ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Attitudes of Students towards Religious Issues: Do Demographics Characteristics Matter?

This study focused on the attitudes of senior high school students in the Eastern region of Ghana towards religious issues. Again, the demographic characteristics (gender, subjects studied, type of school, environment, age, ethnicity and religious affiliation) that influence and predict these attitudes towards religious issues were also determined. The quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey was employed using a questionnaire (Mensah’s attitude scale for measuring social, moral and religious issues) with a reliability coefficient of .891 to collect data from 900 senior high school students. These students were selected from 30 out of 93 senior high schools in the region. Data collected were analysed with the help of SPSS version 23. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools like frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviation, Factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Multiple regression were used for data analysis. It was found that students in senior high schools in the Eastern region exhibited positive attitudes towards religious issues. Also, it was found that their demographic characteristics have significant influence and predict their attitudes. It was recommended that both teachers and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment should strive to always consider the characteristics of learners when developing their lessons or planning the curriculum.

Source: UCC
Attitudes of Teachers and Headteachers Towards Inclusion in Lebanon

ecnJr3.liocaen1iucst1r.)u1n/1k0a4l0 63o46f -7I5n11c67l6u35s (iovne lEindeu)cation In the Arabic region, the drive towards inclusive practices in mainstream schools is at a relatively early stage, although, in Lebanon, the recent initiative of the National Inclusion Project (NIP), a project managed by a consortium of four organisations aimed at addressing the exclusion experienced by people with a disability, has the potential to promote rapid change in provision. This study explores the attitudes of teachers and headteachers towards people with a disability in mainstream primary schools in Lebanon, a middle-income Arab country. A mixed method approach was used to collect data. Forty teachers from mainstream schools within the Project completed questionnaires, and key headteachers as well as the consortium managers were interviewed. The sample was purposively selected in order to examine the attitudes of participants with previous experience of students with disabilities. In general, the findings indicate positive attitudes towards the inclusion of students in mainstream schools. However, participants expressed reservations about including all students, especially those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Further challenges include limited training, availability of qualified specialist teachers and the high cost of supporting inclusion. These findings will inform future research, as more studies regarding the implementation of inclusive education in the Middle East are warranted.

Source: UCC
Attitudes of the public, workers towards persons with disabilities in the service sector in the Tema/Accra metropolis

The study investigates the attitudes of the public, workers towards persons with disability in the Tema and Accra municipality and metropolis respectively. The study employed a cross-sectional study design to interview one hundred and fifty three respondents made of fifty three Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and one hundred able workers or Non Persons with Disabilities (NPWDs). The one hundred NPWDs were interviewed to collect views on their attitude towards fellow workers who are PWDs while the fifty three PWDs were interviewed to collect their views on attitudes of their fellow able workers towards them as well as to confirm or disconfirm the information gathered from the NPWDs. The PWDs included in the sample for the study were selected by means of referral (snowball sampling) while the NPWDs were selected by simple random sampling technique. Most of the respondents interviewed have worked at least within one year to fifteen years and as result have adequate information about PWDs they work with. The study revealed that most PWDs do not work in the service sector as compared to their counter parts the NPWDs even though the respondents indicated that it’s their right to get jobs in the industry. The major recommendation of the study is that an intensive education should be given to the few NON-PWDS and PWDs who still hold on to old traditional beliefs and conceptions about disability which has perpetuated the negative attitudes recorded about PWDs despite the modern understanding of the disability concept.

Source: UCC
Attitudes of university of Cape Coast male students towards counselling

The study sought to examine University of Cape Coast (UCC) male students’ attitudes towards counselling on UCC campus. Descriptive survey was used as the research design. Simple random sampling and proportional sampling techniques were employed to select the respondents for this study. Both closeended and open-ended questionnaires were administered to sample of 345 male students for the achievement of set objectives. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used to determine the relationship between UCC male students’ attitude towards counselling and the variables of interest. The findings of the study suggested that the decision of male students in UCC to access counselling was independent of popular perceptions people hold about counselling. In addition, the study found that male students of UCC perceive counselling as beneficial to them as well as those who want to access the services. It was found that key factors that influenced the decision to access counselling services included the feeling of embarrassment for sharing their problems, culture variation and self-esteem issues. Age, religion and the level of education has no influence on the perceived embarrassment that comes with sharing one’s problems with the counsellor. It was recommended that to ensure effective and improved patronage, University counsellors must convince students that confidentiality in delivery of their service is always upheld. Also, the University authorities should always sensitize students on the need of seeking counselling through educating the students about the benefits of counselling for all.

