ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Religious background of parents, parenting practices and children’s moral behaviour: The case of the First Baptist Church, Tema, Ghana.

Although parenting is a crucial role in society, studies on the effect of religion in family life are hard to find. Consequently, this study, using participants of the First Baptist Church of the Ghana Baptist Convention, sought to evaluate the influence of the religious backgrounds of parents on parental practices and the moral development of children. With the qualitative interpretive research design adopted for the study, 12 participants comprising parents and children of the First Baptist Church of Ghana were conveniently selected and interviewed, and the data subjected to content analysis. The study found that the religious backgrounds of parents does not only influence their parenting goals and parenting practices but also informs the moral upbringing of their children. However, family complexities such as single parenting and parents with different religious backgrounds were seen as marring the effect that parents’ religiosity should have on their parenting as well as the moral development of their children. Hence, the study recommended that religious institutions should endeavour to enhance the parenting skills of their members through the organisation of child development programmes. Again, it also recommended that religious leaders and families should not look upon persons who marry from different religions with disdain or as wrongdoers. Rather, religious leaders should help them to understand the points of divergence and convergence between the two religions that have been married so as to empower them to help their children to develop the right attitudes towards life.

Source: UCC
Religious Dress in the Workplace: A Study of Muslim Women in Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis

The study examined religious dressing at the workplace and the challenges faced by Muslim women based on their extent of coverage. Three research objectives were defined to help determine the scope of the study. The study reviewed the modesty and Immodesty theories, critically examined associated empirical studies and defined a conceptual framework to show the relationship between religious dressing, stigmatization, harassment and workplace promotion. Structured interview questions were employed in data collection from selected Muslim health workers and bankers in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. The study found that Nurses are required to wear scrubs which consist of a matching set of loose-fitting trousers and a tunic-style top. On the other hand, respondents from the field of banking expressed that the dress code of women in the banking profession leans towards formal and professional attire. The study concluded that the wearing of the hijab was still relevant in modern society because it was a symbol of faith and supported morality. The study showed that though the byelaws did not frown on religious dressing, some Muslim women still suffered stigmatization and harassment from their colleagues or supervisors. The study recommended that religious diversity and inclusion should be promoted at the workplace, one way is by allowing minority groups to dress in keeping with the requirement of their faith. The study further recommended that there should be education on religious tolerance at the workplace. The study suggested that longitudinal studies should be conducted to examine changes in workplace attitudes and policies towards religious dress over time.

Source: UCC
Religious Language and the Charge of Blasphemy: In Defence of Al-Hallaj

On the 24th of March 922CE, a Muslim mystic was executed in Baghdad for the alleged crime of blasphemy. Husayn Al-Mansur better known by the nickname Al-Hallāj had his hands and feet struck off and hanged on a gibbet in the full glare of the public. He was also decapitated and his body burnt and his ashes thrown into a river. This ended the earthly career of a famous Muslim mystic. His crime was that he had uttered the words. “Anal Haqq”, (I am the truth). Al-Haqq (the truth) is one of the names or rather attributes of Allah. To have said that he is the truth meant that he was Allah. This paper revisits this Hallājian statement in the light of modern theories of language and conceptions of religious language. This paper posits that Al-Hallāj meant that his “I” is God and not that he is God. The crux of this paper’s argument is that God is not a known object, but a transcendent reality beyond our apprehension. Religious language is borrowed language. We borrow literal language and change it into metaphors of God. We may not move the other way and translate religious metaphors into literal propositions, which is what the religious authorities in Baghdad did in the case of Al-Hallāj. The paper therefore concludes that there was a travesty of justice in the case of Al-Hallāj since he spoke metaphorically and not literally.

Source: UCC
Religious language and the charge of blasphemy: In Defence of Al-Hallaj

On the 24 of March 922CE, a Muslim mystic was executed in Baghdad for the alleged crime of blasphemy. Husayn Al-Mansur better known by the nickname Al-Hallāj had his hands and feet struck off and hanged on a gibbet in the full glare of the public. He was also decapitated and his body burnt and his ashes thrown into a river. This ended the earthly career of a famous Muslim mystic. His crime was that he had uttered the words. “Anal Haqq”, (I am the truth). Al-Haqq (the truth) is one of the names or rather attributes of Allah. To have said that he is the truth meant that he was Allah. This paper revisits this Hallājian statement in the light of modern theories of language and conceptions of religious language. This paper posits that Al-Hallāj meant that his “I” is God and not that he is God. The crux of this paper’s argument is that God is not a known object, but a transcendent reality beyond our apprehension. Religious language is borrowed language. We borrow literal language and change it into metaphors of God. We may not move the other way and translate religious metaphors into literal propositions, which is what the religious authorities in Baghdad did in the case of Al-Hallāj. The paper therefore concludes that there was a travesty of justice in the case of Al-Hallāj since he spoke metaphorically and not literally

