EXPLORING CHALLENGES FACED BY STUDENTS IN CONDUCTING ACADEMIC RESEARCH AT M. PHIL LEVEL

SABA SALEEM

MPHIL Education, Roll No-1014

Session (2018-2020)

Research Supervisor

Dr. Hafiz M. Arshad, Assistant Professor of Education

Thesis Submitted for the requirement of M. Phil Education Degree Program.

Department of Educational Research & Assessment

University of Okara

DECLARATION

I, Saba Saleem student of M. Phil at Department of Educational Research & Assessment, University of Okara declare that this study is based my own research work and that no part has been copied or plagiarized from any source except where the proper reference has been provided. I further announce that this thesis or any part of this thesis work has not been published elsewhere or submitted for grant of any other degree/certificate.

Signature of the student/scholar

Saba

Registration No

18-UO-02098

APPROVAL SHEET

This thesis titled “Exploring challenges faced by students in conducting academic research at M. Phil level” is accepted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master of Philosophy in Education at the University of Okara.

Thesis committee

___________________

External Examiner

Dr. Ayyaz Muhammad Khan

Associate professor (Education)

University of Education Lahore

……………………………………

Supervisor

Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Arshad

Assistant professor (Education)

University of Okara

……………………………..

Chairperson Department

Dr. Muhammad Tahir Khan Farooqi

Associate professor (Education)

University of Okara

……………………………..

Member

Dr. Syed A.Waheed

Assistant professor (Education)

University of Okara

………………………………

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to my sweet mother “Saffia Bibi” whose love and sacrifices encouraged me and supported me in every walk of life. The proper guidance, kindness, and experience of my mother enabled me to achieve the landmarks including present degree.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All praises be to Almighty ALLAH, the most Merciful and the most Beneficent. My sincere gratitude is to Holy Prophet 'MUHAMMAD' (PBUH) a source of light and knowledge for the humankind who enabled us to recognize the purpose of life.

I feel great pleasure in expressing my sincere gratitude to my respected supervisor for his inspiring guidance. I am really thankful that the collaboration and help offered by my Supervisor Dr. Hafiz M. Arshad made it lot easier to complete this study.

I would like to thank my family members, specially my parents for supporting me to complete this study. I am highly thankful to my beloved friends for their prayers, and encouragement which made my work possible. I cannot forget those people who criticized and made me resilient against all odds during the course of this study.

I am greatly thankful to Allah Almighty who gave me courage to be the first one from the family who reached this higher level of education.

“May ALLAH give them good health and long life” Ameen

Saba Saleem

ABSTRACT

This study explores the difficulties faced by researcher in conducting academic research at M. Phil Level. The research questions of this study focus on the research related challenges faced by students at M. Phil during their course of studies. Population of this research study consisted of male and female M. Phil students for the purpose of data collection at University of Okara. A sample of 20 scholars was selected. Random sampling technique was used in this study. It is a qualitative research study for data collection an open-ended questionnaire used. Questionnaire was prepared as a research tool that consisted three factors of questions on related to objective of the study. The research questions were prepared by the researcher with the help of literature review. The main theme of research tool was collecting the information about the problems faced by students at M. Phil level while conducting academic research. It has need seems that students have to face many challenges which are, dispositional, situational, Institutional, and Academic related. Analysis indicates that these research challenges are barriers in students’ achievements or goals. A few proposals have been stated for the related specialists to deliver these difficulties to encourage /motivate by the research students. This research study recommends further research on a number of related topics that was not focused in this study.

Keywords: Research Problems, supervisor support, Academic, Dispositional, Institutional and Situational challenges, supervision, students, and Department related challenges.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Sr #	Topics	Pg. No

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION		1
1.1	Purpose of research……………………………………	6
1.2	Objectives of the study………………………………..	6
1.3	Research questions ……………………………………	7
1.4	Statement of the problem……………………………...	7
1.5	Significance of the study………………………………	7
1.6	Limitation of the study………………………………	8
1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10	Delimitations……………………………………… Population …………………………………………… Sample……………………………………………….. Research tools…………………………………………	8 8 9 9
1.11	Organization of thesis…………………………………	9
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITRATURE		12
2.1	Importance of conducting academic research …………	14
2.2	The problems in conducting academic research………..	15
2.3	Nature of research work………………………………...	16
2.4	Common challenges in conducting academic research...	16
	2.4.1 Institutional challenges…………………………..	17
	2.4.2 Academic challenges…………………………….	18
	2.4.3 Dispositional/attitudinal challenges……………..	18
	2.4.4 Situational challenges……………………………	19
2.5	Supervision related challenges………………………….	21
	2.5.1Supervisor meetings with students……………….	23
	2.5.2 Lack of relevant research knowledge……………	24
	2.5.3 Freedom of supervisor selection…………………	24
	2.5.4 Lack of communication skills with supervisor….	24
	2.5.5 Supervisor feedback……………………………..	26
2.6	Student’s related challenges…………………………….	26
	2.6.1 Selection of a research topic……………………..	27
	2.6.2 Lack of time and Money…………………………	29
	2.6.3 Time management……………………………...	30
	2.6.4 Stressful deadlines for thesis submission………..	30
	2.6.5 Attitude and behavior of seniors’ students………….	31
	2.6.6 Lack of confidence………………………………	32
	2.6.7 Fear of Plagiarism (copying of data)……………	32
	2.6.8 Findings articles or journal………………………	33
2.7	University/Department related challenges……………..	34
	2.7.1 Difficulties in paying university fees……………..	34
	2.7.2 Lack of library resources…………………………	35
	2.7.3 Lack of resources…………………………………	35
	2.7.4 Attending workshops or conferences…………….. 2.7.5 Lack of funding……………………………………	36 36
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY		37
3.1	Population……………………………………………….	38
3.2	Sample……………………………………………………	38
3.3	Research tools……………………………………………	39
3.4	Research design………………………………………….	40
3.5	Data collection…………………………………………...	40
3.6	Data analysis…….……………………………………….	41
3.7	Research Ethics…………………………………………..	41
	3.7.1 Ethical principles………………………………….	42
	3.7.2 Honesty……………………………………………	42
	3.7.3 Respect…………….………………………………	43
	3.7.4 Carefulness………………………………………..	43
	3.7.5 Confidentiality…………………………………….	43
	3.7.6 Integrity……………………………………………	43
	3.7.7 Harm………………………………………………	44
CHAPTER 4: QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 4.1: Theme 1: Supervision related challenges.…..................... 4.2: Theme 2: Students related challenge.………………….... 4.3: Theme 3: Department/ university related challenge……..		45 46 51 58

CHAPTER5:SUMMARY,CONCLUSION,RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary of previous four chapters……………………

5.2 conclusions………………………………. …………..

5.3 Recommendations…………………………………….

5.4 Need for further research………………………………

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX-1

LIST OF TABLES

Table No	Title	page No
3.2	Sample of the study	39
4.1	Supervision related challenges	46
4.2	Students related challenges	51
4.3	Department/University related challenges	58

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures No	Title	page No
2.2 2.4	Sources of research problem Challenges in conducting academic research	16 17
2.5	Main challenges in conducting academic research	21
2.5.1	Supervision related challenges	23
2.6	Student’s related challenges	27
2.7	University/Department related challenges	34

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces this research work, its background, brief research process (Methodology) such as; how was the data collected, what instruments were used to collect data, and research methods that were used for data analysis, and a brief explanation of data analysis methods, results/findings and discussion on results.

Research is the systematic or logical search for useful or new information on a specific topic. Research is a search for knowledge. Knowledge is information about things. Information can be gathered from many sources such as books, articles and human experience etc. Primary research objective of this study was to identify the problems faced by students at M. Phil studying at University of Okara; to identify the supervision related problems faced by students at M. Phil level; to recommend some ways how to overcome these problems faced by students at M. Phil level.

As a requirement of the M. Phil degree, students have to compile their research project that they complete under the supervision of their research supervisor. This thesis project represents the original work of the researchers. When research scholars try to complete or documents their thesis work they utilize their best skills of critical thinking (Krathwohl & Smith, 2005). This process promotes among researchers logical thinking or problem solving skills among researchers as they become able to conduct their academic own research after identifying a problem statement by giving different suitable titles. Thesis project reflects characteristics of research scholars for example skills, knowledge, and their values (Matin & Khan, 2017).

The main purpose of this study is to identify the challenges faced by students in conducting academic research at M. Phil level. The students of M. Phil reported that they face many issues during research. They added that reasons such as lack of provision computers laptops, Wi-Fi, internet facilities, slow internet connections, lack of skill, poor electricity, library management and access to learning resources are faced by majority of students. There is another problem faced by students which starts from day one, is personal or professional high research fees. These issues create considerable problems for students.

The second aspect of the problem is related to academic work. For example, supervisors are very busy. They also do not recommend their students to attend training workshops, conferences and present research paper in seminars (Nevada, 2009).

The third aspect of problems relates to the management of institutions. For example, students need help from the department, and often their problems are not solved due to lengthy procedures that take even weeks (Nevada, 2009).

There are many challenges students have to face from choosing a topic, to finding participants, proper financial support, convenience facilities, typing and computer services, lack of the foreign subject specialists, lack of communication with supervisor, time management, and lack of confidence, or less emphasis on the theoretical work. Students spent a lot of energy and time keeping track of relevant books, repots etc. So, M. Phil students are the future elements of society; therefore it is important to solve their problems, improve their qualifications in the field of research.

The first step in the research process is to define the research problem. The choice of research topic is problems often with an interest in a general topic, but to conduct a research topic a student can observe problems of a general area. A research topic problem is a specific or clear expression of an area of concern, a condition that needs to be improved, a difficulty that needs to be addressed and difficulty in choosing a research topic (Bryman, Alan, 2007).

