A framework for enhancing the research culture within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State

[摘要] The focus on becoming a research-intensive institution requires an awareness of theexistent research culture in order to support and stimulate research and become researchintensive.There is an open declaration of the prominence of research at the University ofthe Free State (UFS), to fulfil the goal of becoming a research-intensive university. Part ofthe strategy to achieve this status is the required presence of a culture of research, enabledby the research environment. Thus, the evaluation of the existing research culture is ofsignificance.This study was aimed at determining the existing research culture at the Faculty of HealthSciences (FoHS) UFS as perceived by the staff of the Faculty, identify factors perceived toinfluence this existing research culture and compile a framework for the enhancement ofthe research culture at the FoHS, UFS.The studied population comprised of all academic (permanent staff, joint-appointment,contract staff in either a full-time or a part-time capacity) staff of the FOHs UFs employedwithin the three schools: School for Allied Professions, School of Medicine and School ofNursing. In addition, academic staff within the support domain (i.e. staff employed in asupport capacity, yet have a research/teaching component as part of their role) were alsoincluded in the study. Furthermore, members of Executive Committee of each of theSchools, and the Dean of the Faculty were also invited and formed the target populationfor the validation meetings (VMs).This research was designed as an evaluative study with elements of case study evaluation(CSE) and Improvement-oriented evaluation (IOE). Methods utilized includes acomprehensive literature review; questionnaire survey; nominal group discussion technique(NGD) and VMs to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data wereanalysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 24 (SPSS v24) and theresults presented in frequencies and tables. Data obtained from the open ended questions,NDG and VMs were content analysed. Thematic analysis formed the cornerstone of theanalysis, and specific attention was givento patterns and emerging themes.Qualitative data obtained from the literature review process contexualised the study in thebody of existing literature and gave an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of thestudy. The departure point of the study was the academic culture model compiled bySmerek, et al. (2010). Research culture was defined and factors established in literaturewere identified. The contextual incorporation of health and higher education of this studyto research culture culminated in the derivation of the theoretical framework of researchculture.The perceived existing research culture in the FoHS UFs as opined by the participants ofthis study (result obtained from the thematic analysis of the open-ended questions)revealed 14 themes namely; Accepted norms; Context; Individual; Inter- and intra-personalinteractions; New knowledge; Others; Perceptions and emotions; Philosophy; Policies;Research process; Staffing; Stakeholders; Support; and Time. These findings represent theperceived existing culture, through the lived experience of the participants in their workenvironment as a faculty academic.Similarly, thematic analysis of the participants' comments on factors that affect research culture in the FOHs UFS revealed seven themes namely; Context; Support; Policies;Individual; Inter- and intra-personal interactions; Research process and Philosophy.Furthermore, secondary analysis of themes using methods as described by Van Breda(2005) and McMillan, et al. (2014) revealed that the three most important ranked themeswere Context, Support and Policies.Data obtained from the VMs provided additional perspectives from management on theexisting research culture and the factors that affect research culture in the faculty. Thefinal framework to enhance the research culture at the FoHS at the UFS was collated,utilising the data collected from these three methods. This framework gives insight into thehierarchy and relationships of the factors required (currently perceived as present, partiallypresent or absent) to be able to inculcate a research culture that is driven by successfulknowledge creation and dissemination.This study represents the first investigation into the research culture of the FoHS at theUFS. In this way, this study also provides new data in the field of research culture in thecontext of a health and higher education (HE) Faculty in South Africa.

[发布机构] University of the Free State