Tourism and Hospitality Postgraduate

Research Experience:
A Highlight of Tourism
and Hospitality Research Issues
in Egyptian Higher Education
Hanan Saad Kattara
Mohamed Eraqi
Mahmoud Hewedi
ABSTRACT. This paper explores the problems and constraints that en-
counter postgraduates, their perceptions and whether they consider their
research experience to be satisfying and rewarding. The research popu-
Hanan Saad Kattara is Associate Professor, Faculty of Tourismand Hotels, Alexan-
dria University, Egypt.
Mohamed Eraqi is Associate Professor, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Cairo Uni-
versity, Egypt.
Mahmoud Hewedi is Professor and Dean, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Cairo
University, Egypt.
Address correspondence to: Hanan Saad Kattara, 394 El Gueish Street, Zizinia, Al-
exandria, Egypt (E-mail: hkattara@plazaegypt.com).
Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, Vol. 4(2) 2004
http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JTTT
2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J172v04n02_01 1
ARTICLES
lation was all postgraduates who have completed either a Masters or a
PhD in tourism and hotel faculties in the Egyptian universities prior to
September 2002. The questionnaire used an agree-disagree scale and fo-
cused on the following dimensions: supervision, intellectual atmo-
sphere, skills development, thesis examination process, clarity of goals
and expectations, and overall satisfaction.
Respondents were satisfied with their experience regarding skills
development and thesis examination process, where the agreement per-
centage constituted 84.66% and 79.48%, respectively. Dissatisfaction
was expressed for intellectual atmosphere and infrastructure. The
agreement percentage for the overall satisfaction was 57.19%. Results
proved that the postgraduate research experience satisfaction (PRES) is
closely correlated to supervision, intellectual atmosphere, skills devel-
opment, thesis examination process, and clarity of goals and expecta-
tions. Moreover, the overall satisfaction of respondents is closely
correlated with all sub-scales (r above 0.95), which confirms the impor-
tance of all sub-scales in achieving the overall satisfaction among gradu-
ates. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery
Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com>
Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.]
KEYWORDS. Graduate education, research experience, tourism and
hospitality research, Egypt
INTRODUCTION
Tourism and hospitality research undoubtedly does more than just
providing information for tourism and hospitality planners and manag-
ers to help themmake suitable decisions. The value of research is repre-
sented in its ability to provide ongoing and comprehensive methods for
decision support and proactive planning. Research plays a fundamental
role in enhancing the dialogue and the collaboration between the indus-
try practitioners, government, policy-makers and academic researchers.
This research assumes a need for greater accountability in tourism
and hospitality higher education. Universities are under pressure to
evaluate the performance of faculties (Polonsky & Mankelow, 1999).
They need to be able to make judgements about whether the provided
education is well delivered and whether graduates consider their experi-
ence of research to be rewarding and satisfying.
2 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN TRAVEL & TOURISM
Thus, the main purpose of this study is to map the overall patterns for
tourism and hospitality postgraduate education across Egypt. In es-
sence, this means presenting descriptive statistics based on the opinion
of the respondents in order to determine: how tourism and hospitality
postgraduates view their research experience in Egyptian universities,
what the strengths and weaknesses of the experience are and to what
extent they are satisfied with this experience.
THE NATURE OF TOURISM
AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH
In response to the globalization of tourism activities and industry,
tourism and hospitality research has become increasingly important to
assist decision making and planning for the tourism and hospitality
product. In the fast ever-changing international tourism business envi-
ronment, tourism and hospitality planners and managers need to re-
spond sufficiently and effectively to external challenges (e.g., new
technologies and increasing competition), as well as to internal factors
(e.g., financial and human resource limitations) (World Tourism Orga-
nization, 1997).
Tourism and hospitality research plays many roles in this industry,
especially in helping identify and evaluate the significant problems of
tourism and hospitality operations. Tourism and hospitality research
can help organizations in the public sector or businesses in the private
sector to formulate suitable business strategies and policy priorities that
are appropriate for market shifts and community concerns. In the latter,
it is often used to help increase productivity through the employment of
a host of quantitative and qualitative techniques to select and implement
the most effective operational models (Veal, 1996). In general, with the
help of tourism and hospitality research, the industry can better under-
stand both short-term changes and long-term trends in the market
(Cobanoglu & Moreo, 2001).
TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY GRADUATE EDUCATION
WORLDWIDE
Tourism and hospitality education has grown rapidly around the
world in the late 1980s and into the 1990s (Telfer & Hashimoto, 2001).
The increasing opportunities in both higher education and the tour-
Kattara, Eraqi, and Hewedi 3
ism/hospitality industry may also influence more individuals to pursue
graduate education (Airey, 1990; Partlow & Gregoire, 1994; Rappole,
Bott, & Klein, 1997; Morse, 1999). Limited research has been con-
ducted to evaluate tourism and hospitality graduate programs (Suarez,
March, Kim, & Shanklin, 2001). Field and Giles (1980) examined ma-
jor dimensions of graduate student satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The
findings indicated that a relationship existed between graduate student
characteristics and satisfaction with graduate education. Several litera-
tures have focused on factors contributing to the successful completion
of graduate studies in general (Baird, 1993; Ethridge & Hudson, 1996).
Significant differences were found in citizenship, financial aid, and
grade point average (Ethridge & Hudson, 1996). Hsu (1996) investi-
gated academic-related concerns of graduate and undergraduate inter-
national students. Results revealed no distinction between responses
from the two groups.
THE PROBLEMS OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
RESEARCH IN EGYPT
Tourism and hospitality research has been the focal interest of those
in charge of the tourismsector in Egypt. The ministry of tourismusually
contacts tourist experts from various research centers in specific fields,
such as quality research, tourist transport and tourism statistics in the
tourism sector. There are only two recent scientific journals, the Egyp-
tian Journal of Tourism and Hospitality and the Egyptian Journal of
Tourism Studies, in addition to published research from specialized
tourism and hospitality conferences held nationally or internationally.
Tourism and hospitality education is a recently introduced field of
study in universities. The first faculty started to launch academic pro-
grams in Helwan University in 1973, followed by its counterpart at Al-
exandria University in 1983. In the 1990s, another four universities
introduced tourismand hospitality educational programs. There are cur-
rently six tourism and hospitality faculties, of which two conduct post-
graduate programs offering Masters and PhD degrees. Students are
encountered with mere scientific difficulties: mainly the lack of special-
ists to supervise tourism and hospitality research, the shortage of funds
earmarked for research and the absence of data resources. However, a
recent study (Hewedi &Eraqi, 2002) defined the major problems facing
tourism and hospitality researchers in Egypt in five points; these run as
follows:
4 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN TRAVEL & TOURISM
The complexity of collecting relevant data and shortage in data re-
sources.
The lack of cooperation between the researchers and the industry.
The lack of funds necessary for implementing research and projects.
The shortage in library and data base resources.
The lack of teamwork research and projects.
METHODOLOGY
The data of the study were collected from postgraduates, who have
obtained either their Masters or doctorate (PhD) degree. The research-
ers first contacted all tourismand hotel faculties in the Egyptian univer-
sities to determine those offering postgraduate degrees (either Masters
or PhD). Fromthe 6 universities providing tourismand hospitality stud-
ies (Helwan, Alexandria, Suez-Canal, Cairo, Menofeya and Menya),
only two offer Masters and PhD degrees, namely Helwan and Alexan-
dria universities. The total number of graduates holding Masters or
PhD before September 2002 is 220 (160 and 60 graduates from Helwan
and Alexandria universities, respectively). The data of the research
were collected through a questionnaire distributed among graduates,
who were requested to fill in as per their experience from the last post
degree graduate obtained. Ninety-two questionnaires were distributed,
representing a sample size of about 41.0% of the total number of gradu-
ates.
The Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) Design
The PREQ was conducted based on the questionnaire developed by
the Australian Council for Educational Research (Ainley, 2001) and the
review of literature therein. Five experts, three in the field of survey de-
signs and two academics, reviewed a first draft of the PREQ. Important re-
marks were under consideration and the second draft was piloted to seven
postgraduates. The first and second trial versions of the PREQ resulted in
the final form leading to the selection of 31 items. Postgraduates research
experience was then evaluated by using an agree-disagree Likert scale and
focusing on six dimensions central to postgraduate experience: supervi-
sion, skills development, intellectual atmosphere, infrastructure, thesis ex-
amination process, and clarity of goals and expectations. The second part
of the PREQ included 12 statements related to graduates overall satis-
faction, in addition to some demographic and profile data.
Kattara, Eraqi, and Hewedi 5
Each graduate was given an envelope containing a letter explaining the
purpose of the research, the potential benefit of the study, the assurance of
confidentiality of their responses, and a copy of the PREQ. Out of the 92
randomly selected graduates, 72 fully completed and returned the question-
naire. Therefore, the final sample yielded a relatively high response rate of
80.0%. This high response rate is vividly attributed to the self-administered
questionnaire with most graduates, and telephone calls to many of them to
explain the purpose of the PREQ and to request their support.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Profile of Respondents
The profile of respondents highlights specific characteristics of re-
spondents related to gender, age, level of study, field of study, average
number of years spent to obtain a degree, motive to study and current
employment. The results revealed that female graduates exceeded their
male counterparts in number (69.4% vs. 30.6%). This was highly evi-
dent with Alexandria University respondents (80.0%), because the fe-
males constituted a majority of 75.0% in the original lists of graduates
obtained from Helwan and Alexandria universities.
Approximately 41.7% of graduates were aged between 26 and 40
years old, 37.5% aged 25 and below, and 20.8% ranged from 41 to 60
years old. None of them belonged to the age group of over 60. The dis-
tribution of respondents in the age categories was similar in both univer-
sities. The majority of respondents (76.4%) obtained a Masters degree,
while only 23.6% of them held a PhD degree.
Ahigher number of graduates was specialized in the area of tourismstud-
ies (44.4%) compared to those in hospitality (29.2%) or tourism guiding
(26.4%). The motive for seekinga postgraduate degree was either a jobpro-
motion (48.6%) or a personal interest (33.3%). The results were slightly
different in Alexandria University where the main motive was personal in-
terest (45.7%). Concerning the respondents current employment, 88.7%
work as staff members in tourismand hotel faculties or institutes, 7.0%work
in the tourism and hotel industry, while 4.3% in other fields.
Results
Appendix 1 provides statistics describing each statement in the PREQ.
The weighted mean column appears to show the most agreed upon
6 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN TRAVEL & TOURISM
statement under each sub-scale of the PREQ, while the agreement per-
centage allows realizing the highest percentages reflecting the most
agreed statements under each sub-scale from the respondents point of
view. The latter was formulated by reducing the five categories on the
Likert scale to just two: agreement or disagreement. Agree and
strongly agree were classified as agreement, while the other catego-
ries were considered disagreement. This technique helped in reducing
some of the information available in the full distribution.
Table 1 records the mean agreement percentage. Table 2 displays the
correlation coefficients in order to determine whether there is a correla-
tion among the scales and to indicate which items of the scale influence
more the overall satisfaction of the graduates.
Table 3 provides the results of respondents characteristics and their
association with the scales of the PREQ. These characteristics include
the respondents gender, age of respondents, level of study and research
motive. The analysis was performed through the use of the mean agree-
ment percentage as indicator of the PREQ responses.
Result Discussion
In Appendix 1, results of the weighted mean prove that postgradu-
ates were highly provided with supervision especially in terms of ad-
ditional information in their research and efforts made by supervisors
to understand difficulties, while they witnessed the lowest supervisory
experience with feedback on the research progress. The results also
revealed that effort should be addressed to the development of provid-
ing good guidance in the field research. Supervisors have to be aware
of the industry problems and current issues in order to guide postgradu-
ate students in selecting topics that meet the industry needs.
