Why Students Find It Difficult to Finish their Theses?

Abstract

This study focuses on the reasons why students from private universities who have finished their studies, but not their research work, a requirement to obtain their degree. Several studies agree that the supervision process is a fundamental factor to complete the thesis successfully. Thesis development and successful thesis completion are conditioned by a number of factors, one of which is supervisor performance. This study explores the limitations on supervision, time, and money, which are resources students need in order to finish their theses, and suggestions for improvement. The sample of the study consisted of 129 graduatecandidates from different careers at a private university in Peru. The findings show that lack of supervision during the thesis development process, lack of time to develop the thesis and finance have an impact on finishing a thesis. Supervisors must havecognitive competences in scientific methodology, statistics, and the research topic, and help the students to transition from course work to independent research.

Full text

591
Bayona-Oré, S. & Bazan, C. (2020). Why Students Find It Difficult to Finish...
Why Students
Find
It Difficult to Finish their Theses?
Sussy BAYONA-ORÉ1,
Ciro BAZAN2
1 Prof. Dr. Dirección de Investigación, Universidad Autónoma del Perú, Lima-PERU, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-
7133-9106
2 Prof. Dr. Dirección de Investigación, Universidad Autónoma del Perú, Lima-PERU, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-
0890-674X
Received: 26.05.2019 Revised: 05.04.2020 Accepted: 14.12.2020
The original language of article is English (v.17, n.4, December 2020, pp.591-602, doi: 10.36681/tused.2020.47)
Reference: Bayona-Oré, S. & Bazan, C. (2020). Why Students Find It Difficult to Finish their Theses?.
Journal
of Turkish Science Education, 17 (4), 591-602.
ABSTRACT
This study focuses on the reasons why students from private universities who have finished their
studies, but not their research work, a requirement to obtain their degree. Several studies agree that the
supervision process is a fundamental factor to complete the thesis successfully. Thesis development and
successful thesis completion are conditioned by a number of factors, one of which is supervisor
performance. This study explores the limitations on supervision, time, and money, which are resources
students need in order to finish their theses, and suggestions for improvement. The sample of the study
consisted of 129 graduate candidates from different careers at a private university in Peru. The findings
show that lack of supervision during the thesis development process, lack of time to develop the thesis
and finance have an impact on finishing a thesis. Supervisors must have cognitive competences in
scientific methodology, statistics, and the research topic, and help the students to transition from course
work to independent research.
Keywords: Barriers, limitations, supervisor performance, thesis, supervision.
INTRODUCTION
In Peru, during the last decade, the number of students pursuing higher education has
increased substantially, from 101,000 in 2000 to 391,000 in 2015 (SUNEDU, 2018).
Admissions to a total of 143 public and private universities in 2018 (SUNEDU, 2018a) not
only provided the opportunity for the successful completion of a professional career, but also
quality education. Academic success is the end goal that is influenced by different
components (Woodrow, 2006). Singh (2017) said that success can also be measured in terms
of non-tangible indicators such as the development of research skills, personal growth, and
contribution to one’s country.
In Peru, several initiatives have arisen in favor of quality education in universities, such
as the institutional licensing of universities by the National Department of University
 Correspondence author e-mail: sbayonao@hotmail.com © ISSN:1304-6020
TÜRK FEN EĞİTİMİ DERGİSİ
Yıl 17, Sayı 4, Aralık 2020
Journal of
TURKISH SCIENCE EDUCATION
Volume 17, Issue 4, December 2020
http://www.tused.org

