If you're here, you're likely also working towards the next major hurdle in the dissertation adventure, building your proposal defense. Congrats!!! It may not seem like an achievement, but you're doing great things (remember to celebrate this victory).
What is a proposal defense?
A visual representation of the dissertation from the proposal defense point.
Phenomenal question here. A dear colleague once told me the defense is like the wind up to the first drop on a rollercoaster. You steadily build the dissertation chapters, section by section, with a cadence like the clicking you hear on the ascension in the cart while climbing; thunk, thunk, thunk.
Then you build the presentation deck using the chapter work with a parallel flow; thunk, thunk. Finally, once approved by your chair, you get your date and rehearse like crazy to build proficiency in speaking about your topic (thunk) until you've reached the summit of the climb, dangling in anticipation of the drop. The proposal defense presentation begins the 'drop' of the events leading to your final defense. Things go quickly (if all goes well), and before you know it, you've arrived at your final defense (Yay!).
A proposal defense is a presentation (usually lasting about 30 minutes) where you propose your study after extensively reviewing the body of literature on your topic. This hurdle includes submitting your completed dissertation Chapters 1-3 with your committee feedback addressed.
Let's examine what sections are presented during a proposal defense.
Proposal Defense Sections - The Usual Suspects
Before I list off the sections, please remember that this structure will likely deviate depending on your topic, degree, and, most importantly, what your chair expects to see.
With that nugget of context in mind, feel free to use this list (which I, too, used to build my proposal defense) as a framework for your defense construction:
Intro Slide and Researcher Background
Chapter 1: Introduction
Problem Background
Statement of the Problem
Importance of the Study
Research Questions
Assumptions
Limitations
Delimitations
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Theoretical Framework
Discussions of the Research Gap
Chapter 3: Methodology
Research Model and Design
Subject Population
Sample
Instrumentation
Interview Questions (If Qualitative)
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Conclusion
Projected Timeline
Conclusion
References
Using this framework as a structure allows you to cover all the bases your committee is looking for to know whether your study is warranted and is designed to maximize your likelihood of successful completion. The committee members are looking for potential problems that may hinder your progress or hinder your ability to complete the study without adversely impacting your subjects (we'll talk about this in the IRB post coming up next).
Plan on beginning your title slide that lists your institution, study title, which defense you're presenting, your committee's names, and the presentation date. Then, give a short professional background on yourself. From here, you segue into the information about your study in Chapter 1.
Chapter 1 Elements for Your Proposal Defense:
The Problem Background discusses the events that provide context about your topic.
The Statement of the Problem explains why your study is needed.
The Importance of the Study highlights the POTENTIAL implications of producing this study and explains the relevant gaps in the literature that have created opportunities to run your research.
The Purpose of the Study explains your intentions or rationale for this research endeavor. It explains what you are looking to discover and, by clearly stating it, explains what you're not examining.
The Research Questions list the exact foci of your study. Note: Be VERY intentional and careful when crafting these. Check out Creswell & Creswell's book Research Design for a great guide on drafting research questions. An essential addition here concerns quantitative studies wherein you must also include the supporting hypotheses for each research question, listing the null (usually listed as "H0") and the alternative hypotheses (there can be more than one traditionally listed as: "H1, 2, 3…" or "Ha" if only one alternative is included).
Assumptions concern what you, as a researcher, ASSUME to be true when conducting your study with particular emphasis on your desired participants. Create two subcategories for your study assumptions: one focusing on data gathering and the other on data analysis.
Limitations describe conditions that may affect the reliability or validity of your study results that lie outside of your control. Remember, you are surveying people. With that recognition, you must accept that people (including us as the writer and reader) are biased in implicit and explicit ways, so no matter the efforts you take (and you should take) to reduce the adverse impacts of bias, there is always the possibility it may happen.
Delimitations are intentional boundaries you set on the study to limit or constrain your research to a narrow area of focus. Think of these as 'things I will NOT do or examine.'
Proposal Defense Chapter 2 Elements
We move on to Chapter 2, the Literature Review section. In this section, from the presentation perspective, you discuss the critical theorem your study is based on. From the dissertation document perspective, Chapter 2 will likely be your largest chapter, constituting anywhere from 50 to 100 pages of writing! Just because you've read a lot does not mean you present all of it, only the most important elements.
