ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Contraceptive and abortion practices of young Ghanaian women aged 15–24: evidence from a nationally representative survey

Background: Young Ghanaian women experience high rates of unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy, and face unique barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services. This study provides a comprehensive national analysis of young women’s contraceptive and abortion practices and needs. Methods: In 2018, we conducted a nationally representative survey of women aged 15–49, including 1039 women aged 15–24. We used descriptive statistics, multivariable logistic and multinomial regression to compare young versus older (25–49 year-old) women’s preferred contraceptive attributes, reasons for discontinuing contraception, quality of counseling, use of Primolut N-tablet, method choice correlates, and friends’ and partners’ influence. We also examined youth’s self-reported abortion incidence, abortion methods, post-abortion care, and barriers to safe abortion. Results: Among Ghanaian 15–24 year-olds who had ever had sex, one-third (32%) were using contraception. Compared to older women, they had higher desires to avoid pregnancy, lower ever use of contraception, more intermittent sexual activity, and were more likely to report pregnancies as unintended and to have recently ended a pregnancy. Young contraceptors most commonly used condoms (22%), injectables (21%), withdrawal (20%) or implants (20%); and were more likely than older women to use condoms, withdrawal, emergency contraception, and N-tablet. They valued methods for effectiveness (70%), no risk of harming health (31%) nor future fertility (26%), ease of use (20%), and no effect on menstruation (19%). Infrequent sex accounted for over half of youth contraceptive dis continuation. Relative to older women, young women’s social networks were more influential on contraceptive use. The annual self-reported abortion rate among young women was 30 per thousand. Over half of young women used abortion methods obtained from non-formal providers. Among the third of young women who experienced abortion complications, 40% did not access treatment. Conclusions: Young people’s intermittent sexual activity, desire for methods that do not harm their health, access barriers and provider bias, likely contribute to their greater use of coital-dependent methods. Providers should be equipped to provide confidential, non-discriminatory counseling addressing concerns about infertility, side effects.and alternative methods. Use of social networks can be leveraged to educate around issues like safe abortion and correct use of N-tablet.

Source: KNUST
Contempt powers of the court: a cane applicable for use by commissions of inquiry?

There are public questions which need not the attention of the courts of law but rather an independent and impartial body to provide answers to such public questions. Such a body in the context of Ghana usually charged to undertake this exercise is called a Commission of Inquiry. Their function as provided by the 1992 Constitution of Ghana is to inquire into matters of public importance as their enabling instrument creating it may provide for its terms of reference. Usually, it happens that in their bid to engage in this all important constitutional duty; they face a lot of vilification by people who may not be interested in the inquiry they will be conducting and thus may make derogatory comments towards the commission. That notwithstanding, the procedure to even deal with people who fail to comply with the orders of the commission is also quite cumbersome. Much as a commission of inquiry exercise virtually all the powers of the High Court; the only power that was denied them is the power of contempt. This thesis seeks to advocate that since commissions of inquiry engage in inquiries called for by the sovereign itself that is the people of Ghana; it would be expedient for such commissions to exercise the power of contempt in order to ward off any derogatory remarks and also non-compliance with the orders that may prejudice the inquiry. This is because the final report to be produced must be objective and highly reflective of the situation on the ground and it must be devoid of any subjective sentiments and connotations.

Source: KNUST
Contraceptive uptake among postpartum women attending child welfare Clinics In Sunyani Municipality, Ghana

Background: The proportion of Ghanaian women who use modern contraceptives has not been encouraging although knowledge is nearly universal. This study sought to determine the prevalence of, and factors associated with contraceptive uptake among postpartum women attending child welfare clinics in the Sunyani Municipality of Ghana. Methods: Postpartum women attending child welfare clinic (with children 2-24 months) in six selected health facilities in the Municipality were selected and individually interviewed. The number of women from each facility was estimated using probability proportional to size. Respondents were selected for interview using systematic random sampling. Data analysis was done in Stata. To examine the factors associated with contraceptive uptake, crude and adjusted relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using univariable and multivariable binomial regression with a log-link function. Results: A total of 590 women were recruited into the study. The contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) among currently married postpartum women attending child welfare clinic in Sunyani Municipality was 57.6%, representing the highest reported CPR (among postpartum women) yet in Ghana. Calendar method (28.4%) was the most widely patronised method, followed by the injectables, (18.6%) and then the oral pill (12.5%). Significant determinants of current contraceptive use among postpartum women were previous contraceptive used (adjusted RR, 2.03; 95% C.I., 1.52, 2.71; P= 0.001) and family planning counselling during ANC (adjusted RR, 1.35; 95% C.I., 1.02-1.79; P=0.03). Respondents’ future family planning intensions were found to be largely driven by the desire to space children (adjusted RR, 1.28; 95% C.I., 0.99-1.65; p=0.05). Conclusion: Findings of this study therefore provide insights into existing opportunities in repositioning family planning education, especially among postpartum mothers in the Sunyani Municipality.

