International Journal of Management (IJM)

Volume 11, Issue 7 July 2020, pp.1792-1801, Article ID: IJM_11_07_162

Available online at https://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=7
ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/A2GTZ

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

RESEARCH ATTITUDE AMONG PH.D

SCHOLARS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
INSTITUTIONS OF THANJAVUR DISTRICT
Dr. A. Sivagami
Head and Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Government Arts and Science
College for Women, (Affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli),
Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu, India

Smt. T. Sugasini
Research Scholar, Department of Social Work, Government Arts and Science College for
Women, (Affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli),
Orathanadu, Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT
The present study was undertaken to study the attitude towards research, the
objective of this work is to determine the attitude towards research of the research
scholar of science steam and arts stream with special reference to gender, assessing the
attitude towards research is the primary problem of this research. Students often rate
courses in research methods unconstructively and observe them as difficult. The work
aims to review the attitude towards research among the PhD scholars and to find the
various dimensions of attitude. This work also explores the major reasons that have
high level of importance in their decision to join doctoral course. In this regard, the
present descriptive study aims to describe the attitude among the research scholars of
Thanjavur District with proposed minimum of 306 respondents through proportionate
random sampling method. The study had adopted standardized tools which are high
risk for developing mental health issues among the Ph.D scholars. The study found that
more than half of the respondents 48 percent had medium level of academic attitude
dimension of scholar attitude. Hence the issue of mental health of research scholars
need to be Self-concept, Adjustment and Mental Health of the Research scholars. The
level of frustration and worry increase day by day. To obtain social support they adopt
various techniques. They are engaged in various activities.
Key words: Research Scholars, attitude, Stress, Well Being and emotional support.
Cite this Article: A. Sivagami and T. Sugasini, Research Attitude among Ph.D Scholars
in Higher Education Institutions of Thanjavur District, International Journal of
Management (IJM), 11(7), 2020, pp. 1792-1801.
https://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=7

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 Research Attitude among Ph.D Scholars in Higher Education Institutions of Thanjavur District

1. INTRODUCTION
Research plays very important role in the economic development of any country. It forms
the basis for future competitiveness of an economy. It is a creative work which is undertaken
in a systematic manner to solve the problems of education in a scientific and systematic way
or to gain knowledge. Higher Educational Institutions of learning are meant for Research
work. The prestigious Institutions and Institutions of national importance are excelling in the
research work but in most of the central and state universities good research work is lacking in
spite of governmental efforts to promote research. Research work promotes creativity,
systematic scientific search in the selected field. Indian system of education is characterized by
a number of constraints and research is one of the main among them. Carrying research in India
has a number of challenges such as absence of intellectual stimulation, emphasis on role
learning, Lack of scientific theoretical base and inadequate data, lack of scientific knowledge
and training in Research Methodology. The quality and standards of the students who are seeing
admission into research institutions their interests, attitudes, subject expertise, skills to take up
research work, material facilities available in the Institutions, Library facilities available in the
Institution, the quality of research supervisors working in the institution, their subject expertise,
the area of research etc. contribute to the quality.
Attitude : Attitude can be described as a tendency to react positively or negatively to a person or
circumstances. Thus the two main elements of attitude are this tendency or predisposition and
the direction of this predisposition. It has been defined as a mental state of readiness, organize
to through experience which exerts a directive or dynamic influence on the responses on a
individual to all objects and situations with which the individual is related. The encyclopedia
of social sciences described attitude as a comparatively enduring organization of interrelated
beliefs which describe and evaluate the action with respect to an object or a situation, with each
belief having cognitive effect and behavioral components. Each of these beliefs is a
predisposition that results in some preferential response towards the object or the situation.
Components of attitude:
Emotional : Emotional components include the feelings of a person about and object. These
feeling could be positive, negative or neutral.
Informational : The beliefs and information that the individual has about the object are the
informational component of attitude. Here it makes little difference if the information is
corrector incorrect.
Behavioural : these components of attitude consist of a tendency of an individual to behave in a
particular way towards and object. Only this component of attitude is visible as the other two
can only be inferred. In the present study attitude towards research scholars refers to
predisposition of mind of the research scholars towards persons, objects, things related to
research environment.