Source: UCC
Religious tolerance some observations in the context of Islam–West encounter

The paper investigates how the West engaged with the idea and practice of tolerance as it had manifested in other religions and cultures and how does it relate to the historical trajectory through which it became established in the West. The current unquestioned right of freedom of religious belief and worship in the Western world is thus not simply a corollary of secular thought; it is a principle inspired, at least in part by the influence of Islam. Tolerance is a multi-faceted concept comprising moral, psychological, social, legal, political and religious dimensions. The dimension of tolerance addressed by this essay is specifically religious tolerance, such as this principle finds expression within Islamic tradition, and how it came to be enshrined in Western thought after the Enlightenment. The Islamic tradition in principle, as well as in practice, provides compelling answers to many questions pertaining to the relationship between religious tolerance and practice of one‘s own faith. The lessons drawn from the Islamic tradition reveal that tolerance of Other is in fact integral to the practice of Islam – it is not some optional extra, some cultural luxury, and still less, something one needs to import from some other tradition

Source: UCC
Religiousity as an Antecedent of Employees’ Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

Organisational practitioners and academics have recognized that employees’ discretionary behaviours that go beyond their formally prescribed roles hold great promise for organizations and their members. This calls for identification of individual and organizational factors that promote these behaviours. The study investigated the extent to which employees’ level of religiosity predicts their organizational citizenship behaviour. A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 272 which comprised of 125 males (46%) and 147 females (54%) and were conveniently sampled from various organizations in the Central region of Ghana. Sixty-four percent of the respondents were Christians, while 34.3% and 1.7% were Muslims and Traditionalists respectively. Religiousity was measured using Huber and Huber’s five dimension Centrality of Religion Scale (CRS), and OCB was measured using Organizational Citizenship Behavior Checklist (OCB-C) developed by Fox and Spector’s which has a total of 20 items. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, Pearson’s Product Moment correlation, ANOVA and multiple regressions. The results indicated that religiosity of the employees had significant contribution to their citizenship behaviour in their organizations. Regression analysis of the dimension of the religiosity scale showed that only religious ideological values and private practice significantly contributed to the OCB of the employees. ANOVA analysis also indicated that the religious denominations of the employees significantly influenced their OCB. The findings of this study suggest that efforts by organizations and society at large to inculcate religious values in employees would be invaluable for smooth and efficient organizational functioning. Further implications are discussed.

Source: UCC
Reminiscience of Manhyia Tete Adowa an original composition in contemporary idiom based on adowa music of the Akans of Ghana

The research work took place both in Kumasi and Yamfo in the Ashanti and Brongegions of Ghana respectively. It consists of studying the Adowa musical type Akan and blends the musical elements drawn from it with scholarly compositional techniques as a way of contributing to African art music. The work the repertoire of Adowa. and critically examines its compositional techniques and utilizes the resources to compose new music. This new music preserves the traditional character of adowa albeit the resources of the twentieth century music. In this work, traditional Akan adowa musical type is discussed. The writer looks at rical perspective of the dance. In the historical perspective the writer the very beginning of the music and dance type which dates back to the e also discusses the social significance of the music and dance taking into e performance setting, which brings into focus the dancing arena, the traditional set up as well as the performance practice . Project methodology included various interviews, travel to rural communities, - observation, archival research, and audio/video recordings of traditional music.Again the work utilizes mainly western instruments because of the twentieth century rhythemic melodic and harmonic practises that have influenced the composition. It is meant to improve the perception of African music practice for the old and the young generation as well as the future.

Source: UCC
Remittances and social expenditures of migrant households in the Ekumfi District

Several academic researchers in Ghana have heightened the importance of international remittances rather than the importance of internal remittances to migrant households (Kanu&Ozurumba, 2013; Quartey, 2006). This study therefore, examined remittances and social expenditures of migrant households in the Ekumfi District. The study employed a cross sectional and descriptive survey design using questionnaire and interview guide as the data collection instruments. A sample size of 377 respondents answered questionnaires while eight key informants were interviewed. Frequency tables, cross-tabulations and t-test statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that migrant households’ monthly income generated from primary occupations prior to the receipt of remittances was less than GH 100. Also, migrant households received more of cash remittances; usually less than GH 100 on quarterly basis through mobile money. Again, occupation of migrant, social ties and households’ welfare conditions influenced remittances flow to migrant households. Additionally, remittances served as an alternate source of income for migrant households in the Ekumfi District because it increased the expenditures of food, education and clothing by providing additional income to finance additional spending rather than the expenditures of health, social function, farming, trading and housing. Besides, the study recommends that the Ekumfi District Assembly should implements specific technical and vocational programmes to upgrade the semi-skilled and unskilled youths to streamline better job opportunities and reflect in increased remittances to migrant households during out-migration to urban centres.