Source: KNUST
Contract administration practices of District Assemblies (case study of Mampong Municipal Assembly)

The Municipal Assembly being the central institution within the Municipalit y in charge of planning, implementation and management of development projects, has the responsibility of ensuring compliance with contract terms and conditions, managing changes, completing projects on time and within budgets and also to the required quality standard. Quarterly Progress Reports on construction projects submitted by Mampong Municipal Assembly to Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council between 2009 and 2011 showed that 75% of these projects which were supposed to be completed in six calendar months are still captioned “on-going” projects. It is against this background that the researcher has considered the study into Contract Administration Practice very necessary . The aim of this research is to identify the difficulties faced by Municipal Assemblies in the management of their building construction projects. The objectives also are to identify and document the existing contract administration practice, identify inhibitions to effective contract administration practice, determine factors that underline the identified inhibitions and consequently propose recommendations to the existing practice. The study is focused at the contract implementation stage of building construction projects of Mampong Municipal Assembly, where no external consultant was employed and with funding from the District Development Facility. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, a systematic procedure in conducting this study had been structured. Structured interviews were conducted with 20 staff members of Municipal Assembly in charge of project supervision, and 10 building contractors who have worked or are still working on District Development Facility projects. Statistical Package for iii Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel were used for the organisation of the data presentation, description and analysis. The results revealed that both contractors and staff of the Municipal Assemblies are well informed on the rights, duties and liabilities of a building team; pre construction meetings were not organized before commencement of works; resident engineers or clerk of works are not permanently stationed on each project site; and that would have a toll on the quality of work produced. Based on the results of this research, it is recommended that there is an essentia l need to equip the W orks Department with logistics and staff; pre construction meeting should be held before work begins, regular site meetings should be organized; and finally an officer should be stationed permanently on each project site whilst works are going on concurrently.

Source: KNUST
Contracting out in the mining industry in Ghana: a case study at African Star Goldfields

Contract mining has become a specialised arm servicing the mining industry. There is an increasing trend to use contractors in all forms of mining, both open pit and underground. Mine owners in some cases, have simply assumed accounting and management roles, overseeing a range of contractors who fulfil all key roles in the mining and treatment processes. The contract between African Star Goldfields Limited (ASGL) and ECO Mining Services at Sefwi Anhwiaso in the Western region of Ghana was used as a case study. There is an existing contract between African Star Goldfields Limited and ECO Mining Services which is up for renewal in the year 2001. ASGL has the option to renew the contract or take it over and do in-house mining. The thesis examined the economic viability of the project if ASGL takes it over as opposed to renewing the contract with ECO Mining Services. Cash flow analyses were carried out on both the in-house and contract mining scenarios, taking into consideration the fact that the project is located in Ghana and therefore the appropriate features of Mineral Investment laws of Ghana apply. The essential features of the Mineral investment laws are government interest and royalties, taxes and allowances. Sensitivity analysis were carried out on both cash flows to determine the effect of variation in investment parameters such as operating cost, income tax and the price of gold. Data for the economic analysis were from both practical and theoretical sources. Some of these sources are Tractor and Equipment, Kumasi, African Star Goldfields, ECO Mining Services. This thesis showed that the project is economically viable under both in-house and contract mining situations. However, contract mining was found to be the better option because, it gave a higher return on investment than in-house mining. Secondly, it was also realised that, contract mining was more robust to negative variations in investment than owner mining.

