Research proposal
gloria_12
archive3.zipAssignment 3.docx
Answer the following questions
· Differences between qualitative & quantitative research
· Describe the methods in qualitative research
· Sampling techniques in qualitative research
· Sampling in quantitative research
· Cite references from Classical authors in research methodology
N.B. Referencing using APA type of referencing 6th edition (For intext citation and references/bibliography)
EFFAH SAMPSON Sample thesis.pdf
i
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
KUMASI
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
TOPIC: ASSESSING THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ACT IN THE
MANAGEMENT OF DRUGS AT SUHUM GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL
BY
EFFAH SAMPSON
(PG2140614)
A THESIS SUBMITED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND
FINANCE, KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
ACCOUNTING OPTION
NOVEMBER, 2015
ii
DECLARATION
I declare that, this thesis is based on a study undertaken by me personally. Where other
persons ideas have been used or utilized, this have been duly acknowledged by me.
I wish to state that, this thesis does not contain materials which have been used to earn a
degree from this prestigious university or any accredited institution.
EFFAH SAMPSON ……………………… …………………
STUDENT NAME SIGNATURE DATE
CERTIFIED BY;
MR AGANA AGADEAGRE JOSEPH ……………………. …………………
SUPERVISOR SIGNATURE DATE
CERTIFIED BY;
DR. K. O. APPIAH …………………… …………………
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT SIGNATURE DATE
iii
ABSTRACT
The goal of this study is to improve the efficiency of procurement and management of
logistics (drugs) in a District Hospital in Ghana. The study adopted a case study approach in
which Suhum Government Hospital; a district health facility in the Suhum Municipality was
used as the research location.
The study employs both qualitative and quantitative research approaches through the use of
questionnaires administered to sixty- three (63) employees. Interviews were also conducted
for 4 managers involved in procurement activities. Microsoft excel spread- sheet was used to
analyze the quantitative data. Also, respondents’ opinions were grouped under sub- headings
reflecting the research objectives.
In this research, the respondents were of the opinion that, they were aware of the existence
of the Public Procurement Act which reference could be made to serve as a guide. However,
they could not express how they heard about it. The study indicates that respondents knew
about the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) to be an Act of parliament and also
reveals that the Act seeks to achieve right procurement procedures, judicious use of
government funds, equity and fairness and value for money. The study also indicates that
Suhum Government hospital does not have spacious storage facility though all items in the
store are listed in stores receipt vouchers. Furthermore, the study reveals that, internal
auditor does store quantity checks before items are received into stores. The study shows
that value for money, accountability, cost reduction and transparency with reference to
health delivery have been achieved since the inception of the Public Procurement Act 2003
(Act 663).
The Ministry of Health or Ghana Health Service should ensure that there is avoidance of
bureaucratic corruptions, availability of funds, institution of proper internal controls and
training sessions for procurement staffs to ensure that there is strict adherence to the Public
Procurement Act.
iv
DEDICATION
This research work is dedicated to my lovely wife Comfort Yaa Asantewaa and my two
lovely children namely; Ama Asabea Effah and Kofi Nyamikye Effah for their Physical and
spiritual Support
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to first express my profound gratitude to the Almighty God for the wisdom, life,
strength and the chance to sail through my studies. A lot of people offered me assistance in
various useful ways for a successful completion of my thesis and I wish to express my
upmost gratitude to all of them. I am highly indebted to Mr. Collins O. Mintah, my thesis
supervisor, for his sincere care and guidance during the period of this study. I would like to
express my sincere thanks to the department of accounting and finance as well as all
lecturers who thought me in various disciplines.
Certain people were of very importance to me not only during the development of my thesis
proposal but also in my academic endeavors. They are; Dr. Emmanuel Tetteh Ashong, the
Medical Superintendent, Suhum Government Hospital, Victor Owusu, Health Services
Administrator, Suhum Government Hospital, Dr. Sammuel Buabeng Frimpong, past
Medical Superintendent, Kwahu Government Hospital, Mrs. Bernice Omari – Siaw,
Pharmacist in-charge Kwahu Government Hospital, Philip Opoku-Amponsah , Pharmacist
in-charge Suhum Government Hospital, Sethina Adu- Boache, Insurance unit Kwahu
Government Hospital, Miss Vera Boateng, Insurance Claims Unit, Kwahu Government
Hospital, Richard Osei, Verification Unit, Kwahu Government Hospital, Ofori Emmanuel,
Boadu Godfred, Kwasi Boakye Otchere, all national service personnel attached to the
Insurance claims unit of Kwahu Government Hospital and Mr. Richard Nimako a lecturer
with Business Department (PUC Abetifi, Kwahu) for their immense support .
