Why bother about writing a Masters dissertation? Assumptions of faculty and Masters students in an Iranian setting

This article reports the results of a mixed methodology analysis of the assumptions of academic staff and Masters students in an Iranian university regarding various aspects of the assessment of the Masters degree thesis, including the main objective for writing the thesis, the role of the students, supervisors and advisors in writing the proposal, conducting the project, writing the thesis, and asking/answering questions in the viva. Assuming that the Masters degree oral exams are important historical moments to investigate these issues, qualitative observations were made of 32 Masters vivas in an Iranian university, leading to 18 core categories. These were then drawn upon to develop two questionnaires, which were completed by 57 academic staff and 101 Masters students in various disciplines in the same institution. The results indicate lack of consistency and transparency with regard to roles, responsibilities, and obligations of various stakeholders in handling various aspects of the Masters thesis.