Teachers’ Research Beliefs, Research Attitude, Research Motivation, and Research Utilization: A Structural Model

Given the main mandate of universities in the trilogy of research, teaching, and societal interaction, universities are expected to have a firm tradition of research. This study established a model that explains research utilization in terms of teachers’ research beliefs, research attitudes, and research motivation in a private non-sectarian university in Southern Philippines. More than two hundred teachers from the university participated in the study. The data collection tool was a researcher-made Teachers’ Research Beliefs, Research Attitude, Research Motivation, and Research Utilization Survey Questionnaire, which was adapted from existing literature and studies, content validated, and pretested for reliability. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to organize the data. Confirmatory factor analysis in the SEM further supported the validity of the constructs.  Findings reveal that research motivation mediated the impact of research beliefs and attitudes towards research on research utilization. The results of this study will be utilized to enhance the current academic efforts not only to encourage more teachers to engage in research but also to strengthen the link of research to instruction.

Keywords: research beliefs, research attitudes, research motivation, research utilization