This study was an exploratory quantitative survey study seeking to answer the following research question: What is the best combination of tenure status, rank, gender, years in higher education, and type of degree for predicting motivation to conduct research? The participants for this exploratory quantitative research study comprised 49 females and 40 males from 11 randomly selected research universities, which represented an overall 10% return rate. Results indicated that being an associate professor is related to decreases in motivation to conduct research, that being a full professor is associated with even lower levels of motivation, and that faculty with a Ph.D. degree are more likely than are their colleagues with a Ed.D. degree to be motivated to conduct research.