Research students do not interest in conducting research. This is very difficult or painstaking task for students. The research study cannot be completed if they are not respondents. The respondents must express their opinion once and answers the questions included in the study. At this stage, the researcher must build friendship with the respondents for the study to be successful. But there might be a problem in relating with others. The maximum time of complete research work is no more than none year. Most of the students cannot finish thesis work on time because thesis writing is not an easy process for some students. Thesis work requires a lot of time and energy. The other issue that faced the researchers to find the research title, research related literature and conduct meetings with supervisor. These challenges that are why students become lazy lose motivation and delay to their research work. The problem faced by students in conducting research related to knowledge, psychological, and external factors that relates to environment of the students. Research writing is a process that has been done by students in the form of written record (Bhattacharyya, 2003).

In Pakistan, after completing the university /U.Q exam, university students start their research work after completing their course work. At this stage of their degree, students select a topic consultation with their supervisor, study design and complete their research work an available population (komba, 2016).During this time, the researchers faced different challenges not only in supervisor section, topic section as well as institutional and supervisor help. Researchers face different problems such as choosing the research design, representation and collection of data in the form of report (Lessing & Schulz, 2003). According to Huang (2010), during last period of research, students faced a lot of problems in writing their thesis work.

Ekpoh (2016), expressed that researchers in Nigeria spend more time and energy to finish their degree program due to problems faced by them during their research work. Also most of the students are job holders who take admission in MPhil classes. Due to their low financing, researchers do all the day work on jobs alongside their studies. According to Lgun (2010), low financing creates mental stress for researchers. Most of the time students are worried about high research or university fees. This problem divides student attentions during their thesis work that is why their thesis work is delayed and badly effected (Bazrafkan, & Yamani, 2015; lgun, 2010).

Research work seems to be a long difficult task. During research work researchers has to face some other different challenges like organizing and composing of data, finding a good supervisor, availability of sources or writing a good thesis work etc. M. Phil researchers must be clear in his thoughts.

Researchers should focus mainly on dissertation work during research. Life is full of happiness, sorrows, difficulties and challenges, so do not let your personal life get in the way of your exploration. Similarly make yourself believe you on solving the most important problems in the research work or in a world. A research work provides you with an opportunity to explore your knowledge, expertise, abilities and interest. The knowledge, skills and understanding of existing results and products acquired while writing the thesis are assets in finding a job. Demonstrated ability to research, write and complete a large project is not only useful in pursuing further education (www.phys.unsw.edu.aul). There are many ways to start the research career. Research faculties are available in research institutions and libraries for those students who get good grades in conducting research. The research phase involves a student to generate a topic, to plan a research activity and to write a thesis on what they did and the findings of the study (Sokine University of agriculture, 2011; University of Dar es Salaam, 2013).

In this study those challenges that MPhil students face during my own research work. In the current situation due to corona virus (covid-19) making plans related thesis work and compilation work was not easy. So, COVID-19 a major impact on MPhil student’s research works. Students do not work properly according to the supervisor feedback. They do not describe their feeling or tension. Students facing survey fatigue. Some students reported to have faced financial challenges. Due to these difficulties, most of the MPhil students reported that they delaying and postponing thesis work. Research work demanding immediate attention, but some students are so careless and lazy that they take their thesis as a burden. Due to this approach, student faces many problems during research work.

The present study aims at exploring challenges that are faced by the researchers in the views of M. Phil students. This research is significant because it will be helpful to overcome these issues, such as supervision, students and department related challenges. Briefly speaking, I want to investigate the challenge in conducting academic research at M. Phil level students in University of Okara are facing during their research career; because of this work we will be well aware about stated problems and the importance of these challenges on student’s achievements or learning process. After conducting this research, we can understand such challenges.

This study will be exploring the challenges faced by students in conducting academic research at M. Phil level. These challenges need to be addressed in order for students to become better informed with research work, developing their understanding. It is expected that the results can serve as energy for further investigation in academic research to resolve the problems of M. Phil students. The analysis of the study can be useful for the researchers.

1.1 PURPOSE OF RESEARCH STUDY

The purpose of the research study was to exploring challenges that occurs when students conducting academic research at M. Phil level in university of Okara. Therefore the present study used to explore challenges in conducting academic research, such as supervision related challenges, student related challenges and Department/University related challenges. This research was also explored participants experience or knowledge about these challenges that are faced during their research career. This research also presents the theories that support to conduct this research study. So the reader can consider approaches to developing research strategies that are ethically and culturally appropriate. Researchers focus on the ethical aspect of the educational process to ensure the highest level of research validity and credibility.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Followings were the objectives of this research study.

1. To identify the challenges faced by students in conducting research at M. Phil level.

2. To identify supervision related challenges faced by students at M. Phil level.

3. To highlight the challenges of thesis writing.

4. Give awareness of challenges in conducting academic research and draw suitable solutions.

5. To check the thinking ability of the students towards in conducting academic research.

6. To recommend some ways to overcome problems faced by M. Phil. Scholars.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study was conducted to find the answers to the following research questions:

Question#1: What are the various supervisor related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil Level?

Question#2: What are the various students related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil Level?

Question#3: What are the various department/University related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil Level?

1.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A large number of students continue their education to the higher level of M. Phil. At M. Phil level students are expected to exhibit higher level of academic and research skill However, from my own observation and in the light of related literature, it can be said that students studying in Pakistani universities face numerous challenges during their course of their M. Phil degrees. In past, this area was much ignored and a small number of studies have been conducting in Pakistan context in this regard. Therefore, I wanted to complete this research to fill the gaps and offer new areas to be explored in this field.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be useful in many ways. It will encourage researchers to explore the topic in many directions. Students will be able to keep in mind challenges that they may face during the course of research. Through this study, students would be able to understand research process, its challenges and ways to cope with these challenges. The problem under study carries great importance for the M. Phil students. This research study is significant for researchers because it will be helpful to understand the issues of students during their write up. It will be helpful to overcome these issues, such as senior’s attitude, administration and their supervision related challenges. This study presents some suggestions that may be useful for researchers in order to conduct academic research at M. Phil level .

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Due Covid-19 pandemic situation, this study faced some challenges. The population size is limited, so the data analysis of this study may not be generalized. It is restricted to selected University students. A weakness of this research is the limited nature of the sample due to financial issues and limited time period, the data was collected from selected M. Phil level students studying at University of Okara.

1.7 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study delimited to M. Phil level research student in University of Okara. Due to shortage of time and resources available at the disposal of research the sample size limited to university of Okara. It was delimited to the subjects of education for M. Phil level. The review of related literature made from the books and different articles, journals from internet. This research was delimited due to following factors i.e. time, financial issue transport issues and COVID-19.

Data collection process of this study was time consuming. In this research qualitative inquiry was generally open-ended so the participant has more control over the content of data collected.

1.8 POPULATION

The first step in sampling is to define the population. The population of the study consisted of all male and female research students (M. Phil) studying at University level whose are doing their research. As the researcher cannot observe the entire population due to various factors such as time, financial barriers and covid-19 restrictions, a stable contently available sample was selected for data collection.

1.9 SAMPLE

A sample of 20 scholars was selected form University of OKARA. Random sampling technique was used to select respondents. Random sampling technique offers an equal chance of being selected.

1.10 RESEARCH TOOLS

Present study was qualitative in nature. Qualitative approach was used to obtain an in-depth understanding of the respondents about the topic. For this purpose an open-ended questionnaire was developed that was based on three factors related to the topic.

1.11 ORGANIZATION OF THESIS

Title pages

Starting pages of this thesis include title of the thesis, declaration, dedication, certificate by supervisor, acknowledgement, and table of contents. Every research work should have an abstract it is an important part of conducting research. In this study abstract conveys the brief detail of research work. The abstract include the problems under study, characteristics of the subject, the procedure or methods used, the finding of the study and conclusions reached by the researcher. Acknowledgements are written to thanks of those people who have helped during their research work. The table of contents sequentially lists the topic covered in the research study along with their page references. Their purpose is to help readers to find the particular section of the study that is most related to them.

Chapter 1

This chapter presents the introduction of the topic, objective of the study, research questions, and problem of the statement, significant of the study, limitation and delimitations of this research study. The main purpose of introduction chapter is to give brief outline and background of the research. It contains an overview of the problem, statement of research problem, its importance or specific research questions to be explored in this study. Introduction chapter is written to develop the interest of researchers about research subject.

Chapter 2

This chapter includes the review of literature available in printed or electronic form. The literature about challenges in conducting academic research, institutional challenges, academic challenges, dispositional challenges, situational challenges, supervisor related challenges, student related challenges and University/Department related challenges were reviewed. Literature review also presents theories supporting this study (Bhattacharryya, 2004- p.200).

Chapter 3

The third chapter outlines and explains research methodology of this study. The population, sample, instrument/research tools, data collection, data analysis have been included in this chapter. This study was conducted by following qualitative approach that involved young researchers. Purpose of chapter 3 is to describe and justify the methods and methodology used in this research study.. The research methodology chapter describes where the research was conducted, who the participants were, how the research was planned, how the data was collected, and how it was analyzed.

Chapter 4

Qualitative Data Analysis

In this chapter, researcher has presented the data and analysis of research study. In this section, results of this study and discussion on main findings have been synthesized. This section is the major part of research study and also consisted of text, figures, tables depending on the nature of the study (Bell, 2003-p, 203).

Chapter 5

Summary, conclusions, recommendations

At the end of chapters, the researcher has presented a precise and clear summary of this chapter. Before writing this section, read the entire research study and note the key points. The recommendations and conclusion must follow logically from the presentation of the results.

6: References

References are sources that are referred to. Each reference/link should contain name of authors, the title of the article, volume number of the issue in which it was prepared, and the year of publication. A reference page should not be confused with bibliography. A bibliography contains everything in reference sections.

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In the previous chapter, we have presented background of the study. This chapter is dedicated to the literature review of the current methodological literature that is related to this study. The literature about challenges in conducting academic research, institutional challenges, academic challenges, dispositional challenges, situational challenges, supervisor related challenges, and student related challenges was review.

This review chapter identifies the various challenges faced by the university students at academic personal and administrative levels. University students automatically tackle these challenges skillfully in order to succeed at the individual level now and at the professional level in the future. Numerous researchers have presented their models, theories and philosophies to identify the challenges faced by university students and their impact on their academic performance with the aim of addressing the challenges for improving student’s prospects.

