KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COLLEGE OF ART AND SOCIAL ACIENCE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH METHOD
RESEARCH TOPIC THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL ATTITUDE ON PUPILS ATTENDENCE TO SCHOOL, A CASE STUDY AT AYEDUASE
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GROUP MEMEBERS
1. NKETIAH BENJAMIN KWAME
5685311
2. ALFRED KOJO PAHA
5689411
3. BENJAMIN ALLEN MENSAH
5684411
4. AGU SUSSAN CHINWE
5672011
5. ASANTEWAA YAA
5676511
6. OTENG AGYEMANG PATRICIA
4621810
7. ARTHUR MICHEAL
5676211
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TABLE OF CONTENT
CONTENT…………………………………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND……………………………………………………………………3 1.2 STATENMENT OF PROBLEM……………………………………………….4 1.3 LEADING RESEARCH QUESTION………………………………………….5 1.4 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY………………………………………………………….5 1.5 ASSUMPTIONS…………………………………………………………………….6 1.6 JUSTIFICATION AND SIGNIFICANCE……………………………………..6 1.7 CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATION DEFINATION……………………..6
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………8 2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………………………8 2.3 CONCEPT OF ATTIUDE………………………………………………………....8 2.4 PARENTAL ATTITUDETOWARDS EDUCATION……………………….9. 2.5 PARENTAL EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND………………………………10 2.6 PARENTS ON SCHOOL ATTITUDE………………………………………………12 2.7 CHILDREN BEHAVIOUR…………………………………………………………….12 3
2.8 PARENTS SCHOOL COMMUNICATION……………………………………..13 2.9 EMPIRICAL BASIS OF STUDY……………………………………………………14
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………16 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN………………………………………………………………….16 3.3 POPULATION SAMPLING DESIGN…………………………………………….16 3.4 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT…………………………………………………………17 3.5 MEASUREMENT………………………………………………………………………17 3.6 POPULATION OF STUDY………………………………………………………….18 3.7 SAMPLING DESIGN…………………………………………………………………18 3.8 SOURCES OF DATA…………………………………………………………………19 3.9 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION…………………………………………….19 3.1.1 DATA ANALYSIS……………………………………………………………………20 3.1.2 LIMITATIONS…………………………………………………………………………20 3.1.3 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….21
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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Globally, there is wide recognition of the importance of education in socioeconomic development of countries in general and those in the developing world in particular. A major concern that has emerged over the last decade has been the need to ensure that children are given the requisite opportunity to access basic education in their respective communities. Because they constitute the future human capital of the society and therefore have potential to exert significant impact on the growth and development of the economy, children’s full participation in basic education is a requirement for societal progress. As economic systems have become more global in scope and the information and skills required to participate fully in them have become more complex, the scope of imparting skills necessary and sufficient for the populace to participate fully in socioeconomic development. Education, again, is an important tool for the development of an individual, the society and the nation at large. For this reason, nations all over the world are concerned with the provision of education to their citizens. Many African countries see development as closely intertwined with education; that the more educated their citizens are the higher their ability to deal with the problems of development. It is in the light of this and other factors that countries all over the world are making frantic efforts at reducing the number of out-of-school children and absenteeism among pupils. Increasing pupil attendance and reducing unauthorized absence are key factors in the world’s strategy to raise educational standards. It is argued that knowledge and technology are increasingly becoming the basis of comparative advantage in the present world economy. The quality of a country’s stock of human capital influences the extent to which knowledge and technology can be utilised and created to enhance productivity and improve the well-being of citizens. Basic education provides the essential building blocks for higher levels of education. It also lays the foundation upon which work-related skills are developed, especially for those who are not able to continue to the higher levels of the academic ladder.