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Education (SUNEDU), the National System of Evaluation, Accreditation and Certification of
Educational Quality (SINEACE) in charge of the requirement process of university careers
and regulations such as the University Law Number 30220 (2014), which requires students to
develop a research project to complete their studies. The universities that did not offer courses
on research development have adapted their curriculum to integrate these to support students
in their theses. The thesis, the last formal step to complete a professional career, is a process
that involves scientific production, but few students finish their research. However, despite
the existence of a bibliography of research methodology and courses designed to develop the
thesis, the thesis development process is difficult. Several authors agree that the learning
outcomes associated with the research methods courses of are lower than expected (Daniel,
2017; Murtonen, 2015).
One of the main agents of thesis development process is the supervisor who guides the
student. However, the role of the undergraduate research supervisor depends on several
factors, principles, and beliefs because it is not clearly defined (Blair, Watson & Raturi,
2019). According to Strebel et al. (2019), thesis supervision requires more guidance as
opposed to more autonomy and freedom for students as well as support to define the
objectives at the beginning of the thesis project. Supervision is influenced by sociocultural
realities and an absence of specific supervisory training. In this process, mentorship and
collaborative research are necessary to help novice researchers understand that it is normal to
feel vulnerable and experience self-doubt (Kirk & Lipscombe, 2019). Lee (2007) supports the
thesis that assessment should be given more attention than it actually is. While the writing and
the defense of the thesis seem to have been neglected by the researchers (Mushoriwa and
Nyakutse, 2014), there are other factors such as lack of time, lack of supervisors or time the
supervisors have to review the thesis that influence the non-completion of the thesis
(INEI,2010). In this regard, several studies consider that the thesis supervisor is a factor that
influences the successful completion of the thesis (Roach et al., 2019; Prasad, 2019); These
studies highlight the relationship between the thesis and the supervisor as a critical factor for
students to complete their degree.
One relevant aspect is the time that takes a supervisor to supervise students’ research
work. Internal variables refer to knowledge of the subject, time and dedication of the student
to develop the thesis, and external variables such as material and economic resources or
feeling overwhelmed because the work is also a crucial requirement as mentioned earlier.
Also, these factors are classified as personal factors that are related to motivation, attitude,
interest, time dedicated to preparing the thesis, and institutional factors such as permanent
supervision and use of library. Scientific quality (knowledge), technical qualities (abilities)
and human attitudes have also been mentioned as characteristics of ideal supervisor.
According to Torres & Cristancho (2018), the students who acquired critical thinking,
communication and problem solving have the ability to discuss information and make creative
decisions. For that reason, the new students’ science knowledge, skills, and attitudes need to
be taken into consideration at the beginning of any new academic year (Kan’an, 2018).
In terms of resources, lack of time and budget, and the mechanisms for better
supervision put students at greater risk who do not have a job or any income. According to
Blanchard & Haccoun (2019) external factors such as financial and family constraints can
explain why successful students so frequently fail to graduate. In this regard, several studies
emphasize that the relationship between student and supervisor in the supervision process is
critical to completing the thesis successfully (Hodza, 2007; Bayona, 2018; Strebel et al.,
2019; Blanchard & Haccoun, 2019).
Other aspects that do not conform to the profile of the academic program are services
provided to the student, access to bibliography and individual characteristics of students.
Studies on determinants to complete the research using the qualitative approach and a few

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Bayona-Oré, S. & Bazan, C. (2020). Why Students Find It Difficult to Finish...
contemporary studies analyze the factors of success and failure related to thesis works.
Existing studies focus on completion rather than non-completion variables (Ishitani, 2006).
Roberts and Seaman (2018) agree that the practice of undergraduate dissertation supervision
is an understudied area in higher education. According to Blair, Watson & Raturi (2019), the
extent to which supervisee differences affect the supervisory process is not yet widely
recognized. In the literature, few studies have been carried out into the reasons why the
students at universities in Peru do not complete their theses.
This study focuses on the reasons why students at a private university in Peru do not
complete their research work. It attempts to answer the following question: What are the
reasons why the students who have finished their studies do not finish the thesis?
This study aims to provide input for educators, supervisors and the supervised-on issues
in thesis development. Once these are known, it is essential (1) to promote student learning
and to help reducing the number of students that have completed their studies, but have not
obtained their degree, (2) that the information provided be used to improve the curriculum
and teaching-learning strategies, considering that from 2020 all students must finish their
studies, including the thesis and (3) that the information contribute to a repository on research
supervision and the need for supervisors to adapt to students’ needs.
BACKGROUND
The thesis is a rigorous and systematic process of scientific research to obtain an
academic degree, and to contribute to the field of research. This process has been examined
from four aspects: (1) Informative, that is, relating to the state of the art and critical analysis
of the information, (2) methodological-logical, relating to the knowledge and the application
of the methods to develop the thesis, (3) technology that has to do with the use of technology
such as word processors, spreadsheets and tools for the exploitation of data, and (4)
communicative, relating to the competencies to establish a structure and content, thesis
organization and grammar (Bayona, 2018).
In the process of developing the thesis, an important actor is the supervisor who
provides supervision and guidance to the student to help him or her to complete the thesis.
Supervision is a training process that aims to generate knowledge and is influenced by several
factors that called as “multiplicity” by Bijon & Villiers (2013). In this process, an intense and
interpersonal relationship is created between the supervisor and the student in a complex
process influenced by technical, social, and organizational factors (Hodza, 2007). The lack of
a supervision as guidance, called "isolation", which has been another studied factor. This term
refers to students who perceive that they are alone, without emotional help or affection to
continue with their studies and can appear at any point of the process.
The supervisor is the person who helps the student with his or her research and supports
a teaching-learning relationship with one or more colleagues or students. He or she is
expected to evaluate the thesis in a critical and constructive way, does not do the thesis for the
student, and provides time, experience, and support. This process has been denominated as
complex (Hodza, 2007) and must be taken into account.
Supervised Performance
Individual, institutional factors and characteristics of the programs to prepare the
student to develop the research have been mentioned as limiting factors for the successful
completion of the thesis. The individual factors are related to the individual characteristics of
the student, which are as important as, or more important than the work of the supervisor. A
supervisor, however competent, will not achieve the objectives set if the student is not

