Analysis of Current Research and Development (R&D) Mechanism and Preparation of a Model for Research and Development at University Level in Pakistan

Abstract

This study titled, “Analysis of current research and development mechanism and preparation of a model for research and development at university level in Pakistan” was conducted with the objectives to (1) analyze the status of research and development at universities in Pakistan, (2), explore the existing research and development practices at universities in Pakistan (3) identify the problems faced by research & development center for its smooth functioning (4) find out the trends of research & development in Pakistani Universities, and (5) propose a model of research & development for Pakistani universities. The study was descriptive in nature; therefore survey approach was considered appropriate and adopted for its completion. The population of the study consisted of research supervisors, chairpersons and/ or heads of teaching departments, deans of faculties, concerned authorities of research & development centers and quality assurance cells from twenty three (23) public sector general universities in Pakistan. The multistage sampling based on three stages was adopted for study. The sample of the study consisted of thirty (30) respondents from each university including ten (10) research supervisors, five (05) chairpersons and/ or heads of teaching departments, five (05) deans of faculties, one (01) head and five (05) officials of the research & development center, and four (04) official working in quality assurance cells taken randomly from the population. Five (05) separate questionnaires were prepared on five point rating (likert) scale according to the objectives of the study were used as research tool. It was finalized after its pilot testing. After finalization of research tool the researcher personally administered research tool and collected data from the respondents. After data collection, it was coded in SPSS version 17 and statistically analyzed. The data analysis revealed diversified and interesting results. In overall 56.7% of the respondents appeared to be satisfied with current status of research & development council, whereas 51% of the respondents reported their dissatisfaction with its role in managing research activities to enhance the productivity. About half (50%) of the respondents affirmed appropriateness of planning process but 52% showed their otherwise opinion about implementation of the planning. Furthermore, the results indicated that 50.6% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the monitoring networks, 49.6 % of the respondents wished technical assistance and 54% disagreed with financial assistance provided by reseach and development council. Likewise, 52.9% desired feedback and 51% of xi them affirmed lack of coordination among activities. Half (50%) of the respondents reported their dissatisfaction with outcomes of the research & development process. However, significant majority (75.5%) of respondents were of the view that research & development mechanism faced some problems in universities and institutes of higher education in Pakistan –lengthy process, lack of expertise of different personnel involved in research and development activities, less priority given to R&D, lack of funds, personal liking and disliking, unstable policies, lack of coordination and lack of professional competencies among research and development personnel. Based findings a model of research & development (R & D) was proposed by the researcher for the public sector universities in Pakistan. This study also recommended that research & development mechanism in the public sector universities should be made simple by strengthening research and development councils in Pakistani universities. Research & development process should be given top priority in universities and proper budget should be allocated for research & development activities.