ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The 'Relevant' university: The ghanaian experience

There is a need for the creation of a new generation of universities in Africa that address the development requirements of the continent and focus on community problem solving. Some of the challenges that must be met to turn this vision into reality include: relating academic knowledge to industry- required skills; developing relevant curricula; offering quality education in the face of a student population explosion; relevant staff development and training; funding for universities; and promoting the ideal to emergent new universities. In Ghana, the word ‘relevance’ dominates the discourse of the government, industry, and the press in matters relating to the universities, which are often chastised as ‘Ivory Towers’ whose works do not transform society. Government and the captains of industry in Ghana complain that graduates from Ghanaian universities need to be retrained to fit into jobs they offer. They often urge universities to move from abstract knowledge and theories to a more skills and hands-on training that would meet development needs. For university education to be relevant to development there is the need to create an interface between the universities and the public and private stakeholders. To create and sustain this interface, universities need to: take the initiative and market their relevance so that public and private institutions including industries can use their resources and expertise to achieve their set goals and objectives; create space to engage stakeholders through well- designed workshops and seminars and publications to disseminate research findings; see the public and private sectors as partners in research and project design, drawing on the practical experiences of the former; prioritise the policy implications of research findings for government and industry; enhance interaction between students and these stakeholders through career counselling and on-the-job training experiences for students; restructure existing courses, and introduce new courses.

Source: UG
Reliability of length measurements collected by community nurses and health volunteers in rural growth monitoring and promotion services

Background Length measurements are important in growth, monitoring and promotion (GMP) for the surveillance of a child’s weight-for-length and length-for-age. These two indices provide an indication of a child’s risk of becoming wasted or stunted, and are more informative about a child’s growth than the widely used weight-for-age index (underweight). Although the introduction of length measurements in GMP is recommended by the World Health Organization, concerns about the reliability of length measurements collected in rural outreach settings have been expressed by stakeholders. Our aim was to describe the reliability and challenges associated with community health personnel measuring length for rural outreach GMP activities. Methods Two reliability studies (A and B), using 10 children less than 24 months each, were conducted in the GMP services of a rural district in Ghana. Fifteen nurses and 15 health volunteers (HV) with no prior experience in length measurements were trained. Intra- and inter-observer technical error of measurement (TEM), average bias from expert anthropometrist, and coefficient of reliability (R) of length measurements were assessed and compared across sessions. Observations and interviews were used to understand the ability and experiences of health personnel with measuring length at outreach GMP. Results Inter-observer TEM was larger than intra-observer TEM for both nurses and HV at both sessions and was unacceptably (compared to error standards) high in both groups at both time points. Average biases from expert’s measurements were within acceptable limits, however, both groups tended to underestimate length measurements. The R for lengths collected by nurses (92.3%) was higher at session B compared to that of HV (87.5%). Length measurements taken by nurses and HV, and those taken by an experienced anthropometrist at GMP sessions were of moderate agreement (kappa = 0.53, p < 0.0001). Conclusions The reliability of length measurements improved after two refresher trainings for nurses but not for HV. In addition, length measurements taken during GMP sessions may be susceptible to errors due to overburdened health personnel and crowded GMP clinics. There is need for both pre- and in-service training of nurses and HV on length measurements and procedures to improve reliability of length measurements.

Source: UG
Reliability, Validity, and Associations With Sexual Behavior Among Ghanaian Teenagers of Scales Measuring Four Dimensions of Relationships With Parents and Other Adults

Little research has been done on the social contexts of adolescent sexual behaviors in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of a longitudinal cohort study (N = 1275) of teenage girls and boys in two Ghanaian towns, interviewers administered a 26-item questionnaire module intended to assess four dimensions of youth–adult relationships: monitoring, conflict, emotional support, and financial support. Confirmatory factor and traditional psychometric analyses showed the four scales to be reliable. Known-groups comparisons provided evidence of their validity. All four scales had strong bivariate associations with self-reported sexual behavior (odds ratios = 1.66, 0.74, 0.47, and 0.60 for conflict, support, monitoring, and financial support, respectively). The instrument is practical for use in sub-Saharan African settings and produces measures that are reliable, valid, and predictive of sexual behavior in youth. © The Author(s) 2013.