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dedicated to the thesis, and does not do/carry out the activities assigned during the supervision
process.
Likewise, personal attributes, such as disciplined, dedicated, responsible, and self-
motivated are mentioned in the literature as positive aspects that allow the student to complete
the thesis within the established deadlines (Nachatar, 2018). That is to say, successful
completion of the thesis on time is conditioned by the personality of the student and by having
disciplined as the most important attribute. Also, independent learning to conduct research
work, having good knowledge of research and aspects such as the relationship between the
supervisor and the student, the frequency of communication, and the student's assumption of
responsibility are mentioned in the literature. Finally, the student is required to develop other
aspects such as writing and communication skills.
Limitations
Researchers are concerned about students not completing the thesis at the undergraduate
level. Some reasons mentioned by the students are health (illness, pregnancy), psychological,
demands of public or military service, lack of motivation, difficulty in choosing a topic, lack
of a topic (interesting or important, current, original), research is boring, research works are
inadequate, research is stressful, lack of time, lack of supervisor, they do not pay attention to
supervisor, insufficient bibliographic information, lack of materials (equipment,
environments, etc.), lack of support staff, lack of financial resources or anomalous perfection.
Some students mention inability to balance personal life and professional activities,
while others do not want to balance or even sacrifice from important areas of their personal
lives. In the latter case, the decision is intentional and conscious, but it affects them because
there are external pressures (for example, legal frameworks). Another factor is the lack of
initiatives on the part of the institution to encourage graduates to complete their theses.
METHOD
a) Research Design
In this research, the perceptions of students about the limitations on supervision process
of the thesis in graduate programs is analyzed using the quantitative research method to
measure the variables. The application of the variable is transversal because the data was
collected at a single moment.
b) Participants
The population of the current study consists of all students who completed the
university courses offered by a private university but has not finished the thesis. The
population consisted of 413 (male=77% and male=23%) students from different careers
corresponding to the 2012-2017 period.
The number of participants were selected from a list of students corresponding to the
2012-2017 period. The selection criteria were: (1) had finished their studies in the last 6 years,
and (2) have not completed thesis. The non-probabilistic sample was applied; 132 students
were asked to complete a questionnaire. The majority of participants are students from
systems engineering career. All the information gathered was kept strictly confidential. The
study was conducted on September 9 and 26, 2017.

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c) Data Collection
Researchers in this study prepared a questionnaire (Q1) as an instrument to collect data.
The questionnaire consists of three modules: (1) the first part was oriented to understanding
why the students had not submitted their thesis, (2) the second to the resources necessary to
development their theses, and (3) the third to the aspects that must be improved at the
organizational level (an open question so that participants could express their observations).
In order to ensure the internal validity of the instrument two experts who are expert in the
field of supervision and one teacher of statistics, examined them Google forms was used to
create online questionnaire because it facilitated of target respondents could be reached via
email. Table 1 shows the questions included in the questionnaire to determine the opinions
about limitations to start and optimize the process development thesis, and the variables
related to the questions in the data collection tool.
Table 1. Variables of the instrument
Participants were contacted by e-mail, inviting them to answer the questionnaire, which
was available for 15 days. During this period three reminders to complete and return the
questionnaire were sent to the participants. Of the 132 completed questionnaires, three were
discarded in the review process due to incomplete information.
d) Data Analysis
The responses to the closed questions were imported into SPSS package program to
analyze the data. The data analysis was carried out in three stages, and each stage directed at
the answer to one of the research questions. The data were quantitatively analyzed through
such descriptive statistics as percentages and frequencies. The study set out to answer the
following questions:
What are the limitations to complete the thesis and obtain the degree?
What are the resources necessary to complete the thesis and obtain the degree?
What organizational improvements do you think are necessary?
RESULTS
The results correspond to 129 participants who had completed their studies but have not
finished the thesis. Figure 1 shows the distribution of those who participated in the survey by
year of completion of their studies. Most of the participants (65.2%) are from the 2016-2017
period.
Instrument
Module
Variables
Q1
First. What are the main reasons why you
haven´t started the thesis development
process?
Time, Supervision, Fund, Prerequisites, Topic
Second. What resources do you need to
start the thesis development process?
Methodological supervision, Statistical supervision,
Thematic supervision, Time, Fund
Third. What would you suggest to the
University to optimize the thesis
development process?
.
Course, Supervision, Time, Support, Fund

