Conceptualization andOperationalization of Higher
Degree Researches in Guidance andCounselling: A Second Thought
Abdulrashid Garba, Ph.D.
CCN, LPCN, FCASSON

Professor of Educational Guidance and Counselling,
Department of Education, Bayero University,
Kano – NIGERIA.
A Visiting Professor,
Center for the Study of International Cooperation in Education,
CICE, Hiroshima University

Research Domiciles• Higher Degree Researches‐ Masters, Doctoral and Post‐Doctoral• Individual / Group Researches– Usually by practicing counsellors or counsellor
educators• Institutional Researches– Usually commissioned by Govt./agencies or privateorganizations2

Research Areas in G and C• On Policy Provisions• For the Improvement of counselling practices• Needs assessment• Students’ reported cases• Emerging Challenges• Stakeholder reports3

On Policy Provisions• National Policy on Education: 1977; 1981; 2004 reads in part:“In view of the apparent ignorance of many young
people about career prospects, and in view ofpersonality maladjustment among school children
career officers and counsellors will be appointed inpost‐primary institutions. Since qualified personnel inthis category is scarce, government will continue tomake provisions for the training of interested teachers
in guidance and counselling. Guidance and counselling
will also feature in teacher education programmes”

4• This policy provision prompted researches in thefollowing areas:– Whether or not only ‘young people’ are ignorant
about career prospects– Whether or not career officers and counsellors aredifferent– Whether or not only ‘school children’ have personality
maladjustment– Whether or not only post‐primary institutions need‘career officers and counsellors’

5Improvement of Counselling Practices• Some of the research areas covered here include:– Effectiveness of an approach relative to a given
population– Efficacies of two or more approaches– Evaluation purposes– Androgyny / stereotypical beliefs– Vocational interests / career preference– Needs assessment– Gender differences– Follow‐ups– , etc
6

Needs Assessment (NA)• At secondary school level the NA is usually conducted by theState MOE and summarized into a G and C curriculum• Counsellors use the existing curriculm to mount a programme• The counselling experiences are usually divided into:– Personal– Social– Educational and– Vocational needs• The strategies: prevention, intervention and post‐vention• To cover all the 3 streams in each of the 2 levels of Sec.
education

7

Students’ Reported Cases
Cases reported by students in an individual or group sessions
documented by CASSON (NW Zone), 2005‐ 2007
Category

Sample Cases

Educational

Coping strategies (2.14), comprehension (2.20), study skills (2.91), exam
anxiety (2.04)

Vocational

Career aspirations (2.72), fear of (choice and) unemployment (2.91),
what to do in future (1.91), desire to know about occupations(1.09)

Personal

Financial constraints (2.97), imposition from parents (2.13), parents
quarrels (and divorce) (1.56), being made fun of (1.65)

SocialInterpersonal r/ships (1.25), so much responsibility at home (2.90),
wanting to belong (1.98),

Other

Teachers attitude in the class (1.77), to self (1.77), after school
engagement (2.90),

8

Emerging Challenges• Challenges do emerge outside the counselling programme
Also documented by CASSON (NW Zone) 2005‐2007; validated byHaruna (2008)
Category

Emerging Cases

Educational Exam malpractice, impersonation, mass failure inpromotional exam, too many school rules, teachers’
attitude to work
Vocational

Total lack of r/ship between courses and vocational
interests, part‐time jobs, not doing well in selectedsubjects

Personal

STDs, peer influence, emotional changes (breakdown),
evil spirits and witches, substances abuse

SocialGangsterism, inter‐communal youth clashes, inter‐party
youth clashes, rudeness

Other

High rate of petty stealing in class9

Stakeholder Reports:
To mount an all‐encompassing programme stakeholders’views must be sought; this was documented by Practicum
students (206/2007) and validated by Haruna (2008)

Stakeholders

Sample Reports

Parents

Nigerian and Hausa films (Nollywood/Kannywood), romantic novels,
video games, cell phone chatting, defiance, social IT media

Teachers

Absenteeism, low performance, learning disorders, teacher abuse,
substance abuse, conduct disorder, destruction of school property,
recurring violations of school rules, exam malpractice

Govt. Agencies

Drug abuse (NDLEA), stealing and burglary (Police), substance abuse

Community

Zance (hanging out with girls late night), disruptive behavior,
substance abuse

Media

Football hooliganism, substance abuse

Counsellors

Shunning counselling
10Implications to Note• That none of the following cases featured any where:– Fear of bullying– Failure in homework– School phobia– mutism– Autism– Attention deficit• Simply because they:– Are more prominent at primary school level– Have biological components– Their occurrence at other levels is abysmal11• That none of the following cases featured any
where:– Fake results– Cultism– Rapes– Union rivalry– marriage and relationship issues– Homosexuality– Schizoprenia– maladjustment• Simply because they are more prominent attertiary levels• Their occurrence at other levels is abysmal
12• That none of the following cases featured any where:– Suicide– Eating disorders (bulimia and anorexia nervosa)– Sexual dysfunction– Sexual orientation– Depression– Bipolar disorder• Simply because they:– are more prominent outside school system– Alien to the culture

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Substance Abuse Treatment Project• An attempt was made to make use of the existing research reports• Garba (2003) documented some of the major reasons forsubstance abuse among Sec. Schl. Students:– Experimental curiosity– Peer group influence– Parental negligence and/or involvement– Socio‐economic conditions– Need for extra energy– Availability of the drug
– Lack of strict laws, etc14

