Academic and administrative obstacles facing scientific research in higher education institutions in the Sultanate of Oman : an analytical quantitative study

Abstract EN

The aim of this study was to investigate the most important academic and administrative obstacles facing scientific research in the Sultanate of Oman.

It also aimed at revealing the impact of some independent variables, such as gender, age, type of institution, field of study, and country of education.

The study was conducted on a sample of 714 researchers and academics working in institutions of higher education in various governorates of the Sultanate.

The study is a descriptive research.

In order to characterize and diagnose the phenomenon in a profound and comprehensive way, a questionnaire was developed as the main instrument for data collection.

The questionnaire was devised analytically in line with the objectives and questions of the study.

The results of the study demonstrated that the most important administrative obstacles facing scientific research in the Sultanate is the large number of hours of teaching and the huge administrative loads.

The results also indicated that the lack of sabbatical leaves for the academics and the difficulty of obtaining them constitute another most important academic obstacle.

It was also found that the variables such as ‘the type of institution’ and ‘the country of graduation’ are among the most influential independent variables in academics and researchers’ views with respect to the academic and administrative obstacles they face while they attempt to conduct their scientific research.