Probationary viva

By the end of June, I have to have produced a proposal that contains:

• A viable research question
• A critical literature review which situates the proposed research
• A research proposal including an outline of proposed method(s) and a critical justification for them
• A work plan for the project

And then in July, I have a viva. I have to explain and support what I intend to do. The rules say:

The student must undergo a mini-viva – an independent oral examination on the project report. It must be conducted by at least two experienced academic researchers who are not the student’s supervisors.

The assessors must provide a written report indicating whether the student’s performance was adequate. If the student’s performance was not adequate, information should be provided about what must be rectified before probation can be ‘passed’.

I propose research that has a constructionist philosophy behind it and therein is a potential problem because I hear that one of the examiners is a quantitative researcher, so of a different philosophy. I hope I can explain myself well enough.