Source: UG
Reliable cell and tissue morphology-based diagnosis of endemic Burkitt lymphoma in resource-constrained settings in Ghana

Background: Endemic Burkitt lymphoma (eBL) is an aggressive B-cell lymphoma, which is a common childhood cancer in areas with intense transmission of Plasmodium falciparum parasites. Early and accurate diagnosis is a prerequisite for successful therapy, but it optimally involves advanced laboratory investigations. These are technologically demanding, expensive, and often difficult to implement in settings where eBL is prevalent. Diagnosis is thus generally based on clinical assessment and morphological examination of tumour biopsies or fine-needle aspirates (FNAs). Methods: The purpose of the present study was to assess the accuracy of eBL diagnosis at two tertiary hospitals in Ghana. To that end, we studied FNAs from 29 eBL patients and 21 non-eBL lymphoma patients originally diagnosed in 2018. In addition, we examined 111 archival formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) biopsies from Ghanaian patients originally diagnosed as eBL (N = 55) or non-eBL (N = 56) between 2010 and 2017. Availability-based subsets of samples were subjected to haematoxylin-eosin or Giemsa staining, C-MYC immunohistochemistry, and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) analysis of c-myc rearrangements. Results: We found a good correlation between original diagnosis and subsequent retrospective assessment, particularly for FNA samples. However, evidence of intact c-myc genes and normal C-MYC expression in samples from some patients originally diagnosed as eBL indicates that morphological assessment alone can lead to eBL over-diagnosis in our study area. In addition, several FFPE samples could not be assessed retrospectively, due to poor sample quality. Therefore, the simpler FNA method of obtaining tumour material is preferable, particularly when careful processing of biopsy specimens cannot be guaranteed. Conclusion: We conclude that the accuracy of eBL diagnostic tools available in Ghana is generally adequate, but could be improved by implementation of additional pathology laboratory investigations. Improved attention to adequate preservation of archival samples is recommended

Source: UG
Religion and Socioeconomic Attainment in Ghana

Substantial research has documented the association between religion and socio-economic attainment in Western nations. As Christianity has expanded and been transformed in developing nations and the confrontation between Islam and the West has received growing attention, the role religion plays in socioeconomic inequality continues to be a critical issue. We use the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey for 2003 to test the relationship between religious affiliation and socioeconomic attainment. Religious differences in socioeconomic outcomes are substantial in Ghana. Mainline Protestants have a significant advantage in education and wealth. Catholics and other Christians have intermediate values on these socioeconomic outcomes. Muslims and those without attachments to formal religious groups have a significant disadvantage. Educational differences are particularly important because they account for some of the differences in wealth. Moreover, differences in the rates of school enrolment signal that inequality will persist in the next generation.

Source: UG
Religion and Values in Contemporary Africa: Christian Interpretations of Vice/Virtue Discourses in Ghana

Despite the popularity of religion in African settings such as Ghana, reports of moral decline abound. This article reviews traditional, mission, and Christian theological perspectives of morality in Ghana. Using interviews, surveys, and content analysis of vehicle slogans, it examines what Ghanaians today consider to be values in terms of virtues and vices. It explores implications for Christian mission involvement in shaping morality in education and the public sphere.

Source: UG
Religion, State, and Constitution in Ghana: Disputed Realms of Neutrality

This essay discusses the neutrality of the role of the state and its apparatus or agencies in Ghana as it takes various steps to ensure that rights to religious practices are protected. It also examines the extent to which the noninterference by state institutions in internal affairs and activities of religious organizations is carried out in the role of the state in the building of the national cathedral and the organization of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca—as it ensures that no undue advantage is given to any of the country’s religious bodies. Finally, it assesses abuse, or even perceived abuse, of religious rights in the public space (schools and hospitals) led by the religious minority and examines the measures put in place by the state to deal with the problem.

Source: UG
Religion/spirituality, therapeutic landscape and immigrant mental well-being amongst African immigrants to Canada

This study explores the experiences of African immigrants’ religious place making and its relationship to health and well-being. Attention is paid to how religious places are seen as therapeutic and their impact on well-being of Ghanaian and Somali immigrants in Hamilton, Ontario. Our analysis of the interviews, emerging from the therapeutic landscape lens underscores the importance of immigrants’ religious places and activities in shaping health in their new destination. The results indicate that places of worship are significant for physical health, social, emotional, spiritual, mental and general quality of life amongst immigrants. Future research employing the therapeutic landscape theory may explore the links between health and place in specific religious places and activities.

