Research Anxiety in University Students: A Mixed Approach (Case study: The Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Birjand University)

The trend of inclining graduate students to do research and develop their research skills is one of the major goals of higher education in most countries. In this regard, reducing students' research anxiety is of special importance. The purpose of this study was to identify the extent and causes of research anxiety in postgraduate students and provide solutions to reduce it. The method of this study was a synthesis of objectives and questions of research and an explanatory method was employed. This research was an applied research in terms of purpose. The statistical population of this study included all graduate students of faculty of science and psychology, University of Birjand, in the academic year of 2018-19 (214 individuals). An Onwuegbuzie questionnaire (2013) was used to measure the anxiety level of students in the quantitative phase of the research. In the second stage (qualitative), 20 graduate students were selected according to findings of the first stage and the data were collected through a semi-structured interview. The data analysis was done through coding process. The results of the first stage indicated that the average level of students’ anxiety was higher than normal. Then, in the second stage of the research (qualitative stage), the factors affecting students' anxiety were classified into 5 main categories; namely the factors associated with the student, professor, faculty, educational system, and society.