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Curtin University
Office of Strategy and Planning

Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) Scales

The Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) consists of 28 items and comprises the following 7 scales:

  1. Supervision (6 items)
  2. Intellectual Climate (5 items)
  3. Skills Development (5 items)
  4. Infrastructure (5 items)
  5. Thesis Examination Process (3 items)
  6. Clarity of Goals and Expectations (3 items)
  7. Overall Satisfaction (1 item)

While there are optional scales in the Course Experience Questionnaire, the Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire must use all 7 scales to measure the quality of key aspects of research masters and doctorates.

Required 'Core' Scales

Supervision Scale
Evaluates the accessibility and quality of research degree supervision. That means this measure whether the student received good guidance in their literature search. (6 items)

Intellectual Climate Scale
Measures the learning community and conditions provided by the institution, and whether the graduate felt that their department had made efforts to integrate them into the academic community. (5 items)

Skill Development Scale
Assesses the extent of generic analytical and communication skill development. Such skills include the ability to transfer knowledge, apply analytical techniques to new situations, solve problems, plan work, and communicate effectively in writing. (5 items)

Infrastructure Scale
Asks the student about the quality of learning infrastructures such as space, and equipment and finance and whether resource requirements were met during their period of research. (5 items)

Thesis Examination Process Scale
Evaluates whether the examination process was timely, fair and satisfactory, and how satisfied the student was with thesis examination. (3 items)

Clarity of Goals and Expectations Scale
Measures the clarity of learning structure, requirements and standards, and whether supervisors and others frame learning with appropriate pedagogical structures and expectations. (3 items)

Overall Satisfaction Scale
Asks the graduate to indicate their level of overall satisfaction with their completed research. Higher scores on this item indicate higher satisfaction levels. (1 item)