How To Promote Research In Higher Education Institutions?

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How To Promote Research In Higher Education Institutions
Research often lacks full transparency and reproducibility, and poor research practices are increasingly picked up by the public, which is undermining trust in academia. Open research is research conducted with full transparency, in its design, methods and communication of outputs.

  • Research practices that are “open” improve research quality and integrity, reuse by others and value for money.
  • They increase public trust in research and protect against fraud.
  • Open research is an area that most, if not all, agree is important.
  • However, creating a culture of openness can be challenging, especially with many competing demands and practical challenges.

For instance, how many of your institution’s research outputs share the supporting data and code ? Do your researchers always know how to identify and avoid questionable research practices ? Achieving greater openness requires long-term culture change.
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How can universities support research?

How universities can foster a scientific research culture AFRICA

19 June 2021 Why a scientific research culture matters What is a scientific research culture? Institutional leadership Teaching research skills Dr Eric Fredua-Kwarteng is an educator and policy analyst in Canada.

Scientific research has become a powerful buzzword in the vision and mission statements of all African universities. Some African universities have even stated that their vision is of becoming research-intensive institutions in the near future. For others, their mission involves excellence in teaching, learning, research and community outreach programmes.

  1. Yet others aim to work collaboratively with international researchers for mutual benefits.
  2. Is this just a hollow rebranding exercise? Alternatively, are these serious commitments that the institutions are striving to attain? These questions can best be answered by carefully but persistently observing the organisational culture in the universities making those statements.

Observations of African universities indicate that most have either no evolving scientific research culture, a weak research culture or no scientific research culture at all. Teaching continues to occupy a central role though they may claim to be research oriented.

  • Yet it is doubtful if a university could attain research excellence or contribute to national transformation of its country through the creation, application and transfer of knowledge without a vibrant scientific research culture.
  • Until recently, international donor organisations such as the World Bank had written off African universities as elitist and wasteful of scarce resources.

Now the World Bank says that African universities could make a tremendous contribution to African development through their research activities. This suggests that African universities that foster a scientific research culture are more useful to Africa’s socio-economic development relative to those that principally concentrate on teaching.

  1. Fostering a scientific research culture in African universities is critical to improving the human conditions in Africa.
  2. Africa has a chequered colonial history and it continues to be haunted by its colonial past.
  3. In light of its colonial history, Africa needs a critical mass of intellectuals and scholars whose primary interest and mindset is the well-being of the continent.

Fostering a scientific research culture is a sure pathway to creating that critical mass of intellectuals and scholars. These intellectuals and scholars would represent a vanguard for the transformation of the African continent and also change the image of the continent.

Furthermore, scientific research is a major driver of social and economic innovation in that it produces new knowledge, skills and attitudes which are crucial for economic growth and technological development. Africa needs this to gain an economic competitive advantage and to improve the living conditions of its burgeoning population of young people.

Researchers have long established a direct link between research and policy. Research informs policy and policy also informs research. In fact, without African continent-based research activities, African countries will not find efficacious solutions to their home-grown problems stemming from the environment, their political system, education, health, housing, agriculture and technology infrastructure.

  1. Africa is immensely disadvantaged since it continues to import and consume on an enormous scale research knowledge from the Global North.
  2. While such imported research is of excellent quality, it is ineffective at addressing African-specific problems.
  3. This is why African universities need to foster a scientific research culture in order to increase their research output.

Given that knowledge and skills taught in African universities are primarily imported from the Global North, a dichotomy between institutional knowledge and African indigenous knowledge has formed. African indigenous knowledge exists in the larger African society and is embedded in traditional political institutions, commerce, parenting, healthcare, food preparation and preservation and agricultural practices.

Fostering a scientific research culture in African universities could bridge the gap between these two forms of knowledge and ensure that African indigenous knowledge is part of the body of knowledge taught and researched at university level. This would make African universities more relevant to the entirety of African society.

Scientific research studies of African diseases and public health are critical to improving mortality and morbidity rates in Africa and also address the diseases that plague people of African descent living in other parts of the world. More generally, Africa faces tough development challenges, including poor disease management strategies, poor infrastructural development, food insecurity, poor hygiene and sanitation, ineffective education systems and a lack of pipe-borne water.

  • Tackling these development challenges requires the cultivation of a scientific research culture in the universities, alongside a vigorous research agenda.
  • There is a lack of literature on what constitutes a scientific research culture in higher education.
  • Nevertheless, Dr Linda Evans from the University of Leeds’ definition of a research culture is the most appropriate.

