RESEARCH SUPERVISEES’ PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES REGARDING THE INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY DURING THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Abstract

The integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a significant facility in postgraduate research with regards to getting use of better storage media, improved data analysis technologies, citation, and compiling bibliographies along with publishing. The purpose of the study was to examine the practices and challenges of research supervisees regarding the integration of Information and Communication Technologies during the research process at the postgraduate level in public sector universities of Pakistan. The population of the study includes all M. Phil and Ph.D. supervisees. A sample of 319 research supervisees was selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The research instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire. The scale reliability index was found alpha .892 whereas the component-wise range of reliability was .795 to .846. The findings of the study showed that research supervisees have moderate positive perceptions but have low levels of basic skills regarding ICT. Due to lacking appropriate ICT skills, results in low practices of ICT during the research process. The main challenges that supervisees face include lack of training, lack of infrastructure, lack of financial resources and unavailability of guiding material. Recommendations of the study include the provision of necessary training to supervisees, arrangement for the provision of appropriate infrastructure, financial aid, and availability of guiding material.