‘Indigenization of Research in Social Sciences’

IPS LEAD – the Learning, Excellence and Development Program of Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, in collaboration with AIESEC-NUST chapter, organized an online session titled ‘Indigenization of Research in Social Sciences’ on April 28, 2021 as part of its program ‘Indigenizing Policy Research in Pakistan’.

The session, which was attended by the students of advanced studies from the School of Social Sciences (SSS)-NUST, was addressed by Chairman IPS Khalid Rahman, who apprised the participants about the need and importance of research for any society, while advising them with some prospective areas for their upcoming research assignments.

Rahman, in his keynote speech, pointed out that all developed nations we see today were propelled by a strong culture of research that they were able to develop within their societies. He viewed that without a vibrant and rational culture of research in social sciences, any produced theoretical perspectives and empirical research – upon which sound national and regional level policymaking ought to rest – will always remain inadequate. Thus, a regular and meaningful discourse among scholars of various disciplines of social sciences is essential to forge an intellectually coherent and policy-oriented research.

The speaker maintained that the state of social science research as well as the choice of topics and methods reflect the general climate of research in any country, and that is why it is the need of the hour for Pakistan to forge a change in its research culture, not only to meet the concurrent socio-economic, political and cultural challenges faced by the country, but also to examine existing methodologies, techniques and conceptual paradigms, while attempting to identify solutions to address the country’s contemporary and emerging needs.