Kattara, Eraqi, and Hewedi 7
TABLE 1. Summary Statistics for PREQ Sub-Scales for All Respondents
Scale Number of Items
Agreement Percentage
Mean SD
Supervision
Skills Development
Intellectual Atmosphere
Infrastructure
Thesis Examination Process
Clarity of Goals and Expectations
Overall Satisfaction
6
5
5
7
3
4
12
68.11
84.66
37.20
21.67
79.48
72.26
57.19
22.76
19.82
9.63
7.08
31.84
22.18
16.48
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9
Under the skills development sub-scale, the highest agreement
goes to the development of analytical skills and development of
ideas and writing them, while the least weighted mean stands to de-
velopment of planning and organizing abilities. To sum up, the
weighted mean results were clustered around a similar level. It is
noteworthy that special concern has to be given to the improvement of
skills especially planning and organizing research work abilities.
Under the intellectual atmosphere sub-scale, the weighted mean
was the highest with integrating with the department community and
the lowest with good seminars for students. All in all, the weighted
means under this sub-scale are considered low. It could be concluded
that there is an overall dissatisfaction with the provision of the intellec-
tual atmosphere as the weighted means ranged between 38.6% and
46.6%, indicating that above half of the postgraduates were on the dis-
agreement part of the scale. Improving the intellectual atmosphere is of
paramount importance due to the fact that intellectual improvements
cannot be thoroughly achieved only through research. Valuable contri-
butions in this respect can be introduced through seminars, workshops
and discussions.
Under the infrastructure sub-scale, library resources reached the
climax for the weighted mean (43.0%), while interlibrary loans was
at the bottom (26.0%). A quick glance on the infrastructure state-
ments shows that the majority stands on the disagreement part of the
scale. The low weighted mean for all the statements means that the
provision of the infrastructure is, to a great extent, impoverished.
The weighted mean at the thesis examination process reaches an
above average level ranging from56.8%to 59.2%for all the statements.
Statements herein prove that not less than 74.9% were satisfied with
their examination process. However, it is important to consider the re-
maining 24.9% of respondents who registered a disagreement with the
statements thereof.
Under the clarity of goals and expectations, the statement related to
understanding of the standard of work expected (59.2%) reached the
highest weighted mean, while the lowest rate stands for awareness
with the basis of thesis examination and evaluation (46.4%). Re-
sponses for the statements measuring the clarity of goals and expecta-
tions witnessed a larger proportion of disagreement, especially for the
statement measuring the awareness of the basis of thesis examination
evaluation. These results reveal the vitality of the clarity of goals re-
lated to the thesis examination. This urges the need to improve the thesis
10 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN TRAVEL & TOURISM
examination process and to inform students with the basis of such ex-
amination.
As for the overall satisfaction sub-scale, it was obvious that the
highest weighted mean goes to satisfaction with the cultural level
achieved by obtaining the degree. Aglance at the overall satisfaction
weighted means and agreement percentages declared a majority of dis-
satisfaction with monetary assistance, salary increments after ob-
taining the degree, infrastructure provided for research, proper
intellectual atmosphere and feasibility of the research for the soci-
ety, which registered a weighted mean less than 45.0%.
In Appendix 1, the results of the agreement percentage proved that
about three-quarters of the respondents agree with understanding re-
search difficulties, good guidance in topic selection, supervisors
provide additional information and supervisors available when
needed. On the other hand, the lowest agreements went to feedback
on progress and guidance in the field research. In the skills devel-
opment statements, more than 70.0% agreed with all the statements,
while the statements of the intellectual atmosphere witnessed a low
percentage of agreement, ranging from27.0%to 49.0%. The agreement
percentage was extremely low for all the statements of the infrastruc-
ture sub-scale. Thesis examination process and clarity of goals and
expectations statements were above 73.0% except for the awareness
of the examination basis and evaluation criteria item. For overall sat-
isfaction, the agreement percentages were higher than 67.0% for the
majority of statements, but were too low for monetary assistance,
salary increments, and infrastructure provision.
Generally speaking, there was a high level of agreement with state-
ments concerned with skills development and thesis examination
process. Lower levels of agreement were expressed with supervi-
sion and clarity of goals and expectations statements. Fluctuations in
agreement appeared with overall satisfaction statements. The lowest
levels of agreement were recorded to intellectual atmosphere and in-
frastructure statements.
