ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Social Media and Employees’ Performance at the Ghana Cocoa Board

This study explores the effect of social medial usage on employees’ performance at Ghana Cocoa Board, Kumasi branch. The quantitative study involving questionnaire survey of 300 employees of the board selected by census, found that all the staff are using more than one social media platform. Facebook and WhatsApp are used quite extensively by all the staff at the station while Instagram is used by about 68% of the workers. The other social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Snap Chat are less popular among the staff. The performance level of the staff with regards to accurate counting of stocks, proper stacking, accurate data entering and report, filling accuracy, timely delivery on task, and accurate performance of other job related activities was generally above average, however, the most popular social media platform among the staff (Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram) were found to be having significant negative effect on staff performance. It is highly recommended that COCOBOD takes measures to maximize the positive potentials of social media while eliminating or reducing its negative effects on employees’ performance.

Source: UCC
Social Media and Moral Decadence Among the Youth in Ghana: A Case of Effia-Kwesimintsim District

Social media has witnessed much usage over the years since its inception. Social media use especially its contents consumption comes with some level of influence on the users' lives, either positively or negatively. This study investigates how contents consumption has contributed to the decline of the youth's morality. This research aimed at identifying the youth’s experiences and outcomes of their consumption of social media contents on their moral lives. A qualitative research method was used to investigate this, where twenty-eight (28) participants were sampled for the data collection via interviews and focus group discussions. Social media contents come with positive impacts on users; however, the negative contents seem to outweigh the positive ones. According to the data, moral decadence is a reality and the contents the youth often consume have contributed to moral decadence in the district. The study further points out that the consumption of social media contents lures the youth to become immoral. The study concludes that the youth have become morally decadent as they practice unethical lifestyles such as disrespecting the elderly, masturbation, prostitution (Hookups), fraud, identity theft, drug abuse, stealing and betting as a result of consuming negative contents on social media. The youth are found in such unethical lifestyles because they watch contents such as sexual-related contents, gambling contents, videos and movies on any of the social media handles. It is therefore, recommended that, proper measures should be put in place to check the canker to avoid the occurrence of more decadence in the society. Again, to achieve this aim, there should be government and stakeholders’ intervention especially social media service providers to regulate social media usage in Ghana.

Source: UCC
Social media network participation and its effects on academic performance in senior high schools in Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem district

Social network sites (SNS) have become an interesting part of student life as a result of their features and medium of usage. It is against this premises that this study sought to examine the view of students on how social media social network participation could impact their academic performance. The study employed the cross-sectional survey design with a sample size of 200 SHS students from KEEA District. The instrument used in data collection was the questionnaire. The results were presented using percentages and frequencies in addition to means and standard deviations. The study found that majority of respondents use Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google + and Messenger. The study again revealed that SHS students use social media network sites (SMNS) to a large extent for exchanging educational information, sharing study materials, for communication and entertainment purposes. In addition, many students were of the view that SMNS had negative effect on their academic performance as it distracted them from their studies since they became addicted to it. A greater number also indicated that they had a drop in their performance as they spend more time on SMNS. Lastly the study discovered that SMNS can be used to enhance students’ performance in diverse ways. It concluded from the study that usage of SMNS among SHS students have more negative effects than that of the positive. Based on the findings, it was recommended that there should be a strict enforcement of rules in SHS with regard to the use of SMNS and there should be counseling for addicted students. Again, there should be the promotion of the SMNS usage by both teachers and students for academic purposes.

