ISSN 2239-978X ISSN 2240-0524 Journal of Educational and Social Research MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol. 6 No.3 September 2016 67 Postgraduate Studies: The Challenges of Research and Thesis Writing Uduak Imo Ekpoh Department of Educational, Administration and Planning, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria Email: druduakekpoh@yahoo.com Doi:10.5901/jesr.2016.v6n3p67 Abstract The study considered postgraduate studies through an examination of the challenges of research and thesis writing in the University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. A survey research design was adopted for the study and a sample of 200 postgraduate students comprising Master's and Doctoral candidates who wrote their theses during the 2011/2012 academic session, were used. Four research questions guided the study. A questionnaire tagged "Postgraduate Studies Questionnaire" (PGSQ) was developed, validated and used for data collection. The reliability estimate of the instrument using Cronbach Alpha was 0.86. Data collected were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Findings indicated that postgraduate students at the University of Calabar experienced a variety of challenges in research and thesis writing aspects of their training. The most critical of the challenges revolved around students and institutional-related factors. However, supervisor-related factors did not pose any significant challenges to postgraduate students. Suggestions made by postgraduate students on ways of improving their research and thesis writing were that core research areas should be emphasized and taught in departmental seminars and workshops and internet facilities should be provided for students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that periodic progress report on each postgraduate student should be submitted every semester as a feedback mechanism for monitoring progress. This will enhance proper tracking to ensure students completion on schedule. Keywords: Postgraduate studies, Challenges, Research, Thesis writing. 1. Introduction Demand for postgraduate education in Nigeria has escalated since the year 2000 and is still growing. This growth in demand to higher education is not limited to Nigeria but to both developing and developed countries of the world (Kaur & Sidhu, 2009). Among the factors highlighted in the escalating demand are: lack of immediate employment after first degree, the desire to acquire higher degree or to achieve individual academic goals and achieve personal independence. Other reasons as pointed out by Etejere (2006) are economic motivation and high demand for specialized skills by the public and private sectors. Postgraduate education is the higher level of education which is provided after bachelor's degree. It is formal and comprised of structured programmes. It exists in three levels of Postgraduate Diploma or certificate, Master's degree and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree. The provision of postgraduate education takes the form of course work or a combination of course work and thesis writing. In the later case, students offer courses to satisfy course work requirements before embarking upon research and thesis writing. The research and thesis writing are critical components of postgraduate studies. Postgraduate research students work with their supervisors on their theses. The main duty of the supervisor is to provide guidance to students by checking every aspect of their work and also making inputs and comments where necessary. These postgraduate programmes are either organized on full-time or part-time basis. Much as there has been an escalating demand for postgraduate admission, the yearly out-put of graduating students has continued to decline. There is a noticeable mismatch between graduate students intake and the number of higher degree graduate output. Previous researches have observed that up to half of the students who begin their graduate studies spend more than the required number of years and some do not complete their studies at all (Golde, 2001; Duze, 2010). For instance, an analysis of progress report of Masters and Ph.D students in some selected departments during the 2005/2006 academic session in University of Calabar indicated the following: out of the 43 Masters students who were enrolled during the period only 6(14%) completed their programme on schedule, while 37(86%) were at various stages of their research by the year 2010/2011 academic session. Similarly during the same period only 8(16%) Ph.D students out of 50 completed their studies on schedule. Four(8%) students had to withdraw for various reasons, while 38(76%) could not complete by the end of 2010/2011 session. Postgraduate students in Nigerian Universities encounter many difficulties which unduly prolong the successful completion of their programmes. In the