ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Investigating the food habits of pregnant women in the New Juaben Municipality, Koforidua – Eastern Region, Ghana

Maternal mortality reduction has been a global health priority to prevent women and babies who die due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth especially, in developing country. There have been several interventions to curb maternal and neonatal deaths in Ghana. To achieve good maternal health the food habits of pregnant women in the New Juaben municipality, Koforidua in the Eastern Region of Ghana was investigated. Descriptive survey was used to find out the nutritional knowledge of the pregnant women, identify their food intake, health challenges during pregnancy and also how to improve the food habits of pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic at the Eastern Regional Government Hospital, in the New Juaben Municipality in Koforidua. Purposive and convenience, both non-probability sampling techniques were used on 100 respondents aged 15-41 years and above using questionnaire and interview guide. Analysis was done using S.P.S.S version 23 and the result was analysed using descriptive statistics. It was deduced from the findings that ignorance, socio-cultural and economic factors inhibit respondents intake of nutrients because sometimes the food is available, but culturally unacceptable norms forbid them to eat while others cannot afford to buy and eat nutritious food. Inferential statistic was also performed using the one sample t-test, it was concluded that there was statistically significant difference in the nutritional knowledge of protein, t (99) = -3.282, p-value = 0.001) and iodine (t(99) = -2.650, p-value = 0.009). However, there was no statistical significance in the nutritional knowledge of vitamin B (p-value = 0.079), vitamin C (p-value = 0.314), vitamin D (p-value = 0.282), folic acid (p-value = 0.451), calcium (p-value = 0.499) and omega 3 fatty-acids (p-value= 0.770) among pregnant women. This means that the pregnant women who attended ante-natal clinic at Koforidua regional hospital had nutritional knowledge of protein and iodine, but lacked nutritional knowledge of some vitamin including folic acid, calcium and omega 3 fatty-acids, which serves as some essential nutrients needed in pregnancy. Pregnant women should report health challenges such as nausea, oedema and other health challenges to their health care providers to be addressed promptly to prevent complications. To improve on the food habits of respondents’ variety of foods should be eaten. It is recommended that provision of comprehensive nutritional education should be given to all women in the reproductive years. Cultural barriers associated with food should be discouraged and consumption of locally produced nutritious food should be encouraged before and during pregnancy to prevent maternal malnutrition and its related effects. Pregnant women should eat balanced diet to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3 of good maternal health by the year 2030.

Source: UEW
Investigating the health and safety practices of fashion apprentices in small and medium sized dressmaking enterprises (SMES) in Kumasi metropolis

The purpose of the study was to investigate the health and safety practices of fashion apprentices in small and medium-sized (SME) dressmaking enterprises in the Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region in Ghana. The study employed the exploratory research design in the conduct of the study. Using the purposive sampling technique, a total of 94 apprentices were sampled to participate in the study. Using the quantitative approach to research questionnaires were adopted as the main instrument of data collection. The study found that apprentices in the Kumasi metropolis are familiar with occupational health and safety practices and also, they are exposed to cut and injuries from sharp edges, knife blades, scissors and pins, slips, trips, and falls, dangerous machinery and electrical shocks, stitching or running over the fingers with the sewing machines. The study additionally discovered that various policies and systems are implemented to ensure work safety for workers and also that the policies relate to reception of workplace health and safety training. The study therefore recommended that health and safety compliance must be enforced to basic Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulatory requirements pertaining to the provision of first aid kits and first aider, protective clothing and equipment and training in and supervision of their use.

Source: UEW
Investigating the hygienic condition of napkins used by consumers in some selected food joints in Abirem and Afosu in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region of Ghana