From Table 1 it could be deduced that respondents highly agreed
with statements under sub-scales for skills development and thesis
examination process, where the means of percentage agreement were
84.66%and 79.48%, respectively. The least agreed sub-scales were in-
tellectual atmosphere and infrastructure, with low standard devia-
tions indicating a high degree of uniformity in data gathered.
Fromcorrelation coefficients results displayed in Table 2, it was real-
ized that there is a strong correlation between all items (all above 0.70).
Kattara, Eraqi, and Hewedi 11
Moreover, the overall satisfaction of respondents was highly correlated
with all sub-scales (above 0.90) confirming the importance of all
sub-scales in achieving the overall satisfaction among graduates.
The results of Table 3 showed a significant discrepancy between
males and females in responses under all sub-scales. Females had a
much higher mean agreement percentage especially for supervision,
intellectual atmosphere and overall satisfaction. There are no clear
reasons for this disparity; it may be attributed to their field of study,
however.
It is obvious that older graduates had a higher mean agreement per-
centage than the younger ones. Graduates aged between 41 and 60 years
old had higher means for all sub-scales (above 77.0%) than those aged
between 26 and 40 (above 66.0%). Such results could be explained by
the fact that mature students are more capable than their younger oppo-
site members. PhD graduates achieved a higher level of mean agree-
ment percentage under all sub-scales than Masters graduates did.
These results were not surprising as one might expect that PhD gradu-
ates had previous research experiences and had been included in
broader research communities to a greater extent than their Masters
colleagues. These appear to be the reasons for their higher satisfaction
level. Results also showed that the mean agreement percentage fluctu-
ates among sub-scales for graduates with the personal interest as a re-
search motivation and those with promotion as such. No clear
conclusion could thus be drawn from such results.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION OF THE STUDY
This study has provided a significant insight as to how to improve
postgraduate tourism and hospitality research experience in Egyptian
universities. Results proved that postgraduates were succinctly provided
with supervision especially in terms of additional information in their
research and professional supervisors with their research difficulties.
Although there was a general satisfaction with the supervision provided,
efforts should be absolutely addressed for the improvement of topic se-
lection and refinement. Supervisors should be alert to the industry prob-
lems and current issues to successfully guide postgraduates in selecting
topics significant to the requirements of the industry.
Concerning the skills development, special attention should be fo-
cused on improving skills especially in planning and organizing research
work abilities. Due to the overall dissatisfaction with the provision of an
12 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN TRAVEL & TOURISM
intellectual atmosphere and the infrastructure resources, funda-
mental improvements should be introduced in order to enhance gradu-
ates cultural maturity.
Although a high proportion of respondents accepted the thesis exam-
ination process, further studies should be conducted to identify im-
provements of the process and its reliability. Goals and expectations
should be clearly defined, especially concerning the examination and
evaluation criteria.
Concerning the overall satisfaction, graduates were content with the
cultural level achieved after obtaining the degree. However, a high pro-
portion of dissatisfaction existed for monetary assistance, salary incre-
ments, facilities provided for research, proper intellectual atmosphere,
and feasibility of the research to the society.
Respondents highly agreed with statements under skills develop-
ment and thesis examination process, as the means of agreement
percentage were 84.66% and 79.48%, respectively. On the other hand,
they were dissatisfied with the intellectual atmosphere and infra-
structure sub-scales.
Correlation coefficients results revealed a strong correlation among
all items, and the overall satisfaction of respondents was closely corre-
lated to all sub-scales. Thus, the significance of supervision, skills de-
velopment, intellectual atmosphere, infrastructure, thesis examination
process, and clarity of goals and expectations could define the overall
satisfaction among graduates. Improving the level of provision under
each of the six previously mentioned dimensions would definitely be re-
warding in postgraduate research experiences.
