A Study of Research Trends at Master Level in Education in the Universities of Punjab - Period from 1988 to 2008

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Fans

The study explores research trends in master-level education departments across universities in the Punjab province from 1988 to 2008. It analyzes research areas and methodologies, reviews master-level theses, and classifies and compares research activities using documentary analysis. Data were collected from 1132 theses from five universities by reviewing thesis abstracts. Results show heavy focus on teacher education while guidance and counseling is largely ignored, leading to recommendations for future emphasis and for developing a provincial/national research activity encyclopedia.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Purpose and significance of educational research

Role of abstract writing and research documentation

Review framework for master-level theses

Elements used for analysis

Overview of selected universities and education departments

Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) Multan

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB)

Government College University (GCU) Faisalabad

A Study of Research Trends at Master Level in Education in the Universities of Punjab: Period from 1988 to 2008 Mazhar Iqbal *, Akhtar Ali** and Muhammad Javed*** Abstract The present study purports to explore research trends at Master level in education departments of different universities of the province of Punjab from 1988 to 2008. The objectives of the study were to analyze research areas and methodologies, give critical review on research studies, and classify and compare research activities of Master level theses in education departments of the selected universities of Punjab. The population for the study comprised of public sector universities of Punjab while the sample consisted of five universities; namely, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Government College University Faisalabad, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, University of the Punjab Lahore, and University of Sargodha. The study was based on documentary analysis of the research theses conducted in education departments ofthe selected universities. The researchers collected 1132 research theses from the available sample and analyzed their abstracts to classify and quantify the studies into different areas and methodologies. It was concluded that a few research areas were greatly addressed whereas some research areas were ignored by the research scholars. For instance, the results indicate that the majority of research scholars worked in the area of teacher education and ignored the area of guidance and counseling. Therefore, it is recommended that the ignored areas should be focused in future studies. In addition, an encyclopedia of research activities should be developed at provincial and national level and its copies should be provided to all the universities to promote research culture at university level. Keywords: Research trends, Research scholars, Research areas, Methodologies * PhD Scholar, Department of Education, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. [Email: mazhariqbal.phd@gmail.com](Email: mazhariqbal.phd@gmail.com) ** Dean Faculty of Education, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Email: [akhtariub@hotmail.co.uk](akhtariub@hotmail.co.uk) ***Assistant Professor, Department of Education, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. [Email: muhammad.javed@iub.edu.pk](Email: muhammad.javed@iub.edu.pk) Introduction Education develops the personality of an individual to make him/her suitable for ideal social values and collective social life of society. Dynamic nature of values of life is an admitted fact while research in education plays a key role to develop society according to new scenario of changing social values of life. Research in education is logical, formal, systematic and an intensive process of scientific inquiry (Tuckman, 1999) . It comprises of well-structured investigation to record and report results and conclusions (Best & Kahn, 2007; Gay, 2007) . Research is an integral part of university education system and it also provides basic foundations for the development of life. Therefore, each discipline and department has a separate research and development section (Opie, et al., 2004) . Educational researchers in Pakistan are facing different problems like shortage of relevant literature, decision making about their research area and specified titles. Many of the researchers repeat previous research works. Abstract writing is description of summary of research area, methods and results of the study. It is an important section of summary about systematic and structured procedures to shortly narrate the larger research work in a few sentences. Abstract is a basic research element of a research study. It describes research work briefly and comprehensively. As regards the current study, it will help in sharing knowledge and information about the research activities, research areas and applied methodologies. This study will help to create research oriented environment at higher education inst

FAQs

What period and scope does the study cover?

The study covers research trends in master-level education departments in Punjab universities from 1988 to 2008, focusing on selected public sector universities in the province.

How were the theses analyzed in this research?

The researchers used documentary analysis of master-level theses and classified studies by analyzing the abstracts, research areas, and methodologies.

What were the main findings about research areas?

The study concludes that some areas were strongly addressed while others were ignored. Teacher education received the most attention, whereas guidance and counseling was largely neglected.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Fans