Phenomenology of Student's Experiences of Research Activities; Case Study of Students with Special Needs

The purpose of this research was Phenomenology of student's experiences with specific needs in conducting research activities. The research was an applied research based on the purpose of the research, and was an exploratory blend type. In the qualitative section of the research methodology, a descriptive phenomenological method was used and the semi-structured interview tool was used to collect the findings. Participants in the qualitative section were 25 students with special needs in postgraduate and Ph.D. degrees from 6 universities (level one, two, and three), had been selected on the basis of purposeful sampling. The research method in the quantitative section was descriptive-survey; and the data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire of 62 items based on the findings of the qualitative section and subject literature. The reliability coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.726 with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The statistical population of the study consisted of 150 students with special needs at the postgraduate and Ph.D. level from Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Kharazmi, Razi, Lorestan and Kurdistan universities who been selected according to relative stratified sampling method. Data were analyzed by Using SPSS software and descriptive and inferential statistics. The results in the qualitative section consisted of four descriptive dimensions: experience and sense of exposure, research experience, mediators, facilities, and research challenges along with 19 subscales. The results of the quantitative part and the Friedman test showed that the experience and sense of the research as breaking the beliefs and stereotypes had the highest score and research as the exposure to the unknown world had the lowest score among the students with special needs. The experience of research in the view of students with special needs, with the focus of the mistress of the highest score, and the implementation of research with individual focus and the system of supervision has the lowest score The unofficial and friendly support system had the highest score and the independent and special support system had the lowest score in the component of intermediaries, facilities and assistance. Facility Challenge had the Highest Score and Social-cultural challenges had the lowest score in the dimension of the research challenge in terms of students with special needs.