An Examination of Graduate Theses Completed Between 2010 and 2020 about Academic Procrastination

Oct 15, 2026

This study analyzes graduate theses completed between 2010 and 2020 on academic procrastination using a qualitative survey design with document analysis. Searches in the Council of Higher Education Thesis Center (CoHE-thesis) identified 97 theses for review. Theses were examined by type, study topic, methods, and sample distributions. Results show postgraduate theses dominate, relational methods are most common, and university students are the most studied sample group.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages17

Reading Time43 min

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An Examination of Graduate Theses Completed Between 2010 and 2020 about Academic Procrastination1 Tuğçe YARDIM2 Ege University Gizem ENGİN3 Ege University Abstract This study aims to analyze graduate theses completed between 2010 and 2020 about academic procrastination. Qualitative survey method was used in the study. In the study, document analysis was used as the analysis method. After an initial search made using “academic procrastination” keyword in Council of Higher Education Thesis Center's Web Page (CoHE-thesis) 97 theses completed between 2010 and 2020 were found and analyzed. Primarily, graduate theses were analyzed according to their types, topics of study, methods, number of samples and sample group distribution. Afterwards, the methods, sample distributions and sample numbers of the theses according to their types were examined. Majority of these 97 completed theses are postgraduate theses (n=83), secondly doctoral theses (n=12), and thirdly specialty in medicine theses (n=2) . As for the methods used, relational method (n=68) was seen to be the most used method after which comes descriptive method (n=15), thirdly interventional method (n=6), fourthly descriptive and relational method (n=3), and fifthly relational and interventional method (n=1) . As for sample groups, the most researched sample group was university students (n=49) . The most researched topics in theses on the subject of academic procrastination were educational and socio-demographic characteristics. Keywords: Procrastination, Academic Procrastination, Document Analysis, Postgraduate Theses, Cohe-Thesis DOI: 10.29329/epasr.2021.383.16 1 This study was presented at the Experiential Learning Congress held 23-24 October 2020. 2 Master Degree Student, Faculty of Education, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey, ORCID: (0000-0003-3339-9639) [Correspondence](Correspondence: yardimtugce@gmail.com)[: yardimtugce@gmail.com](Correspondence: yardimtugce@gmail.com) 3 Assoc. Prof. Dr, Faculty of Education, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey, ORCID: (0000-0003-2532-8136), Email: [gizem.engin@ege.edu.tr](gizem.engin@ege.edu.tr) Introduction The needs and expectations of society change over time. Today educated people are expected to possess a variety of skills including reaching valid and reliable information, planning and doing research, having responsibility and awareness of their duties, and managing their time effectively. Improving these skills is vital for individuals to reach their goals. Academic duties of students increase and differ with each grade as they move to higher levels of education and eventually evolve to advanced tasks which require meticulous attention. It is necessary for students to learn managing their time effectively in order to carry out these tasks (Akbay and Gizir, 2010) . Academic procrastination is defined as delaying academic based tasks (carrying out projects, preparing for exams) for various and illogical reasons. (Akbay and Gizir, 2010; Albayrak, Yazıcı and Reisoğlu, 2016; Bulut and Ocak, 2017; Kağan, 2009; Senecal, Julien and Guay, 2003) . Individuals’ preference to delay their academic duties to the last-minute despite being aware of their responsibilities is related to behavior of procrastination (Vural and Gündüz, 2019) . Every individual can sometimes exhibit behavior of procrastination regardless of age, gender, or type of the work they are occupied with (Öztürk Başpınar, 2020) . It is a well established fact that procrastination causes negative impacts on individuals (Johnson and Bloom, 1995) . An increased number of social activities, occupational and academic duties (projects, presentations, assignments, exams) brought by university life as well as economic and occupational difficulties make academic procrastination a very common problem observed among university students. (Akbay and Gizir, 2010; Berber Çelik and Odacı, 2015; Kaya and Odacı, 2019; Odacı and Kaya, 2019) . As a result, students tend to perfo

FAQs

How were the relevant graduate theses selected for this study?

The study searched the Council of Higher Education Thesis Center (CoHE-thesis) using the keyword “academic procrastination,” then analyzed 97 theses completed between 2010 and 2020.

What research method and analysis approach were used?

A qualitative survey method was employed, and document analysis served as the analysis method for reviewing the selected theses.

Which thesis types, methods, and sample groups were most common?

Postgraduate theses were the majority, relational methods were most frequently used, and university students were the most researched sample group.

Oct 15, 2026

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