Demographic Diversity Affecting Teacher’s Perceptions Related to Quality of Research Produced in Distance Education

Abstract

Research was based on six objectives. The research was designed to compare the perceptions of the teachers related to quality of research on the basis of gender, sector, age, academic qualification, professional qualification and teaching experience. The research was based on descriptive- comparative style. All the higher level distance education institutions of Islamabad were considered as the population of the research. The researcher used the convenient sampling technique to draw the sample for the study. 66 teachers contributed in the data collection process among which 30 were from public and 36 were from private sector. To address the research variable (Quality of Research), a questionnaire was developed by the researcher in the light of theoretical parameters given by Obiageil crystal oluka, shaofa Nie,Yi sun (2014). Research quality assessment scale was divided into 7 sub sections (Clarity In Aims/ Questions, Study Method, Data Collection, Research Context, Data Analysis, Results and Ethical Approval) and was based on 34 items in total. It was found that that in the perception of teachers, students were somehow better in “clarity in aims” and “study methods”. However the condition of “data collection, understanding research context, data analysis, finding results and getting ethical approvals” need improvement. There was no statistically significant difference found in the perceptions of the teachers related to quality of research on the basis of gender, sector, age, academic qualification, professional qualification and teaching experience. It is recommended to improve the research quality in distance education system that each department may maintain a research library within the departments for the case of assess of the students. It is also recommended that the research counselor or mentor may be hired specially in distance education institutions only to ensure full time availability of guidance service for research students.