She defines a scientific research culture as “shared values, assumptions, beliefs, rituals and other forms of behaviour whose central focus is the acceptance and recognition of research practice and output as valued, worthwhile and pre-eminent activity”.

  • Simply framed, a scientific research culture focuses on cultivating an ethos of inquiry in an institution.
  • A research culture plays a critical role when it comes to informing and guiding the actions of institutional members who are engaged or considering becoming engaged in scientific research activities.

In addition, researchers unanimously agree that a scientific research culture is not built on a one-off project but rather a continuous series of projects and policies intended to make research practice and output an entrenched value, belief and a singular part of the institution’s personality and character.

  • Some researchers in the field also endorse the notion that an institution needs five fundamental building blocks to foster a scientific research culture: capacity-building, infrastructure, leadership, funding and collaboration.
  • However, leadership is the most important of these in that the other four elements depend considerably on it.

For example, collaboration, an essential building block of a scientific research culture, involves bringing departments, faculties and schools together to do scientific research. Accordingly, collaboration requires participatory decision-making, relationship-building, communication, information sharing and team spirit.

All these fall under the purview of leadership. It should also be noted that a scientific research culture is a subculture of an overarching organisational culture built on shared values, beliefs and assumptions and a sense of how people behave towards each other, how decisions are made and how work activities are performed.

In some cases organisational culture is written down in the form of mission and vision statements, strategic plans and human resources policies, but in others it is unwritten. Formal institutional leadership in universities consists of the chancellor (or president), vice-chancellor, deans, heads of departments, programme directors and the registrar.

Without a doubt, these people at the top echelons of an institution have positional authority, but leadership in terms of scientific research could also spring from the rank and file of lecturers and professors who are able to exercise considerable social influence on colleagues individually or collectively.

Indeed, institutional leadership when it comes to fostering a scientific culture is not necessarily a top-down phenomenon. Leadership in this sense is the social process of guiding and influencing people toward the achievement of specific goals or objectives.

  • The process of making institutional stakeholders accept and internalise scientific research norms, practices and output as a valued, worthwhile and continuous activity is a major challenge for institutional leadership.
  • It requires multiple skills like vision formulation, frequent communication, empathetic listening, intuitive understanding of human motivation, tenacity of purpose, human relations ability and planning.

An ineffective institutional leadership is detrimental to the development of a scientific research culture in African universities. For example, the vice-chancellor of a small public university in West Africa launched an online journal with the purpose of publishing research and scholarly articles in energy development and management.

After publishing a few articles in the first volume, enthusiasm for the journal waned, mainly because the editor of the journal could not get enough submissions. Even getting reviewers was a huge problem for the editor. This is predictable in the sense that other elements of a research culture had not been developed at that university.

For instance, academic staff had no formal training in scientific research and there was no general attempt to explain its importance. Additionally, the university did not establish any incentives, symbolic or monetary, to encourage research practice and output.

Most importantly, the university had not encouraged collaboration between researchers within and outside the university; nor had the institution’s leadership modelled what a research culture might look like. In most African contexts, it is difficult for institutional leaders to promote a scientific research culture if they themselves are not researchers.

If they were, institutional leaders could help to sustain the development of a scientific research culture at least in the formative years until such time that research became widely accepted as an institutional norm, value and belief. This is the case where research is an entirely new phenomenon in the institution and where a sense of its importance is missing in the wider society.

  1. It is institutions’ leadership team who will create and mobilise the necessary resources needed for scientific research as well as muster the political will needed to develop an institutional research capacity.
  2. The development of research capacity is an indispensable part of research culture.
  3. This includes providing more training to potential and active researchers within the university, getting senior researchers to mentor and coach junior researchers and providing minimum research infrastructure such as laboratories, equipment, libraries and effective systems of information storage, retrieval and utilisation.

It also entails lobbying for more government funding as well as tapping private funding sources, both local and international. In addition, it involves developing policies and guidance and related initiatives that support the success of researchers in all stages of their career, for example, decreasing the workload of academic staff engaged in scientific research.

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An institution’s leadership also seizes the slightest opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of research to administrative and teaching staff, communities and government officials through oral, digital and written communications – and it creates coalitions that understand this and are committed to achieving it.

Initiatives such as graduate research conferences where graduate students can present their own research findings, research symposiums for both students and faculties, and research awards which reward excellence are also important for fostering a scientific research culture in a university.

