Are students ready to undertake research? Developing the Student Research Engagement Readiness scale

Marianna Lörincz and István Csernicskó
Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian University, Ukraine

Engaging students in research is essential for preparing them for evidence-informed academic and professional practice. In response to the need for a comprehensive diagnostic tool, our study reports the development and validation of the Student Research Engagement Readiness (SRER) scale, grounded in a multidimensional framework of research readiness encompassing cognitive, affective, and behavioural components. Data were collected from 334 undergraduate and graduate students at Ukrainian universities. The instrument underwent expert validation and piloting, followed by psychometric evaluation through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a four-factor structure - research self-efficacy, research motivation, barriers to research engagement, and research participation - further supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The scale's internal consistency reliability was strong across all subscales. Students' overall readiness scores were categorised into four levels (low, moderate, good, and excellent), with the majority falling within the moderate to good range. The SRER scale offers higher education institutions a reliable means for diagnosing student readiness for research engagement and tailoring support to foster their academic development and research involvement.
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Authors: Dr Marianna Lörincz is a Professor in the Department of Philology of Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian University in Berehove, Ukraine. Her research interests encompass aspects of EFL teaching and learning, EFL teacher education, and corpus linguistics. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2206-7113 Email: lorinc.marianna@kmf.org.ua Dr István Csernicskó is a Professor in the Department of Philology and the Rector of Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian University in Berehove, Ukraine. His research interests include sociolinguistics, language policy, and language education. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4512-988X Email: csernicsko.istvan@kmf.org.ua Please cite as: Lörincz, M. & Csernicskó, I. (2026). Are students ready to undertake research? Developing the Student Research Engagement Readiness scale. Issues in Educational Research, 36(1), 161-185. http://www.iier.org.au/iier36/lorincz.pdf