Doctoral Thesis Proposal and Proposal Defence

Proposal

The thesis proposal provides the opportunity for the student to clearly articulate and justify their research project. The thesis proposal is to be defended in the student’s seventh semester in the program, after having successfully completed the comprehensive examination and, under usual circumstances, prior to applying for ethics approval. Please note that students must be registered to CRM9997 at the time of their thesis proposal defence.

Format

A written paper of 40 to 50 double-spaced pages (excluding references) in which the literature review, theory and methods sections are of similar length.         

Components

The thesis proposal must include an introduction, a review of the literature, a theoretical framework, a methodology section, a conclusion and references.

1. Introduction: presents the context of the research, outlines the goals and rational of the thesis, articulates the research questions and provides a brief overview of the research framework.
2. Literature Review: categorizes and reviews the principal approaches and emergent themes on the chosen topic.
3. Theoretical framework: theoretical and conceptual framework that will guide the project and inform the methodological and analytic approach.
4. Methodology:
   • presentation and discussion of the key epistemological and methodological considerations
   • presentation of the data collection method(s)
   • operationalization of key concepts
   • identification and reflection on the key ethical issues of the project
   • discussion of how data will be analyzed
5. Conclusion: discussion of how the anticipated findings will be situated within existing literature and theoretical frameworks and the anticipated contribution of the project.
6. References: list of all texts referenced

Deadlines

The student must submit the thesis proposal no later than September 30^th of the students 3^rd year of studies (7^th semester). The proposal defence must take place no later than October 15^th of the student’s third year of studies. In truly exceptional cases, there is the possibility for a new deadline to be established by the student, supervisor, and the thesis committee in collaboration with the Ph.D. committee of the Department of criminology. Students requesting this exception must, in collaboration with their supervisor, complete the Doctoral Proposal Defence: Request for Deferral (PDF, 296KB) form, appended to a supporting letter from their thesis supervisor by the second week in September of the student’s 7^th semester.

Students whose thesis proposal paper is not accepted for defence by their doctoral committee or who do not submit their paper by September 30^th of the students 3^rd year of studies (7^th semester) will not be able to defend their proposal and will be considered to have failed their defense for the first time. Students have one additional opportunity to defend their proposal provided they deposit their approved paper appended to the signed “Thesis Proposal Acceptance Form” into their file prior to January 30^th following their first trial and defend their thesis proposal before February 15^th of their 8^th semester of studies. Students who do not submit their paper by January 30^th will be considered to have failed their defence for the second time and will be withdrawn from the program.

Submission of the thesis proposal

The student’s supervisor(s) and all members of their committee must declare that the proposal is ready for the defence, prior to the student registering the proposal.

Process

1. The supervisor will identify a chair for the defence. This individual must be a member of the Department of Criminology and member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
2. The student or his/her supervisor will advise the Department of Criminology at least three weeks prior to the defence of the date/location and composition of the jury (note that this is a public defence so the room must be able to accommodate an audience). The supervisor signs the Registration of the Doctoral Thesis Project Defence form (PDF, 297KB).
3. The student must submit the final thesis proposal to the members of the jury, the defence chair and the Chair of the Criminology Doctoral Committee at least two weeks prior to the defence date.

Public announcement

The date, the thesis project title, the composition of the jury and the room must be posted by the Secretariat on the Departmental bulletin board at least one week prior to the defence.

Public defence

The defence affords the student’s committee the opportunity to confirm that the proposed project is solid and viable, has no intrinsic contradictions or potentially fatal errors, is theoretically solid, is methodologically sound and will represent a contribution to the field of study.

Participation in defence

There is no external evaluator for the thesis project defence – the jury is comprised of the supervisor(s) and the committee members.

It is imperative that all members of the jury actively participate in the defence (one member may participate through teleconference or other electronic method). The supervisor must be present however if one committee member is unable to attend for exceptional reasons (i.e. sick leave) it is that member’s responsibility to designate a delegate who is member of the Department of Criminology and a member of the School of Graduate and  Postdoctoral Studies. That individual will pose questions prepared by the absent committee member.

Procedure

1. Length: 1 ½ to 2 hours
2. At the beginning of the defence, the student and audience will be asked to leave the room. During their absence the chair will  confirm that the jury is satisfied that the proposal is ready for defence, review the rules of the process and ascertain the order of examiners
3. Upon reconvening, there will be a brief (10 – 15 minutes maximum) presentation by the student focusing on one of the dimensions of the project.
4. Students may bring papers and documents with them into the defence.
5. The first round of questions follows the agreed upon process. During this round, it is anticipated that the exchange is essentially a one-on-one discussion between each jury member in turn and the student.
6. An optional second round of questions may occur, including questions from the public. It is anticipated that this round will be a more open round characterized by an exchange of ideas.
7. Private deliberation by the jury takes place (the student and audience members will be required to leave the room).
8. The jury’s decision is communicated to the student.