The literature highlights that in underdeveloped and developing countries, the problems for university students are more acute than in developed ones. In Pakistan, university students face serious challenges due to many factors, including infrastructure, faculty competence, administration, funds, access to IT facilities, lack of resources etc. Corp, Petersen & Rolfs (1973) identify some challenges in order of importance, including limited time, household responsibilities, job responsibilities, and the amount of time required to complete the program (Yasmin, 2018).

According to Ismail, Abidden and Hassan (2011), students face various kinds of challenge during the research work. Some challenges include students’ lack of knowledge about research work, difficulties in choosing topic, and lack of information about research methodology. Some students face personal or family problems, financial problems and problems with unemployment.

Writing research thesis in any program is a great example of research work by students. Research thesis requires students to show their interest, abilities, skills, and knowledge in their research work. Writing thesis at MPhil level is considered as very first step of research introduced to the students. So, supervisor and students working on thesis develop an effective relationship between them (Yousefi, Bazrafkan, & Yamani, 2015). As thesis writing considered a significant contribution to the development for researchers, researchers should be provided with adequate budgets for research, workshops, study design, and other support to motivate them to conduct research. As a result, researchers may be able to change and improve their research methods, which will affect student’s success (Bughio, 2015).

Ali et al (2016) conducted a study to find out students’ expectations from their supervisors in order to provide feedback, encourage students to work separately. During research work, students are expected to have regular meetings with supervisor and the supervisors are expected to guide them (Talebloo & Baki, 2013). Some factors due to which students fail to complete thesis work includes lack of reading habits and lack of guidance from the supervisors. In a recent study, Achimuju, Oluwagbemi and Oluwarati (2016) reported that lack of information technology such as basic research software’s and lack of communication, lack of knowledge and lack of access to available resources in the institution was found to be a cause of failure or delay in writing thesis. According to Kearsely (1998), students did not get enough time with their supervisor because they were overworked and there was a severe shortage of qualified supervisors. The problems that students face after completing research are mostly related to faulty research design, data collection, and research report writing. These problems also noted by Mouton (2001).

According to Thomas & Lau (2002), in planning research work, the researcher should be fully aware of many methodological problems associated with intercultural research. Some of these problems relate to population access, definition of a representative sample, cultural and linguistic barriers. In conducting research, it is important to recognize and respect cultural differences between researchers and participants (Ehntholt & Yule, 2006).The participants of M. Phil students in all aspects of a research benefit both the supervisor and the students. Research project design plays an important role in learning the skills required for structured thinking, knowledge development, critical analysis and the ability to synthesize ideas and experience (Mace & Petry, 2000). Pervious research shows that many developing countries do not have sufficient resources or infrastructure to support research students (lgoumenidis & Zyga, 2011). Health research shows that only 10 % of research funding is spent on 90% of the world’s health problems (Bulled, Singer, & Dillingham, 2014).

According to Montalvo & Larson (2014), usually early investigators conduct research with full intentions. Unfortunately, researchers do not understand how health tries to achieve successful results. Another pervious study shows that students face a number of problems in conducting research for example lengthy curriculum, time management, uncooperative staff, lack of student motivation and lack of proper training workshops in Universities. MPhil students often see related work and think that their topic is limited.
2.1 IMPORTANCE OF CONDUCTING ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Research is very important for students at M. Phil level. There are many problems and events occurring in our life every day. Scientists or scholars must research different topics and find their own problems, solutions and explanations. The purpose of conducting research is exploring new problems or issues that arise every day and also required implementable solutions and suggestions. Research leads to a new way of life, and it is also possible to make inventions through research. Social research can helps find an answer to social challenges.

2.2 THE PROBLEMS IN CONDUCTING ACADEMIC RESEARCH

In conducting academic research many MPhil students face some problems in writing their thesis. Many students do their research work easily, but when it comes to writing their thesis, they are often victims of delay. MPhil students should think not only about the content and organization of the thesis but also face language issues as we know English language is not our national language. Research students also feel disappointed with the amount of work they have to complete in a given time (Phillips & Pugh, 1994).

At times, especially during research, it can be very difficult to maintain a positive attitude. Many M. Phil research scholars suffer from insecurity, anxiety and boredom in the even during their research. Breaking any research or project into smaller pieces is always a good trick when the work seems out of control. The student faces many challenges during research such as obtaining a thesis, supervisor selection, topic selection, writing a thesis and getting financial support etc.

Figure 2.2: Sources of research problem

Some sources of finding research problems are given in the above diagram.

2.3 NATURE OF RESEARCH WORK

Students do not give special attention in conducting research at M. Phil level. One thing always should remember that learning new skills takes significant time and effort which is also needed in completing a research work.

2.4 COMMON CHALLENGES IN CONDUCTING ACADEMIC RESEARCH

This study explores the following challenges faced by students in conducting academic research at M. Phil level but this study focus on two main challenges supervision related, student related and University/Department related challenges.

Figure2.4: challenges in conducting academic research

2.4.1 Institutional challenges

Moutons (2001), Shumba (2004), Nyawararnda & Pearce (2005) argue that students’ inability to conducting research way be on institutional related problems for example; insufficient computers or internet facilities, lack of training and lack of research materials. Each faculty/department should have space and resources to provide a room with a writing desk for use by research students. Institutions should ensure that there are adequate facilities for research students, including the shared resources of an appropriate library and computer services. It is great hurdle for non-English speaking students which can be overcome by proper support from institutions as Philips (2003-P.196) describe where non-English speaking students are accepted for a research degree, the responsibility for teaching lies with the institution, not the individual supervisor. It is important for research students to know exactly what level of written English is required for acceptable research.

According to Mackeracher, Suart & Potter (2006), institutional challenges involve limitations concerning strategies that institutions use to design, convey and implement the learning activities. Institutional challenges are include issues related to student financial support for academic management, payment of fees, lack of support services and academic certifications. Some other difficulties faced by researcher; research topics, and completion of research work (Thondhlana, Mawere and Weda, 2011).

2.4.2 Academic challenges

Academic challenges are related with abilities or skills that are necessary for effective learning. Academic challenges involve different issues for example, computer/ laptops related skill, written communication skills, assignments and examinations. In modern age all kinds of written work is done by using laptops, pcs/computers, and internet. So, provision of basic information or skills in information technology will be important. Lack of skills or knowledge in computer and IT will put a barrier in research work. Moreover, academic skills such as written or speaking are not used in the early years for students (Mac keracher, Suart, potter, 2006).

2.4.3 Dispositional/attitudinal challenges

Dispositional challenges, also known as attitudinal challenges are identified with student’s emotions and impression of their abilities to complete educational activities. Attitudinal challenges assess feeling less confidence, over age effort, bad health, overburden and communicating skill etc. (Mackeracher, Suart & potter, 2006 cited by FarhanaYasmin, 2018).

According to Darkenwald &Merriam (1982), dispositional barriers are also known as psychosocial problem, for example self-confidence, low self-esteem, and negative attitudes of learners. There are some situations where the students might be too sick to complete the task of research project. Some students face health issu es during their research period.

2.4.4 Situational challenges

Situational challenges, also known as personal or individual challenges, are associated with various tasks and activities at the personal level such as family and household responsibilities, etc. These problems are especially encountered by married researchers. Situational challenges are identified with conditional settings that negatively affect adult students ‘ability of learning (FarhanaYasmin, 2018).

Personal or individual challenges may disturb student’s concentration. According to Logan (n.d), there are two solutions of personal problems; change this behavior or change the environment. Situational challenges are related to working or family conditions. Due to difficult situation in life, researchers cannot focus on research work properly. Situational barriers are those problems that are directly and personally related with individual researchers. According to Bocar (2009), situational barriers may include following problems.

2.4.4.1 Family and children responsibilities:

Many adult researchers have family responsibilities, especially woman have to face care of children and home responsibilities such as caring for children’s. Mostly students having a lot of responsibilities in their private live.

2.4.4.2 Financial problems

Many students stop studying or suffer during their studies due to financial problems. A large majority of students are job holders who take admission in M. Phil classes. Because of financial issues researchers do all the day work on job along with their studies (Ekpoh, 2016).

2.4.4.3 Long traveling hours:

Researchers have to travel long for research work. Because of long traveling hours on daily basis, they got tried soon and this research suffers.

2.4.4.4 Busy work schedule

Sometime due to high living expenses or high research fees, students may be working extra to earn. Researchers have no time for studying due to busy work schedule. The working students have to face this problem during their research.

2.5 THREE MAIN CHALLENGES IN CONDUCTING ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Figure2.5: Main challenges in conducting academic research

The supervision related challenge comprised the level of understanding between the supervisor and student, supervisor availability, and level of interest in the topic. The student related challenge financial issues, commitment, and lack of knowledge. Lastly, the University or Department related challenges that faced by students like lack of research material and workshops.

2.5 SUPERVISION RELATED CHALLENGES

Effective supervisors have the necessary knowledge and experience in the subject area they supervise. If supervisor and students put their effort in research work, results can really be helpful for students. Supervisors help students to develop plans, conduct effective discussion and handle the challenges they may encounter in improvement discussion. Supervisors need to be mentor and guide student to gain confidence and experience to face these challenges that they face during their research work. Spear (2000), in his study found that student’s complaints usually associated irregular communication with supervisors who often perform teaching and administrative duties, caused many supervisor to stay away from the University Conferences. Pervious research has shown that most universities lack even basic research materials and equipment. Some of these cases, when there is nothing to control, there are other problems associated with the lack of equipment and materials, and there can be no effective supervision of learning (Ogunu, 2005, p.241).

According to Salaman (1995), the most important managerial aspects of supervision are their work to monitor and improve student performance and their managerial effectiveness is determined by their ability to improve students’ performance. The supervisor strives to prevent the development of potentially stressful situations, relieves students of stress and helps them cope with stress. The role of the supervisor is to evaluate the student’s research and guide the student towards the successful completion of the project. Supervision is an activity in which students discuss issues related to their work in order to reflect on that work, and the work will be reflected by one or more other professionals. Nyawaranda (2005), Shumba (2004), Chabaya, Chiome, Chabaya (2009), and Pearce (2005) highlight some of the important supervisor related challenge those students have encountered during research (Mapolisa, & Mafa, 2012). These factors are presented in the following diagram.