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The researcher reviewed various books, journals, news papers, research reports and several
websites to avail the information the mental health of research scholars. Roghieh Ghasemi
(2015) conducted Evaluation of attitude to, knowledge of and barriers toward research among
medical science students. Undergraduate and postgraduate students of three medicine, dentistry
and pharmacy schools in Shiraz were enrolled in a cross-sectional descriptive study Data
analyses were performed by one-way ANOVA/Tukey and Student’s t, Pearson’s correlation
and Chi-squared tests. A total of 384 questionnaires were returned complete. Mean student
scores for attitude, knowledge and barriers were 68.97 ± 12.56,70.99 ± 20.97 and 75.27 ± 15.38,
respectively. On the knowledge parameter, 77.8% of students’ scores fell above the middle of
the possible attainable score, but 90% of attitude scores came in at below the middle of the

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 A. Sivagami and T. Sugasini

possible attainable score. Undergraduate students (70.27 ± 12.00) showed a more positive

attitude to research than postgraduate students (65.57 ± 13.06) (p = 0.001). Female students
(72.97 ± 20.54) had greater knowledge than males (67.09 ± 21.56) (p = 0.010). Many barriers
were highlighted by students such as lack of funding support and lack of time for research.
Taiba Ahmad (2015) conducted study on “A Study of Research Attitude, Achievement
Motivation and Self Concept of Social Science Research Scholars. Random sample of 101
research scholars comprising 47 males and 54 female social science research scholars was
selected from 10 different departments of Aligarh Muslim University. Attitude Scale Towards
Research by Sood & Sharma (2012) Deo-Mohan Achievement Motivation Scale by Deo and
Mohan (1985). Self-Concept Scale by Rani (1979)Reliability of the scale by split-half method,
following Spearman Brown Prophecy formula was found to be 0.87. statistical technique used
for the data analysis was‘t’ test for knowing the ssignificance between the means of different
comparative groups. The data was analyzed with the help of computer by using SPSS to get
accurate results and also to save time.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• To study the influence of socio demographic variables on level of research work of the
respondents.
• To study the influence of attitude of the respondents in their research process.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The researcher adopted descriptive research design as the research aimed at describing attitude
towards Research scholars and the researcher collected data from the research scholars of
Thanjavur district. About 306 respondents were selected through proportionate random
sampling in Thanjavur. Both primary and secondary data were used for this study. The primary
data were collected by using a pre tested questionnaire. The research consists of various
dimensions which are the profile of respondents such as socio economic conditions, attitude of
Research Scholars. The researchers executed analysis to find out the relationship and
differences among the variables.

5. DISCUSSION ON KEY FINDINGS

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Profile of the Respondents
Frequency
S.NO Particulars Percentage
(N = 306)
I Age
26 - 35yrs 106 34.6
36-45yrs 146 47.7
46 - 55 yrs 39 12.8
56 - 65 yrs 15 4.9
II Religion
Hindu 164 53.6
Muslim 56 18.3
Christian 86 28.1
III Occupational
Academician 79 25.8
Professionals 60 19.6
Farmers 59 19.3
Daily wages 59 19.3
Housewives and Retired 49 16.0

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 Research Attitude among Ph.D Scholars in Higher Education Institutions of Thanjavur District

IV Domicile
Rural 126 41.2
Urban 60 19.6
Sub urban 120 39.2
V Type of Family
Nuclear 141 46.1
Joint 165 53.9
This table No.1 infers that less than half (47.7 percent) of the respondents were in the age
group between 36 to 45 years, nearly one third (34.6 percent) of the respondents between 26 to
35 yrs, a small portion (12.8 percent) of the respondents were between 46 to 55yrs, and
negligible portion (4.9 percent) of the respondents were in the age group of 56 to 65yrs and
above. As far as religion concerned a more than half (53.6 percent) of respondents were Hindus,
more than one fourth (28.1 percent) of the respondents were Christians and a sizable portion
(18.3 percent) of the respondents were Muslims. It concludes that most of the scholars are
Hindus in this research study. Occupational status is conceptualized as any activity in which a
person is regularly engaged to achieve standardized utilization. That a majority (25.8 percent)
of the respondents were academicians working in colleges doing part time degree, and small
portion (19.6 percent) of the respondents were professionals, farmers (19.3 percent), daily
wagers (19.3 percent) and small portion (16.0 percent) of the respondents were housewives and
retired person. This infers that more than one third (41.2 percent) of the respondents were living
in rural area, about 39.2 percent of the respondents were living in sub urban area and small
portion (19.6 percent) of the respondents were living in urban area. This infers that little more
than half of the respondents (53.9 percent) were from nuclear families, little less than half of
the respondents (46.1 percent) were from joint families. This concludes that joint families still
exist in the changing scenario as the respondents split between joint family and nuclear family
more or less equally.
60