Source: UCC
Attitudes to and management of HIV/AIDS among health workers in Ghana: the case of Cape Coast municipality

Constance Mario Health Care Workers as key players in the prevention and management of diseases and important opinion and community leaders have become targets for studies, more so with the outbreak of HIV. Their perceptions, attitudes and practices have implications for the management of diseases in both health centres and communities. This study reports some of the results of in-depth interviews with Health Care Workers in the Cape Coast municipality (Ghana) on their perception of risk of exposure to HIV, attitudes to known persons with HIV/AIDS, counselling and confidentiality. Results indicate a general fear of infection given the working environment and conditions such as the insufficient supply of basic items, and inadequate information on the sero-status of some patients. Although aware of the basic precautions needed to avoid infection, some health workers did not follow them. There was also a lack of consensus among them on the issues of confidentiality and responsibility towards a discordant partner. The main arguments were those of the general debate between safeguarding individual rights and protecting the common good. It is important for the medical establishment to debate the issue so that the rights of some individuals are not compromised

Source: UCC
Attitudes toward risk and coping responses: the case of food crop farmers at Agona Duakwa in Agona east district of Ghana

Ascertaining the attitude of farmers toward risk is an important first step in understanding their behaviour and coping strategies they normally adopt to mitigate the effects of risk they constantly face within the environment they operate. This study aims at examining risk attitudes of farmers using the Equally Likely Certainty Equivalent with a Purely Hypothetical Risky prospect (ELCEPH), and analyzing coping strategies use by food crop farmers to deal with risk situations at Agona Duakwa in East District in the Central Region of Ghana. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 40 farmers from a sample frame of 100 farmers which was obtained through snow balling. Data was obtained through structured interview schedule with the selected farmers. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages, means and standard deviations) were further used to analyse the data with the help of Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) computer software. The study revealed that majority of food crop farmers are risk-averse. The regression result shows that access to microcredit, income status, age, education and household size are significant determinants of farmer risk attitude. Most food crop farmers use enterprise diversification, geographical diversification, and labour supply for non-farm wage to manage risk of loss in yield; however, the food crop farmers understudied neglect the use of crop insurance and some human and marketing risks coping strategies to deal with risk in their farming business.

Source: UCC
Attracting and retaining rural teachers in Ghana: the premise and promise of a district sponsorship scheme

Recruiting and retaining qualified teachers for schools in rural communities is both an issue and a problem in many countries. The very nature of rural communities and perceptions of teaching in such environments tend to discourage qualified experienced and new teachers from taking appointments there. Education jurisdictions, therefore, use various strategies either to compel or entice candidates to accept rural teaching appointments. This paper describes a district sponsorship scheme to attract candidates for teacher training and subsequent appointment in rural schools in Ghana. The paper describes how the scheme operates and assesses its potential to attract and retain teachers, using data obtained through analysis of documents, interviews with key education officers and focus group with teachers. Though the district sponsorship scheme is not new in many education jurisdictions, it is the first of its kind in Ghana. Suggestions for improving the scheme’s effectiveness are offered, drawing attention to the need to complement financial incentives with non-monetary measures in rural teacher recruitment and retention policies.

Source: UCC
Attraction of female teachers into basic schools in the Kumasi metropolis

The main purpose of the dissertation was to identify the factors which attract female teachers into the basic schools of the Kumasi Metropolis. Respondents for the data collection comprised 72 teachers, 12 heads of basic schools and 2 officers in charge of po stings and transfers in the Kumasi Metropolitan Education Office. The research questions that guided the study were probes into the factors that enticed female teachers in the Kumasi Metropolis, factors preventing female teachers from accepting posting to rural schools, the characteristics of females in teaching positions in the Kumasi basic schools and factors that encouraged male teachers to accept postings to rural schools. The research instruments used to collect data were a questionnaire and structured interview guide. While the classroom teachers and head teachers selected responded to the written questionnaire, the officers in charge of postings and transfers were interviewed. The major factors that were found to cause the concentration of female teachers in the Kumasi Metropolis included marital issues, availability of social facilities and conducive atmosphere of school. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended, among others, that government should develop the rural areas in terms of social infrastructure to entice female teachers to readily accept po stings and transfer to schools in such areas. The Ghana Education Service (GES) should enforce the policy of each teacher having to teach in a rural school before being transferred to an urban school.

