ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Assessing organizational performance in Ghanaian public sector: The case of information services department in Cape Coast

The study assessed organisational performance in Ghanaian public sector especially ISD with specific reference to Cape Coast.The study used descriptive survey as its design and used the census method to select all 18 staffs for regional and metropolitan offices in Cape Coast as the sample size for the study. The researcher employed a self-administered questionnaire to collect data for the study which helped to produce 100% retrieval rate. The questionnairewasmade up of 22 items. The 22 items on the questionnaire were grouped into four sections which were all in line with the research objectives. The data collected were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and frequencies of SPSS version 20.Findings revealed that indeed ISD is faced with structural inadequacies which have led to drastic shortfall of contracts from both government agencies and private sector. It is recommended that ISD should be resourced with modern public address systems, new mobile cinema vans, modern office equipment associated with regular and speedy internets access, and regular and adequate funds for operations as well as repairs and maintenance works. Also, the state should give preference to ISD when awarding contracts on publicity, publishing, and broadcasting.

Source: UCC
Assessing Perceived Impact Of Financial Innovation On Customer Satisfaction Among Customers Of Chosen Banks Within The Ayawaso North Municipality, Greater Accra

The Ghanaian banking sector continues developing various products and services through financial innovation efforts. This has culminated in a competitive environment leading to most banks developing new products and services such as e-banking, ATM, internet banking, mobile banking, and e-commerce among other popular products and services geared towards meeting unique customer demand and satisfaction (Senanu & Narteh, 2022). The research explores various dimensions of financial innovation, encompassing digital banking solutions, and advanced service delivery methods. Employing a combination of surveys, and data analysis, it scrutinizes how these innovations impact customers' banking behaviors, levels of satisfaction, and overall financial improvement. Additionally, the study investigates how customer attributes and preferences intersect with financial innovation and its impact on customer satisfaction. The study used a purposive sampling technique to understand factors that either facilitate or impede financial innovation adoption and acceptance among bank customers in this particular region. A survey conducted obtained feedback from 78 customers of three banks. These three selected banks were Fidelity Bank, ADB Bank, and Bank of Africa Limited. Furthermore, the findings of the study indicate that financial innovations have impacts on customer satisfaction. Key areas of which are faster transactions, convenience, personalization, as well as accessibility among others. Key security and technical issues were raised. These areas must be a matter of concern for the banking sector. Financial institutions should prioritize enhancing user experiences and personalizing promotions to retain existing customers and attract new ones seeking convenient online banking services.

Source: UCC
Assessing Performance of Irrigation of Rice in Ghana

Rice irrigation schemes in Ghana number up to 22 yet their output is so low that it creates a huge consumption deficit leading to huge rice import bill, over 500 million dollars per year. The management of these schemes has been noted with poor record keeping and high operational and maintenance cost. Some schemes are extremely neglected due to lack of active stakeholder participation. The rice irrigation capacity utilization in the existing schemes is unsatisfactorily, the reasons for the current situation are indicated as poor management practices, lack of governmental support to promote the scheme and heavy dependence on natural rainfall. Rainfall is unpredictable, a situation which is a draw back on existing rice irrigation schemes. For a complete self-sufficiency, rice irrigation practices must be seen in its right perspective to ensure the success of the schemes and become integral variable in the national economy

Source: UCC
Assessing pesticides application and impacts among smallholder cocoa farmers in Western Region – Ghana

The study assessed the risk of pesticides use among cocoa farmers in three districts of Western Region of Ghana. It employed a descriptive survey study design, where data were collected from 225 smallholders farmers using a questionnaire. The farmers‟ survey revealed inappropriate pesticide application is dangerous to their own health. This was buttressed by a high number of the respondents experiencing headache (66%), dizziness (58%), body weakness or being unusually tired (55%), or burning eyes (53%) after pesticide application. Information gathered from this survey also revealed that farmers sprayed the same wide range of pesticides on all crops, killing non- targeted organism such as pollinators and soil organisms. Part of the survey data was plugged into the risk model (Environmental Impact Quotient) to predict environmental impact of the pesticides. The EIQ model indicated that the use of Copper Hydroxide, Imidacloprid, and Acetamiprid in the study area pose a risk to the environment, especially to insects and pollinators. Transport of Imidacloprid (Confidor) which is widely used by two types of soils. The soils were treated with three different rates (0%, 0.5% and 1% by weight) of two adsorbents (Charcoal (CH) and Rice Husk Biochar (RHB)). Pesticide leachate concentrations revealed that charcoal (CH) at 1% showed maximum imidacloprid adsorption in both soils (Soil 1 – 0.32 μg/ml and Soil 2 – 0.2 μg/ml) followed by RHB at 0.5% in Soil 1- 0.25 μg/ml and RHB at 1% on Soil 2 - 0.61 μg/ml. Both adsorbents show promise to immobilize accidental pesticide spillage in soils