Napkins used by consumers in some selected food joints in New Abirem and Afosu townships in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region were examined to determine the hygienic conditions of such napkins made available by food vendors at the various food joints and the extent to which consumers may be exposed to micro organisms and dirt after using these napkins to wipe their hands and lips. Microbial contents of napkins from 5 sampled food joints were analysed for Faecel coliforms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, and Clostridium spp. E. coli was found higher in all the napkins sampled from each of the food joints with a mean ranging from 1.76 to 3.36. Salmonella spp. with mean value ranging from 0 to 0.57 was identified to be present in napkins from three food joints. However, Clostridium spp. and Faecal coliforms were completely absent in all napkins from all food joints. Sources of contamination have been found to range from the individuals (consumers and vendors) who used these napkins, how napkins were stored prior to and after use by consumers, ineffectiveness of the washing and drying methods of napkins, prolonged use of a single napkin by several consumers before it is either changed or washed, a very wide napkin to consumers ratio, fewer number of napkins available on daily basis for use by consumers, to the environment in which these napkins were kept. This study has shown the need for good hygienic practices by the operators of these food joints due to the multi-user -nature of their facilities, by making sure napkins made available for use by their prospective consumers are hygienic, free from pathogens, and do not serve as a media for inoculation of innocent consumers and their respective dependants. This study therefore, proposes the need for national discourse, in terms of awareness creation among consumers and the general public on the dangers of napkins use at food joints in the study area and Ghana at large.

Source: UEW
Investigating the hygienic practices of kitchens in the senior high schools in the Sekyere South District

The main purpose of the study was to assess the hygienic practices of kitchens in the Senior High Schools in the Sekyere South District. The researcher used descriptive research design for the study. Quantitative research approach was used. The population was made up of 6 Matrons, and 51 Kitchen staff of the selected Senior High Schools in the Sekyere South District totaling 57 in all. Census sampling technique was used to select all the fifty seven (57) participants for the study. Questionnaire was the main research instrument used to gather primary data. The statistical package for social scientist (SPSS version 16) was used to analyze the data. The study results revealed that 56.4% agreed that effective personal hygiene practices in the school kitchen prevented food contamination. Moreover, 65.5% agreed that effective hand washing practices prevented food contamination. To add more, 61.8% agreed that effective environmental hygiene prevented food contamination. The study findings revealed that 87.3% of the respondents agreed that they washed their hands properly and frequently. Moreover, 65.5% agreed that cooks covered wounds completely. Also, 67.3% agreed that cooks wore clean and proper uniforms. Moreover, 87.3% agreed that effective measures that prevented food contamination in the school kitchen were the frequent use of separate equipment and utensils such as knives and cutting boards for handling raw foods prevented food prevented food contamination in the school kitchen, storing food in containers to avoid contact between raw and prepared foods, washing fruits and vegetables, especially if eaten raw can prevent food from being contaminated, removing outer leaves of leafy vegetables, can also prevent contamination. Moreover, 78.2% indicated that cooking food thoroughly; making sure that the temperature has reached 70°C prevented food contamination. The study recommended that the Food and Drugs Authority should continue to enforce strict rules and regulations that can ensure the compliance to food safety standards in school catering.

Source: UEW
Investigating the impact of brand on consumer purchasing decision of electronic gadgets within the Kumasi metropolis

The study investigated how brand image impact on consumer purchasing of electronic gadgets within the Kumasi metropolis. This study followed the positivist paradigm hence, quantitative methodology was adopted. The total population for the study covered the entire students of the Graduate School of the University of Education-Winneba, Kumasi campus. The population size for this study was 525. The study employed purposive sampling and used Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sampling table to determine the sample size for the 525 population size. Based on the table, the sample size selected for this study was 217 respondents with 95% confidence level and 5.0% confidence interval (i.e. ±5 per cent). Since the study was guided on the principles of quantitative methodology, this study used questionnaires on a 4 point likert scale for the study. The study distributed questionnaires to Graduate students of the University of Education-Winneba, Kumasi campus. Findings from this study revealed that the variables that had the most significant impact on respondents’ purchasing decisions of electronic gadgets were; brand awareness and perceived quality. However, brand association did not have any significant impact on respondents’ purchasing decisions of electronic gadgets. The study recommended that the marketing practitioners and businesses should make it point to streamline their advertising strategies since the respondents’ awareness of a particular brand within a product category will inform their purchasing decision when time come for them to select a product or service from that product category

Source: UEW
Investigating the impact of inquiry-oriented instructional approach (IO-IA) on teaching and learning of partial differential equations to undergraduate students of UEW

