help you fix any flaws in your proposal, if the basic setup is good enough.

So in my case, since I'm already gathering data, I should expect to say why I'm doing it this way instead of that way and be able to explain that I looked into other ways of doing it?

I did a thesis defense for my bachelors thesis, not quite the same but probably not all that different either. Your methodological approach is probably the most imporant bit.
Why did you choose this way of doing it?
What are the weaknesses of your methods? While there will always be practical limitations limiting the quality of your methods, you still need to show that you know that.
What I did before my defense was to essentially try to wreck my thesis in terms of theory and methodology. Why did I do things they way I did, why did I not use certain theories, or why I did not do such and so methodology wise.
End result was that I had already asked myself all the questions I was asked during the defense.

Ah...this is helpful. Thank you!

I have two bachelor's degrees and avoided a thesis for both of them. I'm paying for it now.

I'm also supposed to do a powerpoint presentation of my proposal.

I figured it would spice things up to put pictures in:

I went to grad school for a science and the oral exams at the end of the first years were called the comprehensive exam -- my thesis committee (3 profs) + 1 not in my committee prof got to ask me whatever questions they wanted, about anything they wanted. Fun times as the 4th ended up being from a completely different + only tangentially related department.

However, advisors generally don't let you go forward unless they think you will pass (otherwise they look bad to their colleagues). Just getting comps scheduled was a vote of confidence!

Oh jeez. I was afraid of that, so I'm having preparation meetings with everyone in my committee to get an idea of what they will want to ask me. If anything, I hope they will appreciate that I'm trying.

Three people from my graduate cohort failed their doctoral exams and slunk off in shame. I don't think any of them have retried. But from going to classes with these people I know each of them was kinda dumb and didn't work hard. I feel like I should be working harder, so I guess I'm freaking myself out.

It is OK to be a little worried about this, as it is natural to do so. Just do not let it overwhelm you. Do you have friends that you can practice presenting the proposal with? They do not have to be in the same area, as long as they understand the basic parts of what you are proposing. If so, allow them to hit you with the hardest questions that they can come up with and see if you can answer them on the spot. My old research adviser was constantly quizzing us to get us ready for the defense stages, usually at the worst possible times. However, some of his questions got old quick because they were intentionally catch-22s set up to trigger harder questions asked by him. He was a master of doing this. One thing I can tell you is to not give up, give each question your best guess answer even if you do not know what the answer really is. Committee members will hone in on you if you say the "I don't know" response to their questions, so avoid doing that as much as you can. Good luck on the defense.

No, I don't have anyone to practice with. That's a good idea though.

Thanks for warning me about saying "I don't know." I have an unfortunate habit of being too honest, especially when put on the spot.

Committee members are judging the amount that you know on your subject area in general and how much you know specifically about your topic. The outside committee member is used as an outside guideline, as they will likely not know much about your topic, but may know general information on your subject. Make sure you have all of your basics down well before going into the meeting. It is hard to prepare for the type of questions that could be asked though. I know of a PhD candidate who was asked at his defense to draw all of the f-orbital shells (electrons) for the Actinide set and then explain how they relate to the different oxidation states (and bonding modes) of the uranium compounds that he was working with off of the top of his head. It took him about an hour of sweating it out to answer that one question. I doubt that your committee will be that mean to you.

Lol!

That wouldn't be so bad, being quizzed on the subject in general. Only one committee member really knows about autism and autism research. He's really nice though. .

I asked all three committee members what I needed to prepare or be doing. They all seemed puzzled, which I hope is a good sign, like there really isn't anything else to do until go time.

Are you are talking about candidacy/quals/prelims in a PhD program?

If so, I suggest planning meetings with your committee members ahead of time to prepare. That way they can get their critiques to you before day-of. You also can get a sense of how they are thinking by doing this. More communication = less surprises on your big day. I scheduled one committee meeting 3 months beforehand, then met with all of my members individually. They gave me items to work on, books and papers to read in the meantime, and tips on things that might be a good idea for my design.

Congrats and good luck!

It's just MS level. And it's just the proposal. I did try to meet with each of them. One of them said there wasn't a point in meeting. One of them waited until I got there (1 1/2 hour drive for me, with my toddler along) and said I made a wasted trip. Tomorrow I'm meeting with my advisor to have a mock defense and for him to see the powerpoint presentation I prepared.

I mean, at this point, I guess I'm fine because no one else seems to care???

When I was going to classes I sometimes had to bite my tongue because I'd bring up a point about the reading, look around at blank faces (sometimes the professor's face as well) and I'd want to say, "Was I the only one who read this??" Like, hello! And I'm "super neurotypical" so I can tell when people are lying, pretending that they know something they don't know.

The way I do things is that I take things seriously and I try to cover all my bases. I ask people to tell me what I'm not seeing and then I cover that too. I try to be OVER prepared so that when it's go time I get 100% or the equivalent, with the least amount of stress possible. That doesn't seem to be the way that other people do things, so it's been difficult to get people to help me prepare. Except here, of course. Ya'll have been great.