Figure 2.5.1 Supervision related challenges

2.5.1 Supervisor’s meetings with students

Supervision is about building working relationships with students. It takes time to build trust. But when a supervisor and students trust each other, their thoughts and efforts can be applied to each situation. A better relationship is likely to reduce the chances of conflicts related to wasted time. The supervisor must be able to trust the students to complete the assigned tasks in a satisfactory manner. Each new research student should be required to attend regular meetings held by a specific supervisor or staff member with an interest and responsibility in MPhil level research. The meeting should cover such process topics as the relationship among students and supervisor expectations and concerns about the role of students, the importance of meeting deadlines, and training professional research skills are potential areas. According to Talebloo & Baki (2013), during research work, students are expected to hold regular meetings with supervisor. The supervisors are expected to guide them. Constructive supervisors know the importance of regular meetings to discuss different issues. Timing of the meetings depends on the issues to be discussed. Supervisor should fix the date of next meeting with students and it must be agreed by both students and supervisor what work is to be done by that date (Ahmad, 2018).

2.5.2 Lack of relevant research knowledge

Aga Khan University (Karachi, Pakistan) conducted a research in which it was found that relevant knowledge of research is low during the early years of research work. It is supervision in which students can increase knowledge, interest, ideals and powers. Therefore, it is crucial that the students are involved in discussions and practice from the beginning (FarhanaYasmin, 2018).

2.5.3 Freedom of supervisor selection

Supervisor selection is one of the main themes in research. It is expected by students that they should be given an option to choose their supervisor freely according to their own area of interest. However students do not have freedom in their supervisor selection at MPhil level. Finding a right supervisor can help researcher for successfully completing a research project. Academic supervisor is a strong researcher, which is why you read the research summaries by faculty, goes to talks they display, and attend courses of professors with whom one might be interested to work (Ulla, 2018).

2.5.4 Lack of communication skills with supervisor

Communication is an important factor in human relation. Without communication, meaningful relationships would not be possible. Communication is very essential to explain the research topics with supervisor, to know what the supervisor expects of you and to explore the topics of your research. Poor communication skills affect the research work. Some researchers may be very shy and not ask the questions they have in their mind so researchers have paid much attentions n communicating skills. Good communication skills are essential for a supervisor. It is important to clearly indicate the direction of the tasks and provide feedback to students. Supervisors know how important it is to adapt their communication styles in order to convey their point of view to the person with whom they communicating. And they understand the importance of asking questions during the conversation to make sure they understand the speaker and that all parties clearly understand the conversation. Communication is the most important skill that a supervisor requires. He needs to communicate information and instructions clearly and effectively to people who may not be understood due to cultural differences in education. Ensuring that the person you are talking to fully understands what you are saying is an important skill (Ben Wakelin, 2011).

According to Baltzersen et al (2014), discussion between students and supervisor about the supervision process positively affect the quality of communication. Good communication during research supervision is the key element of the supervisory task. In the some way, Lussier and Poulos (2001, pp. 366-368), “To ovoid emotional problems in communications, you should try not to become emotional”. Lack of communication with supervisor about the research project, timing, targets, expectations, responsibilities, and relationship between those elements is also required (Holbrook & Johnston 1999, pp.66-70).

Two principals improve the process of supervision;

ü A clear communication between student and supervisor on all aspects of research project.

ü A framework for supervision and studies which facilitates student’s development and creativity (Moses, 1985).

2.5.5 Supervisor feedback

According to Weaver (2006), feedback is a major component for the educational learning process. It is an information or guidance that is providing to the students to improve their performance but students do not work properly according to the supervisor feedback. Supervisor given feedback regularly to the students becomes its very effective and useful during research. In pervious study Phye and Andre viewed that provision of regular feedback, generate the possibility of control the mistakes and enable students get sufficient correction of errors regarding their task (Phye & Andre, 1989).

2.6 STUDENT’S RELATED CHALLENGES

University students play an important role for the progress of a country as future researchers. Research activities can develop the critical thinking, group works, and gaining the knowledge, skills or experience among university students. Some previous studies show that researches face number of barriers to research activates in Universities. Researchers (Bell (2000), Pearce (2005), Sidhu (2001), Anderson, Day & MacLughlin (2006) Asplaned, Edwards, O’Leary and Ryan (1999), include different student related challenges which are elaborated below;

Figure 2.6 Student’s related challenges

2.6.1 Selection of a research topic

The starting point of a research is the choice of research topic. Choosing the right research topic is one of the difficult parts of research. Researchers, who choose a topic of their own interest, after choosing a research topic, find a research supervisor who is interested in guiding the topic. Choosing a research topic is so difficult that it may seem at first glance; since you have limited time at your disposal, it is tempting to choose a topic before the main work is done, but students should try to resist the temptation. Students’ discussion with others will help them choose a good research topic that may be interesting, and they have a good chance of completing your research paper on time (Bell, 2003-p.22).

Before choosing a research topic, the researcher should keep the following points in mind,

· Research topic should be appropriate.

· The researcher should be interested in the topic.

A good problem arises from a research topic formulated from an observation of reality. A literature review and an examination of previous experiments and research are good sources of research topics that are translated into problem statements. Many scientific researchers are exploring an area in which previous research has produced interesting results, but has not been further developed. This can be an interesting area of research that no one has fully explored yet. Choosing an up-to-date research topic or the latest trends is an excellent opportunity for researchers with an MPhil level. When choosing a research topic, researchers should consider the possibility of collecting data. If the researcher is not interested in the research topic set to him, but he works on it under the compulsion of the supervisor, than he will not be able to face the problems that arise at each stage of the research. Researcher determine what resources are available (time, money, participants) and choose a topic that researcher can do with honesty and justice (Walden Magazine, Jan 01, 2010).

The process of finding a research topic, doing research and writing a research paper is different from what most students have done before. If you have a good supervisor and a support network, you can get advice and help in setting directions and goals. If not, you may need to be more independent. Previous research shows that the best research topic is of great interest to students. For that reason, students are encouraged to choose their own research area. After choosing an area, the student contacts faculty members who teach research courses or conduct research in that area or in a related field of research work. Instructors should be able to help refine the topic to an appropriate area and volume that can lead to a successful research or thesis. You can be finding out about the research topic by talking to senior students and teachers. Most educators have research ideas based on their own research efforts. A good research topic is of interest to you, to your supervisor, your participants and the research community.

(www.cs.indianaedu/how.2b).

2.6.2 Lack of time and money

According to Hershfield, Mogilner, & Barnea (2016), students wishing that they have more time and money to achieve their research objective. Researcher needs to manage time properly because research work requires more time. Time was a very limited resource for the student to carry out his research work (Anders et al, 2006).

In the light of this study; some other student’s related challenges that affect the quality of research project for example;

ü Students do not work properly according to the supervisor feedback

ü Students do not describe feeling or tension

ü Most of the student delaying and postponing research work.

ü Most of the student careless and lazy

ü Lack of reading habits effect research work.

So main reasons of this problem may be linked with advance technology; such as TV or internet replaced books in that case of information sources. Research is a challenging task for students of MPhil. It demands certain fulfillments from the students. For example, students have to share commitment of completing this task etc. Researchers have to be physically fit as they have to work long hours, increasing reading habits, and proper work on supervisor feedback, lack of experience and knowledge guide. It is also important that the means and resources available to full-time students are at the disposal of an increasing member of part-time students. For example, you may need to extend library opening hours, but those who are not on campus during normal working hours can still access books and journals. Computer hardware availability may also need to be extended.

2.6.3 Time management

Research work requires time that is why a researcher need to manage time properly. It is rewarding for researchers when research work is finish within the given deadlines. To complete any task, time management is very important for deciding what needs to be done. Time management is about setting up routines, understanding issues and goals setting (Anna Bocar, 2008).

According to Domback and Wells-Moran (2006), time management skill is awareness, commitment and organization. Researchers need to become fully aware of and record everything that is important will be completed on time. Researchers also need to make a schedule and proper planning of their work. Some students do a part time job that is way they do not give proper time to research work. Thus time may be considered a very limited resource for the students to carry out their research work (Anderson et al, 2006). Researchers in Nigeria spend lot of time and energy to complete their degree due to challenges faced by them during their research work. Most of the students are job holders who take admission in MPhil classes. Because of financing issues researchers do all the day work on job along with their studies (Ekpoh, 2016).

2.6.4 Stressful deadlines for thesis submission

Deadline help students get their work done. However during research work deadlines are very stressful for researchers. Sometime universities do not set a deadline for submitting research projects. Students must have gained ethical approval for their submission of a thesis or a research work. A large majority of students struggle with the deadlines for a research project. In most of the casa, they have six months to complete the research work and this can be quite challenging task for the students.

Students will submit their thesis work at the end of their registration period. If students need more time to complete their thesis work, a request for extension should be discussed with their research supervisor and also the head of department. Students have to provide sufficient reasoning as to why an extension is needed because extension is not an automatic right of students (Bair, 2004).

According to Zuber (1983), there are four main reasons of why students do not complete their thesis or research work on time;

· Students start their research work very slowly, especially in the area of topic selection and literature review.

· Diversion from the main focus of the research work; for example on reading articles that are not related to the topic

· Perfectionism of those students who are never self- satisfied with their work.

2.6.5 Attitude and behavior of seniors students

Myers (2004) pointed that the attitude is internal expression and behavior is its external expression. Attitude is a set of feelings, emotions and beliefs. Universities are the social agencies so, the attitude of the senior students during research should be positive. Attitude is a product of day by day experiences (Allport, 1935). Some researchers have found in their researches that male students are more likely to show negative attitude while others have found that females are more likely to incorporate negative attitude when junior students discuss their research work with them. While some other studies have not found gender differences in negative attitude (Holmes, 2013). Universities should provide opportunity to meet students and discuss their work with senior students and also hear advice from their supervisors.

