ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The effect of financial literacy on savings and investment of public sector workers in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam District

The interest in financial literacy has increased globally because it enhances financial security, wealth creation and excellent portfolio choice for the individual. The study was set up to investigate financial literacy and the practice of saving and investment by public sector workers in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam district of the Central region of Ghana. Frequency distributions, percentage, contingency tables and bar charts have been employed to show the results in the study conducted. Despite the high financial literacy rate among the public sector workers in the district, this is not reflective in savings and investment. There is need for more education on financial literacy and application of the knowledge acquired. The result indicates that over 95 percent of the respondents know what a personal budget is. The respondents who prepared a monthly budgets were 72% whilst 28% did not prepare budgets. In fact 52% of these workers who prepare budgets did not follow it every month leading to 76.3% of the workers having their incomes falling short of expenses. Financial institutions should also develop attractive investment products to encourage public sector workers to invest. Other sources of income generating avenues should be exploited by those whose incomes can barely cover expenses for the month. Education by the state and the financial institutions should be stepped up for the workers to see the importance of using budgets to control their expenses and most importantly its effect on saving and investment

Source: UCC
The effect of financial literacy on savings and investment of public sector workers on the Ajumako Enyan Essiam District

The interest in financial literacy has increased globally because it enhances financial security, wealth creation and excellent portfolio choice for the individual. The study was set up to investigate financial literacy and the practice of saving and investment by public sector workers in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam district of the Central region of Ghana. Frequency distributions, percentage, contingency tables and bar charts have been employed to show the results in the study conducted. Despite the high financial literacy rate among the public sector workers in the district, this is not reflective in savings and investment. There is need for more education on financial literacy and application of the knowledge acquired. The result indicates that over 95 percent of the respondents know what a personal budget is. The respondents who prepared a monthly budgets were 72% whilst 28% did not prepare budgets. In fact 52% of these workers who prepare budgets did not follow it every month leading to 76.3% of the workers having their incomes falling short of expenses. Financial institutions should also develop attractive investment products to encourage public sector workers to invest. Other sources of income generating avenues should be exploited by those whose incomes can barely cover expenses for the month. Education by the state and the financial institutions should be stepped up for the workers to see the importance of using budgets to control their expenses and most importantly its effect on saving and investment.

Source: UCC
The Effect of Fiscal Balance on Public Debt in Ghana

Increasing public debt in Ghana has been a major concern to the nation. There are several factors that influence the public debt which includes the fiscal balance, that is either a deficit or a surplus. This study investigated the influence of fiscal balance on total public debt. The results reveal that fiscal deficit increases total debt and domestic debt while surpluses lead to an increase in the external debt though the long run relationship between fiscal deficit and external debt is not significant. Other variables that were included in the model are foreign direct investment, GDP growth rate, gross fixed capital formation, inflation at consumer price index, trade openness, current account balance, executive constraint, interest payment, population growth rate and democratization. It is recommended that since fiscal deficit is detrimental to both the total debt and domestic debt, the government must consider reducing its expenditure through fiscal adjustments. Also, the government agencies that are in charge of the revenue must consider the broadening of their tax base in order to reduce the deficits. If the domestic revenue increases, the deficit would reduce as well and thereby reducing the public debt

Source: UCC
Effect of formative assessment practices on junior high school students’ mathematics achievement in the nsawam-adoagyiri municipality, ghana.

The research aimed to investigate the impact of formative assessment practices on the academic performance of junior high students in mathematics within the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly, Ghana. This research work was guided by two research questions and two corresponding hypotheses. It utilized a quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design with non-equivalent control groups. A randomly selected sample of 140 students from two public junior high schools in grade two participated in the research. Mathematics Achievement Tests, designed to be alternative in nature, were used for both pretest and posttest data collection. Statistical tools used to analyse the data were one-way analysis of covariance, two-way analysis of covariance, independent samples t-test and dependent sample t-test. The findings suggested that students who were given formative assessment practices as treatment recorded did better in the post-test scores as compared to control group’s participants who were not given the intervention. Male students did not perform differently from their female counterparts as the study revealed no significant gender effect on mathematics achievement. It was concluded that the intervention programme of formative assessment practices were effective for participants’ academic success in mathematics. The study proposed recommendations for the Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Education, school administrators, and curriculum developers to prioritize and enhance the integration of formative assessment practices within their teacher training programs and workshops. This approach aims to further strengthen the proficiency of educators in implementing formative assessment techniques when instructing mathematical concepts, ultimately contributing to improved student learning outcomes

