Research as transition instrument: A phenomenological investigation of future image in Ph.D. thesis writing

This research has been done to investigate Shiraz university doctoral students’ perspectives on thesis writing. Required data has been gathered by using deep interviews with eight doctoral students. Based on an abductive research strategy and using interpretative phenomenology, the research findings show a Ph.D. thesis doesn’t have a place in the big picture of their life. Themes abstracted from participants’ interviews have a metaphorical sense. For them, the thesis was like an instrument for transition, so they didn’t have central consideration on the thesis process. They saw thesis conduction as a stage just for the pass, and so in this definition, they saw themselves as a transit passenger. A transit passenger doesn’t have enough time for settlement and follows a long-life aim in the future. We think this finding has more important implications for research policy-makers and the process needs a fundamental review. It means they must be reduced the speed of quantitative development of higher education courses and concentrate on constructing a clear vision for them.