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What are the Criteria for a PhD?

Extract from: The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research. (Open University Press) by Marian Petre & Gordon Rugg
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0335237029?ie=UTF8&tag= ndaphdcom-
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PhD students often worry about whether their research will be good enough for a PhD. It's useful to remember the criteria which most universities
have at the core of their PhD assessment: 'original work' which makes 'a signi cant contribution to knowledge'. It is no coincidence that most
refereed journals and conferences use similar criteria - such publications are notionally how the research community communicates and continues
to build knowledge. Therefore, you can provide evidence of 'signi cance', 'originality' and 'contribution to knowledge' in advance of submission of
your thesis by publishing your work in refereed journals or conferences. There is more on this at various places later in this book. You don't need to
make a major discovery to get a PhD - you just need to show that you're able to do good enough research independently.

Key dissertation ingredients

A number of ingredients are essential for a satisfactory dissertation:

A thesis: one coherent over-riding 'story' or argument that embodies a research insight

Situation in existing knowledge: a critical review of prior research which motivates and justi es the research question

Contribution of something new (the 'signi cant contribution to knowledge')

Appropriate voice and argument: the provision of clear and explicit evidence, substantiation and chain of inference

More hangs on the student's ability to demonstrate intellectual maturity and critical depth - and through them to provide insight - than on the scale
or scope of the research ndings. A good PhD is based on an honest report of research that re ects sound practice and well articulated critical
thinking.

What is a 'signicant' contribution?

Most students, when they hear the phrase signi cant contribution, think in terms of a new theory, crucial experiments, technological
breakthroughs- the stuff of Nobel Prizes. For a PhD, the truth is that 'signi cant' need not mean 'revolutionary' or 'major' or even 'large'. The phrase
might be more accurately read as 'signi cant - albeit modest - contribution'.

Characterizing your contribution means answering 'So what?', which means articulating:

The importance of the question (Why is it worth asking?)

The signi cance of the ndings (Why should anyone care? Why do they matter?)

Their implications for theory

 The limitations to generalization

Making a 'signi cant contribution' means 'adding to knowledge' or 'contributing to the discourse' - that is, providing evidence to substantiate a
conclusion that's worth making. Research is not something done in isolation; it is a discourse among many researchers, each providing evidence
and argument that contributes to knowledge and understanding, each critiquing the available evidence. Research is about the articulation and
analysis of phenomena observed and investigated through a variety of techniques. It's about 'making sense' of the world: not just describing it, but
also analysing and explaining it. As more evidence is presented, the analysis and explanations are re-evaluated. Knowledge claims can be small
and still have a role in the discourse.

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What sorts of contribution are typically made in dissertations?
Re-contextualization of an existing technique, theory or model (applying a technique in a new context, testing a theory in a new setting,
showing the applicability of a model to a new situation): showing it works - or that it doesn't - and why

Corroboration and elaboration of an existing model (e.g. evaluating the effects of a change of condition; experimental assessment of one
aspect of a model)

Falsi cation or contradiction of an existing model, or part of one

Drawing together two or more existing ideas and showing that the combination reveals something new and useful

Demonstration of a concept: showing that something is feasible and has utility (or showing that something is infeasible and explaining why it
fails)

Implementation of theoretical principle: showing how it can be applied in practice; making concrete someone else's idea, and hence showing
how it works in practice and what its limitations are

Codi cation of the 'obvious': providing evidence about what 'everyone knows' (possibly providing evidence that received wisdom is incorrect)

Empirically-based characterization of a phenomenon of interest (e.g. detailed, critical, analytic account of the evolution of an idea; detailed ana-
lytic characterization of a crucial case study or a novel chemical compound, or a new planet)

Providing a taxonomy of observed phenomena

Well-founded critique of existing theory or evidence (e.g. correlating the results of a number of existing studies to show patterns, omissions or
etc.)

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