  • Fostering a scientific research culture in a university means that students at undergraduate and masters level understand research theories and practices.
  • At the bachelor degree level students should study the nature of evidence, analyse that evidence, summarising articles or book chapters and practise referencing authors of digital documents, websites, newspapers, magazines and academic journals via direct and indirect quotes.

Equally, they should learn how to formulate a thesis. These research skills could be integrated across the curriculum or developed as standalone courses, addressing the constant refrain that it is too expensive to teach undergraduate students these skills.

The real apprenticeship for scientific research starts with masters degree students. Consequently, masters students should be well-grounded in methods of data analysis, both qualitative and quantitative, as well as techniques for data collection and transcribing. They should also be assessed on their ability to produce research papers as well as written examinations.

And students who opt for research-based masters degrees should be given support and offered incentives. Doctoral students should be considered mature research apprentices. They constitute a pool that should be tapped and used for either maintaining or growing the scientific research culture of the institution.

This benefits both the students and the institution: students get opportunities to develop their research craft while the institution gets access to a low-cost pool of nascent researchers. These doctoral students should be supervised not merely by lecturers or professors with doctoral degrees but by active researchers in their respective fields.

Doctoral students will be able to develop and hone their research knowledge and skills more effectively when their supervisors are active researchers. Fostering a scientific research culture in an African university is a practical endeavour, not a rhetorical indulgence.

It is a long-term project that requires patience and a deeper understanding of an institution’s general culture and how a scientific research culture could be woven into it. Nevertheless, where there is practically no scientific research culture in existence, it is important to assess how the institution functioned without it and how it could function when one is introduced.

Regardless of the situation, leaders need a strict code of conduct and relationship-building skills. Receive UWN’s free weekly e-newsletters

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How can a university improve research productivity?

Are there other ways? – Michael Lewis in his popular book Moneyball tells how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball club, produced winning teams on a shoestring (Lewis 2004). With a budget far less than many other teams, Beane helped the Athletics succeed by going against conventional wisdom in player recruitment and game strategy.

Rather than relying on the recommendations of scouts, who looked for certain characteristics in young players, Beane instead went with statistics and recruited players who were unfashionable, for example due to their style, size or shape. In game strategy, he relied on statistics compiled by enthusiastic amateurs.

The message from Moneyball is that the standard way of doing things may not be the best, and that collecting the right sort of data and following the numbers – and resisting instincts based on decades of experience – can reap huge rewards. A similar message emerges from the work of economist Steven Levitt, who has used data mining to challenge conventional policies and social explanations in a range of areas, from crime rates to choice of names (Levitt & Dubner 2005).

Does this message apply to research productivity? Are there different yet promising ways of promoting productivity? Before addressing these questions, it is worth mentioning some conventional approaches. One is to appoint people who are or will become top researchers. This includes appointing proven performers, often at senior levels, and appointing promising new researchers, usually at junior levels.

Choosing the best candidate for a post, or headhunting a research star, is an everyday occurrence around the world. Often it is not done in the most effective fashion, for example due to biases based on familiarity, sex, ethnicity and age. The interview remains a mainstay of selection procedures despite evidence of its weaknesses (Grove et al.2000; Meehl 1956).

Few organisations test their recruitment strategies by carrying out long-term follow-ups of successful and unsuccessful candidates. However, there’s a more fundamental issue: recruiting better researchers can improve productivity for the hiring organisation, but it removes those researchers from their previous workplaces.

There is only a net improvement in output, overall, if the researchers are more productive in their new jobs. Sometimes, successful researchers are hired into administrative roles with a detrimental impact on their research. Another standard way to increase research productivity is to offer incentives such as teaching relief, promotions, higher status and praise.

But there are associated costs. Giving a researcher a grant or teaching relief may well increase that researcher’s output, but there is an opportunity cost: there is less grant money for others and someone else has to do the teaching. Being promoted can be an incentive for doing research, but promotions mean higher salaries for the indefinite future.

Some researchers lose their incentive after being promoted, especially when a further promotion seems unlikely. Even praise, which costs nothing, has an opportunity cost: dependence on praise can reduce intrinsic motivation (Kohn 1993). Many researchers work long and hard because of the satisfaction of doing research, including developing and exercising high-level skills, discovering or developing knowledge, and being part of a socially worthwhile enterprise.

For long-term productivity, intrinsic motivation is far more powerful than external rewards, because rewards have a declining impact: people adapt to new circumstances such as a higher salary, rank or prize, and soon treat them as the norm. Furthermore, external incentives can actually undermine intrinsic motivation.

