DescriptionSizeFormat
Author final version133 KBAdobe Acrobat PDFView/Open

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/26118

Title
Investigating PhD thesis examination reports
Author/Creator
Holbrook, Allyson;  Bourke, Sid;  Lovat, Terence;  Dally, Kerry
Description
There has been a slow but steady accretion of findings on doctoral assessment and examination processes over the past decade and a half. The study of Australian PhD examination reported here draws on the written reports on 301 theses across all discipline areas. Text categories identified in the reports are linked to other data including the recommendation examiners give the thesis and the final report of the committee. The assessment discourse of examiners is explored in depth with reference to high- and low-quality theses. The questions addressed are: (1) What qualities, attributes and characteristics of the thesis are examiners emphasising in their reports? (2) What form does their evaluative comment take? (3) What can the reports indicate about the relative strengths and weaknesses of a thesis and the standards examiners apply in determining a recommendation? and (4) what areas of report content and types of comment most clearly differentiate between the high-and low-quality theses? While it was evident in the reports that examiners weigh and balance many features of the thesis against their expectations to arrive at a recommendation, there were three general criteria that distinguished each of high-quality low-quality theses.
Relation
International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 41, Issue 2, p. 98-120
Publisher Link
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2005.04.008
Relation
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/491/description#description
Date
2004
Publisher
Pergamon
Keyword(s)
higher education;  research training;  thesis quality;  doctoral assessment;  text analysis
Resource Type
journal article
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/26118
Identifier
ISSN:0883-0355
Reviewed
Reviewed
Full Text
Full Text
 
Image Thumbnail
340 Visitors 463 Hits 64 Downloads
Save/E-mail Citation
Citation Format
E-mail Address
Subject
"International Journal of Educational Research"
 
OR