The study investigated the impact of inquiry-oriented instructional approach (IO-IA) on the teaching and learning of partial differential equations (PDEs) at the undergraduate level with the purpose of addressing challenges that students face in the learning of PDEs. A purposive sampling technique was used to select four hundred (400) students from the two cohort groups (2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic year students) of mathematics students. The selected students in each year group were put into two groups: control and experimental. The study employed sequential explanatory design. Observation, test and semi-structured interview were the data collection instruments used during the study. The independent sample t-test for equality of means indicated that there was significant difference between the mean scores of the control and the experimental groups in all the phases in favour of the experimental group. The study revealed that instructional strategies and methods, students’ ability to recall and apply pre-requisite knowledge in solving PDEs, computational ability and availability of ICT tools were the major factors affecting teaching and learning of PDEs. The study recommended the integration of IO-IA by teachers in PDEs. Other recommendations made by the researcher is the integration of ICT into the teaching and learning of PDEs, adaption of measures to help students improve their computational abilities and the inclusion of inquiry-activities in teaching and learning to improve retention among students. The researcher also recommended that institutions should provide ICT tools and software and also adapt small class size for effective integration of IO-IA in teaching and learning process. Key Words: Differential Equations, Elaboration, Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Evaluation, Epistemology, Ontology, Inquiry-Oriented, Inquiry-Based, Mathematical Modelling, visualization, Instructional Design, Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations, Realistic Mathematics Education.

Source: UEW
Investigating the impact of international remittances on economic growth of Ghana

In recent years remittances have gained attention among researchers, policy makers, members of the civil society and international community due to their increasing size. In this study, the main aim was to examine the impact of international remittances on economic growth of Ghana from 1980 to 2015.The study employed annual time series data and applied autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model as the estimation technique. The results show that remittance and economic growth over the study period showed an increasing trend. The short and long run results revealed that remittance has positive but insignificant influence on economic growth. The result further revealed that in the short run trade openness impact negatively on economic growth whereas government expenditure influenced economic growth positively. The long run result revealed that good governance, labour force and government expenditure significantly influence economic growth positively. Trade openness and financial development were revealed to have negative and significant influence on economic growth. Based on the positive relationship between remittance and economic growth, it is therefore recommended that policies regarding emigration should be structured properly to mobilize migrant capital to enhance economic growth. It is also recommended that government should implement policies that can motivate people to export more and import less to change the negative effect trade openness has on economic growth. Citizens must also be encouraged to patronage locally produced goods which will reduce the amount of imported goods to enhance economic growth. These are likely to enhance economic growth and the entire welfare of Ghanaians.

Source: UEW
Investigating the incidence of absenteeism among junior staff at the University of Education, Winneba

Absenteeism is regarded as one of the underlying causes of lost productivity, resource waste, and the frail structure of organizations and industries around the world. Absenteeism is a global issue that affects all businesses in one way or the other. Everyone in most workplaces misses a few days of work every now and then. When am individual is absent from numerous work days, it may cause major issues for the business and all other human resources, resulting in low production or nonavailability of specified services. The purpose of this study is to look at the rate of absenteeism among junior employees at the University of Education, Winneba. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample size for data collections in all two hundred structured questionnaires were administered on respondents sampled for the study. The data show that majority of respondents reported that they had been absent from work in the past 12 months, and that the most commonly occurring absenteeism among junior employees at the University of Education, Winneba was due to health concerns. The study further discovered that involuntary absenteeism accounted for a greater proportion of absence than voluntary absenteeism. To reduce the incidence of absenteeism in the University, the study recommends the need for good relationship between management and employees. Additionally, supervising work must be enhanced to ensure optimum productivity from staff. There should also be a clear policy on work ethics to ensure that those who flout the policy on absenteeism are brought to justices.

