Found a misreported hypothesis after submitting my PhD thesis, 13 days before my viva. Has anyone experienced this?

[u/PhDAndPurrs]

While preparing my viva slides, I discovered that I had incorrectly reported one hypothesis in my submitted thesis as supported when it should have been classified as not supported.

The coefficient was statistically significant but negative, whereas my hypothesis predicted a positive relationship. I mistakenly interpreted statistical significance as support without properly considering the direction. My supervisor reviewed the result and confirmed that the hypothesis is not supported. He acknowledged the oversight and apologised for missing it during the review. However, I am not going to throw my supervisor under the bus for my mistake. He has guided and supported me but this is my research and I take responsibility for what I submitted.

As far as we have checked, the other analyses are unaffected. However, I need to correct this hypothesis decision and the related interpretation, summary and revised framework. My viva is in 13 days and I am deeply upset. I keep asking myself how I could have missed this before submission. It has shaken my confidence and I am struggling to concentrate on preparing. I would appreciate first-hand experiences from PhD candidates, graduates, supervisors or examiners:

1. Have you discovered a misreported finding after thesis submission? How did you handle it, and what was the examination outcome?

2. Should I acknowledge the correction proactively when presenting the relevant findings, or wait until the examiners raise it?

3. Would a short correction sheet help, showing the original statement, the corrected hypothesis decision, and its implications?

4. How did you manage the anxiety and continue preparing after discovering an error so close to your viva?

5. Could this error cause me to fail my viva? I know nobody can predict my outcome but I would appreciate hearing how similar cases were handled. I feel awful and keep blaming myself for not catching it earlier.

I want to handle this honestly and responsibly. Any practical advice or similar experiences would help. Thank you 🥺.

Location: Malaysia, Field: Business Management

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[u/DreamAdditional1485]

i’m translating from another field, so take this with a grain of salt - but I would opt for proactively disclosing. Owning up to a mistake is far more respectable than letting it lie, and discharges the responsibility to be as truthful as possible

[u/PhDAndPurrs → u/DreamAdditional1485]

Thank you so much! I actually feel the same way. I’d rather acknowledge my mistake than risk giving the impression that I’m trying to hide it. My supervisor has advised me to present the correct findings in my viva slides but I think being upfront about the discrepancy is important too. It’s my research after all and I want to take responsibility for it. I’m just hoping the examiners will see it as an honest oversight that can be corrected rather than something that undermines my entire thesis. Really appreciate your perspective!🥹

[u/DreamAdditional1485 → u/PhDAndPurrs]

it certainly sounds like an honest oversight to me. Best of luck, and let us know how it went.

[u/PhDAndPurrs → u/DreamAdditional1485]

Thank you so much. Yes, I will update soonest once my viva is over. Thank you again. I do appreciate this.

[u/minecraftzizou → u/DreamAdditional1485]

indeed intellectual honesty opens you a door for improvement

[u/kiley-Preiano → u/DreamAdditional1485]

yeah letting them find it first would be so much worse tbh

[u/AdvanceComplex4501]

nah both are the bottom one for me

[u/36holes → u/AdvanceComplex4501]

🤣🤣lol same, i mean i haven't submitted..but yeah

[u/PhDAndPurrs → u/AdvanceComplex4501]

I just admit my mistake and just explained what happened…sigh…that’s the only thing I can do now😅

[u/Caridor]

I can only speak for the UK and biology, but I discovered the same thing. For me, it was a case of getting mixed up and stating something was not significant when it was.

My examiners noticed and brought it up. I said something along the lines of "I know, I found this when I was revising. It's supposed to be significant and I got mixed up". They understood. They didn't take it as a sign of incompetence. A PhD is a huge body of work and mistakes will happen. It doesn't matter how often your supervisors, you, your friends, AI or anyone else parses it, you won't find every mistake. Your examiners won't find every mistake.

They asked a few follow up questions, like did this change my theories based on the results or plans for future work. I told them yes, how and what I'd change for future and those got pushed into my corrections.

They won't take it as a crippling error that will make you fail your viva. It's a simple mistake and they'll give you the chance to prove your competence afterwards. Don't fake or fluff, just own your mistake and adapt to the new reality. Come up with some theoreticals based on the new reality and they'll understand you've done the work.

[u/PhDAndPurrs → u/Caridor]

Omg, thank you so, so much for sharing this with me!🥹I can’t even explain how relieved I feel reading your comment. I’ve been so worried about this mistake, especially since I only noticed it after submitting my thesis. I kept thinking about how something I missed could potentially affect years of hard work. What really gets to me is that I’ve read through my thesis countless times, yet somehow this slipped past me.

Reading about your experience genuinely made me feel so much better. Knowing that your examiners were understanding and gave you the chance to explain yourself is such a relief. I know every viva is different, but your comment has helped me feel a little less afraid of mine.
I’ll definitely take your advice and make sure I’m prepared to explain the mistake and its implications.

Thank you again, really. You didn’t have to take the time to write such a thoughtful reply, but you did, and I appreciate it more than you know. I think I’ll finally be able to sleep a little better tonight. Wish me luck for my viva 🥹❤️

[u/Caridor → u/PhDAndPurrs]

Happy to help.

Good luck with your viva, but by the sounds of it, you're not going to need it. From my experience and what others have said, a viva is basically a fraud check, just making sure you actually did the work really. The fact you're revising and stressing leaves me with no doubt you'll pass :)

I look forward to seeing your frog post in a couple of weeks :)

[u/Classic-Milk-870078]

😂😂

[u/WutheringWordster]

I think everyone preparing for a viva finds issues with their thesis to some extent....In my exam I had a hard copy with lots of post-its and edits that I needed to address post viva. They were all quite minor but a couple definitely affected clarity and really were the result of the final editing and trying to get within word count. The examiners did not mention a single thing I had noted at all. They each had their own takeaways and input. I had minor corrections and asked at the end if it was okay to fix the few issues I had found...they said of course but it did not change the result. If it is a major point I would ask the supervisor what to do...or have a corrected section ready. But there is so much in the thesis and so much energy involved in just getting to this point that you are now focusing on the things that are wrong rather than the massive achievement of getting to this point.

[u/PwNPhN]

I recommend the following, but it can be culture dependent:

1. Don't apologize: "I'm so sorry..." emphasizes your contribution to the mistake

2. Emphasize the good: "Great catch! Yeah, that was not an intended action, I'll get that rectified in short order. What it should say..."

3. Own the outcome: "We'll get that rectified in short order..." and then follow up with each person in an adjudicating role.

Everyone makes mistakes. Literally everyone. Your job is to show you can contribute beyond the mistake and take it in stride, not dismissing the mistake as unimportant and not overemphasizing the mistake as a thesis killer.

Others will speak to more of the formal workflows. If I can share anything, it is to get into the success mindset.