Mixed Method Approach to Assess The Current Research Practices in Higher Education Institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The current research paper aimed to investigate the current research practices in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Khyber PakhtunKhwa (KP). The study was Mixed Methods Research (MMR) and thereby convergent Parallel design was used. A sample 254 participants were taken out of 695 individuals through (Yamane, 1967) formula. A self-developed questionnaire, checklist and semi-structure interview were developed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used as inferential statistics to analysis the quantitative data while thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The result of study indicates that collaborative research environment in the HEIs. HEC approved supervisors available in the institutions. Thesis evaluation process found transparent but lengthy. The study found that paper publication is one of the difficult tasks for the teachers and students.


Introduction
The 21 st century is regarded as the era of new discoveries, innovations, and knowledge. Universities are essential for producing knowledge based on research, which is knowledge that springs from research. Universities are thus thought of as the hub of knowledge and research (Zafar, 2013). Higher education institutions must do research as part of their core mission, and the quantity and calibre of such research are determined by its status. Because knowledge generation (research), knowledge management, and knowledge transformation are three of higher education institutions' primary goals, universities, in particular, play a key role in teaching and conducting research (Ali et al., 2018) Research is one of the fundamental components of universities' functions all over the world, along with teaching and service, which are the three main functions of higher education institutions. (Ullah et al., 2011) The progress of knowledge is one of the HEIs' main responsibilities, and this can only be accomplished by engaging in real research procedures across a variety of disciplines and levels of study. Genuine research methods in HEIs not only improve the standing of the institutions and the state's economy, but also serve as a reliable yardstick for teacher promotion (Riaz et al., 2017).

All Higher Education Institutions and all Degree
Awarding Institutions (DAIs) operating under HEC's supervision and direction are governed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), which is the primary regulatory agency in Pakistan. Enhancing educational standards and carrying out real research projects that adhere to international norms are HEC's two main goals. HEC has therefore implemented a number of efforts to support the capacity for research in HEIs, making it a powerful organisation. Professors at HEIs have a variety of voices, and the government or HEC considers their concerns about the standard of the research conducted at HEIs (Muborakshoeva et al., 2015). Faculty members are expected to do their part in carrying out research activities by HEIs. High research output and a solid research culture are two of the administration of HEIs' top priorities. As a result, HEIs are under constant pressure to improve their research output (Mirza et al., 2012). In addition, HEC supports research initiatives by funding them and publishes their findings in prestigious journals. HEC provides workshops and training sessions to improve faculty members' research abilities. Such initiatives are made to instill a research culture inside HEIS (Iqbal et al., 2018)  For instance, when students wish to publish their research paper or thesis, they are unsure of how and where to do it. Regarding the publication of their research article, they lack any reliable information. They haven't come across any reliable advice. They therefore face numerous difficulties in this regard (Hashmi, 2015).

Research Methodology
The current research aimed to investigate the current research practices in HEIs in KP. Therefore, Mixed Methods Research (MMR) was used. There are different designs of MMR but researcher used Convergent Parallel research design. MMR is method of research in which a research problem is investigated through qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Convergent parallel design involves simultaneously gathering quantitative and qualitative data, combining the data, and using the outcome to comprehend the study challenge (Sahin et al., 2019).

Population and Sampling
The population of the study consisted of all lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors, and professors employed by eight public universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Out of the 692 faculty members that made up the population, a sample of 254 was chosen using the stratified sampling method. The sample size was established using the mathematical procedure proposed by Yamani in 1967.

Research Tool
Three research instruments used for the data collection i:e questionnaire, checklist and semistructure interview. For the aim of gathering data, a self-created questionnaire was used. There were two sections to the questionnaire. The instrument was divided into two parts: the first section dealt with the demographic characteristics of the respondents, such as age, gender, and level of experience. Information about five research practices was included in the second part. There were 68 itemes contained in the questionnaire on five point Likert scale based on five existing research practices.

Validity and Reliability of Research tool
Item Congruence-Objectives Index was used to validate the questionnaire (IOC). Cronbach's Alpha was used to assess the instrument's internal consistency. The IOC's primary goal is to assess the research instrument's content validity. Cronbach's alpha and IOC scores are shown in Table 2. In order to determine the validity of qualitative data, triangulation is frequently used. Data from the current study's questionnaire, checklist, and interview were triangulated. By using several data collection sources, the triangulation procedure was applied in this study to assure the quality of qualitative data and limit the possibility of conclusion bias. In order to ensure the accuracy of the data in this study, the researcher included deans, heads of department, faculty members, and MPhil and PhD scholars in the data collection process.

Data Analysis
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used as inferential statistics to analyze the statistical hypotheses whereas thematic analysis was used to analysis the data gathered from interview.

Qualitative Data Analysis
The interview's recorded data was converted into research language. The following text was converted into codes and developed themes. For the sake of secrecy and anonymity, pseudonyms were employed in place of participants' real names.