• Some of the consequences of substance abuse
among secondary school students:– Self destruction• School dropouts, bleak future, psychiatric cases, etc– Increased crime– Disgrace to the family/society• Project locations: Rumfa Collage and Govt. Girls
College all in Kano15

The following ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ steps were adopted
STEP ONE: Preliminaries• Data were collected on most commonly used substancesin the community as follows:– Socially acceptable: cough syrup*, OTC* (analgesics)– Socially unacceptable: alcohol*, marijuana*, cocaine– Improvised: Gadagi, sewage, frog fore‐skin, solution
Asterisks indicate most commonly used by students

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STEP TWO: Consultations, administration ofInstruments• Consultations with and between Project Team (PT) and school
authorities• Training of teachers and administration of Teacher’s Nomination
Scale (TNS) (Developed by Garba, 2000)– 59 students were nominated from Rumfa (1,800)– 13 students were nominated rom Girls College (1350)– Total nominations 72 students• Administration of Drug Abuse Identification Instrument (DAIS)(Developed by Garba, 2000)– 54 cases were identified: 46 males; 8 females• Sharing outcome with school authorities

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STEP THREE: Initial Counselling• This was the most difficult step: interacting with theidentified students– Major problems: denial, fear of punishment, shame– Finally established rapport, broke the news, sought theirconsent• Interacting with parents– Major problems: blaming enemies, aspersions, quarrel with‘us’– Finally sought their consent/understanding18

Outcome after initial Counselling
Substance Abuse Treatment Project (2010)
S/N

Drug Type(s)Gender(M)

(F)

Total

1Alcohol, marijuana, analgesics

9092

Alcohol, analgesics

6063

Marijuana, analgesics

15015

4

Cough syrup, analgesics

56115

Analgesics only

1121346

854

Total

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• Another Summary
Substance TypeNo out of 54%

Alcohol

1533

Marijuana2451

Analgesics

54100

Cough syrup112120STEP FOUR: Clinical Assessment• A Teaching Hospital carried out the clinicalassessment– To determine severity and level of involvement• The following is the outcome

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Clinical Report:
Substance Abuse Treatment Project (2010)
Substance Type Chronic

Excessive

MildTotal

MFM

FM

F

Alcohol

00

70

80

15

Marijuana

90

110

40

24

Cough Syrup

0521

30

11

Analgesics

90250

182

54

23 (42.6%)

46 (85%)35 (64.8%)

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• Chronic: Dependence is the last stage of abuse. Chronic
is closer to dependence.
– May have signs of psychological (not physical) dependence– Light appearance in the blood– Tremendous physical symptoms• Excessive: Substance use is enormous especially in acompany.
– May stay for days without it– No appearance in the blood– Some physical symptoms• Mild: Substance is occasional, does not buy it– No traces in the blood– Physical symptoms appear when in the effects
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STEP FIVE: Main Counselling Sessions• The three categories were handled by three groups ofcounsellors• Each of the group used different approaches depending on
the nature/type of client and/or severity of the problem• Procedure for entering into a counselling encounter wasrevised and stictly adhered to• Reports indicated that one or a combination of the following
three approaches were used:– Cognitive therapy– Behavioural therapy– Cognitive‐behavioural therapy

24• Treatment modality required that a significant othermust be involved:•Such as parents (or some members of the family), friends and teachers• Weekly meetings were held to compare notes• School authorities were fully kept informed

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STEP SIX: Measures Against Relapse• Involvement of parents and significant others• Some other activities were introduced forrelapse prevention– Two Public lectures on:• Effects of substance abuse• Use of after school hours– Students encouraged to form Drug‐ Free Clubs

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STEP SEVEN: EVALUATION• Follow‐ups were made to:– Ascertain success level• Discussion with parents, teachers and the clients• Clinical assessment was conducted again• Results were negative• TNS administered again• 3 out of the 54 were nominated again

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The Pros and Cons
• The pros:– Lives of some tomorrow’s leaders has been saved– Many schools now requesting for intervention– The Association and members of the PT became popular• The cons:– Substance abuse not the only school‐related problem– No resources to extend the services to other sschools– No resources to delve into other issues• Ways forward:– continuous (re)training of the existing school counsellors to live up toexpectation– Other branches of CASSON to continue to get involved in the society

288.0 Conclusion• Researches in G and C heavily dependent on
Quantitative approach– Prior to 1980: researches in counselling
psychology used the Quantitative approach only
(Lecomte, 1981)– Significant % of researches in behavioural sciencesin Europe used Quant approach (Dill 1998)– 96% of researches in educational/counselling
psychology in Nigeria (2000 – 2010) used Quantapproach29

• Scheel et el (2011) observed decline inresearch in Counselling Psychology over theyears– Attributed the decline methodological orthodoxy• There is the need for methodologicaldiversification to other types such as:‐ Qualitative methods– Mixed method research30

• Conceptualization and Operationalization notpossible without– Determination of an approach– Begins with identification of concepts andassignment of meanings to them

– Determination of dimensions– Decision on indicators of thepresence/absence of the dimension– The process of creating definitions– Making concepts observable, measureable– Development of research procedure31

9.0 References32