2.6.6 Lack of confidence

Yiu (2009) identifies two challenges faced by research students i.e. lack of confidence and lack of research skills. These may be many reasons for these challenges. He adds that lack of confidence is the most common problem among researchers. Researchers with low confidence or low self-esteem feel less motivated and this affects the quality of the research work. Similarly, lack of research skill may also be one of the biggest causes of delay in completing research degrees.

Researchers should be confident and believe in their abilities to meet challenges that are faced by them during research work. Some students finish off their work at their home. They are not involved in other activities that may enhance their confidence or skills that is why they do not develop their confidence. A study from Ethiopia confirmed that only a few students did research due to a lack of confidence lack of research skills and less experience (Biruk, 2013).

2.6.7 Fear of plagiarism (copying of data)

Some students copy other studies or studies which have been done by students of other Universities. Researchers can re-evaluate other studies by overcoming the limitations of pervious study, but at no cost should be repeated or copied by others. Researchers one should must be considerate the work respect of others hard work. This is a dishonesty and crime to copy work of others but students do not understand this concept. The lack of proper guidance in this regard, puts students in to constant pressure. As a result this work suffers.

2.6.8 Finding articles or journal

While doing M. Phil degree, students spend a lot of time and effort to keep a track of relevant books, journals, repots etc. Abstracts and indexes give access to thousands of referencing list to search articles or journals. The frequency of publication makes journals a more faithful up-to-date source of information than books. If students have online access to bibliographic data- bases, they should try these first to save time (Bell, 2003-p.75).

2.7 UNIVERSITY/ DEPARTMENT RELATED CHALLENGES

University is academically a challenging stage for students. Every student’s situation is unique, but there are a few challenges that almost all University students faced during their research period.

Institutional barriers include:

Figure2.7: University/ Department related challenges

2.7.1 Difficulties in paying university fees

Institutions have deadlines for payment of fee. Due to some financial issues researchers pay high fees on time so this problem is barrier in research work. Most of the time, students are worried about high research or university fees. This problem diverts students’ attentions during their thesis work. That is why their thesis work is delayed and badly effected (Bazrafkan, & Yamani, 2015; lgun, 2010).

2.7.2 Lack of library resources

It has been observed that library management is poor in many universities. A lot of time and energy of students is wasted keeping track of relevant books, articles, journals, etc. The research students face many challenges, such as lack of well-equipped library with open access to resources and the internet (Al-Qaderi, 2016). Moreover, many libraries do not issue the copies of related thesis or article. That is why students face lot of problems in searching appropriate data and keep a copy of relevant documents. It is necessary for universities to keep the library up to date and add new books in the library from time to time. Library should be open all the time for students. Research work cannot be completed and mange without library resources. The libraries of academic institutions will probably held most of the specialized resources that students need for their research work. Previous research shows that some libraries do not allow students from the universities any access at all, others will allow you reference access to their collections, but this means students are only able to consult journals, articles, books, bibliographies, references works (Bell, 2003-p.59).

2.7.3 Lack of resources

Another major problem facing students is the lack of other resources. Such as computer and internet resources accessibility is supportive for academic research. Madhusudhan, (2007 states that students they do not have adequate access to internet facilities on their campus. Most of the students depend on their smartphones/handsets to access the internet that is why the face networking issues during research work. M. Phil research is in most cases not conducted by Universities, unlike students, who may face a lack of funds. Lack of research related materials and resources were the main challenges faced by researchers in use of library. Similarly, lack of internet is a major issue faced by students during the literature review. Researchers faced the challenges of not having enough computers with Internet access, slow internet connection, and a lack of skills and training about IT equipment’s (Madhusudhan, 2007).

2.7.4 Attending workshops or conferences

The main focus of academic research for MPhil student is the professional preparation of students. Workshops are also a way of personal development for communication with leaders in relevant field, a way to receive valuable advice and mentoring. Attending workshops is a useful way to get to know the latest research and the latest ideas and research from relevant field (Parsons, 2015). The conference are not just an opportunity for scientist to present their research to the wider community, but also an important venue for brainstorming, networking and making vital connections that can lead to new initiatives, articles and funding. This is why conferences are important for researchers.

Attending workshops/seminars is useful for presenting research work or not. There are several reasons for this: Some of the reasons are learn about new ideas.

ü Research students meet people and discuss their ideas and hear theirs.

ü Research students gain a good understanding of the current state of research and learn more about how to write research papers.

2.7.5 Lack of funding

Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in the form of money or other value such as effort or time, for a research project provided by university. Lack of fund is the main problem that faced by students, to continue their research study. University does not provide funding for needy students during their research career. The main challenges that are faced by students in Universities include inadequate funding and resources (Sawyerr, 2004 & Mutula, 2009).

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter details research methodology adopted to conduct this research. The details about population, sample, instrument, Data collection, Data analysis are included in this chapter. This study was conducted by following qualitative approach that involved research scholars study in M. Phil programs at department of education & research, university of Okara. Purpose of this chapter is to describe and justify the research methods used in this study. Research methodology is defined as the study of methods by which a research study is conducted. Its purpose is to provide a plan for research work. It is the researcher’s responsibility to select the appropriate instruments or research tools for research work under consideration (Wilkinson & Birmingham, 2002).

According to Walliman (2011) Bailey (1994), research methods are the tools or instruments that researcher used to administer any form of investigation or inquiry. Research methods help us in data collection, defining samples and find solutions to problem. All methods or procedures used by researchers during their research are included in research methodology. These also include experimental studies, statistical approaches and theoretical procedures etc.

Research methodology is a systematic way of solving various research problems. It is the science of studying how research should be done. The procedures by which researchers carry out their work of explaining, describing, and predicting phenomena are known as methodology. According to Rajasekar et al, (2013, p. 5), research methodology is the methods by which researchers explain, describe, and predict phenomena associated with their research work.

3.1 POPULATION

The subjects that are part of the research are collectively called population. Scientifically all members of one specie living in a habitat is called a population. The first step in sampling is to define the population to which results may apply. All MPhil students at University of Okara are an example of the population. The population of this study consisted of male and female research students (M. Phil) from faculty of education at the University of Okara. Population is a group of people that represent the detailed description (Hungler, 1999). It is impossible for researcher to observe all the population keeping in mind the time available, resources, financial and other factors.

3.2 SAMPLE

Selecting a sample for research is an important step in any research project. Sample is a small portion of population from which data is collected. In this study a sample of 20 scholars was selected form University of Okara. A well thought sampling process can save time and money. In this study, random sampling was used because, if randomly sampled, each number of the population has an equal chance of being selected. Random sampling is the simplest technique of sampling process. form of data collection from the total population.

According to Hungler (1999), sample is the sub part of the population that represents the whole population. There are two types of sampling, one random sampling and the other is nonrandom sampling. In the present research random sampling was used to focus on specific population. Random sampling is the kind of sampling in which the participants have equal chance of selection and the selection of the participants depends upon the nature of study and experience of the participants.

Table #3.2

University Of Okara

(M. Phil level students)

Total respondent

(20)

Percentage

100%

Male

30%

Female

70%

Table 3.2: SAMPLE OF THE STUDY

3.3 RESEARCH TOOLS

Present study was qualitative in nature. Qualitative approach was selected for this study as a researchers aimed to investigate the challenges faced by the students in conducting academic research at MPhil level. The tool of this study was questionnaire with open ended question. Questionnaire was prepared as a research tool that was consisted of three factors based on three questions. The research questions were developed by the researcher in the light of literature review. The questionnaire was prepared after a lengthy process of review by senior faculty members in consultation with the supervisor. The main aim of the research tool was the collection of information about the problems that the M. Phil researcher faces in conducting academic research. Questionnaires help researchers to convert data into useful information they received directly from people.

3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is the structure of research process and techniques chosen by the researcher. Study design explains the type of research. According to Seidman (2006), the purpose of qualitative research is to collect in-depth data from the participants.

Some important characteristics of qualitative research method are:

· Data cannot be graphed in qualitative research.

· Qualitative research is descriptive, non -numerical, uses reasoning and also uses words.

· Its purpose is to receive, describes the meaning, feelings and situations.

· It is exploratory research.

3.5 DATA COLLECTION

Oppenheim (1992) defined the questionnaire as “An important research tools for data collection. Data was collected from the identified and selected sample. The data was collected personally by researcher. The tool of data collection was questionnaire prepared by the researcher herself with the help of supervisor to get the data through authentic sources following procedure will adopted to collect the data.

ü For data collection, questionnaire was delivered to the participants by hand.

ü Questionnaire was personally collected from respondents to gather information.

ü It was difficult to visit all the students of University of Okara. So a selected sample was approached to collect the data.

ü The researcher distributed the questionnaire to the participants after that researcher briefed the participants about the filling of the questionnaires.

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS

The research question of the study was to document the research students of M. Phil about the challenges related to their research work. The data was collected using a questionnaire and the participant in the analysis will identify three factors that greatly influenced student’s difficulty in doing research at M. Phil Level. The main themes of the study included: supervision related challenges, students related challenges and University related challenges.

3.7 RESEARCH ETHICS

Ethics play an important role in all research, and all researchers must be made aware of all ethical standards associated with their research. Ethics and morality are two side of the same coin. The sole purpose of research ethics enlightens mind that gives an ability to choose between moral and immoral ways. Research is built on trust between the researcher and participants. It is the responsibility of the researcher to conduct research himself in a trustworthy manner with his participant. The researcher got permission from all the relevant authorities including the administration of the university and also from the participants before collecting the data. It was assured that all the information from the respondents was used for academic purposes and all the respondents were told about their privacy on providing information. Complete and correct information ware provided to the participants. Participants were fully informed about the whole research(Oliver P, 2008).

According to Israel & Hay (2006), ethical questions are apparent, the role of researcher in privacy of personal issues to form internet data collection. Ethics are these issues which are connected to personal appearance, credibility and authenticity of the research report. The ethics that need to be attention and they reflected through a research process. These are the issues which are applicable to qualitative research as well as all type of researches (Creswell, 2014).

Research ethics enhance the power, and status of researcher as a whole. Research ethics based on some ethical values for example love affection, sympathy, help and cooperation towards participants. A professional research ethics should be formulated and enforced for improving the quality of research study (file:///Documents%20and20%settings/LituratureReview.pdf).