My salute goes to people whose work I used as references
Last but not the least; I sincerely thank Mr. Agadiak Sharif, who spent his precious time in
typing of the work and Miss Faustina Ohenewaa, Center for Continuous Education-
University of Cape- Coast who gave me moral support.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ..................................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... iii
DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................ iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ ix
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... x
LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of the Study................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Statement of the problem ............................................................................................... 3
1.3 Research objectives ........................................................................................................ 4
1.4 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 4
1.5 significance of the study ................................................................................................ 5
1.6 Scope/Limitations of the study ...................................................................................... 5
1.7 Organization of the study ............................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................... 7
LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................ 7
2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 Empirical Literature ....................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Meaning of Procurement .............................................................................................. 10
2.3 Logistics Management ................................................................................................. 10
2.5 The Reform Program ................................................................................................... 12
2.6 Procurement Cycle ....................................................................................................... 13
2.6.1 Planning .................................................................................................................... 13
2.6.2 Sourcing .................................................................................................................... 14
2.6.3 Storage ................................................................................................................. 15
vii
.2.6.4 Evaluation ................................................................................................................ 15
2.6.5 Distributions .............................................................................................................. 15
2.6.6 Disposal ..................................................................................................................... 15
2.7 Procurement Objectives ............................................................................................... 16
2.7.1 Professionalism ......................................................................................................... 16
2.7.2 Transparency ............................................................................................................. 16
2.7.3 Value for Money (VFM) ........................................................................................... 16
2.7.4 Competitiveness ........................................................................................................ 17
2.7.5 Accountability ........................................................................................................... 17
2.7.7 Efficiency .................................................................................................................. 17
2.8 The Five Rights Under Public Procurement Act ......................................................... 18
2.8.1 The right quality .................................................................................................. 18
2.8.2 The right quantity ...................................................................................................... 18
2.8.3 The right time (To buy and to deliver) ...................................................................... 18
2.8.5 The right price ..................................................................................................... 19
2.8 Notification of Unsuccessful Tenderers ....................................................................... 19
2.9 Controlling and Surpervising the Procurement Cycle ................................................. 19
2.10 Ensuring quality of the Product ................................................................................. 20
2.11 The Outcome of Effective Procurement System ........................................................ 20
2.12 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................. 22
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................... 23
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................... 23
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 23
3.2 Research Design ........................................................................................................... 23
3.3 Population .................................................................................................................... 25
3.4 Sample and Sampling Procedures ................................................................................ 25
3.5 Data and data collection procedures ............................................................................ 27
3.6 Scientific credibility ..................................................................................................... 30
3.7 Analysis of data:........................................................................................................... 31
3.8 Ethical consideration: ................................................................................................... 31
3.9 Profile of Suhum Government Hospital....................................................................... 32
viii
CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................. 33
RESLUTS AND DISCUSSIONS.......................................................................................... 33
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 33
4.2 Background Attributes of Respondents in Percentages ............................................... 33
4.3 Department of Respondents ......................................................................................... 34
4.4 Academic Qualification of Respondents ...................................................................... 35
4.5 Existence of the Procurement Act (PPA) ..................................................................... 36
4.6 How Respondents got to know about the Public Procurement Act ............................. 37
4.7 What the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) Stands For. .................................. 39
4.8 Access to a Copy of the Public Procurement Act? ...................................................... 40
4.9 Reading Through or Making Reference to the Public Procurement Act? ................... 41
4.10 What does the Public Procurement Act Seek to Achieve? ........................................ 44
4.11 The PPA is Useful in the Conduct of Business of the Hospital ................................. 45
CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................... 51
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................ 51
5.1 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................... 51
5.2 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 54
5.3 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 55
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 58
APPENDIXES ....................................................................................................................... 64
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. ................................................................................................................................. 13
Figure 2 Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................... 22
Figure. 3: Gender of the Respondents ................................................................................... 33
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: .................................................................................................................................. 34
Table 2 ................................................................................................................................... 35
Table 3 ................................................................................................................................... 36
Table 4 ................................................................................................................................... 38
Table 5 ................................................................................................................................... 39
Table 6 ................................................................................................................................... 40
Table 7 ................................................................................................................................... 41
Table 8 ................................................................................................................................... 44
Table 9 ................................................................................................................................... 45
Table 10 (A) Value For Money; ............................................................................................ 46
Table 10(B) Accountability ................................................................................................... 47
Table 10 (C) Cost Reductions ................................................................................................ 48
Table 10 (D) Quality Of Service Delivery. ........................................................................... 49
Table 10 (E) Transparency .................................................................................................... 50
xi
LIST OF ABREVIATIONS
GDP - Gross Domestic Product
SGH - Suhum Government Hospital
PPA - Public Procurement Act
MOH - Ministry Of Health
GHS - Ghana Health Service
ATFRR - Accounting, Treasury and Financial Reporting Rule
BMC - Budget Management Center
FAR - Financial Administration Regulations
LMIS - Logistics Management Information Systems
USIAD - United State Agency for International Development
MMDA’s - Metropolitan, Municipal, Department and Agencies
VFM - Value for Money
WHO - World Health Organization
HMT - Hospital Management Team
NHIA National Health Insurance Authority
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Every institution, being it government or non - governmental, profit or non-profit making,
undertakes a certain level of purchases. Public procurement takes between the ranges of 50-
70% of the national budget of the country, 14% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 24%
of total imports brought into the country (World Bank CPAR 2003)
As institutions strives to accept cost and focus on their core competencies, procurement or
the purchasing activity come under strict supervision. It is now crucial than before for
procurement to accept timely and cost effective procedures.