Source: UCC
Assessing Public Relations Strategies In Takoradi Technical University

This study explored how important Public Relations strategies aid in the attainment of Takoradi Technical University‘s organizational goals. Specifically, the study assessed the public relations strategies employed at Takoradi Technical University, the roles public relations operations play in the attainment of the organizational goals, the challenges confronting Public Relations operations, and how important public relations has been in achieving the university‘s goals. The study adopted a qualitative approach using an exploratory research design. In all, 10 participants were selected using purposive and census sampling, and a semi-structured interview guide was used to acquire the primary data. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis. It was discovered that Takoradi Technical University employed many PR strategies that are used in the process of achieving organizational objectives. The results of the investigation also indicated that the TTU Department of Public Relations is responsible for coordinating information inside and outside of the academic community, engaging with the institution's alumni, plan and organize all public events for the university. The study revealed that the TTU PR directorate lacks Professional PR Practitioners. The findings revealed that the TTU PR directorate has helped improve the image and reputation of the university, and created a global brand for the university. The public relations departments of TTU should develop a comprehensive Strategic Public Relations Framework/Plan to assist in integrating all public relations operations for the achievement of the broader organizational goals.

Source: UCC
Assessing readiness of indigenous vegetable women farmers in Kakamega county to satisfy quality standards of high value markets in Kenya

African indigenous vegetable (AIV) farmers have limited information in the areas for training and readiness to access and produce vegetables to satisfy the growing demands by retailers in Kenya. The study assessed the readiness of women AIV farmers in Kakamega County to satisfy quality standards for high value markets (HVMs). Descriptive survey design, multistage sampling technique and interview schedule were used to collect data from 276 farmers. Observations and discussions with key informants were used to collect primary data. Statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation and appropriate correlation coefficients were used to describe and/or identify the relationships among respondents.Results of the study revealed that farmers had low knowledge on quality standards, especially the transaction attributes. The public extension was the main source of information but the perception of farmers on status of resources was low. The male headed households allocated less land for vegetables compared to females. Farmers were willing to a large extent to satisfy quality standards but had low competencies. Famers readiness to satisfy standards of HVM depends on knowledge, perception of resources, educational attainment, infrastructure, finance from credit institutions, contact with extension officers, number of years of marketing vegetables and membership to an organization. The study recommends among others that the Ministry of Agriculture train farmers on AIV production and marketing and develop trade policy to ensure that retailers purchase vegetables from certified local farmers.

Source: UCC
Assessing readiness of indigenous vegetable women farmers in Kakamega county to satisfy quality standards of high value markets in Kenya

African indigenous vegetable (AIV) farmers have limited information in the areas for training and readiness to access and produce vegetables to satisfy the growing demands by retailers in Kenya. The study assessed the readiness of women AIV farmers in Kakamega County to satisfy quality standards for high value markets (HVMs). Descriptive survey design, multistage sampling technique and interview schedule were used to collect data from 276 farmers. Observations and discussions with key informants were used to collect primary data. Statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation and appropriate correlation coefficients were used to describe and/or identify the relationships among respondents. Results of the study revealed that farmers had low knowledge on quality standards, especially the transaction attributes. The public extension was the main source of information but the perception of farmers on status of resources was low. The male headed households allocated less land for vegetables compared to females. Farmers were willing to a large extent to satisfy quality standards but had low competencies. Famers’ readiness to satisfy standards of HVM depends on knowledge, perception of resources, educational attainment, infrastructure, finance from credit institutions, contact with extension officers, number of years of marketing vegetables and membership to an organization. The study recommends among others that the Ministry of Agriculture train farmers on AIV production and marketing and develop trade policy to ensure that retailers purchase vegetables from certified local farmers.

