Key issues and challenges that doctoral research students commonly face

 Here are some of the key issues and challenges that doctoral research students commonly face:

Selecting an appropriate research topic: Choosing a relevant, focused, and feasible research topic within the broad field can be difficult for many students. There is pressure to pick a novel topic, but one that is also realistically achievable.

Literature review: Conducting an exhaustive literature review and having a firm grasp of prior research is crucial but also demanding. Accessing papers, digesting vast amounts of information, and synthesizing it into a literature review is challenging.

Theoretical knowledge: Having a solid grounding in the theories, methods, and analytical frameworks related to the research area is essential. Students struggle to gain mastery over these.

Research methodology: Selecting suitable research methodologies like quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods and defending the choices requires robust understanding. Students grapple to select and accurately apply methodologies.

Statistical analysis: Quantitative studies require identifying appropriate statistical techniques, learning statistical software, and accurately analyzing data. Students find this difficult without relevant training.

Time management: Managing time effectively to complete coursework, fieldwork, lab experiments, data analysis, and thesis writing within tight deadlines causes stress.

Writing skills: Academic and scientific writing for the thesis as per standards requires proficiency. Non-native English speakers find this demanding.

Original contribution: Making an original contribution to knowledge is the crux of a PhD. But identifying a novel research gap and producing meaningful insights is challenging.

Guidance support: Quality mentorship from the thesis supervisor is invaluable but may not always meet expectations which can hamper progress.

Psychological wellbeing: Heavy workloads and tight timelines can negatively impact students' mental health and wellbeing. Keeping motivated is tough.

Thus, the doctoral journey has intellectual, analytical, time-management, and psychological challenges. But good planning, hard work, and support can help overcome these issues.