Public procurement can be explained as the steps by which government follows to make
purchases of goods, services and works using funds generated by states through imposition
of taxes, loans solicited by the state and finds paid into the consolidated account by the
various state agencies. It involves organizing, directing, planning, controlling, invitation of
offers, evaluating offers and contract management.
With regards to the activities using Suhum Government Hospital as a case study, it was
established that, the procurement department cannot effectively perform without taking into
consideration the purchasing process. It is not out of the blue that the government has
expressed its intentions supported by the Public Procurement 2003 (Act 663).
2
With reference to these indications, it is important to look into the conditions at Suhum
Government Hospital to offer a well – to - do contributions as well as recommendations for
expected or accepted results.
From a cost reduction base, stores management contributes to maximize the profit earnings
of an institution like Suhum Government Hospital. It is important for every store department
to give out efficient and provision of good services to the various units within the institution
for smooth flow of drugs within the hospital so as to meet targeted objectives. With this, It is
essential to institute well-establish and professionally controlled stores in the institution.
Logistics management in the health sector involves the procedures used to manage the
supply of health commodities, including essential medicines, non-medicine consumables
such as medical supplies and disposables, dental and laboratory supplies (Logistics
Management of Public Sector Commodities in Ghana, GHS, and July, 2002)
Continuous availability of basic quality logistics in health facilities is very key for their
proper functioning. Effective and efficient management of logistics are therefore very
crucial in health facilities.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have come out with
rules and regulations to manage drugs, procurement of quality and affordable drugs (value
for money) with the accepted specifications and appropriate storage facilities among others.
The MOH Accounting, Treasury and Financial Reporting Rules and obliged Manual 2010
page 58, Budget Management Centers (BMCs) are enjoined by rules, regulations 182 and
183 of Financial Administration Regulations( FAR 2004), to fuse sound inventory controls
in their management.
3
1.2 Statement of the problem
Due to most District Hospitals inability to raise enough revenue internally to settle their
numerous debts coupled with lack of transparency when it comes to procurement of drugs
and National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) inability to reimburse the various hospitals
in the country on time. This has affected most hospitals when it comes to generation of
funds to procure drugs and continuing auditors report lamenting on abuse of purchasing
procedures that has been made clear through the report of Public Accounts Committee of
Ghana. Government took a decision to come out with steps or procedures to curtail
procurement irregularities, some of which emanate from bureaucratic corruption which SGH
is not an exemption. This contributed into government passing the procurement bill into an
Act in the year 2003 (Act 663) to bring sanity in the procurement prosses.
As it stands now Suhum, Government Hospital has many difficulties when it comes to
procurement and management of drugs due to;
Lack of qualified store keepers
Inadequate storage facilities
The challenges of having to follow the lay down procurement procedures
The random manner in which management orders for goods and services in the mist
of the above mentioned contentious statement, it is important to look into the
situation of Suhum Government Hospital and to come out with necessary control
measures and to establish recommendations for expected outcome.
4
1.3 Research objectives
The following objectives are expected to be achieved at the end of the research;
Main objectives
To examine the process of procurement and management of drugs consumables at
Suhum Government Hospital in the Suhum municipality and to see whether they are
effective and efficient.
Specific objectives
1) To assess the level of awareness of employees at Suhum Government Hospital of
the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663)
2) To ascertain the extent to which the stores procedures of Suhum Government
Hospital comply with the Public Procurement Act.
3) To ascertain the impact or the effect of the Public Procurement Act on the
operations of the Suhum Government Hospital.
1.4 Research Questions
1) What is the level of awareness of the Public Procurement Act of employees at
Suhum Government Hospital?
2) What is the extent of compliance of the stores procedure of Suhum
Government Hospital with the Public Procurement Act (PPA)?
