This book is an account of the experiences of five postgraduate research students, Helen, Gilbert, Cher Ping, Jan and Tim on their journeys to successful completion of Master of Education or PhD degrees. They share a number of characteristics, not least the fact that they all had a formidable capacity for hard work, a determination to succeed and to reach the standard required for the award of their degree in the required timescale. They knew the research would involve a major commitment of time and, in most cases, money but had decided they were prepared to commit themselves to the work in order to be able to explore their topics, which were of importance to them personally and professionally.
Their preparation for the research was admirable. They spent time locating, studying and analysing the published literature relating to their topic, wrote up as much as they could as they went along and spent what must have seemed to them to be an inordinate amount of time refining research questions, objectives and hypotheses. They tried out their ideas with colleagues, students and supervisory tutors and their data-collecting instruments went through many drafts before they were satisfied. They did not get everything right all the time but they made real efforts to eliminate faulty design and unsatisfactory wording.
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