Theme 1: Environmental Research Practices
One respondent uses the following words to express his thoughts on ERP: "Universities have joint research and development environments." Institutions have supervisors on hand to help students talk through research-related difficulties. HODs organised official gatherings of supervisors and scholars to discuss research issues. Additionally, supervisors are accessible to students who need technical support for their research thesis. (Rspnd#4)

An Additional Interviewee Provided his Erp-Related Experiences:
"The university administration provided supervision and support to scholars and supervisors. Collaboration in research is a good sign for a university. Researchers have several possibilities to participate in various research activities, such as lectures and workshops, to hone their research techniques. The department does not have any organised research clubs, but meetings are scheduled through boards that have been informed (Rspnd#8)

Theme 2: Institutional Research Practices (IRP)
One participant provided the following responses when asked by the researcher about the current IRP: "The institution has its own facility with a fullystocked IT lab. Because the institution's library has obsolete literature, I encountered issues as a supervisor with updated materials. Because books are so expensive, neither I nor my students can afford them. On the other hand, although we have access to the HEC digital libraries, sometimes opening them was problematic. Most online journals offer high-quality research, but at a hefty cost that makes it difficult for everyone to buy these papers. In order to improve research output, it is the obligation of the institution to make these reputable journals accessible (Rspnd#2)". When the researcher inquired regarding the issuance of a monthly magazine, the participant responded, "Yeah, this is a drawback that institution still isn't able to print a monthly magazine (Respnd#14)".

Theme 3: Individual Research Practices (IRP)
One of the interviewees stated the following regarding PRP after the interview: "I directly allocate work to MPhil and PhD students, and then thoroughly check it. Most students struggle with report writing, developing instruments, and data analysis techniques. Yes, I concur that pupils are not aware with how to utilize SPSS. In 2019, I also taught a class about SPSS and developing synopses with the financial support of HEC. Additionally, I would want to point out that most students depend on their supervisors, and very few of them are interested in doing research. Since a lack of student interest in research is one of the major problems facing HEIs, I believe that universities should host workshops to increase student interest in research (Rspnd#20).
A response from a respondent mentioned the employment of the pledgrism method.
"To be quite honest, the university didn't give us a Turnitin account to assess the originality of our theses or research papers. Because only supervisors have accounts on Turnitin, we are entirely dependent on them. Due to the absence of a Turnitin account, we are unable to verify the originality of our own thesis. Thus, the university should make a Turnitin account available (Rspnd#22)."

Theme 4: Thesis Evaluation Practices (TEP)
One of the respondents described the plagiarism and evaluation process as follows: "The similarity index are preliminary checked through Turnitin and the report is sent to student (if similarity index is greater 19%) to reduce the similarity index but if the similarity index are less than 19% then the report are sent to Quality Assurance Cell (QAC) for final plagiarism. The plagiarism report is forwarded to the QAC representative (Rspnd#6)." When the researcher questioned about the length of the plagiarism process, one of the respondents said, "It depends on the workload on QUE since sometimes plagiarism procedure cost time and sometimes they alerted swiftly (Rspnd#10)."

Theme 5: Paper Publication Practices (PPP)
In the following words, a faculty member described her experience with paper publication: "Paper publication is one of the challenging tasks in Pakistan. The HEC Journal Recognition System (HJRS) is a search engine in Pakistan that ranks a selection of HEC-approved journals in the schedule categories (W, X, and Y) based on several ranking criteria. There is fierce competition among scholars, and there are very few Pakistani journals on the HJRS list. The foreign journals on the HJRS list have high prices that are out of reach for both scholars and instructors (Rspnd#9).
One of the scholars shares her experience regarding paper publication practices in the given words:-"Three issues I encountered while publishing my research publication. The supervisor does not provide adequate direction or guidelines, there was no instruction on how to write and publish a research paper, and the publication procedure is where the final issue arises. While overseas journals didn't respond appropriately, local journals had too much competition. The journals' fee rate (Rspnd#20) was also too high (Rspnd#14)."

Discussion
According to the current study's findings, stakeholders are satisfied with the environmental practices. The findings from the qualitative research support the notion that university environments, including those for collaborative research, the free exchange of ideas in formal gatherings, and the organisation of workshops and seminars, are up to par. Similar result was given by Heng (Heng et al. 2020). They looked at the collaborative atmosphere that existed in universities. The majority of university supervisors are found cooperative reported by Javed (Javed et al., 2021). For assistance with their theses, supervisors are always available to research scholars. The current study's findings suggest that institutional practises are deemed to be satisfactory. The conclusions of the quantitative research are supported by the findings of the qualitative data. Both physical facilities and IT resources are accessible to students. The findings of the present study are in line with those of Batool (Batool, 2018) and Nguyen (Nguyen et al., 2016). According to the study's findings, stakeholders have similar opinions about how these are evaluated. Supervisors also review student theses before final submission. They consider the thesis examination process to be open.

Conclusions
The study indicated that similar opinions were held regarding the methods used in environmental research. Universities have a collaborative environment for research. In the institutions, supervisors are available to help academics talk about research-related difficulties. HODs organised official gatherings of academics' supervisors to discuss research issues and information. The investigation came to the conclusion that institutions have physical resources including classrooms, labs, libraries, and internet access. Additionally, the majority of institutional libraries contain out-of-date books. The study concluded from the qualitative data that one of the major obstacles in conducting literature searches for theses is that scholars have trouble accessing digital libraries. The study concluded that the process of thesis evaluation are transplant but lengthy. The study came to the conclusion that one of Pakistan's most challenging tasks is research publication, and the main cause is the culture of the research paper. Poor academic writing results in a research paper being rejected from a high-index journal. English is spoken as a second language in Pakistan, thus pupils have less vocabulary and weaker grammar skills, which results in subpar academic writing. This is the second factor. The study also found that publishing a research paper in a local publication is highly competitive, whereas paying for a foreign magazine is prohibitively expensive.

Recommendations of the Study
According to the study, universities are having trouble getting the money they need to support a research culture. As a result, it is advised that the provincial government raise the grant to universities in order to improve the culture of research. It is recommended that HEC and universities provide incentives for the publication of high-caliber research papers in regional or local journals with a high impact factor.