Source: UG
Religiosity and Condom Use with Casual Sex Partners in Ghana

Level of religiosity is an indicator of the degree of involvement of people in religious beliefs / activities an a measure of attitudes to sexual-related activities , such as casual sex or using condoms to avert unplanne pr egnancy or sexually transmitted infections. This paper uses nationally representative cross-sectional dat collected in 2011/2012 to examine the relationship between religiosity and the likelihood of engaging i casual sex and condom use in Ghana. A sample of 4,168 males and females was used to assess sexua activities and condom use with casual sexual partner using binary logistic regression analysis. The stud was based on the Reference Group Theory which suggests that religious teachings ofte n dictate the sexua behaviors / attitudes of individuals and was informed by the fact that most conventional religions discourag pre-marital sex and adultery. T he study examined how religiosity expressed by individuals impacts casua sex, which is considered a form of adultery . An attempt was made to discover if religiosity impacts condom use as a form of protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy T he results indicate that persons who attend religious meeting s more than once a week are less likely t have a casual sexual partner compared to others who attend occasionally or less frequently. No difference between groups with lower level of religiosity are apparent. The level of religiosity did not affect condom use among those who h ave sex, when other variables are controlled for. Differences in age, sex, level o education, rural/urban residency and marital status are statistically related to condom use with a casual se partner. The paper concludes that condom use with a casual sex partner may not largely depend on how religious or otherwise one may be, but rather on the individual’s risk perception based on a person’ socioeconomic status, particularly with respect to a person’s level of education.

Source: UG
Religiosity and financial development in Africa: evidence from panel quantile regression

As secularism is increasing and religious diversity is regaining momentum worldwide, It is important to understand how systemic religious differences have influenced financial development in Africa. To this end, this study seeks to investigate the impact of religiosity on financial development in Africa by using freedom of religion to proxy religiosity and domestic credit to the private sector to proxy financial development covered from 2000 to 2020. The results from the panel quantile regression show that religiosity is negatively associated with the use of financial services across the quantile. whereas freedom of association, assembly, and civil society, and security and safety are marginally stronger within the lower, middle, and upper quantiles. The findings underscore that fundamental human rights exert significant influence on financial development in Africa. Our findings contribute to literature by expanding knowledge on the role of personal freedom on economic activities; hence, African governments and policymakers constitutionalize freedom as a fundamental human right, as freedom matters for financial development in Africa

Source: UG
Religiosity and safety performance: mediating role of safety behaviour

Purpose: Safety science research has largely focused on areas such as oil and gas, mining and construction. with a paucity of research in the agricultural sector, which constitutes over 60% of the workforce in Ghana. This paper investigated the extent to which religiosity of rice farm workers predicts their safety performance through safety behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collected data from 469 respondents, comprising 347 males and 122 females from three large rice irrigation schemes in southern Ghana in a cross-sectional survey, and analysed the data with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings: Religiosity had a moderately positive direct relationship with safety behaviour, while safety Behavior had a very weak relationship with safety performance. Also, safety behaviour played a competitive partial mediating role in the relationship between religiosity and safety performance. Practical implications: The findings led to the conclusion that religiosity is an essential direct antecedent of safety behaviour at work and an indirect antecedent of safety performance. Accordingly, the authors recommend that safety practitioners, managers and supervisors put mechanisms in place to cautiously encourage optional religious programmes that would enable organisational members to get a deeper understanding and knowledge of their religion and promote religious freedom and diversity at the workplace. Originality/value: This paper has contributed to the debate on the relevance of religiosity at work and occupational safety and health promotion in the African context. This seems to be the only study in Ghana that has investigated how religiosity relates to safety behaviour in production agriculture, specifically rice farming. Another contribution of this study is the evidence supporting the mediating role of safety behaviour in the relationship between religiosity and safety performance.

Source: UG
Religious affiliation and health-seeking behavior related to non-communicable diseases among children in Ghana

Objective: This study examined the relationship between adults’ religious affiliation and their attitudes as they relate to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) among children. It also looked at how attitudes in turn influence how adults perceive NCDs among children and how those affected by the disease seek care for diseased children. Design: The study was conducted in three regions purposively selected to include all the major ethnic groups in the country and the religions they are affiliated to. The regions are Greater Accra, Ashanti and Volta. Data from 119 respondents were analysed for this study. Descriptive statistics were used to show the characteristics of the respondents. Chi-Square tests were used to show the association between background characteristics of the respondents and their health seeking behaviour. The significant level was set at 0.05. Results: Christians constituted the largest proportion of respondents and the highest proportion of them (41.2%) were Charismatic/ Pentecostals. The majority (99.2%) used biomedical treatments for their children’s condition, followed by herbal medication (50.5%), prayer camps (47.1%), herbal treatment (43.0%) and spiritual intervention (22.9%). The findings showed that seeking treatment from prayer camps, seeking herbal treatment and spiritual interventions did not vary by religious affiliations of the respondents. Conclusions: This study showed that majority of the respondents sought biomedical treatment for their children with NCDs and more than half use herbal preparations. The findings from this study confirmed other studies that in emergency situations, many Ghanaians seek help from any source including those outside their normal range of religious activities. This probably explains why health seeking behaviour did not vary by religious affiliations. There is need for extended studies to explore this further.