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Globally, about 51% of children of school going age have never entered school. A further 19% have attended but left school, and the remaining 30% are expected to enter school in the future (UNESCO, 2010). In 2009, 46 countries had more than 100,000 out-of-school children of primary school age. Between 2003 and 2010, averages of 25% of all children of primary school age were out of school in 31 out of the 46 countries. UNESCO (2011) reveals that in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of out-of-school children decreased from about 43 million to 30 million between 1999 and 2009. This progress is all the more remarkable when considering that the primary school-age population increased by 26 million during the same period. Nevertheless, 23% of all primary school-age children remain excluded from education across the region. Ghana has since the 1950s made significant strides in her educational system. Such laudable efforts include the Education Act of 1951 which aimed at mobilizing all the available resources to open up as many schools as possible. The 1961 Education Act which aimed at providing fee-free and compulsory education for all school- going age children for the sixyear primary and four-year middle school. The Dzobo Committee Report of 1972 and the 1987 Education Reforms were aimed at increasing access to education at the basic level (Canagarajah & Coulombe, 1997). There is also a clear link between household wealth and the probability of not being in school. Compared to children from the richest 20% (quintile) of households, children from the poorest quintile are nearly four times as likely to be out of school, and the probability of being out of school decreases steadily with increasing household wealth(GSS, 2008).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM It was observed that some of the parents in Ayeduasi are not very responsible with regard to the provision of quality education especially in relation to their kid’s attendance to school. During the research, it was realised that, pupils’ attendance to school was poor. It was observed that most parents did not realise the damage that could occur if their children constantly absent themselves from school and could not phantom the urgency of education in modern day Ghana and the life effect it could have on their children.in this view, the 6
effects of parental attitude on pupils attendance to school was seen as a problem pertaining in Ayeduasi and that it should be investigated by the researchers to find out it effect on the parents and kids alike.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION These are leading questions that will guide the researchers during their study on the topic “the effect of parental attitude on pupil’s attendance to school” in Ayeduasi. What are the factors responsible for the negative parental attitudes towards their children attendance to school? What is the effect of the negative parental attitude on the children education? How does the attendance affect pupil’s academic performance in school?
1.4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The main purpose of this research work was to examine the attitudes of parents towards pupil attendance to school, with particular emphasis on how negative parental attitudes massively affect pupil’s attendance and academic performance. Again, this project aim to differentiate between students with poor attendance to school and those who are regular academic performance. And finally, the research aim was to examine how the parents of children who are poor attenders can most effectively be persuaded to meet their responsibility in ensuring their child’s regular attendance at school. The overall objective of this paper is to provide comparative evidence pertaining to the determinants of children’s school attendance and attainment in Ghana. The paper seeks to show the key variables influencing the education of sons and daughters with special focus on the effects of parental education and household resources with a view to deriving implications for policy direction. More specifically, the paper intends to: Analyse the trends in school attendance for males and females’ vis-à-vis parental education and household resources; Estimate models on current school attendance; and assess the determinants of school attainment for sons and daughters and the implications for education policy in Ghana.
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1.5 ASSUMPTIONS We assume the following: that the effects of parental attitude on children’s school attendance impart negatively on pupils academic performance; and that irrespective of time, excess household chores and involvement of kids into parents business exert negative impact on school attendance.
1.6 JUSTIFICATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY It could be noted that one of the major contributor to poor academic performance is absenteeism, school dropout etc. These attitudes negatively impact poorly on students’ academic performance and parents contribute to such attitudes especially absenteeism. In view of this the findings of this work would be very significant. This is because it will be to light the effects of parental attitudes on the academic performance of their wards. Our research will enable parents to understand their roles and responsibilities as far as their ward’s education is concerned. The findings and suggestions that will come out of this study will guide the local government and other stakeholders in the educational institutions such as NGOs, civil organisations etc. to take more practical steps to educate parents on the effects of negative parental attitudes on attendance of pupils to school.
1.7 Conceptual and Operational definitions of population Concepts are basic to all thoughts and communication. Conceptual definitions on the other hand tend to use concepts to explain other concepts. For example in our research we would be using concepts like parents, absenteeism amongst others. A concept like parent may refer to the people catering for a child, a person providing a child with basic needs of life like shelter clothes and food. But operational definitions tend to give the meaning we attach to a particular concept we are using. For example in our research, a parent will mean a person who caters for a child in 8
school and provides other life necessities like food, shelter, clothes and emotional needs. It could refer to anyone taking care of a child that is not necessarily related by blood. Hence we are looking at two groups of people in our sampling size thus teachers, parents and the pupils or students. The sample size refers to the portion of the target population consisting of individuals who are accessible to be recruited as participants in the study hence we would concentrate on our two variables.
CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL ATTITUDE ON PUPILS
ON PUPILS ATTENDENCE TO SCHOOL
ON THE EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ON THE
EFFECTS OF PARENTAL ATTITUDE
ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
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ON THE CHILDS FUTURE
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter of the study has been designed to deal with examination of existing literature in relation to the study. In this, research books, journals etc. written by other people have been viewed to obtain the appropriate solution to the problem at stake; also contains review of various studies related to the topic of investigation. The review of the related literature in this study has been grouped into theoretical framework and empirical basis. The purpose of this chapter is to provide information about recent research that has been conducted to examine any possible link between parent’s attitude and academic performance of their children. The information collected from the few studies in this area was used to design the research instruments. Furthermore, it has been suggested that factors, such as parents’ own experiences and attitudes towards education and schooling are likely to have a significant impact on their children’s attendance to school at present as well as in future. 2.2 Theoretical framework of the study The theoretical framework of the study has been reviewed based on 1. The concepts of attitude 2. Parental attitude towards education of children. 3. Parental educational background, occupation and income.
The concept of Attitude According to Longman Dictionary of contemporary English 2007, attitude is the opinion and feelings that you usually have about something. According to Crider A.B. et al (1983), attitude can be defined as positive or negative evaluations of peoples, objects, ideas or events.
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To Gleitman H. (1995), attitude can be seen as a fairly stable evaluative disposition that makes person think, feel or behave positively or negatively about some persons, groups and social issues. According to Watson D.L. (1984), attitude is a general feeling or evaluation –positive and negative about some persons, objects or issues. According to Berns (1993), an attitude is the tendency to respond positively or negatively to certain persons, objects and situations. In some attitude has something to do with feeling about person’s situations or issues.
2.3 Parental attitude towards education of children The effects of parental attitude on this children education are very important especially during the formative years of the children. White (1982) said that people living in elite residential homes have parents who help with their academics and this develops a positive attitude towards school work. According to him, parents in rich environment encourage their children to break new grounds in academic task, offers praises and reward when necessary and this has positive effects on the child’s academic performance. According Derville (1990), peoples who find themselves in an environment where academic achievement is considered to be a waste of time with parents displaying disinterest in the child’s school work perform poorly. Cooper(1983), suggests that a high competent child is the one that comes from a family environment in which parents encourage him or her to explore, manipulate his or her environment has high academic aspiration and assistance with school work. According to him, lack of parental support and encourage leads to a fall in academic achievement. According to Agyeman (1986), the attitude of the family to formal education is a strong factor that affects the formal education of the child. To him, families that are ill-disposed to formal education, no matter how affluent they may be tend to be half hearted about the school of their children. It can be concluded from this researcher that parental attitude can have either favourable or unfavourable effects on their ward’s education. 11
2.4 Parental educational background, occupation and income Numerous studies have supported the idea that parent’s education and income levels influence their children’s educational attainment significantly. Bocock (1980) states that pupils from poor homes usually do not perform well academically because their parents find it difficult to provide a learning and teaching materials, nutritious food, clothes etc. for them but pupils from good socio economic background have parents who read to help them, help them with their homework, show interest in their education and provide them with all the necessities of life to enhance their performance in school. Pupil from good socio-economic background has parents who put pressure on them to study and monitor their progress in school. Unlike peoples from good home, parents of pupils from poor home involve them in trading and farming activities and do not have time for studies and so perform poorly at schools. Bocock (1988). According to Datcher Lourl (1988), pupils from homes of well-educated peoples are motivated to perform well in school, unlike pupils from illiterates. According to Agyemang (1986) middle and upper socio economic families provide a congenial learning atmosphere for their children at home by providing them with books, toys and other educational facilities. To him these give the children of middle and upper class families an urge over those of lower class families. A child whose parents cannot provide him with uniform may feel embarrassed among his mates. In some it could be said that the socio-economic status of parents can directly affect the academic performance of their children. TNS Social research (September 2003-June 2004) stated that parents’ attitudes towards education were generally very positive. The majority (97%) agreed that a good education would help their child to get ahead in life. While 93% thought the qualifications were important to their child’s future, 90% also agreed that children learn important life skills at school. Three quarters of parents (76%) agreed that their child’s school is good at communicating with them and the majority (86%) agreed that their child’s teachers do a great job. Just over a fifth (22%) felt that their child’s school tended to be too interested in bright children at the expense of the others, although only 7% thought that the school takes too much interest in 12