Source: UCC
Social Media Use and Moral Development of Students: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Social media has now become an integral part of human socialization. There is no argument that it offers both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ and is having a lot of influence on humanity especially the youth. To this end, this study examined the influence of social media usage on the moral development/education of Senior High School students. Focus was on students studying in the Kwabre East Municipality in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Based on the purpose of the study, the descriptive cross-sectional survey design was employed. Respondents for the study were 446 SHS students selected using the proportionate random sampling technique. A self-developed instrument (questionnaire) with a reliability coefficient of 0.87 (Cronbach Alpha) was used for data collection. Both descriptive (frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Point Biserial Correlation) were employed for data analysis. It was revealed among others that, Senior High Schools Students studying in the Kwabre East unicipality use social media for lots of purposes but chiefly for; sharing information, gleaning information, communication and getting new friends. Again, most of them spend between 1-4 hours on social media for the purposes indicated. Also, it was revealed that the students had high levels of moral development but the amount of time spent on social media had a weak negative inverse relationship with their moral development. It was recommended among others that, the Ghana Education Service, Heads of schools and other stakeholders should organize a sensitization programme on social media use for students in senior high schools. This way, social media can be effectively utilised for maximum and positive benefits. Also, an approach is needed to better balance the relationship between social media and moral development/education of students. School authorities and parents should monitor the activities of students on use social media.

Source: UCC
Social networks and rural agricultural development in selected rural communities in the Central Region of Ghana

The study set out to examine the utilisation of social networks among rural farmers in four rural communities in the Central Region of Ghana. Data were collected from 327 alters who were constituted via the egocentric approach based on eight(8) accidentally selected egos, and analysed with tools from SPSS (Version 21). Data were presented using frequency tables and percentages. The Kruskal Wallis and the median tests were used to test the differences in the communities with respect to their network size and density. The relationships between the variables of interest were tested using the Chi-square test of independence. The study found that resources that flow across networks are important for rural agricultural development. Besides the resources that flow across networks, the social support function of networks, exchange of tangible and intangible agricultural resources also favour rural agriculture. It also became evident that chiefs, unit committee chairpersons, pastors, assembly persons, unit committee members and community elders played important roles in mobilising groups and networks. It was also found that observational learning is key in the adoption of technologies among rural farmers as they learn about new technology by observing their neighbours and other people in their network. It is recommended that, since farmers observe other farms and farmers in order to access information on new technologies, policies that aim at the introduction of new agricultural technology should consider model farms to enable farmers to observe how the technology works. Also, policy makers should pay more attention to the social support functions of networks since they favour agricultural development. Last, key persons in the mobilisation of networks should be part of policies that aim at developing rural agriculture.

Source: UCC
Social protection and Rural livelihoods in the Wa West District of Ghana: A Gender analysis

Social protection is critical for enhancing agriculture livelihoods and sustainable development in rural economies.Social protection affects the social and material situations of women and men, shapes gender relations, vulnerabilities and livelihoods. Yet, many studies on social protection insub Saharan Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the North Africa regionsthat have relatively large informal economies have neglected gender relations. It is in line with the gender, social protection and rural livelihoods gap that the thrust of this study is defined. The studyexploredthe gender implications of the existing social protection mix in Ponyentanga and Dorimonin the Wa West Districtof Ghana.The study utilised a qualitative approach and exploratory study design. The maximum variation and homogeneous purposive sampling techniques were used to select research participants for the study. Evidence wasgathered through observations, semi structured interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review.The open coding method was used to categorise common trends from the data.The narratives from the data were organisedinto three central themes: first, the gendered nature of economic and social vulnerabilities;second, the coping strategies and social protection structures;and third, the effects of the existing social protection shemes. The main finding of the study was thatthe differential social roles and responsibilities of women and men are reflected in theircoping strategies. The study concludes that progress towards thetransformative goal is minimal given the gendered complexities. State interventions complemented by non-state efforts, therefore, need to be directed at interventions that empower vulnerable rural women and men.

Source: UCC
Social protection and rural livelihoods in the Wa west district of Ghana: a gender analysis.

