Research Examiner Training Programme

1. Research Examiner Training Programme Examining the Thesis

2. FHEQ descriptors - MPhil • a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice

3. FHEQ descriptors - MPhil • a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship • originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline

4. FHEQ descriptors - MPhil • conceptual understanding that enables the student: • to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline • to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, • where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.

5. FHEQ descriptors - PhD • the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, through original research or other advanced scholarship, of a quality to satisfy peer review, extend the forefront of the discipline, and merit publication

6. FHEQ descriptors - PhD • a systematic acquisition and understanding of a substantial body of knowledge which is at the forefront of an academic discipline or area of professional practice

7. FHEQ descriptors - PhD • the general ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project for the generation of new knowledge, applications or understanding at the forefront of the discipline, and to adjust the project design in the light of unforeseen problems • a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry

8. FHEQ descriptors - PhD • a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry

9. What is expected of the thesis… • The thesis shows evidence of sustained independent effort by the candidate • The thesis demonstrates the exercise of critical powers • The thesis provides evidence of originality • The thesis is satisfactory as regards literary presentation and succinctness

10. An original contribution to knowledge? • Novelty • Development & advancement • Alternative perspectives • Interdisciplinary approaches

11. Novelty • Open up a new field of enquiry • Develop and test a new theory • Develop and test a new methodology • Set down a major new piece of information in writing for the first time • Create a novel artefact that provides new perspectives on the creative process

12. Development and advancement • Refine an existing methodology and show how its use in application is superior • Refine an existing theory through the interrogation of original data generated from fieldwork or experiment • Add progressively to understanding of an issue, a social or natural phenomenon or a professional practice by a series of linked studies or experiments

13. An alternative perspective • Successfully challenge an existing theory or model and show how it can be improved or why it should be discarded in certain circumstances • Show that “taken for granted” truths or assumptions are not substantiated by evidence • Show limitations and errors of existing dominant methodologies or analytical tools and the consequences for previous studies • Interpret existing data/evidence in a new way, through application of previously unexplored theoretical models or alternative methodologies

14. An interdisciplinary approach • Extend models, theories, etc developed in one field to another and show how this model/theory refines, deepens or changes understanding of the target field