Source: UCC
Remodeling of secondhand clothes in Kantamato market: the case of men trousers and shirts

The study was to investigate the production and sales operations of remodelled clothes made from secondhand men trousers and shirts in Kantamanto market, Accra. Case study method was adopted to guide the entire study. Purposive, snowball and quota techniques were used to sample fifty (50) respondents for the study. Interview guide and observational checklist were the main tools used for data collection. The collected data was analysed qualitatively. The results from the study had evidently shown that the demographic characteristics of respondents had influence on their decision to engage in the remodelling business. However, factors such as the quest of meeting prevailing fashion, quality/attractiveness of the fabrics, easy re-styling and high demand/patronage of remodelled clothes led to the remodelling of the secondhand men trousers and shirts. It was unanimously stated and evidently observed that the traders/producers follow some garment production steps or process in their production. However, these steps were not up to standard as those used in the garment manufacturing factories. It was therefore recommended that government should be flexible with laws regulating the operation of secondhand clothing trade so as to sustain respondents in the business. Moreover, there should be public education on the benefits of remodelling business, by the Public Education Units in collaboration with Secondhand Clothes Trade Unions in Kantamanto, and the media for individuals to accept the use of such clothes. This will in turn boost the remodelling business which will turn to create more avenues of job opportunities for self-employment for the youth who are unemployed to try venturing into the business. © University of Cape Coast https://erl.ucc.edu.gh/jspui Digitized

Source: UCC
Removal of fluoride from rural drinking water sources using geomaterials from Ghana

This paper presents preliminary findings on the fluoride removal capability of some Ghanaian geomatrials and their potentials of being used to develop, design replicable easy-to-manage rural community based fluoride removal system. Batch experiments were performed on geomaterials (laterite and bauxite tailings) with raw fluoride-contaminated water (10.31 mg/l) from a borehole to determine their potentiality of removing excess fluoride from rural drinking water supplies. The raw bauxite tailings showed the higher removal capacity. Further experiments were conducted using heat-treated bauxite tailings. The results indicate that optimum fluoride removal is attained when the bauxite is heated to 600o C but removal capacity decreases with increased heating temperature. XRF analyses to determine chemical composition indicated Al2 O3 , Fe2 O3 and SiO2 (silica) to be the most dominant compounds in that order

Source: UCC
Removal of Pb 2+ and Fe2+from water samples in Ghana by synthetic zeolites as measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy and light transmission experiments

The removal efficiencies of laboratory-synthesized zeolite types LTA and LTX on lead and iron in water samples collected from rivers, streams, and wells from Central and Volta regions of Ghana were investigated. The synthesized zeolites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transformed infrared analysis. We have achieved the following results: for zeolite LTX, lead concentrations in the raw water samples and the treated water samples were respectively 0.192 mgL-2 and 0.005 mgL-2 (allowable level in drinking water: 0.01 mgL-2; and iron concentrations in the raw water and treated water samples were respectively 2.797 mgL-2 and 0.129 mg-2 (allowable level in drinking water: 0.3 mgL-2. For zeolite LTA, lead concentrations in the raw water samples and the treated water samples were respectively 0.192mgL-2 and 0.005 mgL-2 and iron concentrations in the raw water and treated water samples were 2.797 mgL-2 and 0.129 mg -2 respectively. The results showed that both zeolite types were effective in removing both lead and iron metal ions in all water samples

Source: UCC
Renal dysfunction among adult HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy at a tertiary facility in Ghana

