Content Analysis of Research Contributions towards Environmental Issues in Sindh

Abstract

This research article identifies the contributions of PhD faculty members of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Sindh Pakistan offering degrees in the environment discipline through published articles in journals, conference proceedings, research project reports and focused areas of research. The content analyses of curriculum vitae data of PhD faculty members is carried out in this article. As an outcome a methodology is developed which compares the conducted research with existing environmental issues existing in Sindh Pakistan. In total, 696 research contributions of PhD faculty members of HEIs offering degrees in field of Environmental Engineering & Environmental Sciences were explored. The PhD faculty members have disseminated their research by publishing 192 articles in international and 148 in national journals, presenting 71 papers in national and 117 papers in international conferences, 146 research project reports and 22 scholarly books. This research has identified different focused research areas chosen by PhD faculty members related to environmental issues in Sindh such as Waste Management, Water Quality, Environmental Resource Management, Water Management, Plant Biodiversity, Renewable Energy, and Air Pollution. While environmental issues in Sindh such as; Marine Pollution, Noise Pollution, Desertification, Deforestation, Agrochemicals, Sea Intrusion, Risks of Oil Spills at Ports, Climate Change, Global Warming, Ozone Depletion, and Acid Rain remained less focused by those PhD faculty members. This research concluded that larger numbers of research papers are published related to different environmental issues in Sindh but yet these problems remained unsolved. The finding suggests that academic research is making less impact on solution of local problems.

Keywords: Research Contributions, Academic Biographies, HEIs, PhDs. Qualitative Content Analysis