Obstacles to using electronic research among graduate students amid COVID-19: Graduate students' perspective

Abstract

The current study aims to reveal the obstacles faced by postgraduate students when using electronic research amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving the study objectives necessitates the use of the descriptive survey approach. The study instruments consist of a questionnaire with a sample of 132 male and female graduate students and a personal interview applied to 10 graduate students. The findings indicate that the degree of obstacles faced by postgraduate students has ranged from low to medium. The most prominent obstacles are the absence of a guideline explaining the steps of electronic research; the Internet networks’ slow speed and the continuous interruption of communication, along with the high cost of knowledge sources, such as periodicals and books; the lack of experience and weak research skills among students; the financial cost of subscribing to Internet and purchasing e-books; and the lack of training workshops required to search the Internet.

Keywords: COVID-19; educational sciences; electronic research; graduate students; Obstacles