Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Common Project Defense Questions and Answers
Common Project Defense Questions and Answers
1. Why did you choose this topic?
This might be the first question you will be asked, and you need to have a good response. You
should talk about the motivations for the study. Talk about the research problem you wanted
to address which made you embark on the study.
2. Briefly, explain what your research project is all about?
To respond to this question, you need to fully understand your research project. Basically, be
able to repeat your abstract.
3. What is the scope of the study
Here you briefly state the specific aspects of your project topic that was covered.
4. What is the significance of the study?
To answer this question, you will need to state how your research work will help other
researchers, educators, organizations(like the case study used), practitioners and
policymakers.
5. Did you bridge any gap from your study?
Here you should talk about how your study addressed the existing problems/concerns that
made you carry out the research.
6. What are your research variables?
This question is asked in order to find out if you really know what your research project is all
about. Explain your independent and dependent variable(s) to show them you really grasp the
concept of your research topic. Identify the variables in your project topic, define and explain
them.
7. What research methodology did you use?
This is usually the chapter three of your project report. To respond to this question, you
should briefly state the research design procedure you adopted for the research. Talk about the
data collection methods and sampling techniques employed in the research.
8. Why did you use that research methodology?
This is where you state the reason(s) for the choice of research methodology used. For
example, if you used the survey research method, you can state reasons such as: no
interviewer bias, cost-effective, it enabled you (the researcher) to collect information from the
sample without influencing the population of the study
9. Why do you think your research is reliable?
To answer this question, simply tell your audience/panel of assessors that the threats to
research reliability (which are participants error, participant bias, research error, and
researcher bias) did not occur during the research. Or you can simply say that you made sure
the threats were reduced to the barest minimum.
10. Why do you think your research is valid?
To answer this question, simply tell your audience/panel of assessors that the findings from
your study can be generalized to other relevant settings, group or case study.
11. In what way(s) does your research project contributes to knowledge?
This question is similar to your significance of the study. You should talk about how your
research is aimed at addressing a problem that was not addressed by previous researchers in
your field of study. You should also briefly state how your project will advance understanding
in your research field.
12. What are the limitations encountered
No research project is perfect. It is common for at least one limitation to be identified. To
answer this question, talk about the weaknesses that were out of your control. You can talk
about how weaknesses such as the short time frame for the research, lack of research
studies/materials on the topic, lack of available data, the combination of lectures, exam and
project research, limited sample size and selection, etc. impacted the analysis of your research
data.
13. Which programming language did you use to write your program? (for computer
science students)
State the programming language and database used in the development of your
software/program. If you did not design the program yourself or you were assisted by a friend
or colleague, find out from the person which programming language was used. You might
also ask the person to give you a crash course on the programming language.
14. Show us how your software works (for computer science students)
Make sure you are familiar with how the software works. Also, be sure that there are no errors
in the software. Go ahead and show the panel of assessors how the software functions. You
can also show them some records which you entered previously.
15. What source of data was employed for the research?
Here, you simply state the data collection methods that were used in the study. You should
state if primary sources such as questionnaires, interview, observation OR secondary sources
such as textbooks, journals, articles, e.t.c were used. If you combined primary and secondary
sources, briefly talk about it.
16. What are your findings?
Show the descriptive results from the study in a convincing and clear style. Make sure your
findings refer to your research objectives/questions.
17. Based on your findings what are your recommendations/suggestions?
This is where you talk about the importance and implications of your findings from three
levels namely:
1. Research (various ways other researchers can improve or refine the study)
2. Theory (the new contributions that you are adding to the body of knowledge) and
3. Practice (how the information gotten from your study can make practice better, improve the
operational procedures, solve problems, improve policy making e.t.c).
Note: Avoid the temptation to make recommendations that are not supported by your
findings. Do not recommend based on your beliefs.
18. What is the strongest point in your project?
The duration of the defense might just be 10 - 15 minutes, as such the questioners will not
have the time to ask you about every detail. They will want to focus on the major ideas and
ask you the most important aspects of your research. Be ready to answer.
19. If you could change something regarding your study, what would it be?
The answer to this question can be gotten from the limitations of your study. You can give
answers such as:
1. Given the constraints (like the short time frame for the research or lack of sufficient funds)
I was working with, this was what I was able to do but if I could do more, this is what I would
have done.
2. In doing this I learned a problem with this kind of data collection. Next time, I will do it
this way.
Project Defense tips
1. Be academically, mentally and physically prepared for your presentation.
2. Practice, practice, practice. Rehearse several times with the equipment you will use for
your presentation.
3. Have a thorough understanding of the nature of your research problem.
4. Make eye contact with more than one member of the panel of assessors during the course
of your presentation.
5. Don't speak too fast. Talk calmly with confidence.
6. Bring a copy of your project report with you for reference.