Quality of Postgraduate Research Supervision and Training: A Mixed-Method Student Perspective

Abstract

The primary aim of the research reported on in this article was to pilot a measuring instrument to determine postgraduate students’ perception of postgraduate supervision with specific reference to the research component thereof. The sample consisted out of 34 postgraduate students from various higher education institutions in South Africa subsuming masters-, doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. The measuring instrument that was piloted was based on the G3S-SP scale that measure health sciences graduate students’ perception of quality of supervision. The abridged version used in this study included an introductory section as well as open-ended questions. Statistical analysis indicated that the three subscales as well as the total scale have a Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.94. Factor analysis revealed a five-factor structure accounting for 76.42% of the variance. Pearson’s-product moment correlation indicated that all the aspects measured had moderate to strong correlations with each other. It is recommended that the study be used as a basis for further investigation.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2p259