چکیده (انگلیسی):

Researchers, practitioners and social scientists all agree on
the enormous importance of social science research in advancing
human knowledge and informing public policy makers. The National
Research Foundation, along with other organizations in the UAE, is
leading the initiative to integrate the efforts of social research
institutions in order to support the decision making process in the
UAE. As indicated by a number of social researchers during the last
forum held on May 29-30, 2012, at the Emirates Center for Strategic
Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi, UAE, there is a huge demand for a
unified database for social science research in the UAE. In this study,
we report on a survey that was distributed to more than 140 social
science researchers in four main cities in the UAE: Abu Dhabi, Al
Ain, Dubai and Sharjah. It shows that more than 90% of the
researchers in the field of social sciences have faced challenges when
conducting their research. We have also conducted interviews with the
faculty members in the Department of Social Science at the University
Of Sharjah (UOS). Although there are library resources available at
UOS, researchers still face such challenges, compared to their
colleagues at other universities. As a result, the Dataverse Network
“Bayanatona”, an open source application, was proposed as a
complete solution for these researchers in the UAE.