can get her to put it into a different, less threatening
perspective. Try to adapt and absorb a hostile argument in
ways that deflect it from being a criticism of what you have
done: ‘That’s an interesting point. I hadn’t thought of it in
quite that way before. And of course if one went further
down that avenue, one might look also at X and Y. But, you
see, the reasons I approached it differently in this particular
study were ...’ Sometimes it may help to link an examiner’s
points to arguments or responses given at conference or
seminar presentations, and to show that you have already
tried to respond to them.
◆ Make clear also that your research is a PhD thesis carried out
with minimal resources and not a large-scale funded
research project. This difference is one that senior examiners
(a long way past their own thesis studies) can too easily lose
sight of. ‘Your point is obviously an important one for a
fully-fledged, confirmatory study. If I had had the resources
to do A or follow up B, then I agree that this is a line that I
would have liked to develop. But, of course, in a modest,
exploratory study like mine, the same kind of approach was
unfortunately not feasible.’ Subtly make clear that you have
achieved a great deal on a shoestring, largely thanks to the
heroic amount of work effort you have put in.
◆ Refer to the possibility of publishing your work in journal
articles or a possible book. If an examiner persists with a
point which they obviously believe is important, make clear
that you will have to think it through but that it will be
fully incorporated in any publications arising from the
thesis. Sincerely meant, and put across strongly, this
concession is often enough to satisfy an unhappy examiner.
They know perfectly well that very few people are likely to
read a thesis buried on a university library’s shelves. If they
are convinced that an error or misdirection which they see
in your work will be corrected before it reaches the public
domain, they may not persist in demanding revisions of the
thesis text itself. This aspect of defence in depth obviously
works best if you can come across as a competent author
defending a strong thesis that is likely to be published, in
whole or part.
THE END-GAME◆ 223