Social protection is critical for enhancing agriculture livelihoods and sustainable development in rural economies. Social protection affects the social and material situations of women and men, shapes gender relations, vulnerabilities and livelihoods. Yet, many studies on social protection in sub Saharan Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the North Africa regions that have relatively large informal economies have neglected gender relations. It is in line with the gender, social protection and rural livelihoods gap that the thrust of this study is defined. The study explored the gender implications of the existing social protection mix in Ponyentanga and Dorimon in the Wa West District of Ghana. The study utilised a qualitative approach and exploratory study design. The maximum variation and homogeneous purposive sampling techniques were used to select research participants for the study. Evidence was gathered through observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review. The open coding method was used to categorise common trends from the data. The narratives from the data were organised into three central themes: first, the gendered nature of economic and social vulnerabilities; second, the coping strategies and social protection structures; and third, the effects of the existing social protection schemes. The main finding of the study was that the differential social roles and responsibilities of women and men are reflected in their coping strategies. The study concludes that progress towards the transformative goal is minimal given the gendered complexities. State interventions complemented by non-state efforts, therefore, need to be directed at interventions that empower vulnerable rural women and men.

Source: UCC
Social Protection and Rural Livelihoods in the Wa West Districtof Ghana: a Gender Analysis

Social protection is critical for enhancing agriculture livelihoods and sustainable development in rural economies.Social protection affects the social and material situations of women and men, shapes gender relations, vulnerabilities and livelihoods. Yet, many studies on social protection insub-Saharan Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the North Africa regionsthat have relatively large informal economies have neglected gender relations. It is in line with the gender, social protection and rural livelihoods gap that the thrust of this study is defined. The studyexploredthe gender implications of the existing social protection mix in Ponyentanga and Dorimonin the Wa West Districtof Ghana.The study utilised a qualitative approach and exploratory study design. The maximum variation and homogeneous purposive sampling techniques were used to select research participants for the study. Evidence wasgathered through observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review.The open coding method was used to categorise common trends from the data.The narratives from the data were organisedinto three central themes: first, the gendered nature of economic and social vulnerabilities;second, the coping strategies and social protection structures;and third, the effects of the existing social protection shemes. The main finding of the study was thatthe differential social roles and responsibilities of women and men are reflected in theircoping strategies. The study concludes that progress towards thetransformative goal is minimal given the gendered complexities. State interventions complemented by non-state efforts, therefore, need to be directed at interventions that empower vulnerable rural women and men.

Source: UCC
Social responsibility agreement and practice in the gold mining industry in Ghana: evidence from Newmont Ghana Goldcorp limited

Signing social responsibility agreements (SRAs) has gained prominence among mining companies recently, however, the nature, practice and implications of these agreements is less understood. The study examined the social responsibility agreement and practice in gold mining industry in Ghana based on evidence from Newmont Ghana Goldcorp Limited. The study employed concurrent non-dependent mixed method research approach, multistage and purposive sampling techniques to collect data from the respondents using questionnaires, structured interview schedules, interview guides and focus group discussions guide. Descriptive and inferential statistics, as well as thematic and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The exploratory case study found that the development and practice of mining SRA is a complex process that requires a skilled moderator. It involves an interconnected process of pre-negotiation, deliberation and consultation, formalization, implementation, and review and evaluation with stakeholders, to produce three agreements - relationship, foundation and local employment agreements. The SRA process is driven by motivation of a mining company to help society, to obtain social license to work, and pressure coming from local communities, CSOs and NGOs. The implementation of mining SRA led to improvement in educational and healthcare infrastructure in the mining communities. The key implementation challenges included poor use of compensation funds, conflict of interest situations in the award of development projects and mistrust among stakeholders. The study recommended that development of mining SRAs should be backed by extensive research, expert knowledge, stakeholder collaboration, conflict management and consensus building, continually.

