ASSESSMENT OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING DIFFICULTIES IN THE DISSERTATION PREPARATION: A STUDY WITH GRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

The present article aims to evaluate the diffi culties of scientifi c writing in the elaboration of the dissertation in the scope of the professional master’s degree, using a case study type research in the master’s degree of a public university located in the Northeast region of the country. Data collection was carried out through the application of forms, through Google Forms, where the diffi culties encountered by the graduates in the construction of knowledge and in the elaboration of the dissertation were investigated. After analyzing the collected data, it was possible to describe the results on the diffi culties of graduates of the master’s course at a university in the Northeast region of the country. In the results section, the main diffi culties reported during the course of construction of the dissertation were highlighted. In general, it is observed that the diffi culties most punctuated by the graduates refer to the diffi culty in choosing the theme, the obstacles to defi ning the general and specifi c objectives, the construction of the theoretical framework/literature review, the obstacles in the choice of methodological methods and procedures, in the form of interpretation of the collected data, in the development of the scientifi c writing and, fi nally, the evaluation of the graduates regarding the effi ciency and effectiveness of the dissertation. The results also demonstrate that the graduates found it diffi cult to collect data through questionnaires or forms, in the search in reliable databases, in recent studies that provide the construction of scientifi c knowledge and help in the elaboration of the dissertation to obtain the master’s degree.