Research Paper
Policy and decision-making in education
Samad Borzoian
Abstract
The objective of the present study is to evaluate the relative efficiency of the faculties of a large public university in the domain of research activities. This research adopts a descriptive-analytical method with a linear programming approach, based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. ...
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The objective of the present study is to evaluate the relative efficiency of the faculties of a large public university in the domain of research activities. This research adopts a descriptive-analytical method with a linear programming approach, based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. The super-efficiency of research activities across faculties was calculated using the AP-SBM-V model.The model inputs include the standardized number of faculty members, the percentage of faculty holding the ranks of lecturer and assistant professor, the percentage of undergraduate students, and per capita research funding (grants) allocated to faculty members. The outputs consist of standardized counts of research articles, books, conferences, and per capita research publications by faculty members. Based on the selected inputs and outputs, the required data were collected for each faculty (DMU) from reliable statistical sources. Using DEA-Solver software and selecting the super-efficiency model, the efficiency score and ranking of nine faculties were calculated. The results of the software output were analyzed to assess the research performance efficiency of the faculties. The findings indicate that out of nine faculties, eight achieved super-efficiency scores greater than one, while one faculty had a score less than one. To examine the effect of each input and output on faculty efficiency, a sensitivity analysis was also conducted, and practical recommendations were provided based on optimal computational values.The results of this study can be used for allocating research budgets among faculties based on efficiency considerations.