Ethical research can only be conducted if research standards are followed to meet these needs. In Pakistan perspectives no researchers have been carried out that focused on the developing of research ethics for MPhil level Students University of Okara. It is now important to examine the effectiveness of research ethics in institutions. This research was conducted to exploring challenges faced by students in conducting academic research at MPhil level and the difficulties which are faced by students when they are conducting research and writing thesis project. The data got by a questionnaire. By using human participants in any research ethical issues are considered important on the research which is about human beings are involved. This research was approved by the University of Okara ethics committee.

3.7.1: Ethical principles

This study uses the following ethical principles. They reflect the importance of commitment to professional’s relationship based on honesty, respect, carefulness, confidentiality, integrity and ethical considerations, which value excellence in practice.

3.7.2 Honesty

This means that researcher must honestly reported research work and this applies to methods, data, results, and anything that have previously published. The researcher must honestly reported data, results, methods, and publication status. To improve your trust level, be open and honest with participants.

3.7.3 Respect

Researcher treated the participant with dignity and respect. Respect for a different theoretical and professional approaches and experience, as well as work performed in different contexts.

3.7.4 Carefulness

Researcher should take care of research work to ovoid careless mistakes during research. Check your research paper carefully to ensure that validity of the results.it is also important to keep a complete record of research work (Creswell, 2014).

3.7.5 Confidentiality

Participant’s names will be decoded to maintain confidentiality. Confidentiality is important to protect research respondent from stress. The researcher must respect everything that has been placed in the research trust.

Confidentiality is differs from anonymity; the identities of the anonymous participants are also hidden from the researcher. The disclosure of confidential information is managed on a need to know basis, which respect the interest of all participants. All records are subject to the applicable data protection legislation and therefore can be accessed in accordance wi th the provisions of that rules (Israel & Hay, 2006).

3.7.6 Integrity

The researcher seeks to develop integrity in his participants. They accurately represent themselves and treat other with honesty, fairly, friendly and frankly. They actively deal with conflict of interest, avoid exploiting others, and warn inappropriate behavior by members. Personal relationships with the researcher and the participant affect the integrity of the research work and must be carefully monitored.

3.7.7 Harm

The researcher should not cause physical, psychological, or social harm to his participants. The study should avoid causing harm, anxiety, pain, stress, or any other negative feeling to participants (Oliver P, 2008).

CHAPTER 4

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS

In this chapter, results of this study and discussion on main findings have been synthesized. The purpose of this study was to find out challenges in conducting academic research faced by students at M. Phil level. A sample of 20 scholars was selected form University of Okara. In this study, random sampling was used because, if randomly sampled, each number of the population has an equal chance of being selected. The tool of this study was questionnaire with open ended questions. Questionnaire was prepared as a research tool consisting of three factors of 3 questions. Each analysis of data in this study was focused on three main factors i.e. supervision related challenges, student related challenges and Department/University related challenges. Following were the focusing questions:

Q#1: What are the various supervisor related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil level?

Q#2: What are the various students related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil level?

Q#3: What are the various Department/University related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil level?

4.1: THEME 1: SUPERVISION RELATED CHALLENGES

Details of the responses obtained through questionnaire for Theme 1 is given below.

Statements	Frequency	Percentage
Supervisors have busy schedules.	17	85%
Supervisors provide insufficient feedback.	13	65%
Supervisors do not check students work on time.	6	30%
Supervisors do not attend the meetings with students properly.	6	30%
Supervisors have less experience.	4	20%
Lack of communication with supervisors.	4	20%
Lack of guidance from their supervisor	4	20%
Supervisors show no interest in the student’s research.	3	15%
supervisor are not being friendly with their students	3	15%

Table #4.1: Supervision related challenges

Supervision related challenges are one of the main themes from the gathered Qualitative data. The supervision related challenge comprised the level of understanding between the supervisor and student, supervisor availability, and level of interest in the topic. Following sub themes emerged that contributed to synthesize the analysis of theme 1.

Subtheme 1.1

Supervisor’s busy schedules:

In response to question number 1, respondents recorded their responses in various ways. They highlighted the challenge of supervisor’s busy schedules that was considered by them as being the most important challenge. 85% of total respondents highlighted supervisor’s busy schedules. It means that respondents considered that workload of supervisor are a crucial factor due to which students face challenges. For example, Respondent 2 said,

“Busy work schedule of Supervisors creates challenges for students during their research” (Respondent 2)

Similarly, respondent 5 said,

“Most of the supervisors are very busy” (Respondent 5)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinions which means that they considered that the time given to students by supervisors was not sufficient. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“No time because of busy schedule” (Respondent 6)

“Supervisor have buy schedule” (Respondent 8)

“Supervisors are very busy persons” (Respondent 18)

The above quoted response indicates that supervisor’s busy schedules are a big problem/challenge that students face during their research work. A Similar finding was obtained in a study of Nevada (2009) that supervisors are very busy people, so they are not able to give enough time to students.

Sub theme 1.2:

Insufficient feedback from the supervisors:

About 65% of the respondents were of the opinion that supervisors provide insufficient feedback. For example, following were the opinions of the respondents about supervisor feedback,

“Supervisors do not provide regular feedback to research students” (respondent1)

Similarly respondent 3 stated that,

“Supervisor doesn’t provide regular feedback” (respondent 3)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion which means that they considered that supervisors provide insufficient feedback. Some similar responses are quoted below;

” Supervisor does not give proper feedback” (Respondent 5)

“Supervisors provide insufficient feedback” (Respondent 6)

“Not provide feedback on time” (Respondent 17)

One of the respondent said that in University of Okara, there was problem in less number. In pervious study Phye and Andre (1989) viewed that provision of regular feedback gives opportunity to the students to make sufficient correction of errors regarding their task (Phye & Andre, 1989).

Sub theme 1.3:

Supervisors check students work:

About 30% of the students pointed out that supervisors do not check students work on time. For example respondent 4 stated that,

“Supervisors do not check the work at proper time” (Respondent 4)

Similarly respondent 18 stated that,

“Supervisor does not check students work on time” (Respondent 18)

Sub theme 1.4:

Meetings with supervisors:

30% of respondents pointed out that supervisors do not attend the meetings with students properly. For example respondent 11 stated,

“Supervisors do not conduct frequent meeting with students” (Respondent 11)

Similarly respondent 14 stated,

“Supervisors do not conducted regular meetings with students” (Respondent 14)

Sub theme 1.5:

Lack of experience:

20% students pointed out that supervisors have less experience about the area of subject. For example respondent 12 stated that,

“Supervisors do not be just experienced” (Respondent 12)

Similarly respondent 15 stated that,

“Supervisors have less experience about the area of subject” (Respondent 15)

Sub theme 1.6:

Lack of communication with supervisor:

Communication is the most important skill that a supervisor should maintain with students. He needs to communicate information and instructions clearly and effectively to people who may not be understood due to cultural differences. “Ensuring that the person you are talking to fully understands what you are saying is an important skill” (Ben Wakelin, 2011). About 20% of students pointed out that a gap in communication between supervisor and students, is there that creates issues for students. For example respondent 4 stated that,

“Communication is an issue with supervisor” (Respondent 4)

Respondent 5 stated that,

“There is lack of communication with supervisor” (Respondent 5)

Similarly respondent 13 stated that,

“Student does not clearly communicate with supervisor” (Respondent 13)

Similar findings were found in the study of Hockey (1994), that students face communication issue with their supervisors.

Sub theme 1.7:

Lack of guidance:

Another 20% respondents pointed out that sometime supervisor guideline are insufficient. For example respondent 10 stated that,

“Supervisors do not guide us properly” (Respondent 10)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion which means that they considered that supervisors do not guide their students with proper planning. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Supervisors are unavailable guidance for researcher” (Respondent 2)

“Supervisor doesn’t guide the students properly” (Respondent 6)

“Supervisors do not guide the students with planning” (Respondent 8)

Sub theme 1.8:

No interest in research students:

15% respondent considered that their supervisor shows no interest in the students. For example respondent 13 stated that,

“Our supervisors do not show interest in the student’s research” (Respondent 13)

Sub theme 1.9:

Supervisors are not friendly with students:

About 15% respondents pointed out that supervisor are not being friendly with their students during research period. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Supervisors are not being friendly with students” (Respondent 1 & 7)

“Similarly respondent 3 said,” Not be friendly with students” (Respondent 3)

Sub theme 1.10:

Dramatic change of supervisor:

One of the male students said that,

“Dramatic change of supervisor expectations” create problem for students

(Respondent 3)

Sub theme 1.11:

One of the female students said that,

“Supervisor does not advise students about how to manage stress about thesis” (Respondent 7)

4.2: THEME 2: STUDENTS RELATED CHALLENGES

Details of the responses obtained through questionnaire for Theme 2 is given below.

Statements	Frequency	Percentage
Students have less knowledge.	13	65%
Students have poor understanding.	13	65%
Students have less time for research.	10	50%
Lack of Confidence.	7	35%
Students have poor language skills.	6	30%
Researchers face family issues while doing research.	6	30%
Students face financial issues.	5	25%
Selection of research topic is very difficult task.	5	25%
Lack of reading habits.	3	15%

Table #4.2: Students related challenges

Students related challenges are the second main theme from the gathered Qualitative data. Some previous studies show that researches faced number of barriers to research activates in Universities. Research experts like; Bell (2000), Pearce (2005), Sidhu (2001), Anderson, Day, MacLughlin (2006), Asplaned, Edwards, O’Leary and Ryan (1999), including different student related challenges of their research work.

Sub theme 2.1:

Lack of knowledge:

In response to question number 2, respondents recorded their responses in various ways. They highlighted that students have little knowledge about research that was considered by them as being the most important challenge. About 65% students were of the opinion that students have little knowledge about research. For example, respondent 1 stated that,

“Students have less knowledge to use online resources” (Respondent 1)

Similarly respondent 2 stated that,

“Some students have less knowledge about research process” (Respondent 1)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion which means that they considered that students have poor knowledge about research. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Lack of research knowledge” (Respondent 3)

“Lack of student’s adequate knowledge on as assigned task” (Respondent 7)

“Lack of good knowledge of the methodology” (Respondent 12)

“Students have poor knowledge about research subject” (Respondent 13)

Similar finding were found in the study of Aga Khan University (Karachi, Pakistan) that relevant knowledge of research is low during the early year of research work.