Source: UCC
Assessing rental housing delivery in Ghana. The case of Abeka, a suburb of Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

The supply of housing in Ghana is seen to be lacking behind demand due to the increasing number of population, especially in urban areas. This has caused many Ghanaians in the low and middle-income groups to resort to the rental sector for their housing needs. This study seeks to assess rental housing delivery in Abeka and specifically aims at Identifying the types of rental houses in the study area, analyse the factors that influence the rental prices, examine the challenges faced by the tenants in the study area about rental housing, assess the role of stakeholder in providing rental accommodation as well as assessing the effect of price of accommodation on rental decision making. The study was conducted in Abeka, a suburb in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly using an explanatory research design and the mixed method approach. The study used 264 tenant respondents, 12 landlords/landladies and 2 officials, each from the Ministry of Water Resource Works and Housing and Rent Control Department and 2 rent agents. Data was collected using questionnaires and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and interviews were grouped into themes. The study found that income, number of rooms, population and location play important roles to influence rental prices which has an effect on rental decisions. Furthermore, the study pointed out that the rental housing sector is characterised by challenges such as poor housing quality, rent affordability, limited access to services and facilities, poor maintenance, crowed and overcrowded living conditions that puts much burden on renters. Also, roles of stakeholders are not fully carried out due to some challenges they face. Therefore, the study recommends that government gets involved in the rental housing delivery sector and make contributions so as to improve the living conditions of renters in the sector.

Source: UCC
Assessing risk and return relationship of listed firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange

Generally speaking, every investment decision contains a component of risk and a component of return. The relationship amongst risk and return exists as a risk-return trade off, by which it is implied that it is just conceivable to obtain higher returns by tolerating higher risk. This risk-return relationship is very key in investment assessment. Risk and Return are emphatically connected; an expansion in one is joined by an increment in the other. Hence this study assessed the risk and return relationship of listed firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange from 1990 to 2011. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) was adopted and modified with an introduction of crises effect and the January effect. Data of daily stock prices were obtained from the Data Bank Research Unit whilst, the daily market returns was obtained from the Ghana Stock Exchange and processed with eviews and excel. The findings of the study showed that the stocks of ABL, ETI, FML, GCB, SCB, SG-SSB, TOTAL, GGBL and UNIL, and SIC had their betas predicting their returns in conformity with the position of CAPM. Other factors other than the beta contributed to the risk return relationship of the stocks of AADS, CFAO, CMLT, EBG, HFC, MLC, PKL, PZC, TBL. Stocks of AGA, BOPP, CAL, GOIL, CLYD, CPC, GOIL,GSR, GWEB, SPL and so on were at variance with CAPM. The recent financial crisis had downward significant effect on the beta of ABL, ETI, FML, SCB, SG-SSB, TOTAL, GGBL and UNIL and an upward significant effect on the betas of GCB and SIC . The January effect had upward significant effect on the beta of ABL, ETI, FML, SCB, SG-SSB, and GCB and a downward significant effect on the betas of GGBL, UNIL and SIC. In all the betas of firms in the financial industry were most affected by both Financial Crisis and the Calendar Month Anomaly hypothesis. It is recommended that, first, investors on the stock market should take into consideration both 2007/8 Global Financial crisis and the January effect when assessing risk-return relationship. Moreover, once the CAPM predicted the risk-return relationship of 10 stocks analysed, investors could rely on the preposition of CAPM in valuing their expected returns in such stocks. However, investors should not rely solely on CAPM but should use it together with other valuation models to give better predictions.

Source: UCC
Assessing Senior High School Biology Students’ Science Process Skills

This study was conducted to assess science process skills of drawing, classifying, interpreting and hypothesising among Senior High School (SHS 3) Biology students in the Volta Region of Ghana. Two hundred and forty students were randomly chosen from six SHSs to respond to the research instruments. Additionally, six SHS 3 Biology teachers in the sampled schools also participated in the study. The main instruments used to collect data were science process skills assessment tasks, interview guides for students and teachers and guide for content analysis of Biology practical workbook of students. The research instruments were pilot tested on a representative sample to determine the reliability and validity of the instruments. The interrater reliability coefficient for the performance tasks on drawing, classifying, interpreting and hypothesising were found to be 82.50%, 85%, 2.50% and 80% respectively. Mixed methods research design was employed in this study and thus quantitative and qualitative methods were used in analysing data generated from the respondents. Prominent among the findings were that majority of the students performed poorly on the skills of drawing, classifying, interpreting and hypothesizing, Biology practical activities were not organized frequently in the schools and there was a significant difference between the categories of schools and the acquisition of science process skills of drawing, classifying, interpreting and hypothesizing. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Biology teachers at SHSs should organise practical activities frequently for students to acquire and master science process skills that are stipulated in the syllabus for meaningful learning of Biology.

