Predictors of Graduate Students’ Research Performance in the Philippine State-Run Higher Education Institution

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Introduction
Research plays a significant role in everyday daily life.All the inventions and all the things people are enjoying have been possible with the help of research.Furthermore, the knowledge produced by research served as the foundation of sustainable development, which requires that knowledge be used in the service of development, be applied, and be shared to ensure pervasive benefits (University of Skovde, 2016).
In the Philippines, several state universities and colleges have shown distinctive niches in the different fields of research and offer promising and unique platforms in Research, Innovation, and Extension which allow them to engage in discovery and or applied research, disseminate research knowledge, inform government policies, and propel the country's competitiveness in the knowledge-driven global economy (Commission on Higher Education Memo Order No. 52, S. 2016).
In graduate studies, doing research is an essential feature in the students' daily lives (Akyurek & Afacan, 2018).Graduate education as the apex of the educational system is one of the most effective means of developing capacities related to research that will improve the educational theory and practice in the different aspects of the educational process (Commission on Higher Education Memo Order No. 53, S. 2007).
& Salabat, 2014).Research methods always remained one of the least favorite courses, and most students often perceive them as an impediment in their studies (Papanastasiu, 2014).Students think that it is tough and dry to study research, and they do not understand research concepts and its importance in their professional life.Others dislike research because they do not see themselves as researchers, while others do not feel empowered to understand and use research.Students negatively assumed research because they had to face several obstacles and could not understand the concepts of the research (Shaukat et al., 2014).
On the other hand, some students may take research courses more positively and seriously because they think it would help them in their professional lives.Unfortunately, students who realize the need to spend more time on research activities are even fewer (Siemens et al., 2010).Research must be done precisely and systematically to look for new knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values, or the re-interpretation of existing knowledge.In addition, researchers must possess skills and positive qualities because some unexpected difficulties and problems may be encountered in doing research (Bocar, 2013).
Graduate education is about creating individuals who can ask interesting, demanding, and challenging questions.
It is also about skill development that takes the student beyond cultivating a strong analytical mind.Unfortunately, in the review of graduate education, they found out that many are ill-prepared for the full range of roles they must play in academe or beyond.Furthermore, their experience is tarnished by a mismatch between the opportunities available to students as they complete their work and their expectations and training along the way (Polzienne, 2011).
In its effort to raise and maintain the quality of research and address research challenges, Occidental Mindoro State College conducted several intervention programs.Nonetheless, just like the other higher education institutions, they continue to face pressing challenges at various stages of research.It includes improving the research capability, instilling a research culture and vocation, research productivity, and raising quality and impact.(Commission on Higher Education Memo Order No. 52, S. 2016).Thus, this study was conducted.

Objectives of the Study
This study aims to determine the predictors of research performance of graduate students.Specifically, it aimed to: 1) Determine the respondents' attitude towards research.
2) Find out the challenges encountered by the respondents during the research process.
3) Determine the coping strategies used by the respondents during the research process.4) Determine the respondents' level of research performance.5) Determine which among the attitude, challenges encountered, and coping strategies predicts the research performance of the graduate students.

Theoretical Framework
The study was anchored on the Social Cognitive Theory of Bandura and Walberg's theory on Educational productivity.
The social cognitive theory states that learning occurs in a social context with dynamic and reciprocal interaction of environment and behavior.The theory considers the person's past experiences, which factor into whether behavioral action will occur.These past experiences influence reinforcements, expectations, and expectancies, all of which shape whether a person will engage in specific behavior and why a person engages in that behavior (Lamorte, 2016).
The theory on Educational productivity of Walberg (1981) states that affective, cognitive, and behavioral skills for optimization of learning affect the quality of academic performance such as aptitude (ability, development, and motivation); instruction (amount and quality); and environment (home, classroom, peers, and television).
Graduate students' attitude towards research, the challenges they encountered, the coping strategies they employed while doing research, and their research performance is influence by the dynamic and reciprocal interactions with family members, friends, teachers, and other people in their environment.Thus, their home and school environment could also affect their research performance; their attitude plays a significant role in excelling in their research endeavors.

Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework that guided the study is presented in Figure 1.As shown in the research paradigm, the researcher looked into the predictors of the respondents' research performance (DV) level of the graduate jel.ccsenet.ostudents.T research, c

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Challenges Encountered by the Graduate Students During the Research Process
Challenges could be defined as an undertaking or condition that tests someone's capability.It also refers to the problems encountered in a job or career which test one's ability or resources in challenging but inspiring undertakings (Asogwa, Wombo, & Ugwouke, 2015).In this study, challenges refer to those difficult situations that graduate students encounter during the research process.
In Table 2, graduate students encountered moderate (2.56) challenges during the research process.The table also shows seven indicators that posed a moderate challenge and eight indicators that show low challenges to the graduate students during the research process.The item developing interest in the topic that my panel of evaluators approved of me got the highest mean (3.46).On the other hand, my adviser and panel members asked me to write and submit to them without any guide or materials got the lowest mean (1.53).
The findings implied that the graduate students encountered low to moderate challenges during the research process because the approved topics are within the range of their interest, and they were given enough support to perform their research activities.The statement supports the findings that the individual's interest in a particular topic is significant.Researching topics that are not of interest could affect the students' performance, and there can be problems in completing the study on time.Further, the supervisors (advisers) should develop research skills and creativity by preparing a conducive research environment, and they are expected to help their students overcome research problems (Akyurek & Afacan, 2018).High; 1.0-1.5 Very Low; 2.51-3.5 Moderate.

Coping Strategies Employed by Graduate Students During the Research Process
Coping is defined as a solid determination to manage and overcome difficulties and serious undertakings that posed a test, danger, harm, loss, or benefit to an individual.It includes self-regulated goal attainment strategies and personal growth (Asogwa, Wombo, & Ugwouke, 2015).
Table 3 shows that the graduate students sometimes (3.19) employed coping strategies during the research process.Coping strategies such as seeking help from competent faculty and student other than their adviser and consistently visiting their adviser garnered the highest mean (3.92), while hiring a research assistant to facilitate their thesis writing got the lowest mean (1.87).The findings imply that the respondents rely much on their thesis adviser during the entire research process since they considered them the most knowledgeable and the right person who can assist them during their research undertakings.Furthermore, the adviser's field of expertise is vital because they can better guide their students (Arkuryek & Afacan, 2018).Table 3. Coping Strategies employed by graduate students during the research process.

Indicators
Mean Interpretation I sought help from other competent faculty and students other than my adviser from topic selection to the end of thesis writing.

Sometimes
I sourced materials for my Thesis with the help of classmates.3.07 Sometimes I sourced materials from cyber café and libraries with the help of cyber and library attendants.
3.34 Often I had to learn computer operations for browsing and data analysis.
3.53 Often I consistently visited my advisers' office to check for my Thesis.
3.92 Often I sent my Thesis to my adviser and received corrections from him/ her via e-mail, texts, and calls.
3.70 Often I arranged with or paid my colleagues to perform some official duties to enable me to have time for my thesis writing.

Sometimes
I gave material appreciation to my adviser and my respondents.
3.68 Often I hired a research assistant to facilitate my thesis writing.
1.87 Rarely I borrowed money to cope with financial challenges to complete my thesis writing.
3.17 Sometimes Mean

Level of Research Performance of the Graduate Students
As shown in Table 4, the level of research performance of the graduate students is high, as reflected in the 3.85 means.Among the indicators of research performance, the graduate students obtained a high level in writing the conducting seminars, and advancing policies regarding the use of academic research output.In addition, they may be taught coping skills to handle the challenges encountered during the research process proactively.Reduce environmental stressors by providing a balance of challenge and support to the researchers.

Table 1 .
Papanatasiu (2014) defined attitude as the mental, emotional, and behavioral tendencies of a person toward a concept, a situation, an object, and course; attitude towards research, on the other hand, means a thorough study of the cognitive, affective, and the students' conduct towards research.Therefore, it is essential to look into the students' attitude towards research to develop a positive attitude to facilitate learning(Shaukat, Siddiquah,  Abiodullah, & Akbar, 2014).Table1presents that graduate students tended to have a positive attitude towards research, as shown in the 3.73 overall means.The table also shows that the respondents rated the three dimensions of attitude from negative to very positive.The usefulness of the research garnered a very positive attitude (4.70), and positive predispositions (4.17) obtained positive results.It can also be noted that the respondent's anxiety towards research is negative (2.32).The findings implied that the respondents have a favorable attitude towards research.They take research courses more positively and seriously because it would help them in their professional lives(Shaukat, Siddiquah,  Abiodullah & Akbar, 2014).Graduate students' attitude towards research

Table 2 .
Challenges encountered by the graduate students during the research process.