Incentive systems set up a win-lose mentality: some are winners, receiving grants, promotions and recognition, whereas others are relative losers. This can be a disincentive to the losers, including many who feel shame at not measuring up to the high performance levels of colleagues and therefore would rather not try (Dweck 2006).

  • Shame is a powerful and debilitating emotion in workplaces (Frost, 2003; Wyatt & Hare 1997).
  • Recruitment and incentives are two conventional ways to improve research productivity, but each has limitations.
  • Are promising options being overlooked? What would a Billy Beane of research do with a limited budget trying to compete against well-financed competitors? In the following sections I outline six unorthodox yet promising approaches: regular writing, techniques for creativity, fostering good luck, promoting happiness, promoting good health, and using the wisdom of crowds.

In the conclusion I suggest some reasons why approaches to research productivity have been so circumscribed.
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Why research is important in higher education?

The Role Of Research At Universities: Why It Matters (Photo by William B. Plowman/Getty Images) Getty Images Teaching and learning, research and discovery, synthesis and creativity, understanding and engagement, service and outreach. There are many “core elements” to the mission of a great university.

Teaching would seem the most obvious, but for those outside of the university, “research” (taken to include scientific research, scholarship more broadly, as well as creative activity) may be the least well understood. This creates misunderstanding of how universities invest resources, especially those deriving from undergraduate tuition and state (or other public) support, and the misperception that those resources are being diverted away from what is believed should be the core (and sole) focus, teaching.

This has led to a loss of trust, confidence, and willingness to continue to invest or otherwise support (especially our public) universities. Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research? Who pays? Who benefits? And why does it all matter? Good questions.

Let’s get to some straightforward answers. Because the academic research enterprise really is not that difficult to explain, and its impacts are profound. So let’s demystify university-based research. And in doing so, hopefully we can begin building both better understanding and a better relationship between the public and higher education, both of which are essential to the future of US higher education.

Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research? Universities engage in research as part of their missions around learning and discovery. This, in turn, contributes directly and indirectly to their primary mission of teaching. Universities and many colleges (the exception being those dedicated exclusively to undergraduate teaching) have as part of their mission the pursuit of scholarship.

  • This can come in the form of fundamental or applied research (both are most common in the STEM fields, broadly defined), research-based scholarship or what often is called “scholarly activity” (most common in the social sciences and humanities), or creative activity (most common in the arts).
  • Increasingly, these simple categorizations are being blurred, for all good reasons and to the good of the discovery of new knowledge and greater understanding of complex (transdisciplinary) challenges and the creation of increasingly interrelated fields needed to address them.

It goes without saying that the advancement of knowledge (discovery, innovation, creation) is essential to any civilization. Our nation’s research universities represent some of the most concentrated communities of scholars, facilities, and collective expertise engaged in these activities.

But more importantly, this is where higher education is delivered, where students develop breadth and depth of knowledge in foundational and advanced subjects, where the skills for knowledge acquisition and understanding (including contextualization, interpretation, and inference) are honed, and where students are educated, trained, and otherwise prepared for successful careers.

Part of that training and preparation derives from exposure to faculty who are engaged at the leading-edge of their fields, through their research and scholarly work. The best faculty, the teacher-scholars, seamlessly weave their teaching and research efforts together, to their mutual benefit, and in a way that excites and engages their students.

  1. In this way, the next generation of scholars (academic or otherwise) is trained, research and discovery continue to advance inter-generationally, and the cycle is perpetuated.
  2. Who pays? University research can be expensive, particularly in laboratory-intensive fields.
  3. But the responsibility for much (indeed most) of the cost of conducting research falls to the faculty member.

Faculty who are engaged in research write grants for funding (e.g., from federal and state agencies, foundations, and private companies) to support their work and the work of their students and staff. In some cases, the universities do need to invest heavily in equipment, facilities, and personnel to support select research activities.

  1. But they do so judiciously, with an eye toward both their mission, their strategic priorities, and their available resources.
  2. Medical research, and medical education more broadly, is expensive and often requires substantial institutional investment beyond what can be covered by clinical operations or externally funded research.

But universities with medical schools/medical centers have determined that the value to their educational and training missions as well as to their communities justifies the investment. And most would agree that university-based medical centers are of significant value to their communities, often providing best-in-class treatment and care in midsize and smaller communities at a level more often seen in larger metropolitan areas.