49.6
50 48
42.9 41.8
40

30.7 30.1
30 26.8 28.1
25.2 26.5 26.2
24.2

20

10

0
Avarage Medium High Avarage Medium High Avarage Medium High Avarage Medium High
Accademic Attitude Mental attitude Time Management Overall Scholars Attitude
Attitude

Figure 1 The level of Scholar Attitude Experienced by the Respondents

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 A. Sivagami and T. Sugasini

The figure no 1 indicated that more than half of the respondents 48 percent had medium
level of academic attitude dimension of scholar attitude,26.8 percent had high level of academic
attitude dimension of scholar attitude and 25.2 percent of the respondents had low level of
academic attitude dimension of scholar attitude. It also showed that 42.9 percent had medium
level of mental attitude dimension of scholar attitude, 30.7 percent had high level of mental
attitude dimension of scholar attitude and 26.5 percent of the respondents had low level of
mental attitude dimension of scholar attitude. With regards to the time management attitude
that more than half of the respondent’s 41.8 percent had medium level of scholar attitude, 30.1
percent had average level of scholar attitude and 28.1 percent of the respondents had high level
of scholar attitude. Further it was demonstrated that more than half of the respondents 49.6
percent had medium level of scholar attitude, 26.2 percent had average level of scholar attitude
and 24.2 percent of the respondents had high level of scholar attitude.

Table 2 Results of t-test and Descriptive Statistics for Dimensions of Scholar Attitude and Gender
Gender
Male Female Mean Signi-
n M SD n M SD differenc ‘t’ df. ficant
e
Academic 144 27.81 9.94 162 29.23 9.90 -1.41 -1.2 304 P<0.05
Attitude Not
significant
Mental 144 17.58 7.33 162 19.45 7.77 -1.87 -2.16 304 P>0.05
Attitude significant
Time 144 18.72 6.40 162 19.03 7.05 -.30 -.390 304 P<0.05
management Not
Attitude significant
Overall 144 64.13 18.62 162 67.72 20.36 -3.59 -1.603 304 P<0.05
Scholars Not
attitude significant

Results of t-test shows that there was statistically significant mean difference in between
male and female with regards to mental health dimensions of scholars attitude whereas the other
dimensions of scholar attitude such as academic attitude, time management and overall scholar
attitude was not statistically significant. The result showed that mental health dimension of male
(M = 17.58, SD = 7.33, n = 144) and female (M = 19.45, SD = 7.77, n = 144), (t = -2.16, df. =
304, p> .05, 95% mean difference -1.87) was having variation. Female are having more scholar
attitude than the female research scholars.

Table 3 Results of t-test and Descriptive Statistics for Dimensions of Scholar Attitude and Fellowship
Fellowship
Yes No Mean Significant
n M SD n M SD differe ‘t’ df.
nce
Academic P<0.05
Attitude 34 30.17 8.20 78 29.23 9.90 .79 .424 110 Not
significant
Mental P<0.05
Attitude 34 18.08 7.40 78 18.65 6.79 -.56 -.394 110 Not
significant
Time P<0.05
management 34 19.52 7.14 78 18.89 6.29 .63 .469 110 Not
Attitude significant
Overall P<0.05
Scholars 34 67.79 17.38 78 66.93 16.70 .85 .247 110 Not
attitude significant

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 Research Attitude among Ph.D Scholars in Higher Education Institutions of Thanjavur District

Results of t-test shows that there was no statistically significant mean difference in between
fellowship received and do not receive fellowship with regards to all the dimensions of scholars
attitude. The t value of academic attitude is .424, p<0.05, mental attitude -.394, p<0.05, time
management attitude .469, p<0.05 and overall scholars attitude .247, p<0.05. It is inferred that
the reception of fellowship does not show any variation in the attitude of the research scholars.