3) What is the impact/effect of the Public Procurement Act on the operations of
the Suhum Government Hospital/
5
1.5 significance of the study
The outcome of the study could be of use to the government of Ghana, Ministry of Health
(MOH), Ghana Health Service (GHS), Regional and District Hospitals in Ghana that have
expressed willingness to the effective and efficient use of the PPA Act 2003 (Act 663). It is
expected therefore that the end result from the research when published in the print media,
Medical journals and economic magazines would have a significant influence in various
disciplines to health think thanks, medical officers, auditors, accountants, administrators,
pharmacists, procurement officers, and the entire staffs at the various Hospitals in Ghana,
and the Health sector as a whole.
Notwithstanding the outcome, the research will give way for future studies in other aspects
of procurement and management of logistics (drugs) to be used by hospital managers in
Ghana.
1.6 Scope/Limitations of the study
Ministry of Health in collaboration with Ghana Health Service has various Health facilities
in the Eastern Region of Ghana. However, due to lack of time constraints, the SGH is
chosen as the area of the study.
The chosen sample may not truly reflect that of a district Hospital and that may lead to
sample inconsistencies.
The personal interviews and questionnaires may show case inconsistencies in the research
study upon inability to derive appropriate responses from questionnaire administration and
interviews. This may lead to the inability of using the findings of the research/ work to
generalize an outcome.
6
1.7 Organization of the study
This research/ study falls under the broad headings of Introduction, Literature review and
Conceptual frame work, Methodology, Analysis of the data collected and finally Summary
of findings, Conclusion, and Recommendations.
Chapter one involves the introduction of the research, background of the study, statement of
the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study and how
the study was organized.
Chapter two dealt with the literature review of the research/ Study where other peoples
work, idea, findings and opinions contributed to establish the nature and significance of the
research topic are located.
Chapter three focuses on the methodology adopted of the research/ study in terms of
research design, population, sample and sampling procedures, data and data collection
procedures, pilot-testing, scientific credibility, analysis of data, limitations of the study,
ethical consideration, profile of SGH and overview of activities.
Chapter four centered on data analysis, discussions and findings of the study. It was grouped
into two. Part one focused on the findings from the questionnaire and the part two centered
on the findings established from the interviews conducted.
Chapter five focused on summary of findings, conclusion, and recommendations of the
researcher.
7
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
Chapter two reviewed previous research studies and publications conducted concerning the
effect of Public Procurement Act (PPA) on government finance policy at the procurement
unit, amidst of government trying to cut cost. This chapter contains overview of
procurement system; empirical literature, meaning of procurement, logistics management,
the Public Procurement Act, the Reform Program, Procurement Cycle, Procurement
Objective, the five right under PPA and the conceptual framework.
It also covered the sampled opinions of peoples work on the procurement of goods and
services in different categories.
2.1 Empirical Literature
According to a research carried out by Anvuur A. et. al (2006), it came out that there was no
comprehensive guidance on the scope and procedures of public construction procurement in
Ghana. The study identified five (5) pillars of the PPA (World Bank, 2003) of which when
followed will lead to the achievement of Value for Money, Transparency, Accountability,
Cost Reduction and elimination of Bureaucratic corruption. The 5 pillars identified are; (1)
Comprehensive, Transparent Legal and Institutional framework; (2) clear and standardized
procurement procedures and standard tender documents; (3) independent control system; (4)
proficient procurement staff; and (5) anti-corruption measures. The procurement and
construction have all along been controlled through issuance circulars emanating from the
8
Ministry of Finance which brought together a series of instruction centered on adoptions
with reference to the exercising laid down rules on procurement by the Ministry Finance.
However, executers of World Bank projects dwelled on the rules emanated from the World
Bank with reference to procurement (World Bank, 1995) and advisors rules of the World
Bank (World Bank, 1997). The procurement rules adopted on public works was existed
traditional guidelines pertaining to construction. Guidelines were compulsory made
available towards the classification and registration of contractors into construction
controlled by the Ministry of Works and Housing. It was mandatory for MMDAs have
different steps contractors who are pre-qualified by use of special rules and regulations for
works on procurement.
The categorization of the Ministry of Works and Housing was seen as outmoded rules of
registration steps and the number of required contractors supported by the required financial
base checked at regular interval (Eyiah and Cook (2003) and World Bank (1996).
With reference to World Bank (1996), the treaming- down of contractors and consultancy
services have been seen over the years to be a repetition of same chosen civil engineers and
works superintendents (World Bank, 1996).
There are multiple of registered names or firms to execute projects that was surely won by
the same persons (Crown Agents (1998) and Westring (1997)
It was established that execution of construction works was badly done in Ghana coupled
with a lot complaints and reports that castigated lack of commercial stints of public sector of
execution of public procurement functions. Consultancy advice was delayed without any
justification prolonging project execution. (Crown Agent (1998) and Westring (1997).