Sub theme 2.2:

Lack of Understanding:

65% responses indicate that poor understanding about research is a big problem/challenge that students face during their research work. For example respondent 4 stated that,

“Students have lack of understanding about thesis” (Respondent 4)

Similarly respondent 8 stated that,

“Lack of mutual understanding between students and supervisor” (Respondent 8)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion which means that they considered that students have poor understanding about research. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Students have poor understanding” (Respondent 11)

“Lack of understanding of the subject matter” (Respondent 12)

“Students have poor understanding of research” (Respondent 20)

Sub theme 2.3:

Lack of time:

During data collection process, 50% respondents pointed out that students have less time for research work. For example respondent 4 said,

“Some students have time managing issue due to job” (Respondent 4)

Similarly respondent 9 said,

“Time management issue faced by students” Respondent 9

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion which means that they considered that students have less time for research work. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Time is too short for completion of research work” (Respondent 10)

“Not give proper time on study during research work” (Respondent 14)

“Students have less time for research work” (Respondent 18)

Similar findings were found in the study of Anderson et al (2006), that some students work at part time jobs. Therefore they do not give proper time to research work. Time was a very limited resource for students doing their research work.

Sub theme 2.4:

Lack of confidence:

About 35% respondents pointed out that students have less confidence. For example respondents 2, 3 stated that,

“Students have confidence problem. They are unable to discuss their research work properly.

“Lack of confidence” (Respondent 2 & 3)

Similarly respondent 5 stated that,

“Lack of confidence is most common issue among researchers” (Respondent 5)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion,

“Lack of confidence during research” (Respondent 14)

“Students have less confidence” (Respondent 17)

Lack of confidence is the most common problem among researchers. A study from “Ethiopia” confirmed that only a few students conducted research due to a lack of research confidence, skills and experience (Biruk, 2013).

Sub theme 2.5:

Poor Language skills:

About 30% students were of the opinion that students have poor language skills as English is not the first language. They said that they are week in vocabulary. Their inability to write English creates many problems for them. Examples of student’s responses,

Respondent 7 stated that,

“Students have poor language due to week English vocabulary” (Respondent 7)

Similarly respondent 17 stated that,

“Poor language skills create problem for researchers” (Respondent 17)

Sub theme 2.6:

Family issues

Another 30% students were the view point that students face family issues while doing research. Many adult researchers have family responsibilities, especially woman have domestic responsibilities such as caring for children. Most of the students have lot of responsibilities in their private lives. For example, respondent 14 stated that,

“Researchers have responsibilities at homes” (Respondent 14)

Respondent 16 stated that,

“Students face family problems” (Respondent 16)

Similarly respondent 18 stated that,

“Researchers face family issues while doing research” (Respondent 18)

Sub theme 2.7

Financial Difficulties:

The 25% respondents were of the opinion that students face financial difficulties during research. Many students quite studies due to financial problems. Most of the students are job holders who take admission in M. Phil classes. Because of financial issues researchers do all the day work on job alongside their studies (Ekpoh 2016). For examples respondent 8 stated that,

“Some students have financial problems that is why they are doing both job and

Studies as well” (Respondent 8)

Similarly respondent 13 stated that,

“Students face financial problems” (Respondent 13)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion which means that they considered that students face financial difficulties during research. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Financial issue is barrier in research” (Respondent 17)

“Students face financial issue/difficulties while doing research”

(Respondents 18, 20)

Sub theme 2.8:

Topic selection:

Another 25 % students pointed out that selection of research topic is difficult task for students. They cannot choose the topic of their own choice. Previous research shows that the best thesis topic is of great interest to students. For this reason, students are encouraged to choose their own research area. A good research topic is of interest to students, their supervisor, participants, and the research community. Examples of responses regarding topic selection are given below;

“Students have less knowledge in selecting research topic” (Respondent 1)

“Students have issue of topic section” (Respondent 4)

“Difficulty in deciding research topic for researchers” (Respondent 12)

Similar point of view respondent 16, 20,

“Selection of research topic is very difficult for students” (Respondent 16 & 20)

Sub theme 2.9:

Feelings or tensions:

15% respondents opined that students do not share feelings or tensions with their supervisors. For example respondent 15 stated that,

“Students do not share their feeling or tension to the supervisors” (Respondent 15)

Similar point of view respondents 5, 9,

“Students do not describe feeling or tension” (Respondents 5, 9)

Sub theme 2.10:

Lack of reading habits:

15% respondents were of the opinion that lack of reading habits among students is the main issues. For example respondent 15 stated that,

“Students have poor reading habits” (Respondent 15)

Similar point of view respondent 5, 9,

”Lack of reading habit among students” (Respondent 5 & 9)

Sub theme 2.11:

Fear of plagiarism:

One of the female students said that,

“Students feel fear of Plagiarism during research”.

Sub theme 2.12:

Lack of IT skills:

One of the male students said that,

“Students face problems due to lack of IT related knowledge”

IT skills and research methods creates challenges for students during a research project. Similar results were found in the study by Madhusudhan (2007), who found that some research students lacked research and training methods. Some respondents do not answer properly and do not fill out the survey questionnaire.

4.3: THEME 3: DEPARTMENT/ UNIVERSITY RELATED CHALLENGES

Details of the responses obtained through questionnaire for Theme 3 is given below.

Statements	Frequency	Percentage
University does not provide training workshops.	15	75%
Lack of library resources.	13	65%
Department does not provide networking opportunities.	12	60%
Do not provide transportation during survey.	12	60%
Lack of funding.	9	45%

Table #4.3: Department/University related challenges

Lastly Department/University related challenges are the third main theme from gathered qualitative data. The University or Department related challenges that faced by students like lack of research material and workshops.

Sub theme 3.1:

Training workshops or Seminars:

In response to question number 3, respondents recorded their responses in various ways. About 75% of the respondents were of the opinion that department did not provide enough seminars or trainings workshops to enhance students ability and skills. Similar finding was found in a study by Parsons (2015), which reported that attending workshops is a great way to get to know the latest ideas and research from your field. Examples of respondents about training workshops, respondent 1 stated that,

“University fails to encourage students to present their research work at seminars”

(Respondent 1)

Similar point of view respondents 2, and 9,

“The departments do not provide training workshops” (Respondents 2 & 9)

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion,

“Department do not provide proper guide secession for students” (Respondent 4)

“University does not provide training workshops” (Respondent 5)

“Lack of training workshops” (Respondents 10 & 14)

“Cannot develop interest of the students through seminars” (Respondent 12)

Respondent 13 stated that, “Department does not provide training opportunities”

(Respondent 13)

Sub theme 3.2:

Lack of library resources:

65% of respondents were of the opinion that, access to library resources is limited and that the libraries have several recent books, articles and journals. For example respondent 1 said,

“Students face library resources issue in University” (Respondent 1)

Similar point of view respondents # 3, 10, and 11,

The respondents responded using different words for the similar opinion which means that they indicated that University/Department does not provide updated library facilities for their research students and students also face librarian’s attitude in University. Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Lack of library resources” (Respondents 3, 10, 11)

“Department do not arrange the library for research students” (Respondent 4)

“University does not provide library facilities” (Respondent 5)

“Do not provide library resources” (Respondent 9, 17)

“Students face librarian’s attitude in University” (Respondent 13, 15)

“Related books and articles are not available in University library”

(Respondent 18 and 20)

Similar findings were found in the study of Nevada (2009), which the non-availability of books and journals in the library is one of the main issues for researchers.

Sub theme 3.3:

Lack of Internet facilities:

About 60% respondents were of the opinion that students face problems of insufficient laptops and internet facilities. The responses indicate that availability of internet facilities is a big challenge that students face in Universities. For example respondent 1 stated that,

“Department does not provide networking opportunities“(Respondent 1)

Similarly respondent 2 stated that,”

“Do not provide internet facilities” (Respondent 2)

· Similar point of view respondents 3, 10, and 14,

Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Lack of internet resources” (Respondents 3, 10, and 14)

“University does not provide facility of internet to their students” (Respondent 5)

“University does not provide internet services” (Respondent 15)

“University dos not provide Wi-Fi for its students” (Respondents 17, 18)

Similar results were found in a study of Madhusudhan (2007), that researcher face problems with insufficient computers and internet connections, slow internet speed, and lack of skills and training. The survey also showed that 57% of respondents face this research problem.

Sub theme 3.4:

Transportation problem:

About 60% were of the opinion that students face problems due to lack of pick and drop facilities during survey. Students are using local transport during survey. So, they have to travel long for research work. Because of long traveling hours, they got tried soon. Opinions of the respondents about transport facilities, respondents 1 and 18 stated that,

“University does not provide transportation facilities to their students”

(Respondents 1, 18)

Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Do not provide transportation during survey” (Respondents 2, 10, 13, 20)

“Pick and drop facilities are not available during survey” (Respondents 4, 11)

“Pick and drop facilities are not available for researchers” (Respondents 6, 9)

‘Lack of transportation” (Respondent 14)

Sub theme 3.5

Lack of funds

About 45% of respondents were of the opinion that the main barrier to doing research at the M. Phil level, included lack of funds and materials for research at the University. Views of respondents about lack of fund, for example respondent 15 stated that,

“University does not provide funding for books” (Respondent 15)

Some similar responses are quoted below;

“Lack of funding” (Respondent 1, 3, 10, 14 and 16)

“Do not provide students fund” (Respondents 2, 17, and 18)

Similar findings were found in the study of Sawyerr (2004) and Mutula (2009) that the main challenges that faced by students in Universities, that are inadequate funding and resources. However, the most common challenge for researchers was lack of funds.

