Exploring research skills among undergraduate students of private universities in UAE

The purpose of this paper is to explore undergraduate research skills of students from private universities in the UAE. A survey was conducted in two private universities. These are Al-Ain university of Science & Technology and Ajman University of Science and Technology. The survey questionnaire centered on the understanding of the nature of research, research process, data collection and data analysis. A total of 147 randomly selected students from the above-mentioned universities participated in the study. Data were analyzed using statistical indicators such as percentages, averages and standard deviations. The researchers hypothesized that there is no significant differences among the students of participating universities in research skills. The ANOVA table and testing hypothesis support this claim. The researchers also believed that the students´ college is related to his research ability. The chi-square of independence test shows that such a relation does not exist. Males were outstanding than females in understanding the research process. Females and males reported similar results in regard to understanding of the nature of research and in regard to data collection and data analysis. Findings also indicate that the students´ believe in their research ability is extremely different from their actual research skills.