Abstract
This paper reports results of a review of Masters theses from four academic units at the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. The purpose of this review was to explore and reflect on the appropriateness of research designs of Masters theses across four academic units. The review focused on the research designs, tools, methods of data analyses, and sampling used in the theses. A total of 121 Masters theses were randomly selected. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The review found similar research designs adopted by theses across each academic unit. Findings common to the theses under review include: qualitative data analysis was hardly explained using appropriate methods of qualitative data analysis. In addition, in most of the theses, the sample size was not determined and justified using the proper sample size calculation formula or justification. Therefore, there is a need for the college and academic units on how the research course instructors and supervisors support students to craft their research designs properly. Finally, the researchers suggest that more studies of this kind need to be conducted in the broader context in other higher education institutions in order to build up a more coherent picture of the area.
Highlights
OF THE STUDYThe role of higher education institutions in knowledge and skills creation and dissemination is paramount [1]
This paper reports results of a review of Masters theses from four academic units at the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Cross-sectional study design was used with different terms such as cross-sectional survey research design, crosssectional mixed methods design, cross-sectional design with the theses in School of Psychology
Summary
OF THE STUDYThe role of higher education institutions in knowledge and skills creation and dissemination is paramount [1]. Abbott and Doucouliagos [2] argue that higher education institutions are the foundation for the research and human capital generating process. These days, the quality and quantity of scholarly research outputs produced by academics and their students are one of the principles set to evaluate the research output of higher education institutions [3,4]. The issue of quality research output is an area of concern in the Ethiopian higher education institutions [5,6]. According to Kahsay [8], quality research outputs in higher education are vital for a country’s economic, social, and political development. Higher education institutions are expected to carry out scientific research using a sound research methodology, which is the focus of this review
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