Research capacity is defined as the ability of individuals and institutions to undertake high-

quality research and to engage with the wider community of stakeholders. It can also be defined as the
ability to define problems, set objectives and priorities, conduct sound scientific research, build
sustainable institutions, and identify solutions to key (national) problems. This definition encompasses
research capacity at the levels of individuals, research groups, institutions and countries.

Various issues in research that hinder research capacity such as lack of support from the
administration for research trainings, seminar-workshops and presentations at regional, national and
international level, faculty members are reluctant to do research for the reason that they do not have
sufficient time because they focused on their instruction function, budget allotted to fund institutional
researches and international publications, and linkages and partnership with external research
coordinating bodies that will sustain publication and presentations.

The institution’s leadership is associated to the research capacity and sets its direction of
research towards internationalization. PCHRD evaluates research capacity in terms of agenda setting,
research design and implementation, ethics, capacity building, research utilization, resource
mobilization and structure/organization, monitoring and evaluation.

The internationalization of research has increasingly become an area of focus for higher
education institutions but has received less scholarly attention in the study of internationalization in
higher education. The number of key challenges, and highlights that the internationalization of research
is influenced by the complex intersection of factors relating to the individual faculty member, to their
discipline, to their institution, and to range of external factors, such as funding. (Woldegiyorgis
Ayenachew A., 2018)

When research capacity is limited, there is a void in the production of contextually relevant
research, in the mobilization the research evidence for societal benefits and in the synthesis of research
evidence to improve practice, programs and policies. It is for this reason that the researcher is
motivated to conduct an assessment of the research capacity among HEIs in Region I as a basis for a
research capacity framework that leads to the goal for internationalization.

Theoretical Framework

This study on the research capacity assessment is based on the role of higher education
institutions which are among the primary entities given the responsibility to generate, transmit,
disseminate and apply knowledge, thus making them (HEIs) the major component of the nation’s
research and innovation system.

Further, it is also based on the following grounds.

Theory of Change

Theories of change (ToC) (Austin and Bartunek, 1990) are vital to evaluation of success for a
number of reasons. Programs should be grounded on good theory. By developing a theory of change
based on a good theory, researchers can be better assured that their programs are delivering the right
activities for the desired outcomes. And by creating a theory of change programs are easier to sustain,
bring to scale, and evaluate, since each step – from the ideas behind it, to the outcomes it hopes to
provide, to the resources needed – are clearly defined within the theory. Within this wider framework
logic or outcomes models are very closely related, often being used to take a more narrowly practical
look at the relationship between inputs and results.

‘Theories of change’ has strong linkages with other more well-known approaches to evaluation
as well as contemplating developments in the field of research capacity that emphasize the conceptual
and practical contribution of theory-driven approaches. There are three important aspects to evaluation
practice that ‘theories of change’ can be aligned with: First the process-outcomes evaluation, these
approaches have been common in evaluations of public policy, particularly since the significance of
implementation was acknowledged and understanding what happens and why in a programmed can be
vital in examining why particular objectives were or were not achieved.

‘Theories of change’ adds value to this approach by requiring the link between process and
outcome to be articulated at the beginning of the process. Second, responsive/interactive evaluation
which is the involvement of particular stakeholders in the process of designing and undertaking
evaluation is most obviously exemplified by action research or empowerment evaluation. However,
there are a variety of other ways in which stakeholder perspectives can be included in the evaluation.
Third, the aspect of evaluation is to be flexible so as to ensure that factors important to the evaluation
are not excluded by a predetermination of evaluation questions, approaches and method.

Consequently, ‘theories of change’ adds value to these approaches by linking the participation
of all relevant stakeholders with a maximization of learning. It also makes explicit the different value
bases that underpin the perspective of more or less powerful stakeholders and third realistic evaluation
which highlights the importance of context in determining how a policy intervention will be played out
in practice.

Figure 1. Theory of Change

The Theory of Change (Figure 1) specifies how to create a range of conditions that help
programs deliver on the desired outcomes. These can include setting out the right kinds of partnership,
types of forums, particular kinds of technical assistance, and tools and processes that help people
operate more collaboratively and be more results-focused. The model is composed of different
elements: the context for initiative including social, political and environment conditions, the current
state of the project that is seeking to influence change, the long-term outcomes that the initiative seeks
to support the broad sequence of events anticipated or required to lead the desired long-term outcome,
the underlying assumptions about how these changes might happen, and about contextual drives that
may affect whether the activities and outputs are appropriate for influencing the desired changes in this
context, and a logic model and narrative summary that represents the sequence and captures the
discussion.

The relationship of this theory is that like research, it is an on-going process of reflection to
explore change and how it happens. The goal of research is to promote quality of life, and HEIs are the
driving force to attain this through internationalization.

Social Learning Theory

This theory is largely the work of Albert Bandura (1997, 2001), who mapped out a perspective in
learning that includes considerations of the personal characteristics of an individual, behavior patterns
and environment. The theory has gone through several “paradigm shifts”. In early formulations, Bandura
emphasized behaviorist features and the imitation of role models; next the focus shifted to cognitive
considerations, such as the attributes of the self and the internal processing of the individual. More
recently, Bandura’s attention turned to the impact of social factors and the social context within which
learning and behavior occur. As the model has evolved, the learner has become viewed as central
(Bandura called it “human agency”), which suggests the need to identify what learners are perceiving
and hoe they are interpreting and responding to social situations. As such, careful consideration needs
to be given to the research culture environment as a social situation.

One of Bandura’s early observations was that individuals need to have direct experiences to
learn; considerable learning occurs by taking note of other people’s behavior and what happens to
them. Thus, learning is often a social process, and other individuals, especially significant others, provide
compelling examples or role models for how to think, feel and act. Role modelling is a central concept of
this theory. As an example, a more experienced expert in research who demonstrates desirable
professional attitudes and behaviors sometimes is used as a mentor for a less experienced colleague.
When asked what qualities make an “exceptional” researchers identified being a role model as an
important characteristic. How researchers perceive their role is an important consideration in the
leadership selection process. Their attitudes and actions, such as ensuring safety, integrating knowledge
with practice, sharing feelings, challenging peers and colleagues and demonstrating competence and
willingness to provide guidance to others, influence the outcomes of the supervision process.

Vicarious reinforcement is another concept from the social learning theory and involves
determining whether role models are perceived as rewarded or punished for their behavior. Reward is
not always necessary, however, and a learner may imitate the behavior of a role model even when no
reward is involved for their role model or the learner. In many cases, however, whether the model is
viewed by the observer as rewarded or punished may have direct influence on learning.

Bandura outlines a four-step, largely internal process that directs social learning.

First is the attentional phase. Second is the retention phase, which involves the storage and
retrieval of what was observed. Third is the reproduction phase, where the learner copies the observed
behavior. Fourth is the motivational phase, which focuses on whether the person is motivated to
perform a certain type of behavior. Reinforcement or punishment for a role model’s behavior, the
learning situation, and the appropriateness of subsequent situations where the behavior is to be
displayed all affect a learner’s performance.
 The theory is related to the study wherein behavior, attitudes and outcomes can be learned
through observing others. In conceptualizing research, people learned from observing others and forms
an idea and on the latter part, this will serve as a guide for action. This theory explains human behavior
in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral and environmental
influences.