Journal of Turkish Science Education. 17 (4), 591-602
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Figure 1
. Participants by year who have finished their studies
What are the limitations to complete the thesis and obtaining the degree?
The reasons that the participants gave for not completing the thesis were related to time,
supervision aspects, financial problems, and prerequisites. According to the results, 58.9% of
the participants mentioned that lack of time is a reason for not completing the thesis. Students
start working on their theses very early. Likewise, before completing their studies they must
have completed pre-professional practices. Supervisory problems were mentioned by 40.3%
of the participants. The presence of the supervisor as a guide in the thesis development
process has been mentioned in several studies as a critical success factor as well as the need to
have supervisors with cognitive abilities (experience, knowledge, and experience in research),
personal conditions and role function to develop students’ research skills. 37.2% of the
participants mentioned to financial problems. The process to get the degree requires time and
money, which often are not available for students, considering that they have just started their
professional experience when they reach the age of majority and pre-professional practices
are mostly for the honor. Only 6.2% (8) of the participants consider pre-requisites as a reason
for not completing the thesis. Table 2 shows the results of the survey on the reasons for not
completing the thesis.
Table 2. Reasons for not completing the thesis
Resources
Yes
No
Lack of time
58.9
41.1
Supervisory problems
40.3
59.7
Financial problems
37.2
62.8
Prerequisites
6.2
93.8
When analyzing the limitations for not completing the thesis, of the 59.7% of the total
interviewees stated that they did not require supervision, 64.9% mentioned time limitations to
develop the thesis, 40.3% underlined that they had financial limitations, and only 6.5%
pointed out some pre-requisites. According to the participants who mentioned supervisory
problems representing 40.3% of total interviewees, 50% also mentioned time limitations,
32.7% pointed financial limitations, and only 5.8% stated pre-requisites limitations (see Table
3).

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Bayona-Oré, S. & Bazan, C. (2020). Why Students Find It Difficult to Finish...
Table 3. Supervision: time and money limitations
Variable
Situation
Time
Money
Pre-requisites
Frequency
%
Frequency
%
Frequency
%
No
Supervision
No
27
35.1
46
59.7
72
93.5
Yes
50
64.9
31
40.3
5
6.5
Total
77
100.0
77
100.0
77
100.0
Need
Supervision
No
26
50.0
35
67.3
49
94.2
Yes
26
50.0
17
32.7
3
5.8
Total
52
100.0
52
100.0
52
100.0
41.1% of the total interviewees (Table 2) who did not have time limitations, 49.1% have
limitations in supervision, 39.6% mentioned to economic aspects, and only 9.4% stated
having difficulties with pre-requisites. According to the students who have time limitations,
which represents 58.9% of respondents surveyed, 34.2% require supervision, 35.5% have
financial limitations, and only 3.9% mention limitations for pre-requisites (see Table 4). From
the results, it can be concluded that about 50% of respondents surveyed experience difficulties
because they do not have the time to develop a research. In the case of those, participants,
who have enough time, have financial problems.
Table 4. Time: supervision and money limitations
Variable
Situation
Supervision
Money
Pre-requisites
Frequency
%
Frequency
%
Frequency
%
No Time
No
27
50.9
32
60.4
48
90.6
Yes
26
49.1
21
39.6
5
9.4
Total
53
100.0
53
100.0
53
100.0
Need
Time
No
50
65.8
49
64.5
73
96.1
Yes
26
34.2
27
35.5
3
3.9
Total
76
100.0
76
100.0
76
100.0
The results of the survey show that 37.2% of respondents refer to financial issues as a
limitation. It has been observed that 35.4% require supervision, 56.3% have time limitations
and 4.2% pre-requisites limitations. Of the respondents who do not mention time limitation,
43.2% require supervision and 60.5% have time limitations (See Table 5).
Table 5. Money: supervision and time limitations
Variable
Situation
Supervision
Time
Pre-requisites
Frequency
%
Frequency
%
Frequency
%
No
Money
No
46
56.8
32
39.5
75
92.6
Yes
35
43.2
49
60.5
6
7.4
Total
81
100.0
81
100.0
81
100.0
Need
Money
No
31
64.6
21
43.8
46
95.8
Yes
17
35.4
27
56.3
2
4.2
Total
48
100.0
48
100.0
48
100.0
Considering the results, it can be concluded that, in order of importance, the time factor
is a limitation to thesis development followed by the thesis supervisor. Financial issues
becomes a problem for those graduates who have time.