Source: UG
Religious commitment and prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals in Ghana

Recently, the issue of homosexuality has generated passionate discussion in Ghana making it obvious that Ghanaians are unaccepting of it and view it as against the culture, moral ethics and religions of Ghana. This study therefore aimed at determining the extent to which religious commitment will moderate prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals focusing on the cognitive and affective components of attitudes. It also had the secondary aim of determining the relative importance of stereotypic beliefs, symbolic beliefs, and affect in predicting attitudes toward homosexuals. Students of the University of Ghana, specifically from the Department of Psychology, served as participants (N = 183). Findings indicated that participants had prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals, rating them as very unfavourable. Also, participants’ personal characteristics did not predict their evaluation of homosexuals. Additionally, stereotypic beliefs and affect were found to be the best predictors of participants’ prejudicial attitudes. Finally, it was found that religious commitment moderated the relationship between participants’ attitude components and their evaluation of homosexuals but with the exception of affect. These findings are most probably due to the cultural environment within which participants are socialized. It is recommended that future studies determine which other variables might be affecting prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals and also examine the behavioural component of such attitudes

Source: UG
Religious Conversion, Proselytization, and the Marginalisation of Indigenous Religions in Ghana

Abstract This paper probes the intricate connection of conversion, proselytization, and the state of Ghana to achieve three overarching goals. First, it unravels how colonialism, Christianity, and Islam have historically and collectively marginalised African indigenous religions. Second, it demonstrates a clever state maneuver to continue the historic joint colonial and missionary projection of Christianity and Islam at the expense of other traditions. Third, it interrogates how the state of Ghana is mindful of the political implications of frustrating the principle of separation. Against these positions, the paper argues that despite tacit attempts to privilege Christianity and Islam over indigenous religion, the state of Ghana maintains a moderate secularist stance that enhances free and equal participation of its religiously diverse populations in the public space. Keywords © 2023 Brill Academic Publishers. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Religious Differences in Modernization of the Family: Family Demographic Trends in Ghana

This research examines trends in a broad set of reproductive and marital behaviours in Ghana focusing on religious group differences. These comparisons provide evidence of how family trends are constrained by religious identity in a less developed country. Three waves of the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys are used to track trends in the age at family formation, marital status, contraceptive use, and family size. Results indicate that women are waiting longer to begin sexual relationships, to marry, and have children. At the same time, the frequency of informal unions, polygamy and marital disruption show modest declines. Contraceptive use is increasing and family size is declining. Although religious group differences in these behaviors are substantial, some religious group differences appear to be widening over time, others are narrowing, and others remain relatively stable. Collectively, these measures provide evidence that family structure is being transformed in Ghana and that religion is an important context for family trends.

Source: UG
Religious Diversity and Modes of Coexistence in Urban West Africa

This article introduces the research of MIASA’s IFG 7 project titled “Religious Diversity in Urban West Africa: Exploring Modes of Coexistence for Sustainable Governance”. It conceptualises the methodological approach of the group by identifying three main thematic axes that emerged from the overlapping individual approaches to the study of religious diversity in urban centres, namely 1) migration, mobilities, entrepreneurship, and trans-nationalism; (2) territoriality, power, and configurations of religious minorities and majorities; and (3) urban infrastructure(s).

Source: UG
Religious Diversity in Sharia-Compliant Cities in Northern Nigeria

The MIASA Working Paper series serves to disseminate the research results of work in progress prior to publication in order to encourage the exchange of ideas and academic debate. The series aims to publish research findings from the work of the MIASA Interdisciplinary Fellow Groups (IFGs) and other MIASA fellows in an open-access manner. Inclusion of a paper in the MIASA Working Paper Series does not constitute publication and should not limit publication in any other venue. Copyright remains with the authors

Source: UG