9
The courses of project delay execution coupled with negotiations after the award of works
and services led to the halt of expert opinion and recommendations, hindrance in project
evaluation, and multiples of checks, review and acceptance and tittles to property leading to
injunctions on constructions it came to light that execution of construction works and
services in Ghana led to project variations by contractors which led to some times poorly
done works by contractor of various projects, (Crown Agent (1998), Westring (1997) and
World Bank (1996, 2003).
It was established that contractors and suppliers are delayed in being paid, due to
unnecessary processes starting from issuance of invoices to receipt collection and writing of
cheque which were over delayed due to bureaucratic processes, thus coming out with delay
of payment to contractors upon execution of projects, works and services. (Eyiah and Cook
(2003), Westring (1997) and (World Bank (2003).
According to World Bank (1998), government excessive implementation of policies to
control the economy and badly managed procurement activities stated fro the unset brought
insecurity of funding of construction works and provision of unexplained reasons for
delayed payment of contract sum and arrears to contractors and consultants. It was
established that the unnecessary delay of contractors by MMDAs led to court actions to
claim interest due to delayed payment and intermittent changes of prices based on long
agreement to reach consensus leading to funding difficulties. World Bank (2003).
In the end, it was established that, contractors and consultants struggles a lot to complete
their works and be able to lay hand on their claims emanating from frequent increases in
prices (World Bank (1996). Moreover, various private contractor who provide services to
government tried unabated to cut cost by preventing losses through manipulations and
10
abandoning projects in the mid- way has negatively impacted on execution of project which
brought bad relationship between contractors and their beneficiaries. Westring (1997).
Lastly, a number of MMDAs are obliged to make advance contractual payment way ahead
the expected period in other to overcome lapses made in the allocation of budget, payment
of mobilization to contractors can go beyond acceptable rate of 15% all in attempt to prevent
the work being abandoned. (Westring (1997) and World Bank (1996)
A research work done by Dowling (2011) ʽ Healthcare Supply chains in Developing
Countries’- Situational Analysis of Low and Middle income Countries. In this instance, it
was realized by the researcher that, due to lack of capacity in terms of infrastructure led to
insufficient storage facilities of logistics (drugs) in developing countries coupled with
limited capacity and often poor storage conditions.
2.2 Meaning of Procurement
Procurement is the over heading functions that describe the activities and process to acquire
goods and services. Importantly it differentiates from “purchasing” fundamental
requirements, sourcing activities such as market research and vendor evaluation and
negotiation of contract. It can also be purchasing activities required to order and receive
goods.
2.3 Logistics Management
According to Wikipedia.org, logistics management is defined as the part of supply chain
management that plans, implement, and controls the efficient, effective forward, and reverse
11
flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and
the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements.
According to Gyimah et al (2009), the process of managing efficient, effective and concise
logistics with reference to drugs, is the adoption of management information systems,
establishment of the needed funding, putting in place the channel of distributions and the
operations of the supply chain and improving, predicting and strategically establishing
procurement laid down procedures to be executed on works and services. Bossert et al
(2000) concluded that, Management of Information Systems (LMIS) on logistics are
recognized as very important weapon by the experts minus the basic and needed systems of
logistics for the very important information needed effectively and efficiently manage
procurement of construction works. United State Agency for International Development,
USAID/DELIVER (2011) echoed the effective and efficient manage and use of non-drugs
consumables and drugs by dwelling on appropriate delivery of goods and services needed by
health institutions needed for their day to day activities to save human life coupled with
provision of affordable healthcare to all. Provision of basic essential health commodities
(non- drugs consumables and drugs) is the establishment of security in logistics provision.
Poulin (2007) queried the assistance offered through processes in light of the management of
health commodities being the main target when it comes to healthcare delivery and practices
towards empowering regional, district hospitals and district health administrations in their
operations for effectiveness and efficiency.
12
2.4 Public Procurement Act (PPA)
The Government of Ghana in the year 2003, enacted and accented the Public Procurement
Act 2003,(Act 663) into law to govern the procurement of Metropolitan, Municipal,
Department and Agencies (MMDAs) and all other state funded agencies in their activities to
conform to rules and regulations of the Act in August, 2004.