  • Research in the STEM fields (broadly defined) can also be expensive.
  • Scientific (including medical) and engineering research often involves specialized facilities or pieces of equipment, advanced computing capabilities, materials requiring controlled handling and storage, and so forth.
  • But much of this work is funded, in large part, by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, and many others.

Research in the social sciences is often (not always) less expensive, requiring smaller amount of grant funding. As mentioned previously, however, it is now becoming common to have physical, natural, and social scientist teams pursuing large grant funding.

This is an exciting and very promising trend for many reasons, not the least of which is the nature of the complex problems being studied. Research in the arts and humanities typically requires the least amount of funding as it rarely requires the expensive items listed previously. Funding from such organizations as the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and private foundations may be able to support significant scholarship and creation of new knowledge or works through much more modest grants than would be required in the natural or physical sciences, for example.

Philanthropy may also be directed toward the support of research and scholarly activity at universities. Support from individual donors, family foundations, private or corporate foundations may be directed to support students, faculty, labs or other facilities, research programs, galleries, centers, and institutes.

  1. Who benefits? Students, both undergraduate and graduate, benefit from studying in an environment rich with research and discovery.
  2. Besides what the faculty can bring back to the classroom, there are opportunities to engage with faculty as part of their research teams and even conduct independent research under their supervision, often for credit.

There are opportunities to learn about and learn on state-of-the-art equipment, in state-of-the-art laboratories, and from those working on the leading edge in a discipline. There are opportunities to co-author, present at conferences, make important connections, and explore post-graduate pathways.

  1. The broader university benefits from active research programs.
  2. Research on timely and important topics attracts attention, which in turn leads to greater institutional visibility and reputation.
  3. As a university becomes known for its research in certain fields, they become magnets for students, faculty, grants, media coverage, and even philanthropy.

Strength in research helps to define a university’s “brand” in the national and international marketplace, impacting everything from student recruitment, to faculty retention, to attracting new investments. The community, region, and state benefits from the research activity of the university.

  • This is especially true for public research universities.
  • Research also contributes directly to economic development, clinical, commercial, and business opportunities.
  • Resources brought into the university through grants and contracts support faculty, staff, and student salaries, often adding additional jobs, contributing directly to the tax base.

Research universities, through their expertise, reputation, and facilities, can attract new businesses into their communities or states. They can also launch and incubate startup companies, or license and sell their technologies to other companies. Research universities often host meeting and conferences which creates revenue for local hotels, restaurants, event centers, and more.

And as mentioned previously, university medical centers provide high-quality medical care, often in midsize communities that wouldn’t otherwise have such outstanding services and state-of-the-art facilities. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images And finally, why does this all matter? Research is essential to advancing society, strengthening the economy, driving innovation, and addressing the vexing and challenging problems we face as a people, place, and planet.

It’s through research, scholarship, and discovery that we learn about our history and ourselves, understand the present context in which we live, and plan for and secure our future. Research universities are vibrant, exciting, and inspiring places to learn and to work.

They offer opportunities for students that few other institutions can match – whether small liberal arts colleges, mid-size teaching universities, or community colleges – and while not right for every learner or every educator, they are right for many, if not most. The advantages simply cannot be ignored.

Neither can the importance or the need for these institutions. They need not be for everyone, and everyone need not find their way to study or work at our research universities, and we stipulate that there are many outstanding options to meet and support different learning styles and provide different environments for teaching and learning.
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What is research methods in university?

Research methods refers to the tools that one uses to do research. These can either be qualitative or quantitative or mixed. Quantitative methods examines numerical data and often requires the use of statistical tools to analyse data collected.
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What are the factors to strengthening of research?

This part has six elements to it which explore: 1) research and development; 2) science and technology; 3) innovation processes; 4) innovation systems; 5) democratic innovation systems; and 6) transformative change.
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How can we improve research capacity?

Results: Research performance in general practice requires improvements in the following areas: visibility of research; knowledge acquisition; mentoring and exchange; networking and research networks; collaboration with industry, authorities and other stakeholders.
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What is higher education research?

Research in Higher Education publishes empirical studies that enhance our understanding of an educational institution or allow comparison among institutions. It focuses on post-secondary education, including two-year and four-year colleges, universities, and graduate and professional schools.

Papers in the journal assist faculty and administrators in making more informed decisions about current or future operations and in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of an institution. Among the topics covered in the journal are administration and faculty; curriculum and instruction; student characteristics; alumni assessment; recruitment and admissions; prediction and student academic performance; campus climate; and retention, attrition, and transfer.