Results of this study reported a relationship with many of the gradu-
ates demographics, gender, age, level of study and research motivation
and their level of satisfaction. These results support those of Field and
Giles (1980), which reported a relationship between graduate student
demographics and their satisfaction with graduate education, and those
of Suarez et al. (2001), which proved that faculty, collegiality and fam-
ily are variables to satisfaction.
It is hoped that this study will be of immense help for Egyptian tour-
ism and hospitality faculty administrators in taking better informed de-
cisions regarding the improvement of postgraduate research studies.
Although most tourism and hospitality organizations in Egypt are keen
to create positive research environments for both academic researchers
and field practitioners, much effort and improvements are still desper-
ately needed. Tourism and hospitality faculties, together with tourism
practitioners, should launch grants earmarked for research in the tourism
Kattara, Eraqi, and Hewedi 13
and hospitalty sector. Providing facilities for researchers, such as data re-
sources and research budgets as well as empowering team research, is
necessary to achieve more vigorous research. Moreover, dialogues be-
tween researchers and the industry professionals should be formulated in
a bid to satisfy and respond to the industry needs and current problems.
Besides being of paramount importance in helping to improve post-
graduate studies in Egyptian universities, this research can further be
valuable for those countries having the tourism education as a new
venue in their universities. These countries may benefit from the results
of this study and prevent the occurrence of similar deficiencies.
It is noteworthy to point out the yielded benefits of this research in
providing theoretical and applied knowledge related to the quality of
tourism education provided in a developing country. This in turn will
help shape a global perspective of tourism educational issues and prob-
lems. Consequently, educational development plans could be set world-
wide taking into account the needs and problems of individual
countries. Further studies in this concern are to be encouraged in order
to guarantee a reliable and sustainable tourism educational develop-
ment around the world. This will respond to the dire need to provide
qualified cadres and improve the education quality, which will contrib-
ute to solving the industrys problematic issues.
REFERENCES
Ainley, J. (2001). The 1999 postgraduate research experience questionnaire. Austra-
lian Council for Educational Research.
Airey, D. (1990). TourismEducation: A U.K. Perspective. Paper presented at the Tour-
ism Education Conference Papers, Canberra: University of Canberra, Bureau of
Tourism Research. In Wells, J. (1996). The Tourism Curriculum in Higher Educa-
tion in Australia: 1989-1995. The Journal of Tourism Studies, 7(1), 20-30.
Baird, L. L. (1993). Increasing graduate retention and degree attainment. San Fran-
cisco: Jossey Bass.
Cobanoglu, C., &Moreo, P. (2001). Hospitality research educators perceptions. Jour-
nal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 13(5), 9-20.
Ethridge, D., & Hudson, D. (1996). Can we predict student success in agricultural eco-
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Field, H. S., & Giles, W. F. (1980). Student satisfaction with graduate education:
Dimensionality and assessment in a school business. Educational Research Quar-
terly, 5(2), 66-73.
Hewedi, M. M., & Eraqi, M. I. (2002). Tourism and hospitality in Egypt: The high-
lights of academic and industrial research issues. Paper presented at the Conference
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of the Tourism and its role in the development of Arab Countries, Thamar Univer-
sity, Republic of Yemen, 15-17 October.
Hsu, C. (1996). Needs and concerns of international students: What can educators do?
Hospitality and Tourism Educator, 8(2/3), 68-75.
Morse, S. (1999). Assessing the future US employment demand for graduate students
from hospitality programs: How to justify more resources for your Graduate Pro-
gram. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Graduate Education Students Research
Conference in Hospitality and Tourism, Las Vegas: 4, 71-81. In Suarez, V., March,
L., Kim, H., & Shanklin, C. (2001). Factors contributing to the success of hospital-
ity graduate students. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 13(3/4),
105-112.
Partlow, C., & Gregorie, M. (1994). Is graduate hospitality education relevant? Ask
graduates. Hospitality and Tourism Educator, 6(3), 13-16.
Polonsky, M., &Mankelow, G. (1999). Average research output of assistant, associate,
and full professors. Marketing Educators, (Summer) 1-6.
