Date of Graduation

1998

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This study examined the statistical relationship between 12 selected demographic and situational variables and the completion of the doctorate from the West Virginia University - Marshall University - West Virginia Graduate College Cooperative Doctoral Program. In order to explore this relationship, the Doctoral Student Survey was designed utilizing variables drawn from a search of the literature pertaining to attrition from doctoral programs. This survey was sent to the 226 students that were admitted to the Cooperative Doctoral Program between 1980 and the Fall of 1993. Responses were received from 62% of those surveyed. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used to calculate frequencies, means, linear regression analysis, and stepwise multiple regression tables of the collected data. A statistically significant relationship was found to exist between six of the 12 variables and the completion of the doctorate. Those factors which were found to be significant in this study were the level of financial support available to the student, familial support, peer support, faculty support, chairperson support, and the motivation of the student. The factors which did not prove to be statistically significant in this study were marital status, gender, number of children, age, admission exam score, and undergraduate grade point average.

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