This document provides a guide for defending a research topic. It outlines 9 questions that must be answered to successfully defend a topic. For each question, it provides criteria for passing or failing. The questions focus on specifying target beneficiaries and their needs, proving the urgency of those needs, outlining an original contribution and how it meets the needs, supporting the proposal and contribution with theory, providing an action plan timeline, identifying potential ways the proposal could fail, and using theory to support strategies to counter those threats.

1. Research Topic
DEFENSE GUIDE
Be ready to answer nine (9) questions

2. Topic Defense Guide
1. Specify the target beneficiaries
[PASS] Specific
[FAIL] General / Not Specific / Not specified
2. Specify the need of the target beneficiaries
[PASS] Specific + theory support explaining the needs
[FAIL] General / Not Specific / Not specified
3. Prove the urgency of that need
[PASS] Proven with specific facts, with sources
[FAIL] Not proven / No sources / Not convincing

3. Topic Defense Guide
4. Specify your original contribution
[PASS] New combination of different ideas + theory support
why these ideas can work
[PASS] New result, process, or product + theory support why
these ideas can work
[FAIL] No original contribution / No clear contribution / No
theory support
5. Specify how your proposal meets the need(s)
[PASS] Specific ways the proposal meets the need
[FAIL] Needs not met by the proposal / Not clear
6. Use a theory to support the proposal or the original
contribution
[PASS] A theory is used to explain how or why the proposal
can succeed in meeting the need
[FAIL] No theory used / Not convincing / Not clear

4. Topic Defense Guide
7. Specify your action plan timeline
[PASS] The timeline seems doable or clearly possible + theory
support why you will do this action or why this action can
succeed
[FAIL] Not doable or possible / No clear timeline and/or action plan
8. Specify ways your proposal can fail
[PASS] Clear, real threats are identified + theory support to explain
why such threats can happen
[FAIL] No threats identified / Unclear threats identified / no theory
support
9. Use a theory to support your proposal to counter these
threats
[PASS] Clear, actions and/or strategies are stated + theory support
to explain why such actions/strategies can succeed
[FAIL] No theory used / Not convincing / Not clear