Journal of Turkish Science Education. 17 (4), 591-602
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What are the resources necessary to complete the thesis and obtain the degree?
The participants’ perceptions of the resources necessary to complete their theses were
analyzed. As shown in Table 6, 61.2% of participants consider it necessary to have a
methodological supervisor. The methodological supervisor supports the methodology for the
development of the thesis. According to Stappenbelt & Basu (2019), undergraduate research
is concerned with research method. The time resource appears as an important variable since
50.4% of the respondents consider the time factor a valuable resource. This result is related to
the desire to have time since it is a limitation to finishing the thesis. Many participants work
and/or perform pre-professional practices and time is valuable and rare. Also, 36.4% of the
respondents mention the need to have a statistical supervisor, considering that the hypothesis
in a research work requires the knowledge and the application of statistical techniques.
Table 6. Resources needed to conclude the thesis
Resources
Yes
No
Methodological supervisor needed
61.2
38.8
Time
50.4
49.6
Statistical supervisor needed
36.4
63.6
Money
31.8
61.2
Thematic supervisor needed
16.3
83.7
Another factor that has been considered by the respondents has been the lack of money
to complete the process. In this respect, 31.8% are agreed. To a lesser extent, but not less
important, is the recourse to having a thematic supervisor. The thematic supervisor is the
person who is a specialist in thesis research. Only 16.3% of the interviewed students
considered the need to have a thematic supervisor. Table 7 presents the necessary resources to
prepare the thesis for two groups: those who do not require supervision and those who require
support.
Table 7. Supervision and resources needed to develop the thesis
Variable
Situation
Methodological
Supervisor
Statistical
Supervisor
Thematic
Supervisor
Time
Financial
%
%
%
%
%
No Supervision
No
49.4
74.0
84.4
42.9
64.9
Yes
50.6
26.0
15.6
57.1
35.1
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Need
Supervision
No
23.1
48.1
82.7
59.6
73.1
Yes
76.9
51.9
17.3
40.4
26.9
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
The results show that of the students who need supervision, 76.9% require a
methodological supervisor, and 51.9% require a statistical supervisor. However, only 17.3%
require a thematic supervisor. Likewise, 40.4% of the students have time to prepare the thesis
and 73.1% do not have problems with financial issues.
What are the organizational improvements according to the perception of the participants?
Figure 2 presents the results of the survey on the participants’ perception of aspects to
be improved to help them complete their thesis. The participants, who were interviewed,

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Bayona-Oré, S. & Bazan, C. (2020). Why Students Find It Difficult to Finish...
importantly consider to have supervisors who have knowledge, skills, and experience in
research. In addition, there should be no change in supervisor service because it hinders the
thesis development process. 30.2% of respondents agree that the supervisor plays an
important role, while 27.9% consider that they require a course or workshop on thesis
development. 14.7% of the students believe that supervisors should improve the supervision
process to help them achieve their goals. 13.2% believe that they should be supported in the
process from the communication and greater talent in the administrative processes. In this
case, the financial factor is only 7% and time represents 0.8%.
Figure 2. Students’ perceptions of aspects to be improved
From the above, we can infer that the presence of the supervisor is important in thesis
development and therefore there is a significant relationship between the supervisor and thesis
development (Bayona, 2018) besides gratitude (Howells et al., 2017). A cloud of words
(Figure 3) shows the need for improvements based on the perception of the respondents, who
highlight the need for a supervisor, improve the supervision process and courses related to
thesis development.
Figure 3. Cloud of words
DISCUSSION
Limitations to completing the thesis
From the results, we can conclude that the time factor is a limitation to completing the
thesis and this is because the majority of students work. Several authors argue that the thesis
development process is complex and multifactorial and requires self-discipline, time

