Relationship between Information Seeking Skills and Research Self-Efficacy of Postgraduate Students
Keywords:
Research Self-Efficacy, Information Seeking Skills, Information Seeking, Postgraduate StudentsAbstract
The study aims to examine the correlation between information seeking skills research self-efficacy of postgraduate (Master) students. A sample (n = 63) of postgraduate students enrolled at University of Karachi was utilized for the purpose of study. The study adopted descriptive correlational research design. Two validated scales, Research Self-Efficacy Scale developed by Holden, Gary, K. Barker, T. Meenaghan, G. Rosenberg (2007), and Information Seeking Skills Questionnaire constructed by Meerah et al. (2011) was administered to gather data. For analyzing the data, the descriptive statistics were applied to find out the levels of research self-efficacy and information seeking skills. Furthermore, Pearson's Product Moment Correlation (r) was used to analyze the correlation of the variables. The study concluded that the mean scores of information seeking skills of the postgraduate students was 3.73 while their research self-efficacy score was 3.446. Moreover, the results indicated that there is a positive and significant relationship between information seeking skills and research self-efficacy (r = 0.491, P< 0.001). In line with the obtained results, it is recommended that the information seeking skills should be incorporated and practiced in research courses as well as students should be motivated to take part in research projects to improve their research self-efficacy.
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