Source: UCC
Attribute-based Encryption for Electronic Health Records in a Cloud Computing Environment

Attributes have a major role to play in attribute-based encryption (ABE) scheme. For health records and cloud computing systems, attributes have the potential to significantly contribute to ensuring security, privacy and confidentiality of health data. This paper posits that ABE have the potential to enhance the security of health records in a cloud computing environment. The study seeks to find alternatives to improve the current state and use of some ABE schemes for health records and the cloud computing system. Attribute-based encryption schemes have the potential to minimise communication cost of the Internet, and also provide a fine-grained access control system for EHR in a cloud computing environment. In this paper, an analysis of ABE systems is discussed with their types (CP-ABE, KP-ABE, HABE and DABE) and suggestions are given for their improvement for EHR in a cloud computing environment.

Source: UCC
The attributes of mathematics learning which Ghanaian senior high school students value

Valuing constitutes an important aspect of mathematics pedagogy and hence student learning outcomes. This study surveyed 416 students from Cape Coast, Ghana to explore what senior high school students in this country in West Africa valued in their study of mathematics. The data collected were analyzed using principal component analysis. The results suggest that Ghanaian senior high school students found connections, understanding, fluency, learning technologies, feedback, instructional materials, open-endedness and problem-solving important in their mathematics learning. Implications of the findings for curriculum delivery in mathematics and future research opportunities are also discussed

Source: UCC
The attributes of mathematics learning which Ghanaian senior high school students value

Valuing constitutes an important aspect of mathematics pedagogy and hence student learning outcomes. This study surveyed 416 students from Cape Coast, Ghana to explore what senior high school students in this country in West Africa valued in their study of mathematics. The data collected were analyzed using principal component analysis. The results suggest that Ghanaian senior high school students found connections, understanding, fluency, learning technologies, feedback, instructional materials, open-endedness and problem-solving important in their mathematics learning. Implications of the findings for curriculum delivery in mathematics and future research opportunities are also discussed.

Source: UCC
Attrition and Retention of Teachers in the Public Senior High Schools in the Tamale Metropolis of Northern Region

The main aim of the study was to examine the attrition and retention of teachers of public Senior High Schools (SHS) in the Tamale Metropolis. This was pursued through examining the factors that led to teacher attrition/retention, as well as analysing the effects of teacher attrition on student performance. A descriptive design was adopted to study the 95 teachers from eight schools in the metropolis. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the teachers and analysed using statistical tools such as means, medians, frequencies, and percentages. Kruskal Wallis H test and phi-statistics were also used to test for significant differences and strength of association where applicable. The study found that the factors for teacher attrition included the lure of non-teaching jobs, poor working conditions, such as inadequate teaching materials and inadequate accommodation incentives. Other factors that influenced SHS teachers’ intention to quit teaching also covered overload of work, low prestige attached to teaching and marital status of teachers. High turnover was related with low academic performance of students. This resulted from disruption in school culture, pressure on school budgets, breakage of student-teacher bonds, as well as poorer understanding and control of students’ behaviour by their teachers. The teachers in the metropolis are recommended to advocate for better conditions of service and regular supply of adequate teaching and learning materials, as well as better rewards and incentive system. The head teachers were advised to employ surveying as means to help in addressing the occupational needs of teachers, which could help teacher retention.

Source: UCC
Attrition Intentions and Job Satisfaction among Nurses and Midwives in Tema General Hospital and Tema Polyclinic, Tema.