Source: UCC
Social Studies Curriculum Response To Climate Change: The Views Of Social Studies Teachers And Students In The Korle Klottey Municipality, Accra

This study examined Social Studies curriculum response to climate change through the perspectives of social studies teachers and students. The study employed a quantitative research approach by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study used 36 social studies teachers through the census method and also sampled 253 students using proportionate stratified sampling techniques for the study. The instrument for this study comprised two sets of structured questionnaires for both students and teachers. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviations were used to analyse the background information of the respondents and the research questions, while independent-sample t-test statistics was used to analyse the research hypothesis. The study revealed that the Social Studies curriculum in SHS in Ghana inadequately addresses climate change directly or indirectly, as teachers negatively perceive that the Social Studies adequately respond to climate change. However, the study revealed that students highly perceived the Social Studies curriculum as responding to climate change. Also, the study found that many challenges impede the effective implementation of the Social Studies curriculum to address climate change issues. Finally, the study revealed a statistically significant difference between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of how the Social Studies curriculum responds to climate change. The study recommends that the Social Studies curriculum should be redesigned to meet the current demands in climate change education.

Source: UCC
Social studies curriculum response to climate change: the views of social studies teachers in public senior high schools in the cape coast metropolis.

In the 21st century, scientists and climatologists have raised a lot of concerns about the world’s climate. Climate change is one of the major challenges in recent times and adds considerable stress to societies and to the environment. The search for lasting solution(s) to this menace is (are) still on course. The use of education has been found to be instrumental in addressing the challenges posed by climate change. This study, therefore, sought to find out the extent to which the Social Studies curriculum which is one of the common core integrated subjects in Ghana has responded to climate change issues. The study was conducted in public Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Central Region in Ghana. In all, 79 Social Studies teachers in the selected Senior High Schools were used for the study. The study is a descriptive survey and data were collected using questionnaire designed in Likert-type scale. Data collected were analysed and presented using frequency counts and percentage tables. It was evident from the study that the response of the Social Studies curriculum at the senior high school (SHS) level to climate change is not enough for students in the SHS to internalise the concepts, attitudes and skills that are expected to transform and shape the disposition of learners on climate change. It became evident that the curriculum may require a redesign to include more topics on climate change issues. It was thus, recommended that the rich knowledge of the teachers both in pedagogy and climate change should be tapped when redesigning the SHS Social Studies curriculum to respond to climate change in the country.

Source: UCC
Social studies education in Ghana: a historical perspective (1940-present)

Social studies education and instruction have gone through several cycles of change from an integrated curriculum and multiple subject curriculum since the 1940s. This article examines these changes and the historical context of these changes –spanning the period from the 1940 to post-1987 education reform classroom. Through this historical review, it becomes clear that there have been frequent reforms in the social studies curriculum.. Indeed, the introduction of the New Education Reform of the 1987 actually stabilized the Social Studies education. The stabilization of social studies in the current era of Ghana’s education dispensation presents new challenges and opportunities for effective Social Studies education in today’s classroom environment and serves as the wake-up call of how social studies education continues to respond to the current trends, issues and instructional objectives.

Source: UCC
Social studies teachers’ competence in teaching and assessing learning outcomes in the affective domain in New Juaben Municipal senior high schools

The purpose of the study was to assess the competence of Social Studies teachers of senior high schools in New Juaben Municipality in Eastern Region of Ghana in teaching and assessing the affective domain. A census of 55 teachers was taken from eight public senior high schools in New Juaben Municipality. A 32-item questionnaire was used to collect data from these social studies teachers. Areas examined included teachers competence in formulating affective objectives, the extent to which teachers have skills in teaching to achieve affective learning outcomes, differences that teaching experience make in teaching the affective domain as well as the techniques teachers employ in assessing affective learning outcomes.The results show that, a large number of social studies teachers were not abreast of the formulation of the affective objectives. The teachers ignored the affective domain entirely due to the fact that WAEC does not assess it in any way.The study also revealed that teachers lacked the skills in teaching to achieve the affective learning outcomes. They gave reasons that character, values attitudes are difficult to transform. The study also showed that social studies teachers never used any technique for assessing affective learning outcomes. It is recommended that inservice training course is organised for the teachers to equip them on the task.The coordinators for second cycle teachers should monitor social studies teachers in teaching affective domain. The training institution should also strengthen the teaching of the use of techniques for assessing the affective domain.

Source: UCC