their child’s home life. Just under a fifth of parents/carers (18%) thought that most of the things their child learns at school are not relevant to real life. A small proportion (14%) of parents saw it as acceptable that if their child did not want to study now, s/he could study when s/he was older. Their study was based on to identify whether there were any differences in parents’ attitudes towards attendance between the general population and a group of parents whose children were currently not attending school. This research has not identified any differences in the attitudes of parents in the general population. Research indicates that most parents show considerable interest in their child’s school, and this is equally the case for parents of children who have attendance problems. In an Ofsted report on attendance and behaviour in secondary schools, it has been found (O’Keefe, 1993) that most schools usually enjoyed good working relationships with parents. In fact, most of the parents/carers said they wanted more contact with schools. The majority of parents were appreciative of the concern and time given by head teachers and staff, even when approached about issues concerning their children’s attendance or behaviour. However, it was also found that a small proportion of parents/carers were very uncooperative with the schools, and their attitudes, whether confrontational or passive, served to reinforce their children’s negative attitude towards school. In a study of attitude to school attendance in seven Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England, it was found that most parents/carers believed that children who did not attend school regularly would under- perform in school work, and that it was necessary for young people to get qualifications. However, the findings also indicated that parents/carers of children who truant tended to hold different attitudes from parents of children who do not have problems with attendance. Fewer parents/carers of children with school attendance problems believed that pupils who did not attend regularly would do badly in their schoolwork, and similarly, a smaller proportion of these parents/carers believed that young people needed qualifications. This group was also less likely to think that their children’s safety was at risk if they were not at school, and were less likely to believe that regular school attendance was important. There were also statistically significant differences between the views of both sets of parents with regard to when children should miss school, with a significantly higher proportion of parents of children with attendance problems
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agreeing that children should miss school to see the doctor, the dentist, or to help out at home. 2.5 Parents’ on school attendance As Sanders and Sheldon (2009) argue, it is important for schools to improve students’ attendance. As it goes without saying, being in school gives students more opportunities to learn. Even though schools have not systematically and consciously worked in a partnership with families in order to reduce student absenteeism, cooperation and partnerships with families are known to be important factors in order to increase student attendance (Sheldon, 2009). Research findings have identified certain aspects of parental behaviour as important indicators of lower levels of truancy among students (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009; Sheldon, 2009). These include monitoring student’s whereabouts, discussions with their children about school, volunteering at school and being members of a parent-teacher association. It has also been shown to be helpful to improve attendance, that the school informs parents of their absent children (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009). This gives parents a chance to monitor and supervise their children’s attendance more adequately.
2.6 Children’s behaviour Children’s behaviour, both in school and out, is closely related to the family dynamics and their home environment. Snyder and Patterson (in Sheldon, 2009) came to the conclusion twenty years ago, after reviewing the literature, that there are certain factors that are predictive of misbehaviour among juveniles. These factors are, for instance, neglectful and passive parenting styles, lax disciplinary approaches, and inadequate strategies to solve problems, poor parental monitoring and frequent conflicts within the home. Among educators, it is generally understood that students’ family life does affect the behaviour of students. Therefore, the goal of many schools is to improve student behaviour by focusing on a partnership program with parents (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009). Focusing on such a partnership may, in addition, help to improve their academic achievement. Thus, better behaviour of students help to improve their academic achievement (Sheldon, 2009). A study of 827 African American eighth graders found that how students perceive their family support for academic achievement positively influences their behaviour. The improved behaviour in turn positively and significantly influences their school grades (Sanders and 14
Sheldon, 2009). Richardson (2009) claims that better behaviour, among students, is one of the major benefits of parental involvement. In order to improve student behaviour, the school usually only focuses on what teachers need to do in school, instead of the school, parents and the community to work together towards that goal (Sanders and Sheldon, 2009; Sheldon, 2009). This is in spite of suggestions that the co-operation of everyone is needed to reduce problematic behaviour and to improve learning in school. Sheldon and Epstein (in Sanders and Sheldon, 2009) also claim that schools who have improved their partnership program with parents and the community have fewer students sent to the principal, given detentions or suspensions.
2.7 Parent–school communication In spite of much research on what affects parental involvement has on academic achievement, Epstein and Sanders (2006) claim that many teachers and administrators still see themselves as individual leaders of their classrooms and schools. Thus, little attention is paid to partnerships and collaborations with parents. In order to enhance educational achievement of students, educators need to scrutinise possibilities to develop and form partnerships with parents (Richardson, 2009). Such a partnership is, especially, essential in secondary schools, where parents often lack the confidence in their ability to assist their children with the curriculum (Sheldon, 2009). It depends largely on the school whether parents decide to participate in their child’s education or not (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 1997; Christenson and Sheridan, 2001). Whether parents perceive themselves to be invited to become active participants in the educational process has a major influence on their decisions. Sanders and Sheldon (2009) agree with the notion that the school is the major influencing factor of parental involvement. However, they mention that students and parents are also part of the factors influencing the quality of such a partnership. Factors such as parental role construction, time, energy and skills rest with families, while other factors, such as age, academic needs and temperament rest with students. Still other factors rest with schools, such as experience, professional knowledge and resources. In spite of their acknowledgement of multiplicity of factors affecting school, family and community partnership, they claim that studies have shown that when schools develop culture that supports partnership activities and programs, other factors can be minimised.