iii ABSTRACT Nurses and midwives play a critical role in the healthcare sector. However, despite the importance of their role, they experience job dissatisfaction, which often leads to high turnover rates. The study sought to assess factors influencing general job satisfaction (GJS) and intention to turnover/leave (IL) among nurses/ midwives at Tema general hospital (TGH) and Tema polyclinic, Ghana. The quantitative study adopted a cross-sectional design. A multi-stage sampling technique was used, and the sample size was 217. The data analysis was done using SPSS version 22. Both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used. The study found a higher level of job satisfaction (M=5.08, SD=1.87) among the health professionals. The job satisfaction items include “There is personal growth in my work (M=5.30, SD=1.43),” “In general, the researcher is satisfied with the work (M=5.12, SD=1.41),” “I will always choose a nursing/midwifery career again if I am making a new job decision (M=5.11, SD=1.61),” etc. Support (𝛽=0.41, p<0.01), Nurse/midwives' Relationship (𝛽=0.32, p<0.01), and Pay and Benefits (𝛽=0.21, p<0.01) are the significant hygiene factors predicting GJS. With respect to the motivator factors, Autonomy (𝛽=0.26, p<0.01) relates positively and strongly with GJS. When it comes to IL, Scheduling (𝛽=0.68, p<0.01) and Rank (𝛽=0.42, p<0.10) appeared to be the major hygiene factors. Autonomy (𝛽=-0.26, p<0.10) also relates strongly to IL. Finally, the study found a low positive relationship between GJS and IL (r=0.13, p<0.06). These findings imply that both hygienic and motivator factors play crucial roles in predicting GJS and IL among health professions. Therefore, policy makers and practitioners should factor in both dimensions in pursuit of higher job satisfaction and low turnover.

Source: UCC
Audit Committee Effectiveness and Bank Stability in Ghana: the Moderating Role of Information Sharing

ABSTRACT Commercial banks and other financial sectors worldwide have undergone dramatic downturns due to global financial crises, issues in non-performing loans, and governance practices volumes in the past ten (10) years, and it has caught the attention of policymakers. The purpose of the study was to examine the moderating role of credit information sharing on the relationship between audit committee effectiveness and bank stability. Data were collected from 14 out of 23 commercial banks in Ghana from 2010 to 2019 due to data unavailability. The study adopted an explanatory research design. Secondary data was collected from banks‘ annual reports with excel through Ghana stock exchange and companies‘ website. The findings indicate that credit information sharing complements the audit committee‘s effectiveness (audit committee expertise, audit committee independence, audit committee meeting frequency, and audit committee size) in promoting the stability of banks in Ghana. The findings revealed that audit committee independence played a more significant role in strengthening resilience within Ghana, followed by expertise, diligence and size, respectively when information sharing patronage played a moderating character. The findings further showed that audit committee expertise played a more significant part in improving stability within the Ghana banking sector, followed by diligence, size, and independence after the credit information sharing cost played a moderated role. The researcher recommended that mandatory policies such as the audit committee effectiveness can improve bank stability by encouraging the credit information sharing usage. However, the researcher had limited time and resources, making the researcher run into a database problem.

Source: UCC
Audit Committee Effectiveness, Audit Quality, and Internal Control Information Disclosures: An Empirical Study

This chapter examined the linkages between audit committees’ effectiveness, audit quality, and internal control information disclosure. Empirical evidence on the effect of audit committee effectiveness and audit quality on internal control information disclosure is scanty. Using a 210 firm-year sample of firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange for the period 2013-2017, the chapter tried to fill the research gap. After controlling for board size, proportion of independent directors, and leverage, the results from univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that effective audit committee and audit firm size play complimentary and substitution roles in ensuring internal control information disclosure. Board size and proportion of independent directors were also found to influence the disclosure of quality voluntary information.

Source: UCC
Audit Committee Expertise and Quality of Internal Audit Report: The Case of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Central Region of Ghana

The study assessed audit committee expertise and quality of internal audit report nexus among Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies in the Central region of Ghana. Primary data was collected from 150 audit committee members. Explanatory research design was adopted. Following this, the study adopted a quantitative approach and employed questionnaire as its primary data collection instrument. Using PLS-SEM, the study revealed positive nexus between audit committee expertise and quality of internal audit report. The study further found that audit committee independence impact quality of internal audit report significantly and positively. Likewise, audit committee’s role performance is seen as important promoter of quality of internal audit report. Therefore, it was recommended that MMDAs should prioritize training and development programs for their audit committee members to ensure they remain well-informed and effective in their roles. Moreover, the management of MMDAs are entreated to continuously emphasize the independence of the audit committee from management and any undue influence. MMDAs are encouraged to develop and communicate clear and comprehensive terms of reference for their audit committee, outlining its roles, responsibilities and objectives.

Source: UCC