Hi Amelia,
I have yet to defend my PhD, being only in my first year, however, I have done a lot of defending of realist approaches in my short academic career, and the best defence is to really really know the 'founding mothers and fathers' of the methodology, and be able to use what they wrote and said to back up what you've done and how you've done it and why. If you've not read it already, the first few chapters of The Science of Evaluation are perfect, so just go and read some of the books discussed therein.
Others, I'm sure, will be along to offer further advice, but I guess the only other things I'd add is that often people misunderstand realist approaches (e.g. thinking they purely are qualitative methods, not getting the whole CMO/programme theory thing), so you may find it helpful to rehearse answers which don't point out the (potential) ignorance of your examiners, but which build on what they say, and incorporate it - thinking along the lines of 'yes.. that's true, and also...' kind of answers.... And to check out some of the discussions earlier on the RAMESES board about rejection from journals of realist studies... v helpful to get a handle on the kinds of objections they raise, both for your submission, and the viva.
Good luck!
Rebecca
Rebecca Hardwick
Associate Research Fellow
01392 727408
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-----Original Message-----
From: Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Amelia Usher
Sent: 30 June 2015 16:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Tips for phd defence
Dear colleagues,
I am a doctoral candidate in the psychology department at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada and will shortly be defending my dissertation which included a realist review component. I am wondering if there are any other recent graduates out there who would be willing to share their experience of defending realist approaches to synthesis or evaluation? I would love to know what sorts of questions to anticipate! Particularly given that my committee members (other than my advisor) do not have an in-depth familiarity with realist approaches. I have also recently received a rejection from a journal regarding a realist review manuscript submission because "lack of empirical data precluded its acceptance" (!!) so I anticipate this may come up during the defence as well.
Thank you in advance for sharing any tips or suggestions!
Warm regards,
Amelia Usher
PhD Candidate, Psychological Science
Department of Psychology
Ryerson University
350 Victoria Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5B 2K3
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