This experience becomes a great exercise in critically assessing what is essential and what is 'fluff' when proposing your study. Ultimately, this section looks different across every study, so I recommend you review the foundational theories and the research gap you want to assess.
Proposal Defense Chapter 3 Elements
Next is Chapter 3: the Methodological Review section. In this section of your presentation (and in the dissertation as well in more robust detail), you are explaining EXACTLY how you plan on conducting the study, including the worldview or philosophical mindset and the approach you'll use to gather and analyze the data. Here are the sub-sections accompanied by brief explainers on what is included in Chapter 3:
The Subject Population reviews the larger group of people your Subject Sample seeks to represent. For the population information, you should define and research how many people there are in your population currently. US Census information or the Bureau of Labor Statistics are excellent for population information if your study concerns folks living and operating in the US. Your sample size information should include the number of participants needed to be considered representative of your larger population.
Use your research to guide the appropriate head count for your sample requirements. The number you end up on will vary by the population, type of research (Quant./Qual./Mixed Methods), and your chosen confidence interval (if applicable).
Instrumentation refers to the tools you will use to gather participant data. A tool can be a survey developed by another researcher, a method (if qualitative), or a platform (such as SPSS, NVivo, or SurveyMonkey). So, which do you include? Excellent question! Anything you intend to use should be discussed, and you may need to plan on explaining HOW you are using them, pending the tool. In my case, I was using interviewing to gather data. Accordingly, I needed to include my interview questions so my committee would know what I would be asking subjects if approved word-for-word.
Data Collection explains the process you will employ to gather data, INCLUDING the mitigation measures you are taking to ensure participant anonymity and information accuracy.
Data Analysis, similar to the collection, explains how you will assess your data and draw conclusions concerning your research questions.
The last elements you need to include in your presentation concern the project management aspects of the dissertation. Remember in a prior post when I said you should plan on an end? Here's where embracing a little PM awesomeness makes your life easier. You must include a timeline with dates informing your committee when they should expect you to complete your dissertation and be ready for the final defense. Here's an example from my proposal defense deck:
My dissertation proposed study timeline.
Finally, you bring your presentation together under a conclusive statement that recaps the most important elements and list your references in the following slides (likely in APA7 format). Once you've built this thing, it's time to review for copy errors, add supporting imagery and transitions, and practice. This note leads to the next section quite nicely; let's discuss deck design.
A Note on Proposal Defense Deck Design
Does design matter? I am not a design professional, but I've always worked adjacent to and with designers. As such, working with these fantastic professionals has imparted a distinct nugget of wisdom I will share with you in a quote I found online:
A design quote.
We might not be consciously aware of what design does for communication (though I suspect there's a study or two out there that may substantiate the impact of design on information processing). Still, collectively we (society at large) do recognize BAD design.
For example, after reading this sentence, close your eyes and recall the last poorly designed PowerPoint deck you sat through. I'll wait. All done? Now remember what you learned from looking at the deck. Anything? That's my point. The goal is not to dazzle your committee with your design and take away from your research. The purpose of designing your deck is to allow your audience to focus on what's essential or, at the very least, to not distract from the content you're discussing. This goal means you should review your deck with a few tips in mind.
Proposal Deck Design Tips:
Check to see if your department institutes design requirements: There are likely a few guidelines in place as determined by your department, institution, or committee. Make sure you satisfy these requirements before making any other aesthetic decisions. The other points that follow are those that you should consider unless they violate a requirement here.
Stop it with the 4:3 already! Apologies for the slight scream there. Can you tell this is a personal peeve? Look, both PowerPoint and Keynote allow you to select the screen ratio for your deck, but unless you're presenting on an old cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor that's a squarer display, you're likely presenting on a widescreen 16:9, rectangular display. So many defense presentations are built as a 4:3 full-screen ratio and displayed on a 16:9 screen, leaving letterboxing (the black bars on the left and right sides of the screen). That's room to play with that is left on the table. Best to design with the screen in mind, amirite?
Keynote or PowerPoint? This choice is a user preference here, but unless you're required to use one specific platform, I suggest going with what you're most comfortable using. With that said, I will nod to Keynote due to a few particular features. The animations are smoother, and the iPhone remote option is an excellent feature for presenting in person. PowerPoint has its merits as well. This note is just personal preference and an unintentional unpaid advertisement.
