Abstract
The purpose of this analytical descriptive study was to investigate the attitudes of university teachers towards their research activities. Faculty of the public sector general universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the population of the study. Stratified random sampling was used to select a sample of 240 faculty members from six randomly selected universities. An attitude scale based on five point Likert technique was developed with the help of experts and related literature. Validity of the instrument was ensured by consulting experienced professors and experts in the field. Reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.76. Items of the rating scale were classified into six domains - research orientation, rewards influence research, personal interest, mission of university, research use, and research anxiety. For analysis, different statistical tools such as mean ratings, chi-square (χ 2 ), Pearson values, and one way analysis of variance (F test) were employed. University teachers showed positive attitudes towards research. Incentives played pivotal role in enhancing interest in scholarly activities. Research anxiety did not hamper intellectual activities of the faculty though significant number of the sample considered research stressful.