Nottingham University School of Social Science
Applied Psychology and Management Studies
Applied Research Methods II Qualitative Methods
“What is the role of procrastination for students?”
Abylaikhan Aldamzharov
Student ID: 011310
Abstract
Procrastination is one of the terms that most people have experienced during their lifetime. It is a problem that especially concerns students, because it affects their grades. According to a research that was done in 1997 stated that procrastination was the main reason for Ph.D. candidates to fail their final assignments. Therefore, this qualitative research was done to find the attitude of students towards procrastination. The research was held in University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and the qualitative study was based on interviewing students. The entire qualitative study was based on interviewing four extremely procrastinating students and analysing the data obtained from the interviews. Two major insights were emphasised: the role of procrastination and the ways to deal with this bad habit. Both interviews and analysis were discussed.
Background
Research problem
What is the role of procrastination for UNMC students?
How to decrease procrastination?
Data Collection Method
Semi- structured narrative interviews with three procrastinating students of UNMC were taken. These 4 students were selected after a research that studied procrastination level of students, the grades of participants, the number of resits taken and their reputation in the society.
Each of these interviews lasted from 12 to 20 minutes. Some simple questions were asked in the beginning which afterwards led to express their feelings about the impact of procrastination, ways to deal with this bad habit. Moreover, the participants talked about their attitude towards procrastination after failing their exams, their parents’ opinion about procrastination. Interviewees were also asked a question about whether they would like to change the habit of procrastination to some other bad habit like smoking, aggressiveness or unfriendliness. Eventually, the participants gave some advices on how to try to overcome procrastination based on their experience.
The Role of Researcher
During this research I used my advantage of being the same student as the participants. Moreover, I am also a bit familiar with the term of procrastination and, therefore, I know what questions to ask and how to interpret them in the right way. During the interviews I asked them to lie on the couch, so they could relax and imagine as if they are having a therapy with a psychologist. According to Freud- the father of psychology, people feel a bit uncomfortable when they look straight at each other. Therefore, he asked them to lie back on the couch so they are more relaxed and open to talk. I have also accepted the choice of the participants to remain anonymous, so nobody knows about the bad habit of procrastination. Even though, some people gave some information about their home country and course that they take. In addition, some interviews wanted to have the interview on Russian, so they could fully express their feelings and thought about procrastination..
Data Analyse Approach
Each of three interviews was audio- recorded with a mobile phone, transcribed into a Word- format document and then analysed with the help of computer programme called Nvivo.