Source: KNUST
Contextual versus Compositional effects on cumulative fertility in Ghana – a multilevel analysis

Ghana has experienced an unexpectedly rapid fertility decline over the past 30 years, which has not been adequately explained in light of the concurrent persistently low usage of contraception. Factors at both the individual and contextual level have been investigated for their role in the determination of fertility levels and differentials in Ghana however, the relative contributions of the contextual factors compared with the individual factors to variation in fertility has rarely been studied. This study investigated how much of the observed district level fertility differentials are attributable to contextual versus compositional effects using a multilevel framework. Data from the second round of the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 survey were analyzed using a 2-level multilevel framework with individuals as the first level and districts at the second level. Age, education, wealth, marital status, history of family planning use and age at first sex were used as individual-level predictors while urban/rural residence was included as a district-level explanatory variable. Multilevel multivariate regression models with interaction terms included were used to determine how much of the variance was attributable to each level. Age, education, marital status, age at first sex and history of family planning were found to significantly influence cumulative fertility, however, most of the observed effects of these variables were significantly attenuated when age interactions were included in the models. The models also found that only 3-4% of the variance in cumulative fertility could be attributed to contextual effects as opposed to individual effects. Cumulative fertility is primarily determined by individual-level characteristics, and how these characteristics change with age and over time. Thus, policies aimed at fertility regulation should pay particular attention to improving the socio-economic circumstances of women.

Source: KNUST
Contractor selection in Ghana

The main aim of this study is to identify the significant factors for contractor selection in Ghana using factor analysis. The study was also to find the preferred criteria for evaluation and selection of contractors in Ghana. The study identified 67 variables used in evaluation and subsequent selection of contractors. Using factor analysis, it was determined that the variables had common underlying factors. The significant factors determined after reduction were five, namely: Managerial factors, Quality and Standards factors, Resource Availability factors, Duration and Cost factors and Location factors. It was also revealed that Ghanaian construction professionals prefer multi-criteria selection of contractors to single criteria and would also allocate higher marks to technical evaluation than to financial evaluation in selecting a contractor for a project. However, very few of them know about modern multi-criteria selection methods such as Analytical Hierarchy Process, Analytical Network Process, Evidential Reasoning, etc, developed by researchers for multi-criteria selection.

Source: KNUST
Contractors’ Assessment of Professional Services Quality: The Case of Quantity Surveying Firms in Ghana

The subject of service quality has become a topical issue in many jurisdictions and industries largely due to its benefit of enhancing a firms’ competitive advantage. In Ghana’s construction industry, the professional quantity surveying service sector in particular, recent studies on perceived service quality in quantity surveying firms have often focused on the perspective other stakeholders in the industry. However, little emphasis is placed on contractors who are the direct beneficiaries of these services. This stems from the fact that contractors need the services of these professional firms on cost advice and other contract management related issues to ensure the physical realization of construction projects in this country. The development of guidelines for improving quality of services provided by professional quantity surveying firms based on contractors’ service quality assessment was the main outcome of this study. This study adapted the use of the most widely utilized service quality measurement tool, SERVQUAL to assess contractors’ expectations and perceptions of professional quantity surveying firm’s service quality in the country. A mixed method research approach and a cross-sectional research design were adopted and the research found that, among the five differing dimensions of SERVQUAL framework; Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Tangibility, two dimensions (Responsiveness and Empathy) did not meet contractors’ expectations in the Ghanaian construction industry. Based on the results, the study designed a guideline model for improving service quality in professional quantity surveying firms which featured two phases: the critical improvement phase and continuing improvement phase. This model formulated by the research was validated by Quantity Surveying experts who generally agreed with the overall construct of the model, content and logic. Keywords: Service Quality, SERVQUAL, Professional Quantity Surveying Firms, Contractors. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My greatest acknowledgement goes to the Almighty God for giving me the Grace, strength and good health to carry out this research. My sincere thanks go to my supervisor Dr.Gabriel Nani for his immense guidance, constructive criticisms, suggestions, and encouragement throughout the research process. He was always there for me when I needed him. Special thanks also go to Mr. Ayirebi Dansoh and to the entire lecturers of the Department of Building Technology, KNUST for their immense assistance and constructive criticisms throughout the research process. I also extend my appreciation to staff and management of North West Consortium Limited, Wa. Especially the Director Mr. Sylvester F. Dery is remembered for his understanding and support. Lastly, my profound gratitude goes to my entire family members, especially my wife Justina and son Leslie for their love, encouragement, understanding and time for this study.

Source: KNUST
Contractors’ Adaptation to Environmentally Sustainable Construction Processes.

