Analysis of Factors Influencing Cross-Disciplinary Research at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, UKM

Cross-disciplinary research is a research activity that extends beyond simple collaboration to integrate data, methodologies, perspectives and concepts from various research disciplines. The approach of cross-disciplinary research taken at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FKAB), in transforming the researcher, is still deem to be at its minimum because there has yet to be a study on unravelling the challenges of reinforcing cross-disciplinary research. Furthermore, the absence of a guideline for conducting such research prohibits the researcher to pursue his research into different discipline. The purpose of this paper is to examine the difficulty factors that contribute to the less than effective cross-disciplinary researches at the FKAB. In addition, through the conducted data analysis, a preliminary guideline can be formed, which can then be used as a guide and resource to develop awareness and capability in implementing cross-disciplinary research. The study was conducted using qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative method taken was distributing a questionnaire to academicians at the FKAB. Data obtained are then analysed using WinSteps 3.68.2, which is software utilised in Rasch measurement analysis. Overall, results show that the main factor contributing to difficulties in implementing cross-disciplinary research is the need for solid financial funding.