The journal also publishes brief methodological notes. All Issues 2010s

2018 (Vol.59)

No.8 DECEMBER 2018 pp. A1-A4, 979-1132 No.7 NOVEMBER 2018 pp. A1-A4, 825-978 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2018 pp. A1-A4, 681-823 No.5 AUGUST 2018 pp. A1-A4, 529-679 No.4 JUNE 2018 pp. A1-A4, 401-528 No.3 MAY 2018 pp. A1-A4, 249-400 No.2 MARCH 2018 pp. A1-A4, 133-248 No.1 FEBRUARY 2018 pp. A1-A4, 1-132

2017 (Vol.58)

No.8 DECEMBER 2017 pp. A1-A4, 817-934 No.7 NOVEMBER 2017 pp. A1-A4, 695-816 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2017 pp. A1-A4, 581-694 No.5 AUGUST 2017 pp. A1-A4, 469-580 No.4 JUNE 2017 pp. A1-A4, 341-468 No.3 MAY 2017 pp. A1-A4, 231-340 No.2 MARCH 2017 pp. A1-A4, 119-230 No.1 FEBRUARY 2017 pp. A1-A4, 1-118

2016 (Vol.57)

No.8 DECEMBER 2016 pp. A1-A4, 913-1030 No.7 NOVEMBER 2016 pp. A1-A4, 795-912 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2016 pp. A1-A4, 653-793 No.5 AUGUST 2016 pp. A1-A4, 519-651 No.4 JUNE 2016 pp. A1-A4, 395-517 No.3 MAY 2016 pp. A1-A4, 261-393 No.2 MARCH 2016 pp. A1-A4, 123-259 No.1 FEBRUARY 2016 pp. A1-A4, 1-121

2015 (Vol.56)

No.8 DECEMBER 2015 pp. A1-A6, 777-882 No.7 NOVEMBER 2015 pp. A1-A6, 645-776 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2015 pp. A1-A6, 535-644 No.5 AUGUST 2015 pp. A1-A6, 411-534 No.3 MAY 2015 pp. A1-A6, 203-298 No.2 AIR Forum Issue MARCH 2015 pp. A1-A6, 105-202 No.1 FEBRUARY 2015 pp. A1-A6, 1-104

2014 (Vol.55)

No.8 DECEMBER 2014 pp. A1-A6, 735-832 No.7 NOVEMBER 2014 pp. A1-A6, 627-734 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2014 pp. A1-A6, 527-626 No.5 AUGUST 2014 pp. A1-A6, 433-526 No.4 JUNE 2014 pp. A1-A6, 329-432 No.3 MAY 2014 pp.219-328 No.2 AIR Forum Issue MARCH 2014 pp.123-218 No.1 FEBRUARY 2014 pp.1-122

2013 (Vol.54)

No.8 DECEMBER 2013 pp.825-930 No.7 NOVEMBER 2013 pp.725-824 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2013 pp.599-723 No.5 AUGUST 2013 pp.481-598 No.4 JUNE 2013 pp.383-479 No.3 MAY 2013 pp.253-382 No.2 AIR Forum Issue MARCH 2013 pp.137-252 No.1 FEBRUARY 2013 pp.1-136

2012 (Vol.53)

No.8 DECEMBER 2012 pp.803-904 No.7 NOVEMBER 2012 pp.695-802 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2012 pp.593-693 No.5 AUGUST 2012 pp.487-591 No.4 JUNE 2012 pp.383-486 No.3 MAY 2012 pp.263-382 No.2 AIR Forum Issue MARCH 2012 pp.123-261 No.1 FEBRUARY 2012 pp.1-122

2011 (Vol.52)

No.8 DECEMBER 2011 pp.761-874 No.7 NOVEMBER 2011 pp.659-759 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2011 pp.555-658 No.5 AUGUST 2011 pp.441-553 No.4 JUNE 2011 pp.323-439 No.3 MAY 2011 pp.215-322 No.2 AIR Forum Issue MARCH 2011 pp.107-214 No.1 FEBRUARY 2011 pp.1-106

2010 (Vol.51)

No.8 DECEMBER 2010 pp.701-811 No.7 NOVEMBER 2010 pp.595-700 No.6 SEPTEMBER 2010 pp.505-593 No.5 AUGUST 2010 pp.397-503 No.4 JUNE 2010 pp.305-395 No.3 MAY 2010 pp.195-304 No.2 AIR Forum Issue Mar., 2010 pp.109-194 No.1 Feb., 2010 pp.1-107

2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s
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Why is research necessary for any academic institution?