2.5 The Reform Program
The overall changes to the Public Procurement Act are a wider activity planned to achieve or
come out with smooth and efficient management of public funds. The objective of the
various reforms of the PPA is to encourage total national development, to bridge both local
and international rules systems and regulations, encourage healthy competition, genuine
business dealings, accountability, reliability and transparency, to bring about better
procurement management to ascertain value for money. Ministry of Finance (2001);
proposed an annual estimation of US $150million through proper management of
procurement activities leading to cost. (World Bank, 2003). The introduction of government
funding ceiling on public expenditure to MMDAs with strict adherence from the budgeted
figures based on cash flow analysis and internal controls to check abuse of government
funding and prosecution of people culpable in addition to standards of procedures to follow
by holders of public offices. Purchase of goods and services must come with approval from
the ministry of finance indicating funding availability prior to award of any contract or what
so ever.
13
2.6 Procurement Cycle
According to the Public Procurement Act 2003(Act, 663) the underlining steps must be
adhered to when it comes to procurement of goods and services towards achieving fairness,
cost reduction, best offer, value for money.
THE PROCUREMENT CYCLE
Figure 1.
2.6.1 Planning
Planning of procurement brings about the decision as to what to buy in terms of procurement
activities, when to buy it and from what funding.
During planning, procurement procedures and methodology are determined by the
requirement of procurement expectations in fulfillment of procurement outcome. Planning
of procurement plays a crucial role below
PLANNING
SOURCING
CONTRACTING
CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
STORAGE
DISTRIBUTION
DISPOSAL
EVALUATION
Source: PPA Act, 663 (2003)
14
First and fore most, it helps improve on buyer’s expectations and realistic outcomes.
Secondly, it encourages the involvement of management processes by managers to come
together to elaborate on procurement requirement. Thirdly, it gives way for procurement
strategies to be established for procurement plans that would be factored into the
procurement requirements. Lastly, stakeholders can lay bare procurement processes and
requirement for the award of contract and the time expected to execute the contract.
2.6.2 Sourcing
The procurement steps are reached at this level. The expected outcome at this stage in
procurement activities is sieving of potential supplier, issuance of tender document,
responses evaluated and the choosing tenderers who are successful.
Contracting
The acceptable steps are factored into awarding of contract to a start of any contract and
agreement terms reached by parties into the contract. The underlining principles is the order
purchase.
Contract Management
Regulation of contract management is the exercising of responsibilities attached to handling
of contracts such evaluation of bids, award of contract, implementation of contract, steps of
completed works and calculation of payments to be made. It also involves monitoring
contract relationship, addressing related problems incorporating necessary changes and
modifications in the contracts to ensure that both parties meet or exceed each other’s
expectations.
15
2.6.3 Storage
In procurement, storage or stores is where logistics or accoutrements that are not being used
immediately are stored, making sure that no damage or loss happens. The value of stock can
be high and timely availability can be crucial to organization’s operations. Logistics may
require particular storage conditions or have limited shelf life, so effective storage, handling
and management of stock levels are important
.2.6.4 Evaluation
Procurement processes and efficient purchasing function is the end product of performance
control to have efficient, effectiveness to management of procurement. It is of importance to
look at procurement processes and evaluation done to establish comport level, come out
with weaknesses and draw a strategy to prevent it from occurring in the future. PPA Act 663
(2003).
2.6.5 Distributions
Goods in storage need to be delivered to their final destination in accordance with customer
requirement. Distributions may involve issuing of the drugs from store to the main
dispensing area for onward sale to the client or patient.
2.6.6 Disposal
Public tendering is used to dispose of obsolete, unserviceable, and surplus stocks based on
the condition and nature of the goods involved. The unserviceable items may be disposed off
through an auctioneer or deploying to another organization or through public tender or
destroying the items in question and finally to adjust the prices down to meet the value of
the goods disposed and any income realized must be accounted for. PPA 2003 (Act 663).
16
2.7 Procurement Objectives
The bottom-line of the introduction of Procurement into the daily activities of the nation is
importance and to serve specific objectives and the strict adherence of it leads to
achievement of value for money.
2.7.1 Professionalism
With the training of procurement professionals at our tertiary institutions followed by the
recruitment, plays a vital role in the rendering of procurement services towards the
development of the Ghanaian economy. PPA 2003(Act 663).
2.7.2 Transparency
The existing rules being the five pillars of procurement are applied to have transparency in
procurement dealings. Fellow competitors should not have an edge over other competitors
based on leaked inside dealings. There should be fairness, openness and transparency to all
competitors and this will go a long way to enhance procurement activities devoid of
suspicion.
2.7.3 Value for Money (VFM)
Value for money in the Ghanaian context bothers on the lowest bidder. However being the
lowest bidder does not equate corresponding good jobs and services but the crucial yardstick
is the measure of the effectiveness of the procurement procedures depending on the output
and the outcome but also considers quality of goods, availability of resource, the cost
involve and its usefulness for the destined purpose, delivery on time and to establish the
convenience to judge when put the under mentioned together will lead to value for money.