Background: Kidney diseases have emerged as significant cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV subject on antiretroviral therapy (ART). In Ghana, routine follow up of HIV positive clients is by estimation of serum creatinine and urea levels. Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) is not routinely calculated and proteinuria is not routinely checked. This study sought to investigate the kidney profiles of adult HIV/AIDS patients being managed on ART at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), Ghana. Methods: A hospital-based analytical cross sectional study with a retrospective component was conducted using systematic sampling method to recruit HIV/AIDS who visited the ART clinic. A total of 440 participants of both sexes aged 18 years and above, confirmed as HIV/AIDS positive and on ART were involved in this study. Blood and urine samples were collected from all subjects and the levels of serum creatinine and urea and proteinuria were estimated and eGFR calculated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equations. Data analyses were performed using Stata version 13 software (Stata Corp, Texas USA). Results: The mean age (years) of participants was 45.5 years (±11.6) with 288 (65.4%) being on Tenofovir based ART regimen. The mean eGFR was found to decrease from 112.4 ml/min/1.73 m at baseline, to 103.4 ml/min/1.73 m after 6 months on ART and to a mean of 99.4 ml/min/1.73 m at recruitment into this study. Factors which were found to be associated with having eGFR < 60 included age, gender and CD4 count though not statistically significant. Patients > 45 years had the highest odds with OR 2.0 (95% CI: 0.8–5.1), females had higher odds with OR 1.5 (95% CI: 0.5–5.2), and those with CD4 count > 350 had OR of 0.4 (95% CI 0.2–1.3). A total of 30.9% of the participants had proteinuria at recruitment. TDF based ART regimen had no statistically significant effect on serum creatinine and urea levels. Conclusion: Estimated GFR decreased after 6 months among patients on ART despite normal serum creatinine and urea levels. This finding suggests that clients in care at HIV/ART clinics in Ghana may benefit from routine estimation of GFR and proteinuria.

Source: UCC
Renal Dysfunction among Adult HIV/AIDS Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy at a Tertiary Facility in Ghana

Background: Kidney diseases have emerged as significant cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV subject on antiretroviral therapy (ART). In Ghana, routine follow up of HIV positive clients is by estimation of serum creatinine and urea levels. Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) is not routinely calculated and proteinuria is not routinely checked. This study sought to investigate the kidney profiles of adult HIV/AIDS patients being managed on ART at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), Ghana.

Source: UCC
Renewing the Scope of Training and Transfer of Learning among Community Health Service Workers in Ghana: The Intervening Role of Experiential Training

This paper examines the extent to which Community Health Service Workers (CHSWs) can effectively transfer the skills acquired from training to the workplace in Ghana. A sample of 200 CHSWs from nine (9) Community-Based Health Planning and Services Campuses in the Amansie West District were surveyed. A modified version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory Scale (LTSIS) by Holton, Bates and Ruona (2000) was used to measure transfer of training, while the Experiential Learning Principles (ELP) of the Association for Experiential Education (2011, paragraph 4) were used to test experiential training. The data were collected using the survey questionnaire. The relationship between experiential training and transfer of training was measured using the structural equation model. The study found that Community Health Service trainees had higher propensity to transfer learning from training programmes to their workplace if the experiential method of training was adopted. It was therefore, concluded that the Ghana Community Health Service Worker can contribute more to health care delivery if their practical training was repackaged into the experiential type of training. it was recommended that management of Community Health Service Workers in Ghana must shift from the traditional abstract method of training and education where the Community Health Service Workers were less involved in the learning and teaching activity, towards the experiential training which involves a cycle of “trying” and “undergoing” an experience by becoming aware of a problem, getting an idea, trying out a response, experiencing the consequences, and either confirming or modifying previous conceptions.

Source: UCC
Rent income tax compliance in Ghana: the case study of Tarkwa Nsuaem and Sefwi Wiawso Municipalities.

The real estate sector is one of the fastest growing sub-sectors in the Ghanaian economy. According to the Ghana Revenue Authority, rent income tax collected from this sector has not been encouraging. This study seeks to determine the factors affecting rent income tax compliance in Tarkwa Nsueam and Sefwi Wiawso Municipalities. The study used quantitative approach. Simple random sampling was used to select 278 property owners as the sample size. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire; coded, keyed and analysed using descriptive statistics: mean, frequency and standard deviation. Inferential statistics including Pearson correlation coefficient and multilinear regression model were used to infer population characteristics from the sample. The findings indicate that; rent income tax compliance cost had a negative effect on the level of rent income tax compliance. However, rent income tax knowledge and education had positive effect on the level of rent income tax compliance, rent income tax fines and penalties had positive effect on the level of rent income tax compliance while perceived opportunity for rent income tax evasion by property owners had a negative effect. Majority of property owners had no knowledge of rent income tax law and most property owners do not know how to declare their rent income for tax purpose. Thus, high rent income tax compliance cost and high opportunity for rent income tax evasion will reduce rent income tax compliance among property owners. Appropriate fines and penalties should be enforced to deter property owners from evading rent income tax. Tax authorities should intensify education on rent income tax compliance, simplifying processes involved in filling rent income tax returns.

Source: UCC