Translation Guide for Interpreting Comments
from your Dissertation Committee

What they say: What they mean:
1. Look on this as a learning experience. You're going to suffer.
2. Let me explain the format of the defense. Let me make you even more nervous.
3. I found the overall concept interesting. This is my token compliment before ripping your ideas to shreds.
4. I would like to have had more time to study your work. I didn't read it.
5. There are some aspects of the study I would like to hear more about. I read it, but I just don't remember anything about it.
6. You have failed to take into account some of the more relevant literature. You failed to cite me.
7. Your statistical results don't seem to support your hypothesis. I don't understand statistics.
8. Your selection of statistical tests is rather simplistic. I'm the only one here who understands statistics and I want to rub it in.
9. Your research is an interesting extension of my own work. Why didn't I think of this before you did!
10. Let's wrap up this defense. I'm hungry.