To come out with value for money, there is the need for strategic planning to have that.
17
2.7.4 Competitiveness
Potential bidders must be given equal opportunity of platform to bid for tender documents
when it comes to award of contract. There should be fair competition coupled with required
documentation and openness of competitive procurement activities to bring about;
Potential for cost savings
Increase the potential supplier base
Greater awareness of new development
Greater understanding of the Act and the confidence in the public sector
2.7.5 Accountability
Is an attempt to hold individuals and organizations who are involved in procurement
activities to render vivid accounts of stewardship of which they have authority to do. PPA
Act 2003(Act, 663)
The merits of being accountability leads to change of perception about transparency and
fairness. These zeros down corruption.
2.7.6 Fairness
There should be impartiality towards all bidders when it comes to competing for goods,
services and works by giving everyone the equal opportunity to win the contract provided all
necessary procurement are met.
2.7.7 Efficiency
This is timely manner in which procurement activities are executed devoid of personal
issues and bureaucracy.
18
2.8 The Five Rights Under Public Procurement Act
The supplier and the purchaser must adhere to the right under the procurement Act 2003
(Act 663).
2.8.1 The right quality
The right quality seen by the consumer is based on a prototype normally given to check its
efficacy to human consumption, fitness of purpose, waste elimination and continuous
improvement.
2.8.2 The right quantity
It is the measurement of the appropriate expected quantities out of a contract and the
requirement of the parties involved. Prices can be negotiated down for voluminous of goods
and this may come in conflict with storage, production, and capabilities.
2.8.3 The right time (To buy and to deliver)
The following factors; availability of product, the market state (competition) and policies on
procurement, influences the right time to procure. Re- order level brings about when to
deliver goods and services based on the needs of the customer.
The right place
Procuring from the authentic source is a guarantee of quality goods and services which leads
to a guarantee of efficient and effective procurement
19
2.8.5 The right price
There should be a window shopping or soliciting of prices from various quarters of product
specification to give room for price comparism and subsequent price bargain to achieve
value for money.
2.8 Notification of Unsuccessful Tenderers
Notices with fruitful or reasonable explanation must be sent to or be posted to bidders who
were not successful in their attempt secure contract of goods or services after provision and
going through all the necessary procedures to be selected. It informs the unsuccessful
tenderer why he lost his bid and prevents legal action to be instituted upon failure by the
public procurement board to inform him PPA 2003 (Act 663).
2.9 Controlling and Surpervising the Procurement Cycle
The various steps in achieving value for money are the strict adherence to the various steps
that are needed to be respected in terms of procurement from the beginning to the end.
Management and other members who form the procurement team should educated on the
various steps available for their strict compliance which involves planning the procurement,
preparation of bid document, issuing of tenderers and tender evaluation, awarding and
management of the contract.
20
2.10 Ensuring quality of the Product
Project management team should be put in order to monitor project specifications and the
strict adherence by the executor of the project from the beginning to the end. Steps must be
taken to ensure that quality product to the receiver from the supplier, meet the standers set in
the contract document to execute the project in question (WHO 1999). Under listed are the
four procedures to have quality assurance;
1. The picking of dependable suppliers of drugs and pharmaceutical consumables, 2.
Adoption of a strategy or mechanism of quality assurance and authentication procedure of
WHO towards achieving pharmaceutical products (WHO 1996). 3. Institution of systems to
check expired drugs and products are defective and the reporting lines to uncover tem. 4.
Institution of mechanisms to check on and after transporting test. More significantly,
contractors of good track records are encouraged to most at the times awarded contracts for
provision of quality of service
More importantly suppliers that have record of providing very high-quality product in the
previous procurement is vital to ensuring the receipt of quality goods.
2.11 The Outcome of Effective Procurement System
To efficiently and effectively management a sound procurement system, the institution
concerned must adhere to legislation rules and regulations in their supervision. The under
listed must be adhered to achieve effective procurement system.
21
Compliance with government policy and legislation: To enhance to usage of public funds
having in mind to achieving value for money, MMDAs per by virtue of being under that
state must adhere to all the rules both locally and internationally to acquires and services.
They should also follow the institution of good and sound provision of healthcare as a
whole.
Enhancing logistics and service delivery: Government did not come by rules and
regulations governing procurement activities out of the blue. It was specifically brought up
to do away with unnecessary shortage of goods and services when it emanate from MMDAs
to put the government of the day in bad state of its citizenry. For effective procurement, the
onus lies on the procuring and the managing entity to have the right thing done.
Addition of value to logistics and service management: Crucial processes to honor or to
acquire procurement of goods and services indicate that the public procurement processes
adhere to their rules and regulations which must be linked to accountable to ascertain value
for money.