Sub theme 3.6:

Respondent 4 female said,

“Department doesn’t announced a definite deadline”

Sub theme 3.7:

Respondent 6 male said,

“Department not provide feasible environment for research”

Sub theme 3.8:

Respondent 8 Female stated that,

1 “Department have not provide proper research infrastructure”

2 “Department delay in board of studies meeting for the approval of student research

Proposal” (Respondent 8)

Sub theme 3.9:

Respondent 13 female said,

“Do not give the students information appropriate meetings”

Sub theme 3.10:

Respondent 16 female said,

“Department do not provide access to research related literature”

Sub theme 3.11:

Respondent 16 and 20 stated that,

“Department fails to provide pcs/laptops for research students”

Sub theme 3.12:

Respondent 20 female sated that,

” University fees are one of the biggest barriers in research work”

CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1: SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS FOUR CHAPTERS

Research is a systematic or logical search for useful or new information on a specific topic. This is very difficult or painstaking task for students. The maximum time of complete research work is no more than none year. Most of the students cannot finish their research work on time because research or thesis writing is not an easy process for some students. Research work requires a lot of time and energy. The other issues that are faced by the researchers are to find the research topics, research related literature and conduct meetings with supervisor. Students do not work properly according to the supervisor’s feedback. They do not share their problems and confusions with supervisors. Students facing survey fatigue. Some students reported to have faced financial challenges. Due to these difficulties, most of the MPhil students reported that they delaying and postponing thesis work. Research work demanding immediate attention, but some students are so careless and lazy that they take their thesis as a burden. Due to this approach, student faces many problems during research work.

Research is naturally challenging task for students. The research carried out by M. Phil students is very difficult because it is mostly done by one student and requires the approval of the supervisors. Every research work requires in depth investigation or study of the subject matter and proper planning. The purpose of conducting research is talking about new problems or issues that arise every day and also required implementable solutions and suggestions. Research leads to a new life style and also inventions can be made through research. There are many ways to start the research career. A research work provides you with an opportunity to explore your knowledge, expertise, abilities and interest. Ultimately, completing a research work takes time effort and proper planning.

The population of the study consisted of male and female research students (M. Phil) from available different faculties and consenting for M. Phil Programs at the University of Okara. A sample of 20 scholars was selected form University of OKARA. Sampling can save time and money. In this study, random sampling was used because, if randomly sampled, each number of the population has an equal chance of being selected. It is basically a qualitative research study. Questionnaire was prepared as a research tool that will be consisted of three factors of 3 questions and given to the students for data collection. Data analysis in this study focus on three main factors for example supervision related challenges, student related challenges and Department of University related challenges of conducting research faced by students at University Of Okara.

5.2 CONCLUSIONS

In the light of respondents’ response and the researcher concluded the followings:

1. Busy work schedule of Supervisors creates challenges for students during their research. It implies that supervisors are busy officials having numerous assignments to complete. Therefore, they are not able to focus on each student. Research students, in particular are more likely to suffer due to their busy schedules.

2. Supervisors provide insufficient feedback. Students expect that the supervisors must give more frequent meetings to the students in which they should give sufficient feedback. However, from responses of respondents, it may be concluded that students expect more feedback from supervisors.

3. Students have less knowledge to use online resources. This study concludes that students have limited knowledge and skills to get benefit from available resources. This unfamiliarity with the technology makes it challenging for students to show a better understanding of how to complete research study.

4. Poor communication skills affect the research work. Some researchers may be very shy and not ask the questions they have in their mind so researchers have paid much attention in communicating skills. Communication is the most important skill that a supervisor. This study concludes that a gap in communication between supervisor and students.

5. Students have less confidence. Majority of M. Phil students are responded that lack of confidence create problem during their research work. Researchers with low confidence or low self-esteem feel less motivated as this affects the quality of the research work. Researchers must be confident and belief in your abilities to meet most challenges that face during research work.

6. Majority of students were opinion that students have poor language skills. They said that they are week in vocabulary. Their inability in research language skills creates many problems for students.

7. M. Phil students were of the opinion that students face financial difficulties during research. Many students stop studying due to financial problems. Most of the students are job holders who take admission in M. Phil classes. Students have financial problems that are why they are doing both job and studies as well.

8. The starting point of a research is the choice of research topic. Choosing the right research topic is one of the difficult parts of research. This study concludes that students have less knowledge in selecting research topic.

9. Most of the students were opinion that department did not provide enough seminars or trainings workshops to enhance student’s ability and skills. University fails to encourage students to present their research work at seminars. However, from responses of respondents, it may be concluded that students expect department provide trainings workshops to enhance student’s ability and skills.

10. Most of respondents were opinion that students are faced problems of insufficient laptops and internet facilities. The responses indicate that availability if internet facilities is a big challenge that students face in Universities.

11. Most of the respondents were opinion that students are facing pic and drop facilities during survey. Students are using local transport during survey. So, they have to travel long for research work. Because of long traveling hours they got tried soon. This study concludes that pick and drop facilities are not available for students during survey.

12. Majority of respondents were the opinion that the main barrier to doing research at the M. Phil level, included lack of funds and materials for research at the University. However, the most common challenge for researchers was lack of funds. University does not provide funding for books.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations are an important part of the study. The recommendation is mostly taken very lightly. There are following recommendations of this research study.

1 This study recommends that supervisor must keep the record of students’ progress, especially who are weak in research work. Supervisor should guide the students about organization of data, collection of data, writing thesis format and research conduct resources. Supervisor must guide the students properly with planning.

2 Access to library resources or latest technology should be ensured for all researchers. Students must be allowed extra timings for library so students can have better use of those resources.

3 Supervisors should conducted regular meetings with students Mutual understanding among student and supervisor may be improved by regular meetings. Students should be responsible in research work, they should be ready to meetings with supervisor.

4 Effective supervisors have the necessary knowledge and experience in the subject area they supervise. If supervisor and students put in the effort, the results can really help research student career. Supervisors should help students to develop plans, conduct effective discussion and handle the challenges they may encounter in improvement discussion.

5 Student should be facilitated by getting proper feedback from time to time through their supervisor. Supervisor should given feedback regularly to the students becomes its very effective and useful during research. So, students should work properly according to the supervisor feedback.

6 Availability of sources of data collection should be ensured in University for better achievements. Students must be provided previous thesis and sufficient number of books in library for data collection.

5.4 NEED FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

a) Understanding of students about Roles and responsibility of supervisor

The role of a supervisor has three parts i.e. advising students, monitoring their progress, and acting as a mentor. Supervisors not only provide guidance, instruction and support their students in research activities, but also participate in assessing and verify their student’s progress. Supervisors are responsible for promoting the intellectual and scientific development of their students. In the light of this research, further research is required to explore understanding of students about role and responsibilities of supervisor. Due to shortage of time researcher cannot include this point in this research.

b) Fear of plagiarism (copying of data)

Some students copy other research or research that has been done by students at other universities. Researchers can overestimate other studies, overcoming the limitation of the previous study, but should not repeat or copy other studies for free. Researcher need to think about respect for others’ hard work. Copying another work is unethical and a crime, but students do not understand this concept. The act itself is a result lack of awareness about research work. This study recommends further detailed exploration of this topic in future, because the researcher cannot explain this point due to short-time period.

c) Seniors attitude and behavior

Universities are the social agencies so, the attitude of the senior’s students during research should not be positive. Some researchers have found in their researches that male students are more likely to show negative attitude while others have found that females are more likely to incorporate negative attitude when junior students discuss their research work with them. While some other studies have not found gender differences in negative attitude (Holmes, 2013). Universities should provide opportunity to meet students and discuss their work with senior’s students and also hear advice from their supervisors. In the light of this research, further research is needed to examine the attitudes and behavior of senior researchers.

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Websites visited:

www.cs.indianaedu/how.2b

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https://www.slideshare.net/drjayeshpatidar/research-problem-20719286

APPENDIX-I

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

I am a student of MPhil at Department of Educational Research and Assessment, University of Okara. I am conducting a research titled "Exploring Challenges faced by students in conducting academic research at MPhil level". To complete this study, your participation is necessary. I request you to fill in this questionnaire. I ensure that the data obtained shall be used for study purpose only and shall not be shared with anyone else. Your participation shall add valuable contribution to this study.

Saba Saleem

MPhil Scholar

Please provide answers to the following questions.

Name (Optional)

_________________

Program of Study

_________________

Gender

Male

Female

Please Read the following questions carefully and provide five possible answers.

SUPERVISION RELATED CHALLENGES

Question#1: What are the various supervisor related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil Level?

1._______________________________________________________________

2._______________________________________________________________

3._______________________________________________________________

4._______________________________________________________________

5._______________________________________________________________

STUDENTS RELATED CHALLENGES

Question#2: What are the various students related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil Level?

1._______________________________________________________________

2._______________________________________________________________

3._______________________________________________________________

4._______________________________________________________________

5._______________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT/UNIVERSITY RELATED CHALLENGES

Question#3: What are the various department/University related challenges faced by research students at M. Phil Level?

1._______________________________________________________________

2._______________________________________________________________

3._______________________________________________________________

4._______________________________________________________________

5._______________________________________________________________

Thesis work

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to my sweet mother “Saffia Bibi” whose love and sacrifices encouraged me and supported me in every walk of life. The proper guidance, kindness, and experience of my mother enabled me to achieve the landmarks including present degree.

CHAPTER 1

1.1 PURPOSE OF RESEARCH STUDY

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1.7 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1.9 SAMPLE

1.10 RESEARCH TOOLS

Figure 2.2: Sources of research problem

2.4.3 Dispositional/attitudinal challenges

2.4.4 Situational challenges

Figure2.5: Main challenges in conducting academic research

2.6.5 Attitude and behavior of seniors students

2.6.6 Lack of confidence

2.7.1 Difficulties in paying university fees

2.7.2 Lack of library resources

2.7.4 Attending workshops or conferences

3.1 POPULATION

3.2 SAMPLE

Table 3.2: SAMPLE OF THE STUDY

3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN

3.5 DATA COLLECTION

3.7.1: Ethical principles

3.7.2 Honesty

3.7.5 Confidentiality

3.7.6 Integrity

3.7.7 Harm

Table #4.1: Supervision related challenges

Table #4.2: Students related challenges

b) Fear of plagiarism (copying of data)

c) Seniors attitude and behavior

REFERENCES

APPENDIX-I

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