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Research has suggested that the extent of parental involvement depends, among other things, on how frequently the school approaches parents (Glasgow and Whitney, 2009). The more frequently the school reaches out, the more involved parents become. An American study from 2001 carried out by Westat and Policy Studies Associates (in Henderson and Mapp, 2002) looked at the effect of family involvement on student achievement, by examining student achievement in 71 elementary schools. One of the factors they studied was outreach to parents. This they measured by how much teachers communicated with parents of low achieving students through meeting with them face to face, sending materials home with the students to better equip parents to help their children at home, and telephoning routinely. The study findings suggest that there was a positive relationship between teacher outreach to parents of low-achieving students and improved student achievement in both reading and math. Test scores grew at a rate of 40% higher in schools where teachers reported high levels of outreach to parents, compared to schools where teachers reported low levels of outreach.
2.8 Empirical Basis of the Study The empirical basis of the literature has been reviewed based on Maslow’s need theories. Need theories Analysis of Abraham Maslow’s theory of need hierarchy which seems to be the fundamental motivational theory is as follows: Physiological Needs: these are biological needs. They constitute needs for oxygen, food, water and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the persons search for satisfaction. Safety Needs: when all the physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and behaviours, the needs for security can become active. Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe. Needs for Love, Affection and Belongingness: Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and sense of belongingness. 16
Needs for Esteem: This involves needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable. Firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless. Needs for Self-Actualization: when all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person’s need to be and do that which the person was “born to do”. “A musician must make music, an artist must paint and a poet must write.” These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. Simons et al (1987). The Simons et al accepted the fact that this theory has influenced a number of different fields including education. This wide influence is due in part to be high level of practicality of Maslow’s theory. It is therefore undeniable fact that these needs must be considered in every aspect of life. Parents are therefore required to consider all these needs for proper upbringing of their children.
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CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter describes the methods and procedures used to conduct the study. The methodology focuses on research design, population and sampling techniques, research instruments, data collection procedures and analysis.
2.2 Research Design The descriptive survey was used for this study; this was because this writer wanted to determine the nature of prevailing practices, attitude and opinions held by parents concerning their child’s education. This will enable this writer to observe and describe how the attitude of parents can affect the education of their children either positively or negatively.
2.3 Population and Sampling Techniques The larger population covers all the teachers and parents of children in Ayeduasi, Kumasi. The choice of the schools was by convenience sampling procedures because the research group found it pertinent to study this particular school due to its relative closeness. Due to the fact that it is not possible to involve all teachers and parents in this study, sampling was made. The teachers and parents were randomly selected. In all, twenty teachers and fifty parents were randomly selected and the simple random sampling procedure was used. This sample size was chosen because it was sufficiently large to allow for reliable sub-analysis to be conducted. Sub analysis enables responses to be broken down to observe whether there were differences in responses according to factors such as parents, age and gender, their own attendance record at school and their own educational qualifications.
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2.4 Research instruments The research instruments used for this study were questionnaire and guided interview. The questionnaire was structured for the teachers while the guided interview schedule was for the parents. The questionnaire for the teachers was finding out the effect of finding out the effects of positive attitude of parents on the academic performance of children, and the effects of negative parental attitude towards education of their children and why some parents are not serious with the education of their children. The interview schedule of parents was also to find out the reason why some of them are not serious in educating their children, how they will benefit from positive attitude towards their children education. The main objective as far as these research instruments are concerned is to find out the effects of parental attitude on the attendance to pupils to school.
2.5 Measurements Measurement is the process of assigning numbers to events or objects according to rules. Measurements can also be defined as a rule for the assignment of numerals (numbers) to aspects of objects, persons, states and events. The key to this definition is that properties of the events are represented by properties of the number system. The goal of measurements is to translate the characteristics and properties of empirical events into a form that can be analysed by the researcher or used scientifically in the research process. The level of measurement to be used in our study is nominal measure. This is a variable whose attributes have only the characteristics of exhaustiveness and mutual exclusiveness. In other words, a level of measurement describing a variable that has attributes that is merely different from ordinal interval or the ratio measure.
