Abstract:
Utilizing examination reports of the external moderation of 92 masters and 8 doctoral dissertations and theses drawn from 10 universities spread across the Eastern, Western and Southern African regions, we analyzed the quality of postgraduate research produced by universities in Africa today. A content analysis of the various reports was conducted to assess overall quality and to identify the specific weaknesses and flaws that characterized the dissertations and theses. To provide a summative measure of quality, we attached a rating to each of the recommendations made with respect to the various research reports as follows: ‘Accept as submitted’ = excellent, ‘accept with minor corrections’ = good, ‘accept (award degree) after major corrections and/or revisions’ = satisfactory, ‘revise and resubmit for further examination’ = poor, and ‘not to be accepted for the degree’ = very poor. For ease of reference the rating was reduced to a dichotomous scheme of high and low in which reports rated as excellent and good were considered to have been of high quality while those in the other ratings were of low quality. The results showed that the bulk (63.0 percent) of the dissertations examined were of low quality; only 37.0 percent rated as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. These tended to be plagued by a variety of weaknesses, including the inability to adequately contribute original and valuable knowledge, poor packaging and presentation that left many of them reading like raw drafts that required the attention of a supervisor more than the services of an examiner, and contents that left a lot
to be desired in terms of depth, clarity, sequencing and coherence, among others. It was concluded that the quality of the bulk of dissertations and theses produced in African universities has been declining. As such, there is an urgent need for universities to create environments that are supportive of research achievements/are suitable for the production of quality postgraduate research.
