Institutional Ownership and Research Skills Application among Postgraduate Students in Faculties of Education in Universities in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined the institutional ownership and research skills application among postgraduate students in Faculties of Education in Universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. The survey involved 60 completed M.Ed. theses purposively drawn from all vetted M.Ed. theses from the Faculties of Education in the University of Calabar and Cross River University of Technology, Calabar; for 2016/2017 academic session, totalling 124. A 36-item institutional ownership research skills analysis rating scale (IORSARS), with an inter-rater reliability estimates which ranged from 0.73 to 0.87using Cohen Kappa’s method was used to collect data for the study. The statistical analysis technique adopted was the independent t-test. The result indicated that institutional ownership significantly influenced the research skills application of postgraduate students. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Government should make provisions for adequate/accessible funds for research sponsorship not only for academic staff but also for postgraduate students in all tertiary institutions, be it federal, state or privately owned.