Table 4 Results of t-test and Descriptive Statistics for Dimensions of Scholar Attitude and Marital
Status
Marital status
Married unmarried Mean Significant
n M SD n M SD differen ‘t’ df.
ce
Academic 169 29.5 9.40 137 27.39 10.46 2.12 1.970 304 P>0.05
Attitude 2 significant
Mental 169 18.3 7.46 137 18.85 7.81 -.504 -.576 304 P<0.05
Attitude 4 Not
significant
Time 169 19.5 6.63 137 18.02 6.80 1.569 2.034 304 P>0.05
management 9 significant
Attitude
Overall 169 67.4 19.2 137 64.27 19.99 3.191 1.418 304 P<0.05
Scholars 6 3 Not
attitude significant
Results of t-test showed that there was statistically significant mean difference in between
married and unmarried with regards to academic and time management dimensions of scholars
attitude whereas the other dimensions of scholar attitude such as mental health, and overall
scholar attitude was not statistically significant. The result showed that academic attitude
dimension of married (M = 29.52, SD = 9.40, n = 169) and unmarried (M = 27.39, SD = 10.46,
n = 137), (t = 1.970, df. = 304, p> .05, 95% means difference 2.12 and time management attitude
of married (M = 19.59, SD = 6.63, n = 169) and unmarried (M = 18.02, SD = 6.80, n = 137), (t
= 2.034, df. = 304, p> .05, 95% means difference 1.569 were having variation. Married scholars
were having more scholar attitude than the female research scholars with regards to academic
and time management.

Table 5 One-Way Analysis of Variance of Among Occupation of Parents with Regards to the Level of
Scholar’s Attitude
Academic Attitude df. SS MS F P
Between Groups 3 1712.360 428.090 4.540 .001
Within Groups 302 28380.699 94.288
Total 305 30093.059
Mental Attitude df. SS MS F P
Between Groups 3 2281.368 570.342 11.136 .000
Within Groups 302 15415.403 51.214
Total 305 17696.771
Time management Attitude df. SS MS F P
Between Groups 3 922.537 230.634 5.357 .000
Within Groups 302 12959.685 43.055
Total 305 13882.222
Overall Scholars attitude df. SS MS F P
Between Groups 3 7523.043 1880.761 5.156 .000
Within Groups 302 109788.630 364.746
Total 305 117311.673

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 A. Sivagami and T. Sugasini

One way analysis of variance showed that the occupation of parents of the respondents was
significant, (F (3,302) = 4.540, p =.001, = 11.136, p =.000, = 5.357, p =.000and =5.156, p=.000
with regards to academic attitude, mental attitude, time management attitude and overall
scholars attitude. Post hoc analyses using the Bonfeoni’s post hoc criterion for significance
indicated that scholars whose parents are professional were having more attitude with regards
to academic (M = 31.78, SD = 8.87) than other groups such as daily labour (M = 30.94, SD =
11.88), others (M = 27.63, SD = 9.09), academician (M = 27.27, SD = 8.80) and farmer (M =
25.42, SD = 9.75), (F (3,302) = 4.540, p =.001. With regards to mental attitude, scholars from
academic family were having more mental attitude (M = 22.75, SD = 5.79) than other groups
such as farmer (M = 19.13, SD = 6.81), professional (M = 17.40, SD = 9.19), house wife/retire
(M = 15.97, SD = 5.90) and daily labour (M = 15.76, SD = 7.70), (F (3,302) = 11.136, p=.000.
With regards to time management attitude, scholars from academic family were having more
time management (M = 21.46, SD = 5.95) than other groups such as daily labour (M = 19.49,
SD = 6.22), farmer (M = 17.91, SD = 6.51), professional family (M = 17.56, SD = 8.13) and
others (M = 16.79, SD = 5.75), (F (3,302) = 5.357, p=.000.
With regards to overall attitude, the scholars from academic family were having more time
management (M = 71.50, SD = 17.78) than other groups such as daily labour (M = 69.57, SD
= 21.53), professional (M = 66.75, SD = 23.43), other (M = 60.40, SD = 11.73) and farmer’s
family (M = 59.10, SD = 18.18), (F (3,302) = 5.156, p=.000. It is inferred that occupation of
the family has significant role to play in the variation of the scholar’s attitude.

Table 6 Results of Chi-square Test and Descriptive Statistics for Scholar’s Attitude by the Family
Income
scholar’s
Family Income
attitude
Academic Up to Rs. Rs. 50001 – Rs. Rs. 100001 – Above Rs. Total
Attitude 50000 100000 Rs. 150000 150001
Low 40 28 2 7 77
Moderate 57 51 23 16 147
High 46 10 14 12 82
2 = 24.554, df. = 6. p < .05
Mental Attitude
Low 42 18 12 9 81
Moderate 44 7 9 10 70
High 57 64 18 16 155
2 = 26.756, df. = 6. p < .05
Time management Attitude
Low 43 18 18 13 92
Moderate 72 35 11 10 128
High 28 36 10 12 86
2 = 21.707, df. = 6. p < .05
Overall Scholars attitude
Low 36 21 8 12 77
Moderate 80 44 17 11 152
High 27 24 14 12 77
2 = 20.650, df. = 6. p < .05

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 Research Attitude among Ph.D Scholars in Higher Education Institutions of Thanjavur District

Chi-square results showed a statistically significant association in the level of scholar’s

attitude among family income of the respondents. The family income of the respondents plays
an impact on all the dimension of the scholar’s attitude towards their process in the Ph. D work.

