STRIDE also undertakes research and development activities, programme evaluation activities on various functional areas of distance education for systems development and improving the effectiveness of staff development programmes. The focus is on conceptual development, processes of distance education, student learning, management of distance education, impact of distance education and the like. The following research studies have been completed:

• English As a Medium of Instruction in Distance Education (1990) (B. N. Koul and C. Creed).
• A Tracer Study on the Utility of BLISc Programme of IGNOU (1995) (S.P. Mullick).
• Exploration of Strategies to Meet the Needs of the Disabled in India (1997) (P.R. Ramanujam).
• Survey of Partner Institutions and Student Support Services (1999) (Santosh Panda, S.V.S. Chaudhary, Anurag Saxena and Ashok K. Gaba).
• Training Need Analysis and Development of a Training Design for Control and State Govt. Functionaries (1999) (Santosh Panda)
• Distance Education and Job Market : A case study of IGNOU Graduates (1999) (Ashok K. Gaba).
• An Exploratory Study into the Use of activities in SIM by Distance Learners (1999) (Sanjay Mishra and Ashok K. Gaba).
• Study of Models of Course Development in Distance Education: Cost Effectiveness and Development of Performance Indicators (2000) (Santosh Panda).
• Study on Programme Completion, Learner Persistence and Dropout in Distance Education (2004) (Santosh Panda, A.R. Khan, Ashok Gaba, Rehana Raza)
• Students’ Perceptions of their Experiences on Workload: A case study of IGNOU Programme (2004) (Ashok K. Gaba and P.R. Ramanujam).
• Objectives in Self-Learning Materials: A critical Analysis of their Expected Roles, Learner Perception and Usage (2004) (Sanjaya Mishra).
• Benefits Derived from Distance Education: Experiences of Successful IGNOU Learners (2005) (Manjulika Srivastava).
• Graduate Perceptions Towards Employability: Student Survey (2006) (Ashok k. Gaba, Santosh Panda and Ashok Sadhwani).
• Web Based Environment for Evaluation of Project Reports (2007) (G. Mythili and Sanjaya Mishra).
• A Study of Cost Effectiveness and Cost Efficiency of Selected Programmes of IGNOU in Relation to Student and Institutional Costs (2007) (Ashok K. Gaba, Santosh Panda and C.R.K. Murthy).
• A Platform for Virtual Research and Research Training in Asia (2007) (Santosh Panda).
• Instructional Design Training for ICT-Based Distance Learning in Asia (2007) (Santosh Panda).
• Accessibility, Acceptance and Effects of Distance Learning Technologies in South Asia (2007) (Santosh Panda).
• Study on Quality in eLearning Services in India and eLearning Quality Guidance (2007) (Santosh Panda).
• Student Satisfaction in Post Graduate Diploma in Distance Education and Master of Arts in Distance Education programmes of IGNOU (2010) (Madhu Parhar, G. Mythili).
• Students Satisfaction Survey of all IGNOU Programmes (IGNOU) (2010-2011) (Madhu Parhar).
• Training Needs Assessment of Non-teaching Employees of IGNOU (2019) (Ali Asgar & G. Mythili).
• Training Needs Assessment of Teachers and Academics of IGNOU (2022) (Pulla Lakshmi & G. Mythili).