Source: UCC
Assessing service delivery at Zenith Bank Ghana Limited

The competitive nature of the banking system in Ghana requires that the banks deliver top notch services in order to gain more customer loyalty. It is upon this direction that this study was carried out to assess the level of service quality delivery at Zenith Bank, Cape Coast and Takoradi branches. The investigations were conducted within the SERVQUAL framework. In order to achieve the above, the study performed descriptive analyses on the respondents and the five broad SERVQUAL dimensions. Additionally, factor analyses were conducted to determine the relative importance of each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions on both customers’ expectation and customers’ perception. Eventually, gap analyses were also conducted to determine both the unweighted and weighted scores based on which the level of service delivery at Zenith Bank was identified. The results show that Empathy, Assurance, Reliability, Tangibility and Responsiveness, in that order, depict the hierarchy of importance of customers’ expectation of service delivery at Zenith Bank. On the other hand, the results also showed that Tangibility, Assurance, Reliability, Responsiveness and Empathy are the hierarchy of importance of customers’ perception of service delivery at Zenith Bank. Finally, the gap analysis showed that, customers perceived services delivery at Zenith Bank as poor. The employees of Zenith Bank should be continuously oriented on how to deliver customized services. When Zenith Bank trains its workers, the bank should provide enough avenues for them to pay attention to individualized service delivery.

Source: UCC
Assessing Service Quality at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana

This study assessed service quality in the University of Cape Coast. The specific objectives were to; identify the dimension of service quality that is most dominant in the University of Cape Coast; test the differences in the perception of service quality among male and female students in the University of Cape Coast; And finally, assess the difference in the perception of service quality among undergraduate and post-graduate students in the University of Cape Coast. The study was a survey study which adopted a quantitative methodology. The design of the study was descriptive, with a sample of 379. The study adopted a simple random technique. The study findings first indicated that the most important dimension in respondent’s perception of service quality of UCC is Assurance, and the least important is Empathy. The results of the study also pointed out that, there was a significant difference between male and female students on Empathy dimension of service quality while gender had no significant effect on the other four dimensions. On the final objective, it was seen that with respect to difference in student’s perception in level of study, all the dimensions were not significant only with the exception of Responsiveness that is significant at 90% confidence level. The study recommends that the Management of the University invest and acquire state of the art equipment to reverse the least Tangibility score. With respect to differences in demographic factors on quality dimensions, the study recommends that gender differentiation in terms of allocating students to various lectures applied in service delivery.

Source: UCC
Assessing smallholder farmers’ understanding of environmental effects of modern agronomic practices in Ghana

Aims: This paper seeks to assess smallholder farmers’ level of understanding of the environment effects of modern agriculture. Study Design: Every second household or homestead was selected from the west to east direction using GPS. Thus, a systematic random sampling technique was employed to solicit the needed information. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in August 2017 at Dzodze, the District Capital of Ketu North, and its surrounding villages in Ghana. Methodology: A total of 150 farmers were systematically selected and interviewed using an interview schedule guide. Farmers were asked to rank 10 indicator variables on a Likert scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least important and 5 being extremely important. To test for the level of agreement and reliability among raters, Cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.85) was used. In addition, the Relative Importance Index (RII) was computed for the farmers’ ranks of environmental issues associated with modern agriculture. The highest score for all the variables per farmer was 60. This was converted into an index that ranges between 0 and 1. The index was employed in the Tobit regression model to econometrically estimate the effects of the socioeconomic and biophysical attributes on farmers’ understanding of environmental issues that are associated with modern agriculture. The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance was used to evaluate the level of agreement for the farmers’ rankings of the indicator variables. Results: The results indicated that individual concordance (W) values were significant at P < 0.001. The indicator variables were ranked from the 1St to the 10th positions by the farmers as follows: Reduce Soil Fertility, Effects Human Health, Reduces Fish Catch, Increases Soil Toxicity, Contaminates Water, Increases Crop Diseases, Causes Soil Compaction, Increase Soil Salinity, Increase Soil Erosion and Increases Insect Infestation; however, the results of the Tobit model indicated that variables such as Education, Electronic Media, Farm Size and Experience were positive, whereas Age of Farm Household Head and Labour Endowment were negative and significantly related to smallholders’ understanding of the environmental effects of modern agronomic practices. Conclusion: In conclusion, the study indicates the need for the proactive education of smallholder farmers regarding environmental concerns upon the adoption of modern agriculture technology

Source: UCC