In today’s globalized world, the role of research in an academic institution is critical for its long-term viability and development, and knowledge-driven growth based on innovation is essential. The core concept of research is the pursuit of knowledge.

The quality of research work has a direct impact on the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom, which benefits students, society, and the country as a whole. In a large and diversified country like India, encouraging research will help the country develop as a knowledge reservoir in the international arena.

Quality research is one of the restrictions and obstacles that our educational system encounters. With the exception of a few famous institutes, the majority of research institutions present a bleak picture in terms of quality and quantity. Few institutes require individual faculty members to set research goals, and the majority lack the necessary methods and infrastructure to do high-quality research.
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How do you invite people to participate in research?

Letter of invitation, participant information leaflet and consent form

  • Head of Department Professor I K Crombie
  • A study on health and alcohol
  • Participant information leaflet

We invite you to take part in a research study. Before you decide, we would like you to understand why the research is being done and what it would involve for you. We are therefore providing you with the following information. Please take time to read it carefully and discuss it with others if you wish.

  1. When you have read the information provided, one of our team will go through it with you and answer any questions you have.
  2. This will take about 10 minutes.
  3. Be sure to ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.
  4. Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Purpose of the study This is a study about health and alcohol consumption among young to middle-aged men. Some men in this age group drink too much and we want to find ways to encourage them to reduce the frequency of drinking at harmful levels.

  1. We therefore want to look at alcohol consumption among a group of men, find out about their reasons for drinking, their intentions about drinking in the future and how these change over time.
  2. Men will be invited to take part if they have had at least two days in the past month where they have consumed more than eight units of alcohol in one session.

(A unit of alcohol is half a pint of normal strength beer, one measure of spirits or one small glass of wine). What we would like you to do After you have read this leaflet and have had a few days to think about it, a researcher will call you back to see if you wish to take part.

  1. If you give consent you will be asked some questions about yourself and how much you drink to see if you are eligible for the study.
  2. If you are eligible, we will send you a series of text messages with images over the next four weeks.
  3. The men taking part in the study will be put into two groups who will receive different text messages.

Three months after the telephone interview, the researcher will get in touch by telephone again to ask some more questions. At the end of the three month period we would like to conduct longer interviews with a few of the men who have taken part. We will choose some names at random (20 of the 60 men involved in the study).

  1. If you are selected, the researcher will contact you by telephone or text message to arrange a suitable time and place for the interview.
  2. Why have I been chosen? Men living in areas of Dundee, selected by postcode area, are being invited to take part.
  3. Your GP has randomly selected men in this age group to be contacted to ask if they would be willing to take part.

To take part you must be available to be contacted by mobile telephone over a three month period. Do I have to take part? It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. We will explain the study and go through the information leaflet. If you do decide to take part you will be asked to give consent.

To do this you will be asked to reply to a text message from us to confirm that you are willing to take part. Participation in this study is entirely voluntary and you are free to refuse to take part or to withdraw from the study at any time without having to give a reason and without this affecting your future medical care or your relationship with medical staff looking after you.

Expenses and payment You will be given gift vouchers as a thank you for taking part in the study and to reimburse you for the cost of any text messages you send to us. You will be sent a £10 gift voucher after you have completed the first telephone interview.

  1. You will then receive a £5 gift voucher each week for four weeks if you respond to the text messages you have received.
  2. You will also receive another £10 voucher when you complete the second telephone interview.
  3. Finally, those who take part in the detailed interview at the end of the three month period will receive a further £10 gift voucher.

What are the possible benefits of taking part? Throughout the study we will give you information on health issues. You may find these useful in helping you to make healthier choices. Confidentiality Any information collected during the course of the study will be maintained on a confidential basis and access will be restricted to people conducting the study.

Your name will not be disclosed, nor will details of your answers be given to anyone. With your permission, the telephone interviews with the researcher will be recorded and typed up as a written document or transcript. The transcripts will then be examined to ensure that all of the important information has been captured.

The transcripts will not contain your name or any information about you that would allow you to be identified. The only people who will have access to the transcripts are the researchers. Some of your comments may be included in a report on the study, but these will be completely anonymous.

  1. What will happen to the results of the research study? The overall findings of the study may be published in a scientific journal, but these will not mention you in any way.
  2. If you would like to receive information about the results of the study, please let us know, and we will forward a summary of the findings to you at the end of the study.