Jury decision

1. The proposal may be:

• Accepted
• Accepted with minor revisions (the quality of the proposal is at least adequate, with only occasional grammatical or spelling errors, formatting problems, minor redundancies or omissions such as transitional paragraphs or notes). In this case  it is the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure that the revisions are completed
• Not accepted, major revisions required (this verdict will be returned in one of the following scenarios: the interpretation or the methodological approach is faulty but revisions may bring the proposal to the appropriate standard; or the work was not done according to the criteria judged appropriate; or the candidate has not demonstrated that he or she has conducted work of the appropriate scholarly quality. This verdict is the equivalent of a fail and the doctoral thesis proposal must be revised and undergo the evaluation and defence process again from the beginning with the same examiners (except for necessary replacements of examiners). Note that consistent with Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies regulations, students whose proposal is not accepted are entitled to redo the process but only once.
• Fail: students who have previously received a not accepted, major revisions required (iii above) and, where the jury returns a verdict of not accepted at the second defence are required to withdraw from the program.

2.  Jury members must justify, in writing (on the form prepared by the department), their decision and identify the strong elements of the project as well as those that require correction and/or greater elaboration. These will be deposited in the student’s file. The student is obligated to respect these directives.

Responsibilities of the chair

1. Bring to the defence all of the documents prepared by the departmental Secretariat (Report of The Jury: Doctoral Thesis Proposal Defence)
2. Administer the defence process: ascertain the order of the questioning, maintain order, and ensure that the procedure outlined above is followed;
3. Take notes of the process and record the jury’s decision (i.e. changes, refinements, additions). These notes will be deposited in the student’s file. The student is obligated to respect these directives;
4. Advise the student of the jury’s decision;
5. Deposit all paperwork (include their own notes and the signed documents) with the Secretariat upon conclusion of the defence.

Status of student

Upon successful completion of the thesis defence, the student is considered ABD (all but dissertation).

Doctoral Thesis

A doctoral thesis is a significant body of original work produced by a student during the course of their doctoral study. Please note that PhD students in the Department of Criminology must be continuously registered in THD9999 up until such time as the thesis is submitted to the evaluators for review.

An acceptable thesis is thoroughly researched, demonstrates rigorous critical thinking and analysis, is supported by theory, presents a detailed methodology and accurate results and includes solid verification of any knowledge claims. A doctoral thesis must make a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of study, embody the results of original investigation and analysis and be of such quality as to merit publication, in whole or part¹.

Format

The format is a monograph of approximately 300 to 400 double-spaced pages (excluding bibliography) in length. Please refer to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies webpage for specific formatting requirements.

Deadlines

Students are expected to complete their doctoral studies in four (4) years, however, they must submit their completed thesis (approved by their supervisor and committee) for external evaluation within six years of the date of initial registration in the doctoral program. Those unable to complete their thesis within this timeframe may request an exceptional extension from the FGPS.

Submission of thesis

Prior to final submission students are expected to distribute the completed thesis (which has been approved by the supervisor) to their committee for review in a timely manner and arrange a meeting with all committee members and the supervisor. At this meeting all committee members will determine outstanding issues and (ideally) agree that the thesis is (pending agreed upon changes) ready for defence². Note to students: supervisors will only complete the “Statement of Thesis Supervisor” form (required for the evaluation process to commence) when they (and the members of the committee) are satisfied that the thesis merits submission.

The supervisor will identify and contact one internal-external examiner (a professor at the University of Ottawa – including criminology professors – who are members of the School of Graduate Studies) and confirm that they are willing to evaluate the thesis. The supervisor will also identify and contact eligible external examiners (professors from outside the University of Ottawa who are not in conflict of interest due to an association with the student, supervisor, or the University of Ottawa). These names (and accompanying documentation) must be given to the Secretariat of the Department of Criminology at least one month prior to the submission of the thesis.

Public Defence

Examiners

A defence will only be organized after the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies has received favourable reports from the examiners. Prior to the defence the supervisor will receive a file (that will be shared with the student) containing the examiners' reports, (from which identifying information will have been removed).

Defence process

The defence begins with introductions and a 15-20 minute presentation by the student.  This is then followed by two rounds of questions from the examiners (the usual order is for questions to be posed first by the external examiner, then by the internal-external examiner and finally by the other committee members). The thesis supervisor is given the opportunity to comment or ask questions at the conclusion of the formal rounds of questioning. There may also be a period of more informal discussion. Student and audience members are then asked to leave the room while the jury deliberates its verdict.

Decision

The jury can render one of four verdicts:

1. Thesis is accepted: Although corrections may be required, these are limited to occasional grammatical or spelling errors, formatting problems, minor redundancies or omissions (e.g. transitional paragraphs, notes).
2. Thesis must be revised: Revisions (i.e. correction of numerous grammatical or spelling errors; clarification of concepts or methodology, addition of sections) are required.
3. Thesis must be revised extensively and undergo the evaluation and the defence process again: Major revisions (involving rewriting large sections of the thesis due to problems related to the theoretical or methodological approach or interpretation of the results) are required.
4. Thesis is unacceptable and the candidate must withdraw from the program: This verdict is given only when the thesis requires major revisions and when the thesis defence makes it clear that the candidate is incapable of making such major revisions.

¹This description has been adapted from the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Theses Writing website. 

²Note that this meeting is not essential but highly recommended as it ensures that the committee members are supportive of the student at the defence.

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