A Qualitative Study on Challenges that Post- Graduate Students Face in Research Proposal Writing at University Level

Abstract

Students face many challenges and obstacles during their research work and proposal writing is itself a challenge. The main purpose of the study is to highlight those challenges and to make recommendations that how to overcome these challenges. The research design of the study is qualitative. The population of the study is postgraduate level students. The sampling techniques used in the study is purposive non random sampling. The sample has been taken from the Mphil scholars of 4 Universities ; University of Karachi, Sindh Madrasatul Islam University, Iqra University and Agha Khan University. The sampling size of the study is 10 students of Mphil Level. The data is collected through interview method.  The data is analyzed by using thematic analysis. The overall results of the study indicate that students face several challenges when they write their research proposals at post graduate level In which some major Challenges are selecting a research topic, understanding with the research supervisor, lack of guidance, lack of knowledge about research methodology, Lack of knowledge about appropriate paraphrasing techniques and avoiding plagiarism etc.