Who has designed and reviewed the study? The study has been designed by a group of researchers from The Universities of Dundee, Glasgow and St Andrews and NHS Tayside. Funding has been provided by the National Institute for Health Research. The Tayside Committee on Medical Research Ethics A, which has responsibility for scrutinising all proposals for medical research on humans in Tayside, has examined the proposal and has raised no objections from the point of view of medical ethics.

  1. It is a requirement that your records in this research be made available for scrutiny by monitors from the University of Dundee and NHS Tayside, whose role it is to check that research is properly conducted and the interests of those taking part are adequately protected.
  2. Concerns or complaints about the research If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, you should ask to speak to who will do her best to answer your questions.

If you remain unhappy and wish to complain formally, you can do this by contacting who is the project leader.

  1. Thank you for taking the time to read this information sheet and considering taking part.
  2. To obtain further information
  3. If you have any questions about this research, please contact who will be happy to discuss the study or answer any questions you may have.

: Letter of invitation, participant information leaflet and consent form
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What are the six main research methods?

In conducting research, sociologists choose between six research methods: (1) survey, (2) participant observation, (3), secondary analysis, (4) documents, (5) unobtrusive measures, and (6) experiments.
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What are the 3 main methods of research?

The three common approaches to conducting research are quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. The researcher anticipates the type of data needed to respond to the research question.
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Do universities collaborate on research?

benefits for society – While universities and industry enjoy a symbiotic relationship, society also benefits from a trained workforce answering today’s most pressing challenges and creating technology to improve lives. Through these programs, students become trained in highly skilled industrial applications, which positively impacts the economy by creating a workforce that is relevant to those areas of national and industrial interest.

  • Industry and university collaboration can stretch government resources and tax dollars.
  • When the federal government combines their research funding with industrial funding, they see similar return as companies.
  • Taxpayers get more innovative research at a fraction of the cost of funding research exclusively with government grants.

The Center for Bioanalytical Metrology, an IUCRC program, is a great example: researchers from three universities have partnered with industry experts to address the challenge of point-of-care antibody analysis. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they quickly pivoted to developing more precise detection tools for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies,

  1. Industry and university collaboration isn’t always rosy.
  2. They can be large, complex, and difficult to organize, and they require two very different types of dance partners to move in sync: universities moving at a slow, measured pace and industry keeping up with the frenetic energy of a fast-evolving economy.

It’s a big leap and it requires each side to engage far beyond the conventional exchange of research for funding. They are and should be strategic partnerships that combine the discovery-driven culture of the university with the innovation-driven environment of industry.
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How do universities make money from research?

Endowments and Investment Income – Some public research universities receive revenue from investment returns on institutional cash balances and endowment income, but these are usually restricted and often minimal when compared to their private counterparts. These data exclude revenues from university health systems. For the University of Pittsburgh, “Other” includes rental revenue, patent and royalty revenue, faculty and staff newspaper advertising and subscriptions sales, and symposium registration fees.
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What is the purpose of research universities?

In an interconnected and rapidly changing world, the United States requires an educated citizenry to support a constant flow of research and innovation and to sustain its international competitiveness. Public research universities are a foundational piece of the U.S. doctorate-granting institutions that receive a share of funding from state and local appropriations and serve as a critical component of the overall higher education landscape.” 1 In 2013, public research universities enrolled approximately four million students nationwide—an average of about eighty thousand students in each state.2 These institutions provide high-quality educational opportunities to students at all income levels.

Further, public research universities enroll the best and brightest students in every state: 87 percent of entering freshmen are from the top half of their graduating high school class.3 Nearly 75 percent of all students enrolled in postsecondary programs in the United States attend public institutions, ranging from two-year community colleges to comprehensive four-year baccalaureate- and master’s-conferring state schools to doctoral degree–granting research universities.4 Public research universities serve a distinct and indispensable role in this educational landscape.

In addition to producing research and scholarship, public research universities provide economic development and technical assistance to their communities, states, and nation, as well as opportunities for anchor-institution collaborations. While other institutions may address these needs individually, public research universities are charged with addressing them together as effectively, efficiently, and affordably as possible. There is at least one public research university in every state, providing geographically accessible educational opportunities to Americans across the country. Public research universities initiate the fundamental research that drives scientific and technological discovery. Today, confronted with reduced state investment, public research universities are forced to make difficult choices about institutional priorities. In this climate, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences created the Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education to urge support for public research universities and recommend new strategies to sustain these critical institutions.
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