This study explored the challenges faced by doctoral students in preparing and publishing research in reputable international journals. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed to gather in-depth information from four doctoral students in three higher education institutions in Sumatra, Indonesia. The participants were recruited through…

In undergraduate research settings, students are likely to encounter anomalous data, that is, data that do not meet their expectations. Most of the research that directly or indirectly captures the role of anomalous data in research settings uses post-hoc reflective interviews or surveys. These data collection approaches focus on recall of past…

Education entails conflicting perspectives about its subject matter. In the late 1980s, the conflict developed into a war between interpretive and causal paradigms. Did the confrontation result in a balance between these warring sides? We use text analysis to identify research trends in 137,024 dissertation abstracts from 1980 to 2010 and relate…

This research explored the experience of five undergraduates who engaged with qualitative research as part of their final dissertation project. There have been concerns raised over the emotional safety of researchers carrying out qualitative research, which increases when researchers are inexperienced making this a poignant issues for lectures…

A major task of social work doctoral programs is preparing the next generation of researchers and educators in the profession. To develop competence in generating new knowledge relevant to social work practice and disseminating it to future practitioners, doctoral candidates need to master a broad and complicated set of theoretical, empirical, and…

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of conducting ethnographic research. Methodology definition and key characteristics are given. The stages of the research process are described including preparation, data gathering and recording, and analysis. Important issues such as reliability and validity are also discussed.

The Project Postgraduate Educational Research (PPER) data indicate that case study is the most popular methodology among South African education masters and doctorate students in the period 1995-2004. This article reflects on the reasons for the preference for case study by considering epistemological and contextual factors. It unpacks the links…

Collaborative research is a demanding endeavor, and for a group of undergraduate students tasked with identifying their own interdisciplinary research problem, the challenges are even greater. "It was scary--we didn't know what to ask the professors, and we couldn't decide on a research question," says Miran Park, a student at the University of…

Two methods for promoting peer collaboration among students conducting research were examined. Student interaction was structured using either computer-mediated conferencing (online threaded discussion) or the fishbowl technique. Both techniques produced similar levels of student participation. Questionnaire results indicated that the fishbowl…

Since the very beginning of Petnica Science Center students do small research projects in order to learn the basic scientific methodology. Preparing reports and papers is unavoidable part of such learning. After 25 years of work, it is perfectly clear that students learned how to present their results and write papers. However, such results do not…

While universities can play a major role in advancing research-based community development, academic discourses of rigor, quality and ethics often conflict with the participatory and collaborative approaches required by community development principles. While experienced academics often have difficulty negotiating these issues, they present…

Highlights ways for doctoral students to conduct an effective literature review. Discusses the problem formulation stage; conducting an effective literature review and the benefits of a literature review; an example of literature review material; and tips for writing a literature review. (AEF)

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) summarizing the findings of the Committee on Social Science Research. Their investigations into student research revealed that whereas there was an increasing rate of registration for a Ph.D. degree, there was a parallel high incidence of dropouts; some 80% of candidates who…

This study guide provides an overview and model of business research. First, introductory material defines research and discusses the benefits of studying business research methods for both producers and consumers of research. In the next section different types of research are discussed, including experimental, ex post facto, quasi-experimental,…

Problems involved in providing practical research experience in research methods courses are discussed. The two points in the research process where time is most critical are selecting measures and data collection. This paper suggests using a data base from previous research and having students conduct simulated studies based on randomly selected…