Source: UCC
Effect of gamma irradiation treatment and storage on physico-chemical, microbial and sensory quality of minimally processed pineapple (ananas comosus)

Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the effect of gamma irradiation dose on quality attributes of minimally processed pineapple. Study Design: Physico-chemical quality parameters such as Total Soluble Solids (TSS), Titratable Acidity (TA), pH, Total Sugars (TS), Reducing Sugars (RS), Vitamin C, as well as Sensory and microbial quality of irradiated cut pineapples were studied over a period of 12 days at 5ºC. Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at the Radiation Technology Center of Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, between May and June 2012. Methodology: Smooth cayenne pineapples were cut into cubes and irradiated at three doses; 0, 2 and 3 kGy. Irradiated samples were stored at 5ºC for 12 days and analyzed every 4th day during storage. Physicochemical analyses were also carried out according to Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC 1990) methods. Microbial counts including total plate count, total coliform count, total yeast and molds count and Salmonella were assessed. Sensory attributes including sweetness, color, flavor, texture and overall preference for the cut pineapples were assessed using 30 semi trained panelists. Results: Results showed that irradiation treatment had no significant effect (P = 0.13) on Vitamin C, TSS, TS and RS, but significantly (P = 0.03) caused changes in pH and TA. Significant decreases (P = 0.02) in vitamin C were observed during the storage period in both control and irradiated samples. Sensory evaluation revealed that irradiation at 2kGy and 3kGy did not significantly affect (P = 0.15) the ratings of any of the sensory attributes assessed. Conclusion: Gamma irradiation was effective in reducing the overall microbial load of minimally processed pineapple. Irradiation treatments at 2 and 3kGy and storage at 5ºC for up to 8 days could enhance hygienic quality of minimally processed pineapple Gamma irradiation

Source: UCC
Effect of Gender Diversity on the Performance of Non-financial Listed Firms in Ghana

The paper investigates the effect of gender diversity in the boardroom on the financial performance of non-financial listed firms in Ghana using panel data between 2007 and 2011. The fixed and random effects approaches were used in analysing the data. The findings revealed that the percentage of women on board have no statistically significant relationship with firm’s financial performance of listed firms in Ghana. It was also discovered that the percentage of women on boards of non-financial listed firms was low. The results draw the attention of policy makers to the position of women in organisations given the enormous positive contribution they offer to the society.

Source: UCC
Effect of graphic organizers on basic four (B4) pupils’ reading comprehension achievement in Effutu municipality

This thesis examined the effect of graphic organizers (KWL, Story Map as well as Four-Corner Vocabulary Chart) on pupils’ reading comprehension achievement. The study followed quasi-experimental design. Simple random sampling without replacement, precisely the lottery method, was used to sample 2 schools out of 25 schools after which purposive sampling was used to select Basic Four pupils of each of the two schools. The sample size was 84 Basic Four (B4) pupils of which 40 belonged to school B and 44 belonged to School A. Data were collected using a comprehension achievement test created by the investigator. Using the KR20 reliability coefficient, it was discovered that the pretest’s consistency coefficient was 0.75 and that of the posttest was 0.74. With the help of SPSS version 26.0, data collected were analysed by the use of pairedsample t-test and independent t-test as well as Two-Way Analysis of Covariance. The finding was that guiding pupils with graphic organizers improved their comprehension achievement significantly. K-W-L Chart significantly improved the pupils’ ability to make inferences and recall issues in a given narrative text, story map significantly improved pupils’ ability to identify characters and setting in narrative text and FCVC improved pupils’ vocabularies significantly. The use of graphic organizers for comprehension did not differ significantly between males and females. It was also found that guiding pupils with graphic organizers in understanding narrative texts improved their comprehension achievement significantly as compared to convention method. It was proposed that Ghanaian educational bodies should incorporate graphic organizers into the curriculum, train facilitators on how to use organizers to help pupils read and comprehend, and encourage facilitators to use them.