Environmental sustainability is foundational to achieving the global goals of sustainable development. The construction industry has a significant role to play in pursuance of environmental sustainability. However, stakeholders in the industry lack capability and understanding to adapt to environmental sustainability practices in construction. There are lack of guidelines for understanding and promoting sustainable construction, especially in developing countries. Therefore, the aim of this research was to develop a framework that will provide guidelines for contractors to build capacity for Environmentally Sustainable Construction (ESC) processes. Four theories; the Resilience, Ecological Modernization, Institutional and Social Network theories have been adopted to facilitate understanding of the complexities surrounding adaptation to ESC. Through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, qualitative data have been collected from large scale contractors in the country. The data have been analysed using data matrix and template thematic analysis techniques. Adopting an abductive approach, a back and forth iteration between findings and the theories have been applied to facilitate development of the framework. Contractors act within social-ecological system of the construction industry. The inability of these system actors to adapt to ESC is attributed to legislative, socio-cultural and other barriers. Improving knowledge of clients and other stakeholders in ESC processes would enable ESC adaptation. Formation of social network of contractors and collaboration with ‘non-contractor’ stakeholders are also primary to creation of drivers and enablers of ESC. Other frameworks developed for sustainable construction in developing and emerging economies do not provide stakeholder-specific guidelines for developing the needed capability to achieve sustainable construction. The framework developed in this research zeroes in on providing guidelines and strategies for contractors, as iv construction industry stakeholders, to achieve capability for adapting to ESC processes. The contribution of this research is that studies directed towards achieving sustainability in construction industry have been advanced through application of relevant multidisciplinary theories. The significance of this study is that, in line with the ‘Agenda 21 for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries’ recommendation, guidelines for contractors to attain capability for sustainable construction have been provided. For successful implementation of the framework, it is recommended that the guidelines provided are to be integrated into a contractor’s organisational policy. ‘Establishing and enforcing’ governmental regulations on ESC is a key driver for bringing contractors’ adaptation to ESC into reality.

Source: KNUST
The Contribution of Building Clients to a Safer Ghanaian Building Industry

The construction industry in Ghana has a long reputation of its poor safety records. However there has been significant improvement in its safety performance recently. These improvements are partly due to the concerted endeavours of different parties like clients. Even though there has been much participation from clients in helping reduce the number of accidents on project site, clients should start to understand their role in safety as an initiator, as well as the sponsor in most of the circumstances. Majority of the existing data supported the proposition that clients do not like involvement in safety. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating into the contributions of building clients in making the Ghanaian building industry safer in Accra, in the Greater Accra region. The role of clients from the public and private sectors in project safety performance is studied in this research. The relationship between project safety performance in terms of the clients and contractor is examined. Questionnaire were distributed to both private, public clients and contractors and interviews conducted when necessary. Construction practitioners were the primary source of data collected for this research. Based on the analysis of the result of this research, it was found that clients do not provide additional funds for safety in construction project. It was recommended that clients should enforce safety regulations at all times from the inception to the completion of projects.

Source: KNUST
The contribution of electronic banking to banks’ profitability and service delivery.A Case Study of Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd.

Electronic banking is changing the face of banking within the last decade. The aim of the study was to examine e-banking‘s contribution to profitability and service delivery of Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited. In achieving the aim of the study, the following objectives were espoused: Ascertain the electronic banking services offered by FBL; Examine the contributions of e-banking to FBL‘s profitability; Assess if the provision of these services has affected the service delivery of FBL; and Understand the challenges faced by FBL in the introduction of electronic banking services. The population comprises of all the branches of Fidelity Bank Limited. In selecting the respondents, both purposive and stratified random samplings were used. The purposive sampling was adopted to select managers who are in charge of electronic banking. The stratified random sampling was also adopted to select respondents from all the departments in the bank. Both primary and secondary data were used with questionnaires as the main instrument used for the collection of primary data. Data was analysed using inferential analysis including mean, standard deviation, charts, tables and percentages. The study also found out that e-banking products makes delivery of banking services very convenient with less queuing unlike the traditional branch banking. Again e-banking transactions are secured, the e-banking products are very easy to use and the various e-banking products do not share the personal information of customers with others. The study also revealed that electronic banking contributes to profitability of banks since offering e-banking is quite cheaper than the traditional branch banking. The study recommended that the Government of Ghana should provide the necessary measures in place in terms of legislations and infrastructure to create the enabling environment for electronic banking to thrive in Ghana which will intend help to generate revenue for the country through the charges paid as VAT by the banks.

Source: KNUST