Source: UEW
Investigating the influence of anxiety on sports performance among basic school athletes in the Central Region of Ghana

This research investigated the influence of anxiety on sports performance among self selected Basic School athletes in the Central Region of Ghana. The study is a quasi experimental research of static group comparison design. This design involves a group that has experienced treatment compared to another without treatment (control group). The sample for the study was made up of sixty (60) self selected and purposively selected male and female track athletes at the 31st Inter-Regional Basic School Sports Festival at Ho. A simple random sampling technique was used to group the participants into two groups of 30 experimental and 30 control groups respectively, of equal gender representation (15 males and 15 females experimental group & 15 males and 15 females control group). The research was conducted using 20 items questionnaires adapted from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) by Spielberger (1968). The instrument was revalidated using test re-test method with a reliability coefficient of Cronbach alpha of .78 (α = .78). Three research questions were answered and one hypothesis was tested. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistic of frequency counts and percentage for demographic information and Pearson product moment correlation to test the hypothesis at 0.05 significant level. The findings revealed that anxiety had a negative impact on performance. The higher the STAI score in the controlled group, the more poorly the athlete performed in an event as compared to those that obtained lower score of STAI due to the treatment intervention. It is recommended that coaches from basic school should be educated on the negative effects of anxiety on student athletes to ensure that they provide various intervention support systems for the athletes for improved performanc

Source: UEW
Investigating the influence of l1 on the teaching and learning of English language at St. Peter’s RC JHS in Somanya in the Yilo Krobo municipal

This study investigated the influence of L1 on the teaching and learning of English language at St. Peter’s R/C JHS in Somanya in the Yilo Krobo Municipal. The purpose was to examine the L1 factors that militate against L2 teaching and learning and determine strategies that could help overcome the challenges of L2 teaching and learning. From a total population of the school summing up to 374, the researcher selected a sample size of (85) consisting of forty-six (46) girls and thirty-nine (39) boys using the purposive sampling (non-probability) technique for the sample selection. Data used for the analysis was drawn from observations, pre-test and a post-test conducted within three weeks. Data were analysed and presented on tables using frequencies, percentages, and pie charts for illustration. The study found that the differences and similarities of the L1 interferes with students’ acquisition of the L2 that has impacted negatively on pupils’ ability to grasp vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation. Also, the major effect of the L1 on the L2 was pupils’ inability to read and understand (comprehension) during teaching and learning in English. The grammar-translation method, audio-lingual, visual methods, functions, notion and communicative language teaching strategies were deployed in overcoming the challenges of pupils in developing the L2 at St. Peter’s R/C JHS in Somanya in the Yilo Krobo Municipal. The researcher recommends that native teachers ought to reduce their use of the L1 during instructional hours but continue to guide and sustain its cultural values. Schools should also intensify training for both preservice and in-service teachers so that they gain a better understanding of the role of the L1 and L2 in communication and an understanding of multicompetence, linguistic relativity and usage-based approaches should be engaged for second language learning and teaching.

Source: UEW
Investigating the influence of students’ perception in the learning of mathematics and its effects on performance among girls’ at the shs level.

This study investigated perception and its effects on academic performance in the study of Mathematics among girls’ at the SHS level in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana. The study employed Convergent Parallel survey Design which used mixed method approach to collect data for investigation. The design was concerned with describing the degree of relationship among the independent variables and the dependent variable. Convenient and purposive sampling techniques were used to select Hohoe E.P Senior High School and participants of the study respectively. A total number of 320 students’ were selected from second and third-year groups in the school, however, 296 questionnaires were properly responded, representing 92.5% response rate. The study used structured and semi-structured interview guide questionnaires, to investigate the effect and impact of perception on performance in the study of Mathematics among girls’. The quantitative data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and interview data was analyzed qualitatively. The students’ perception towards Mathematics was determined on the basis of 35 self-evaluative statements involving five points Likert scale questionnaire categorizing into seven perception constructs in the study of Mathematics to answer the research question guiding the study. Among the seven perception constructs were; perceived difficulty, perceived interest, perceived peer influence, perceived misconceptions, perceive cultural beliefs and perceived value (usefulness) were considered as perception determinants on students’ academic performance. The study concluded that performance of female students’ in the study of Mathematics is a function of perception as well as teacher related factors. The analysis of the qualitative data collected for the study suggest respondents admittedly perceived Mathematics to be difficult and felt nervous during Mathematics lessons. The study recommended for Mathematics educators in practice to employ teaching methods that inculcates motivation to help reduce negative perception to optimize performance

Source: UEW