Journal of Turkish Science Education. 17 (4), 591-602
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management and self-motivation on the part of the thesis student. Also, the thesis is an effort
that requires knowledge, skills, abilities, determination, and aptitude for successful and timely
completion (Agu & Oluwatayo, 2014). The supervisory problems are related to the
supervision process, and the supervisor, who provides time, experience, and support to
student. According to the literature, the failure of the supervisor is related to managing the
negative feelings of the supervised. This explains why they stay in the middle of the process
due to working alone, and lack of self-motivation, organization, and independence. The
economic capacity of the graduate to cover the expenses associated with the qualification is
another important factor.
Resources necessary
The thesis development process is a complex process that is influenced by several
variables. The presence of a guide or supervisor at each of the research phases is important,
otherwise progress is slow. It is often a lonely task and, in some cases, it generates anxiety,
disappointment, frustration or depression for not reaching the goal. The need for a supervisor
to guide students in methodological aspects is greater than the need for a thematic supervisor.
The latter tells us that the students know their subject of their thesis because of the knowledge
acquired during the program. It is appreciated that while time is a limitation to developing the
thesis, this is not the case with financial issues. The problems with limitations to completing
the thesis range from having effective supervisors to money to cover the administrative
process and the pre-requisites. The result shows that most participants know the subject but
need support in the methodological and statistical aspects. For this reason, apart from research
experience, supervisors must have methodological and statistical knowledge to guide
students.
Students´ Perception of Organizational Improvements
The percentages related to having a supervisor as a guide during the thesis development
(30.2%), the need for courses on thesis development (27.9%), and improving the supervision
process (14.7%) have shown that students’ research skills and abilities must be improved. A
previous study (Strebel et al., 2019) has concluded that supervision has a measurable impact
on thesis results, so does the capability of the students too. The satisfaction with
methodological support, and support at the stage where the aim of the thesis is defined are
factors that have a significant impact on the final thesis result. These aspects can be improved
by assigning the same supervisor during the three cycles that the students do the courses
oriented to thesis development. The need for a course on thesis development is related to the
difficulty experienced by students in conducting a research alone and the need to be supported
in this process. Unlike previous results, the perception of improving aspects related to
financial issues is low (0.8%) in this case. So, it is important to improve the students’
methodological capabilities to carry out scientific research. According to Prasad (2019),
students have difficulties in selecting the most appropriate research methodology to conduct
their research, collect data, or ensure the validity of the questionnaire. In some cases,
verifying the hypothesis are mentioned as highly complex processes (Ochoa, 2012).
CONCLUSIONS
The study is about the supervision process of the thesis in graduate programs. The study
was conducted to investigate the limitations that explain why students finish their studies but
not their theses, a syndrome that can be called as “All but thesis”. There are several studies

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Bayona-Oré, S. & Bazan, C. (2020). Why Students Find It Difficult to Finish...
that support this. This study is focused on finding out the problems graduate candidates who
do not get thesis development support. In the present study factors related to the time needed
to develop the thesis, the need for a supervisor, and economic aspects to continue the process
have been identified. Prior to the emergence of the new university law, students opted for
qualification courses rather than a thesis. With the new University Law, the students must
carry out a research work to obtain the degree. A future work to identify the organizational,
personal, and social factors that impact the development process of the thesis is pending.
Finally, the thesis elaboration process requires a supervisor who can offer guidance in
methodological, thematic, and statistical aspects, a thesis of interest and the student’s self-
discipline to make time to conduct the research. Also, it is important that some aspects such as
argumentation, oral and written communication, and critical thinking must be developed by
students.
REFERENCES
Agu, N., & Oluwatayo, G. (2014). Variables attributed to delay in thesis completion by
postgraduate students. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy
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Bayona, S. (2018). Supervisors performance and thesis development on information
technology: Graduate students’ perceptions. In Proceedings of the 13th Iberian
Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI) (pp. 1-5).
Bijon, J. & Villiers, M. (2013). Multiplicity in supervision models: The supervisor’s
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