Investigation of Research skills in Graduate students (Case Study: Payamenoor University)

The capabilities of conducting research and generating knowledge are the most prominent factors in developing any country and the key to their socioeconomic development. The academic communities, especially graduate students, play a critical role in this matter So the aim of this study is investigation of research skills in graduate students. The method of this study is descriptive surveyand its statistical population consisted ofall male and female university students majoring in three academic departments of educational sciences, social sciences and economics of Payame Noor University of Isfahan 2014–2015. The sample consisted of 204. The research instruments includedresearcher-made questionnaire onassessment of research skills. Data were analyzed through One-sample t-test, Independent Samples Test, oneway ANOVA. The Findings demonstrated that there was a Students ’proficiency in research skills was above average (3.61). Of the six research skills, the students ’proficiency in writing research proposals (3.76), research methodology (4.13) and using library resources (3.84) was above average, their Net surfing skills oriented towards websites on scientific research (3.50) was about the average, and their statistical analysis skills (3.13) and expertise in documenting sources (citation) (3.28) was below average. Moreover, there were no significant differences between male and female students in terms of research skills, and no significant differences between students in all three academic groups. In general, the students' research skills stood at relatively favorable levels. However, further improvements of students' research skills should be placed high on the agenda of the framework of educational planning policies and curriculum development of higher education.