Difficulties Faced by Thai Graduate Students in Writing Theses: A Search for Supportive Activities

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the difficulties faced by Thai graduate students in writing their dissertations and, from their perspectives, activities that help to support them using an exploratory, qualitative survey. The survey consisted of semi-structured interviews with one graduate and two former graduate students who wrote their dissertations in either Thai or English, and a qualitative analysis was conducted using SCAT. It was found that, although writing in different languages, the three students agreed that the difficulties lay in choosing the research method, in doing the discussions, and in editing their writing. As for supportive activities, they highly valued the seminars under the guidance of their instructors and the collaborative research. The research points out the importance of the research support encouraged by the advisors concerning the research’s position, profound discussions and repeated writing practices so that the research is well-written and logical, as well as the need to accumulate one’s experiences in editing theses in collaboration with others.