Source: UCC
Effect of Green Marketing on Consumer Purchasing Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Situational Factors

The concept of green marketing has become a major concern for consumers in various industries and this has brought changes to consumers purchasing behaviour. Over the past ten (10) years, consumers are helping to preserve the environment by displaying green buying behaviour. The current study adds up to green marketing literature in the cosmetic industry by including the mediating role of situational factors on green marketing and consumer purchase behaviour. Situational factors seek to explain possible gaps between environmental marketing and consumer purchase behaviour. The study used a quantitative and explanatory design of which respondents from the University of Cape Coast were targeted. With the aid of a stratified sampling method, three hundred and seventyseven (377) respondents were selected and questionnaires were administered. The data were analysed using Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS version 21.0) and PLS SEM statistical software. The study found that, there was positive significant relationship between green marketing and consumer purchase behaviour to buy cosmetics. Also, the result reveals a positive significant relationship between green marketing and situational factors to buy cosmetics. Price and perceived quality were the key mediating variables that had strong impact on green marketing and consumer behaviour. Cosmetics businesses can therefore increase consumer purchasing by using biodegradable and recyclable materials, reduced packaging and offering consumers products with opportunity to reuse packages. Also, producers and marketers of green products should use eco-labels and add marketing channels that specify their products as green brands.

Source: UCC
Effect of hermetic storage on the quality and shelf life of ‘obatampa’ maize (zea mays l.) variety

Control of the storage pest Larger Grain Borer (LGB) (Prostephanus truncates) and aflatoxin contamination by the mould Aspergillus spp. are the major challenges to maize storage in Africa. In this study, the effect of hermetic storage on LGB and Aspergillus spp. during maize storage was evaluated. A 2 x 3 factorial experiment of two storage atmospheres (hermetic and non-hermetic) and infestation levels (LGB, Aspergillus spp. and uninfected control) were evaluated during the storage of ‘Obatampa’ maize. LGB and Aspergillus spp. were each introduced into 1.5 kg of the maize grains in hermetic and non-hermetic bags and stored alongside uninfected grains of same weight. Oxygen depletion in the hermetic bags was significant (p = 0.012) while temperature in both hermetic and non-hermetic bags remained fairly constant at 26.99 ºC and 27.4 ºC, respectively. Relative humidity, moisture content, grain damage and weight loss percentages were significantly different in the various bags (p < 0.001). There was 100 % LGB mortality in the hermetic storage after 52 days. Aspergillus flavus contamination in the non-hermetic bags was highly significant compared to the hermetic bags (p = 0.002). The aflatoxin group B2 was found in both storage systems. While the aflatoxin group G1 was not detected, the G2 group was only detected at the concentration 0.1 ppb in the hermetic storage. The double layer hermetic SuperGrainbag better preserved the quality and shelf life of the maize grains and maintained seed viability (p < 0.001) much longer than the non-hermetic polypropylene bag.

Source: UCC
Effect of hibiscus-ginger juice consumption on aerobic power and selected physiological variables of athletes of the University of Cape coast

places a demand on athletes which leads them to always look for an edge to improve their performance to remain competitive at all times. In this stead, the use of ergogenic aids has become common bu without side effects. Therefore in more recent times, natural dietary sources of ergogenic aids is becoming popular in sports. Hibiscus-ginger juice has high vitamin and mineral contents, making it important for the improvement of metabolism, recovery after exercise, reduction of inflammation, and enhancement of athletic performance. The study was therefore to explore the opportunity hibiscus ginger juice presents for performance improvement. This pretest-posttest experimental design included 28 university athletes aged between 20 and 37 years. The- athletes were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups with the treatment group allocated to daily dosages of 500ml hibiscus-ginger juice after training for 24 days. Physiological measures of heart rate, blood pressure, and blood lactate levels as well as aerobic power were measured on three different occasions within the period. Mixed model ANOVA results showed no significant results for all heart rate (p = .645), systolic blood pressure, (p = .211), diastolic blood pressure (p = .904), blood lactate levels (p = .502) and aerobic power (p = .117). 500ml of hibiscus-ginger juice taken daily for 24 days did not cause a significant change in the aerobic power of athletes in training. Therefore, athletes who consume hibiscus-ginger juice may not have an advantage over their colleagues who do not.

