Browsing by Author "Lutomiah, Agnes Omulyebi"

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    An evaluation of the science system in Kenya
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-03) Lutomiah, Agnes Omulyebi; Mouton, Johann; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Evaluation of science systems has been on the increase in the recent past following government calls for accountability of the public investment in research development. The government and other funders also call for the evaluation of science for decision making on the amounts to invest in research development. This study set out to conduct an evaluation of the Kenyan science system. Using a case study research design, the study combined standard research and development indicators, bibliometric data, survey data and interview data to evaluate Kenya’s research investment, research capacity and research performance – research output, research collaboration, and citation impact. The standard research and development indicators revealed minimal investment in research development in Kenya, an investment that is still below the government’s target of investing about 1-2% of GDP to research and development. The R&D indicators also show that the human resources available for research are low in relation to the government’s target and a comparison of other selected sub-Saharan countries. The government intends to increase the number of researchers by training more PhD students. It was also the objective of this study to assess and describe the trends in Kenya’s research performance. Bibliometric data on publications revealed a steady increase in scientific output over the past decade across all scientific fields. The study also found high scientific output in the agricultural and health sciences. Analyzing the co-authorship data revealed an increase in international collaboration with minimal inter-continental and national collaboration. Minimal national collaboration might imply a weak national science. The study also found that Kenya specializes in agricultural and the health sciences which is important for Kenya’s overall scientific output. Citation analysis showed that the citation impact of Kenya’s scientific output had increased steadily for the past two decades, registering a citation impact that is above the world average (i.e. above 1), which implies that it generates at least similar citation rates than other countries. Examining the factors that enable or constraint research performance, the study found no huge age differences that emerge in relation to respondent’s collaboration with different researchers. On the other end, male scientists were more likely to collaborate internationally as compared to female researchers. In relation to research output, in general, my findings show age, gender and scientific field are key predictors of reported scientific output. Statistically significant differences between age categories, although small, and research production were found as older scientists reported higher publication output in some fields and publication forms as compared to the younger scientists. Several scientific career challenges were identified in this study, which includes minimal funding support, lack of research networks, lack of mentoring, training and support in career decision and fundraising. The contribution of this study was both empirical and methodological. Using the research performance evaluation framework, this study provides a comprehensive evaluation of Kenya’s science system on the following aspects: research investment, research capacity and research performance (research output, research collaboration and citation impact). Apart from the evaluation, the study also provides information on the perceptions of scientists on research funding, research collaboration and career challenges. Methodologically, the study uses a case study research design, which allows triangulation of the standard R&D data, bibliometric data, survey data and interview data, to provide an in-depth understanding and evaluation of Kenya’s science system. Given that different methods have different limitations, the different data sources supplement each other.