Table 7 Results of Chi-square Test and Descriptive Statistics for Scholar’s Attitude by the Ph. D.
Progress Status
scholar’s Progress status
attitude
Academic Earlier stage Middle stage Final stage Total
Attitude
Low 39 36 2 77
Moderate 54 74 19 147
High 40 34 8 82
2 = 9.559, df. = 4. p < .05
Mental Attitude
Low 27 50 4 81
Moderate 32 31 7 70
High 74 63 18 155
2 = 10.347, df. = 4. p < .05
Time management Attitude
Low 40 41 11 92
Moderate 60 64 4 128
High 33 39 14 86
2 = 11.511, df. = 4. p < .05
Overall Scholars attitude
Low 40 32 5 77
Moderate 51 89 12 152
High 42 23 12 77
2 = 20.638, df. = 4. p < .05
Chi-square results showed statistically significant association in the level of scholar’s
attitude among Ph. D. progress status of the respondents. The status of the Ph. D progress of
the respondents plays an impact on all the dimension of the scholar’s attitude towards their
process in the Ph. D work.

Table 8 Correlation co-efficient value (Karl Pearson’s) between age, Family Income and Scholar’s
Attitude
Age Family Income
Academic Attitude -.140* .113*
Mental Attitude -.022 .059
Time management Attitude -.227** .008
Overall Scholars attitude -.157** .083
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

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 A. Sivagami and T. Sugasini

70 63.4%
60
50
36.6%
40
30
20
10
0
Part-time Full-time
Part-time Full-time

Figure 2 Distribution of Respondents by their Nature of Enrollment

The diagram no 4.5 indicates the nature of enrolment of the respondents. The table reveals
that little less than two third of the respondents (63.4 percent) got enrolled as part time scholars
and more than one third (36.6 percent) of the respondents were pursuing on fulltime basis. It
may be due to the nature of occupation and work they were doing. The study concludes that
most of the part time scholars seem to be academicians working in various educational
institutions.

6. HYPOTHESIS TESTING
Hypothesis 1 : There is a significant difference between fellowship of the respondents and their
level of attitude. The table reveals that there was no statistically significant mean difference in
between fellowship received and do not receive fellowship with regards to all the dimensions
of scholars attitude. The t value of academic attitude is .424, p<0.05, mental attitude -.394,
p<0.05, time management attitude .469, p<0.05 and overall scholars attitude .247, p<0.05.
Hypothesis 2 : There is a significant relationship between variables age, family income and
attitude of the respondents and their attitude towards Research work. Karl Pearson’s Correlation
co-efficient showed that the correlation matrix test (r) has been used to find out the relationship
between the variables age and family income and scholar’s attitude. This analysis was found to
be statistically negatively significant with regards to age and the level of academic attitude and
time management attitude experienced by the respondents and there is statistically significant
with family income of the respondents and academic attitude of the respondents r (.113*),
p<0.05.. The above table clearly denoted the age negatively correlated with academic attitude
of the respondents r (-.140*), p<0.05., time management attitude r (-.227**), p<0.01 and overall
scholars attitude of the respondents r (-.157**), p<0.01.

7. SUGGESTIONS
• Identify appropriate journals for publications and help in writing skills as well as other
communication skills.
• The institutions giving the doctoral program can give the mentioned above training to
the students to complete their research successfully.
• Providing proper training can help the students to complete their research degree with a
quality research in stipulated time.

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 Research Attitude among Ph.D Scholars in Higher Education Institutions of Thanjavur District

8. CONCLUSION
Attitude cannot be directly observed but must be inferred for overt behaviour, both verbal and
nonverbal. However, attitudes are relatively permanent tendencies to respond in consistent
ways to particular classes of objects or events, this study explored the effects of demographic
variables on the student’s attitude towards research. It was observed that students like and enjoy
involving in research activity which indicates positive attitude of students towards research.
This study has also examined the relationships that existed between the five factors that were
produced in this study. There is strong correlation between positive attitude towards research
and research usefulness and there is weak correlation between positive attitude and research
anxiety. This also shows that students perceived research usefulness in their professional lives.
The table shows that the overall attitude of female science stream scholars are higher when
compare with female.

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