The
nominal
scale
is
therefore a measure that simply divides objects or events into categories according to their similarities or differences. With this level of measurement, numbers or symbols are used to classify objects or observations. Phenomena in one classification category are equal to each other, but not to the phenomena in any other category.
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2.6 Population of study In the field of enquiry population constitutes all items in any field of enquiry. Population is the aggregation of all cases that conform to some designated set of specification.it also relates to the size of the population we are interested in as our sample and how we will go about extracting them from the whole.
2.7 Sampling Design A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It also refers to the technique or the procedure the researcher adopts in selecting items for the sample. We will be adopting the probability sampling under which we will be using the stratified sampling more specifically. In probability sampling, the entire population is known, each individual in the population has a specifiable probability of selection and occurs by a random process based on probabilities of which stratified sampling is primarily adopted by research to ensure that different groups of a population are adequately represented in the sample, so as to increase the level of accuracy when estimation parameters, when the population is not homogenous. Under Stratified sampling, the population is divided into several sub-populations that are individually more homogenous than the total population and then items are selected from each stratum to constitute a sample. This is because each stratum is more homogenous than the total population. Stratified sampling results in a more reliable and detailed information as it gives a more precise estimate for each stratum, based on their component parts. Sampling from the different strata can be either proportional or disproportional. We are using stratified sampling because we are looking at two groups of people with a common or shared interest in the schooling of a child.
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2.8 Source of data A primary source is material most likely to shed true light on the information the researcher seeks. Primary sources are original materials on which other research is based. They are usually the first formal appearance of results in physical, print or electronic format. They present original thinking, report a discovery, or share new information. Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. Therefore in our work, the primary source will be the questionnaires we receive from our respondent. Secondary sources are less easily defined than primary sources. A secondary source is a description of an event based on a primary source. The original data has been distilled by a person other than the original witness. Therefore our secondary source will referred from books and journals to guide us in our work.
2.9 Method of data collection We are going to use both qualitative and quantitative method of data collection by the use of questionnaire. A questionnaire is a form or a document containing a number of questions on a particular theme, problem, issue or opinion to be investigated. We will also be engaging most of the parents in interviews that tend to question in-depth and rather tend to go beyond the structured questions to other relevant questions that may arise. The researcher used a week to administer the questionnaire. The twenty teachers selected were given the questionnaire to fill. The researchers took the teachers through the questions and they were informed that the exercise was only for academic purpose. Similarly the researchers visited the home of parents and the selected parents were taken through the interview schedule personally.
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2.1.1 Data analysis First of all, data collected were edited for clarity of expression, more especially because interview was used to gather the information and they needed to be broken down into meaningful sentences. During the editing process, similar responses were grouped taking into account the objectives of the study. In respect of the actual data analysis, data were analysed both manually and electronically. The manual analysis of data started with the grouping and editing of the responses. Also, it became necessary to present some of the results in tables and that required that such data were coded and inputted electronically. This gave rise to the electronic analysis.
In the electronic analysis, data were given
numerical values that enabled the researcher to input them into the electronic software, the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 16. The, selected data were analysed using mainly percentages. Percentages were easy to calculate and understand. Above all, percentages have the advantage of making findings known to a variety of people who need to be informed. Frequency tables were also used to enhance the presentation of the data. The researchers used descriptive analysis to interpret data collected from the questionnaire and the structured interview. The researcher used tables and percentages to analyse the data collected. The detailed discussions of the data and results are represented on the tables in the next section.
2.1.2 Limitations of the study The researchers in the course of this work encountered some problems. Firstly, in the process of administering the questionnaire, some of the teachers were not cooperate enough. Again, some parents who were initially selected for the work had to be replaced because they were busily doing their work. The researchers also in their projects encountered some financial constraint. This was because some amount of money needed for printing of questionnaires. And finally the study was limited in scope, since it did not cover the whole country to generalize the findings. In spite if these limitations the researchers were able to carry out the research successfully.
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2.1.3 Conclusion The chapter described the study area, the research design, population of the research and the sample and sampling techniques employed for the study. It also discussed the research instruments used, data collection procedure and data analysis for the data collected. The next chapter presents and analyzes the data gathered.
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