Template or Design-from-scratch? Can you use a template? Absolutely! No one said you had to start from square one. Some folks are comfier starting from a blank canvas, and that's okay. Others prefer the ease that comes with a template, which is also okay. If you use a template, select one with a good array of slide layouts to allow supporting images to be cleanly added and not free-floating in space.
Typeface selection: There are a lot of informative guides to using typefaces on the market, so I advise looking to designers for better practices when choosing typefaces (more commonly known as fonts). These tips are more for fellow novices like me, which may make them seem fairly obvious, but as a safeguard (TBF, I've also felt the rush of selecting fonts), here are some pointers to keep in mind:
Pick a legible font (be glasses-friendly as well)
Pick two fonts, Max (the KISS method is used here). Having one font for headers and one for body copy gives a little variety without overwhelming.
Be consistent in how you use your typeface selections. Font switching mid-paragraph, including treatments in the same font family, can be distracting. See what I did there?
Image selection: Use high-quality, high-resolution images only. Using a low-resolution image may cause what I call 'derezzing,' where individual pixels become more pronounced, and the image seems less sharp by proxy. Here's an example, along with some guidance by Contemporary Communications Inc., with a 'derezzed' photo on the right:
Example of derezzing provided by CCI
Slide design: This tip could easily be a whole book (and I'm sure it is somewhere), so I'll keep it to a minimum, as should you, in your design. I recommend opting for a clean and simple design over a complicated or ornate design. Remember, your research is what should shine.
Don't cram. Leave some breathing space (negative space in the design world) and utilize flow in your design.
How do people read a slide? The answer, of course, varies by where you are in the world, but in the US, we read left-to-right, top-down. Capitalize on how people read naturally in your design to create a flow that makes sense.
Balance visuals to text and use visuals that reinforce what you're talking about. Here's a slide from my defense that utilizes the points listed above using found imagery:
Is this slide perfect? No, not by a long shot, but it upholds a few design tenets. Look at it for 15 seconds, then look away and see what you remember. If it's anything about burnout, then you get the point.
Transitions and Animations: Transitions and animations for presentations should enhance the flow of your words and allow your audience to keep pace instead of reading ahead or lagging. Again, they should enhance, NOT distract, so select clean or smooth animations (emphasis animations when you want something to POP) and keep it simple.
Progress Indicator (You are here): This is for your audience to have a sense of time in the presentation and know where they are. I learned this trick from a stellar student and have kept it with me since. Look again at the slide above. Where are you in the presentation? Do you have a relative sense?
Now that you have a few design basics under your belt. Let's review the proposal defense process.
The Defense Process – 30-Minute Format
The proposal defense lasts 30 minutes to 2 hours, pending your program's design. The events are fairly similar, wherein you will present your research proposal, then there's a 'defense,' where your committee will ask questions concerning your study, and you'll need to address them; afterward, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions. Then, your committee will leave to discuss the verdict, and you'll wait either outside the room (if presenting in person) or in a different Zoom room with your audience (if digital). Once your committee returns, your chair will tell you and the audience of the verdict.
Results of the Proposal Defense
There are three (in most cases) potential outcomes regarding your proposal defense:
Pass | No Revisions: If you hear this, Bravo! This verdict means you knocked it out of the park. A "pass with no revisions" is the green light to apply to the IRB. Woot!!!
Pass w/Revisions: A pass with revisions is also great news! You'll need to make the tweaks suggested by your committee, and then once approved, you'll be ready for that next step. Well done!
Fail: If you failed, it's likely you knew this would happen before going into your defense, or you missed something apparent that is critical to your research. In cases where you fail, get the feedback you need to re-present successfully in the next go. It's important to remember it's not a "No," but instead a "Not yet." Keep at it, and you'll get there.
Proposal Defense Presenting Tips for Success
The last section of the post provides some helpful yet general tips to increase the odds of success in your favor. It's just a list, but it may help all the same.
Say what you'll say, say it, and then say what you said.
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
Be ready for questions.
It's okay to say you don't know; just say it right.
Prepare for Murphy's Law, specifically "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."
Arrive 10-15 minutes early
Embrace Amy Cuddy's Presence techniques
Breathe
Avoid Filler Speech: Pause instead of adding sounds such as "ums, uhs, ers, you knows," etc.
My greatest hope is the tips and tricks in the post help you succeed in your first of two defenses. You'll apply to your institution's review board from here, which we'll discuss in the next post. Until then!