Scholars Bulletin (SB)
Volume-4 | Issue-07 | 577-584
Research Article
Dissemination Process as a Determinant of the Utilization of Universities’ Research Outputs by Social Service NGOs in Nakuru, Kenya
Naliaka Robai, Dr. Paul Gesimba, Dr. David Gichuhi
Published : July 10, 2018
Abstract
The universities are rich with research outputs due to their nature of teaching, research and development through the transfer of knowledge to the society, but the extent to which the research outputs are translated into socio-economic outcomes that benefit the society concerns the industry players. Of particular interest is the research dissemination process. The central question in this paper, therefore, is how does the dissemination process determine the utilization of universities’ research outputs by social service NGOs in Nakuru Town of Kenya? In order to answer this question, the study applied the Triple Helix Theory and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. It utilized the descriptive survey design where data was collected from 30 managers from 30 social services Non-Governmental Organizations within Nakuru Town. Managers were selected from a list of social services NGOs provided by the National Council of NGOs Rift Valley Office using the simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire comprised of both open-ended and close-ended questions that were administered by the researcher. The data collected was analyzed mainly using the qualitative methods and minimal quantitative methods and presented using tables and graphs. The study results show that Journal and conferences are the main channels that these organization use to access research findings and that both had a positive influence on universities research utilization by the organizations. The study recommends that Universities encourage their researchers to disseminate their findings in open access online journal as they are cost effective.