Rappole, C., Bott, C., & Klein, R. (1997). The chronological and geographical devel-
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Suarez, V., March, L., Kim, H., & Shanklin, C. (2001). Factors contributing to the suc-
cess of hospitality graduate students. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education,
13(3/4), 105-112.
Telfer, D., & Hashimoto, A. (2001). Environmental education in tourisma comparison
between Canada and Japan. Journal of Hospitality &TourismEducation, 13(1), 18-24.
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SUBMITTED: 02/03/03
FIRST REVISION SUBMITTED: 04/30/03
SECOND REVISION SUBMITTED: 08/24/03
FINAL REVISION SUBMITTED: 10/10/03
ACCEPTED: 10/24/03
REFEREED ANONYMOUSLY
Kattara, Eraqi, and Hewedi 15
APPENDIX 1
Weighted Mean and Agreement Percentage for PREQ
16 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN TRAVEL & TOURISM
Statements Weighted
mean
a
Agreement
Percentage
b
Supervision
My supervisor/s provided additional information relevant to my topic. 60.8 73.60
My supervisor/s made a real effort to understand difficulties I faced. 55.6 76.25
Supervision was available when I needed it. 55.6 72.15
I was given good guidance in topic selection and refinement. 55.2 74.85
I received a good guidance frommy supervisors in my field search. 52.3 57.95
My supervisor/s provided helpful feedback on my progress. 50.8 53.85
Skills Development
My research developed my analytical skills. 62.8 91.75
I learned to develop my ideas and present themin my written work. 62.6 93.15
My research further developed my problem-solving skills. 61.3 91.60
As a result of my research, I feel confident about tackling
unfamiliar problems.
58.6 76.15
Doing my research helped me to develop my ability to plan and
organize my own work
58.2 70.65
Intellectual Atmosphere
It was easily to integrate with the department's community. 46.6 49.35
The department provided opportunities for social contact with
other postgraduate students.
43.4 39.80
The department provided opportunities for me to become
involved in the broader research culture.
43.4 34.20
The research environment in the department or faculty
stimulated my abilities to research.
41.2 35.40
A good seminar programfor postgraduate students was provided. 38.6 27.25
Infrastructure
The library had a good amount of references required. 43.0 41.45
I had a good access to computing facilities and services. 37.4 32.75
I had access to a suitable working space. 37.0 19.05
I had a good access to the technical support I needed. 33.8 16.30
The library has a good access to many databases. 31.0 17.70
There was appropriate financial support for my research activities. 29.0 13.50
Unavailable references had been provided through interlibrary
loans.
26.0 10.95
Thesis Examination Process
The examination of my thesis was completed in a reasonable time. 59.2 81.80
The thesis examination process was objective. 58.4 81.80
I was satisfied with the thesis examination process. 56.8 74.85
Clarity of Goals and Expectations
I developed an understanding of the standard of work expected. 59.2 82.10
I understood the required standard for the thesis. 58.8 84.85
I understood the requirements of thesis examination. 55.0 73.40
I was aware of the basis of thesis examination and evaluation. 46.4 48.70
Kattara, Eraqi, and Hewedi 17
Statements Weighted
mean
a
Agreement
Percentage
b
Overall Satisfaction
The cultural level you achieved by obtaining the degree. 59.4 93.00
Your self and moral satisfaction after obtaining the degree. 56.6 82.10
Achievement of research goals and evaluation expectations. 56.0 77.55
Supervision level during your research from the department or
the faculty.
55.4 71.90
Your research and analytical skills development. 54.4 86.05
Appreciation received from your work after obtaining the degree. 52.8 66.45
The duration for achieving the research and obtaining the
degree.
52.0 67.70
The feasibility of your research to the society. 44.6 41.60
Provision of proper intellectual atmosphere in the department/
faculty.
40.6 34.40
Provision of proper infrastructure/services essential for research
in the department or the faculty.
37.2 27.25
Salary increments obtained after the degree. 34.2 20.65
Provision of monetary assistance for your research by the
department or the faculty.
31.8 17.65
a
Weighted Mean = Frequencies scale values (1-5)
5
b
Percentage Agreement = (Agree + Strongly agree) %