Source: UCC
Effect of high frequency field on the transport properties of superlattice

Theoretical study of the transport properties of semiconductor superlattice (SL) in the presence of external electric field E{t) has been investigated with the help of Boltz mann's equation. The model adopted agrees fairly well with experimental work as well as Monte Carlo simulation. Among the phenomena observed are the induced self transparency, absolute negative conductivity and the negative differential conductivity. In the case of negative differential conductivity (NDC) it is observed that it does also occur under the a.c and d.c electric field but appears only when UT<1 . It does appear in the vicinity where the d.c field Eo is equal to the amplitude of the a.c field E\ and the peak decreases with an increase in E\

Source: UCC
The Effect of Hot Electrons on the Conductivity of Carbon Nanotubes

The effect of hot electrons on the conductivity of undoped single walled achiral carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under the influences of applied de field and dc-ac driven fields along the tube axis are theoretically considered. Semiclassical approach was adopted to solve Boltzmann’s transport equation with and without the presence of the hot electrons source to derive the current densities. Plots of the normalized current density (/z) versus applied de field ( Ez) with and without hot electrons reveal a negative differential conductivity (NDC) at strong electric fields. Also, NDC is observed for plots of Jz versus de field of simultaneously applied dc-ac driven fields in quasi-static state (i. e. cot ≪ 1, where co and t are frequency of ac field, and relaxation time respectively) with and without hot electrons. With strong enough axial injection of the hot electrons in either case, there is an upturn in the normalized current density resulting in a switch from NDC to positive differential conductivity (PDC). The upturn in normalized current density occurs near 50 kV/cm and 75 kV/cm for a zigzag CNT and an armchair CNT, respectively in the case when de field is used while near 75 kV/cm and 140 kV/cm for a zigzag CNT and an armchair CNT, respectively when dc-ac driven fields in quasi-static state replaced the de field. In this region of PDC in each case, the unwanted domain instability usually associated with NDC can be suppressed, suggesting a potential generation at low and high (room) temperatures of terahertz radiations which have enormous promising applications in very different areas of science and technology.

Source: UCC
Effect of household water treatment on under five diarrhoea in Ghana

Improving access to safe water, is on the frontline of efforts to achieve the anticipated 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 3 and 6. However, unsafe drinking water, remains a critical issue of concern in Ghana, causing high mortality and morbidity rate among children under the age of five years, especially due to diarrhoea disease. Household water treatment (HWT) can effectively reduce the exposure to unsafe drinking water, a major cause of diarrhoea diseases. Assessing the relative effect of household water treatment (HWT) on under five diarrhoea in Ghana, is essential for enhancing the adoption of HWT. This thesis examines the effect of household water treatment (HWT) on child under five diarrhoea in Ghana. The study used a dataset obtained from the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS) conducted in 2014. Probit and endogenous treatment effect models were employed for the analyses. Results show that household water treatment (HWT) and improved sanitation are likely to reduce the prevalence of diarrhoea among children aged under five in Ghana by 30 percent and four percent respectively. Even though previous studies in Ghana on this issue showed that drinking improved water source reduce the odds of under five diarrhoea. This study found that drinking from improved water sources rather increases the odds of diarrhoea by about three percent and the potential explanations for this rather puzzling finding is that improved sources are not monitored once provided. The study recommends that the Health Promotion Unit through Community Nurses (CN) and the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), should advocate and intensify education programs on the importance of adopting household water treatment (HWT) and practicing proper sanitation in order to curb child diarrhoea. Also, the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) should regularly monitor sachet and bottled water and other improved water sources for microbial quality to ensure that consumers are offered clean and safe drinking water in Ghana.

Source: UCC
The effect of human relations on employee performance at Benso Oil Plantation

This study aims at ascertaining the perceptions of employees at Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP) on how human relations impact on their performance. Stratified probability sampling is used to draw sample of three departments each from two divisions. From these three departments, a sample of sixty employees are further drawn (35 males and 25 females). This comprises of ten (10) managers, fifteen (15) supervisors, fifteen (15) administrative staff and twenty (20) field workers. Through a survey design, questionnaires were administered to these groups of people. This is reinforced with interviews and field visits. Descriptive statistics was the main statistical technique used for the analysis of the data. All respondents were of the view that human relations influence the subordinates’ performance either positively or negatively. Majority of the subordinate respondents generally agreed that the factors such as explanation of job content, constructive criticisms, quick and fair supervisor response to employee complaints, the existence of programs to enhance employee productivity and dignity in the treatment of employees. Based on these findings, conclusions and recommendations are made to the management of BOPP to critically consider individual differences since exclusive focus on the task accomplishments could culminate in individual dissatisfaction because employees would think that the company is using them like machines.

Source: UCC