Answering a Similarity Question

Your undergraduate dissertation will be similar to other works in many ways. Even if you spend years conducting research, collecting data, and writing your thesis, it will still be based on the works of others. This is especially true for STEM and more technical fields where you have certain boundaries and rules to follow.
Social fields are slightly different, but you are still mainly working with already collected data and hypotheses. You have to show that you used the same data and name the scholars whose papers you worked with. It’s good to be precise, but you still have to acknowledge other works more broadly. If you need further viva thesis help to answer this question, try to specify other scholars’ points you agree with.

Stating the Difference of Your Work

You can’t write a completely unique thesis, no matter if you’re working on your own or with a dissertation help service. But it will still be really special, and you should specify the points where you think it is unique. Your work may be different due to many reasons, including:

• Timing.

If your thesis topic is not really researched and you can only find similar studies that were carried out a long time ago, you can pinpoint the timing difference. Twenty or even ten years ago, people looked at things differently, so your modern research brings a totally different perspective and opens new horizons.

• An opposite view.

Science is supposed to be objective and selfless, but it’s not always the case with many topics. If your thesis is on a controversial topic, you can state that you chose to look at the issue from a different angle. Or you might say the perspective of the previous scholar wasn’t objective and you tried to make it so. But you have to be careful with this, as it can be tricky.

• A unique source of data.

You are using different data, new primary sources, and have conducted your own research, so you might get new results and unexpected correlations. This will make your work different and bring more weight to it.

This is not a tough question to answer, but you have to concentrate and prepare for it. Try to remember some scholar names and pinpoint the general similarities of your work. Also, make sure you explain your perspective and why your thesis is different.

Identifying Your Kinds of Evidence

• Examples.

Example or case study experiments are considered a strong kind of evidence, but they need some modern proofs. If the studies you use were conducted a long time ago, you need to connect them with current times, to state it’s still a legitimate case.

• Theories.

This is usually considered a pretty weak source of evidence, unless you back it up with something else. Using only theories for your arguments will raise more questions from your scholars. You might need some dissertation help to find a way to connect your theories to something more solid.

• Empirical studies.

That is an already completed analysis of primary data, and if you choose a good source of the empirical studies, you can create a good argument.

• Primary data.

This is the data you collect yourself. It’s super easy to work with as it’s perfectly tailored to your project and doesn’t need any further processing. It’s also the best dissertation research evidence you can have.

• Secondary data.

This is data that is already collected for you by the government or various other organizations. It’s a fairly strong type of evidence, but you’ll need to emphasize that you spent a fair amount of time processing it and tailoring it to your project.

The Strength of Your Arguments
To answer a second question about the strength or the quality of your arguments, you need to remain calm and confident. Many students are scared of this question, as there isn’t any definite line between enough and too little arguments. However, if you check some online dissertations, you’ll see they don’t all possess 100% strong arguments.
You can easily answer this question if you remain self-assured. You probably used multiple types of research and collected data from different sources. These alone are enough to claim that your conclusions are in line with your evidence, as you checked different perspectives and compared different sources.

Connecting Your Data to Your Question
The last viva question in this section asks if your data is related to your question. It’s much easier to answer if you’re doing different case studies, but it would be harder to answer if you mostly rely on primary data. You have to connect your primary data to your field of study, and then attach that to your main question.

A Few Points to Add to Your Answer

• It systematized the knowledge.

The whole point of your dissertation is that you learn to work with different sources and conduct your own research. If you check some readymade dissertations online, you’ll find most of them just systematize the knowledge we already have. This is a legitimate point, so if your thesis adds some order to scientific chaos, you should state this during your viva.

• It gave a new life to older arguments.

You checked many sources when writing your dissertation. Reviewing some older arguments and evaluating them, is also another task you did. When you’re digging deep into theory and cases, you might find some arguments that were not used, but can be pretty helpful. You can bring back older works and give them new life.

• It reviewed older theories.

You might find some data is outdated and no longer useful, and some theories are not clear with relevant cases. This changes older publications made on the topic.

• You added new conclusions and hypotheses.

Your research work also possesses unique qualities, shows different ideas, and brings new findings. This changes future publications and gives other people something to work off.

A Key to Dealing with the Toughest Viva Questions

The best way to prepare for your oral examination is to rehearse some of the questions ahead of time, to stay calm during your viva. Calmness is needed to be able to think clearly and spare yourself from stress or stumbling on words.

• Take your time before you answer.

You don’t have to jump into answering the questions immediately. People listening to you know how a viva feels and won’t antagonize you if you take a moment to think. Use the time wisely to gather your thoughts.

• Remember your scholars are just people.

The best thing to do when you’re scared is remind yourself what is going on. After doing all the research, you are an expert in your thesis and can answer anything.

You can survive your viva and get useful life experience if you remain calm and think about the questions. Most of them are not that tricky if you really think about them. Remember even simple things, like gathering evidence and knowledge, are worth mentioning.

Some Possible Ways to Answer This Question

• None.

Personally, I know people who majored in STEM fields, primarily math, who answered this question in this way and survived their viva. If your thesis deals with calculus, it might not have any new findings. So instead, you might offer a perspective and summarize the knowledge, in which case, you should state this point.

• Your own conclusion.

The conclusion is one of the hardest parts, which is why so many people turn to thesis writing services to get it done. If you come to your own conclusion that was not stated in different research works before, this is your unique finding.

• Data you found.

If, during your research, you found some correlations and interesting hypotheses that came to be true, you have to emphasize this. With many topics that are not widely researched, it’s pretty possible for this to happen.

• Your observations.

If you choose a new topic (or make interesting combinations in different fields) you will most likely draft a whole lot of observations, hypotheses and statements. These will be fully yours and will impress your scholars, especially if you get some effective online dissertation writing help on different websites for your topic.

Tips on Gathering Your Thoughts Together for Your Thesis Defense

Writing a dissertation might seem easier than going to your viva. After all, you can always get some help or buy dissertation to ensure it’s as perfect as possible. But in your viva you’re all alone, which is why you have to remember a couple of things:

• Take a copy of your thesis.

You are always allowed to have a copy of your dissertation with you, which will also be a mental support tool. It will calm you down.

• Ask for a repeat of the question.

This will win you some crucial time to prepare and collect all of your thoughts together.

Defending your thesis is not nearly as hard as it might seem if you remember that your scholars are just regular people. Remember that you’ve done all of your work, dug for data, and found interesting things that will help further research. There is always something unique about your dissertation.