22
2.12 Conceptual Framework
Figure 2 Conceptual Framework
Source: Researcher’s construction, 2015
The Procurement Processes (PPA) (Act 663, 2003) which helps towards achieving value for
money starts from identification of needs followed by procurement procedures, which
enhances procurement of logistics leading to identification of suppliers of the needed
logistics. Request for quotation and prices are made which culminates into the selection of
supplier with the right product coupled with the economized price. However, an assessment
of a prototype is made and upon satisfaction, final acquisitions of the good(s) are made and
sent into stores for safe – storage. These are served to clients upon request made by the
healthcare provider
Achieve
Value for
money
Procureme
nt
procedures
Identification of needs
Identifica
tion of
suppliers
Request
for
quotation
& pricing
Selection of
suppliers
with the
right pdt&
Assessm
ent of a
product
Final
selection
Storage
23
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter focuses on the research design, target population, sample and sampling
procedures, data collection methods, analysis of data, scientific credibility, limitation of the
study and ethical consideration. It also discusses the profile of the study area.
3.2 Research Design
Research design is a detailed outline of how an investigation took place. It is the framework
that has been created to seek answers to research questions. They are sometimes used to
challenge traditionally held scientific theories. It leads to new theories about psychological
phenomena either through pilot research or through case study on their own and allows
researchers to study the sample relationship between phenomena, context and people. The
following research designs were used in the research, namely; case study, quantitative,
qualitative and descriptive studies.
Case study is an approach to research that focuses on gaining in-depth guidelines for
designing and conducting research. As Willing (2008) asserts, case studies “are not
characterized by the methods used to collect and analyze data, but rather, it focus on a
particular unit of analysis”.in this research, SGH was used as a case study to obtain in-depth
knowledge of assessing PPA in the management of drugs because it was bounded in
examining a specific set of individuals to obtain result of the research. However,
questionnaires were administered to the individual respondents to ascertain their opinions or
24
inputs to help take a decision which came to support quantitative aspect of the research.
Furthermore, results of the interview conducted on four managers were also analyzed and
the results put together with that of the questionnaires to come with the various findings
obtained. Once again, the reason for the use of this methodology helped the researcher to
obtain the necessary data and the corresponding outcome of the research.
Quantitative research is a more logical and data- led approach which provides a measure of
what people think from a statistical and numerical point of view. It is about asking people
for their opinion in a structured way so you can produce hard facts and statistics to guide
you to get reliable statistical results. The researcher applied a mixed method involving the
quantitative as well as the qualitative approaches. At SGH, the population was stratified and
simple random and purposive sampling methods were used to select the respondents.
Qualitative research is a method of enquiry employed in many different academic
disciplines, traditionally in social sciences. It is about exploring issues, understanding
phenomena and answering questions by analyzing and making sense of unstructured data.
Qualitative research was used when 4 managers were interviewed to solicit their responses
to draw a conclusion on the research.
The study is descriptive in the sense that information is collected without changing the
environment (i.e. nothing is turned around). Descriptive study can involve a onetime
interaction with a group of people (cross sectional studies) or a study might follow
individuals over time (longitudinal studies). To do this the researcher interacted with
participants through interview to collect the necessary information.
25
3.3 Population
The entire staff of SGH formed the population of the study. This comprised staff in the
following departments; Records, Statistics, Procurement, Public Health, Nursing, Medical
Doctors, Accounts, Family Planning, Eye, General OPD, Pharmacy, X-Ray and Laboratory.
3.4 Sample and Sampling Procedures
Sixty- three (63) respondents were chosen out of the total population. The sampling
techniques applied were simple random, stratified sampling and purposive sampling. The
choice of the sampling technique depends on the research questions and objectives.
Stratified sampling is a method of sampling from a population. In statistical surveys, when
sub populations within an overall population vary, it is advantageous to sample each sub
population independently. A stratified sample is made up of different ‘layers’ of the
population, for example; selecting sample from different age groups. The advantages of
using stratified sampling in a research are that, it makes measurement becomes more
manageable and / or cheaper when population is grouped into strata’s and it often desirable
to have estimates of population parameters for groups within the population.At Suhum
Government Hospital stratified sampling was used to select the various respondents from the
various units or strata namely, Records, Statistics, Procurement, Public Health, Nursing,
Medical Doctors, Accounts, Family Planning, Eye, General OPD, Pharmacy, X-Ray,
Laboratory and questionnaires were administered to the respondents for the solicitation of
raw data to serve as a guide for the researcher.
Random sampling is a method in which individuals are chosen from a group randomly and
entirely by chance, such that, each individual has the same probability of being chosen at
26
any stage during the sampling process. Simple random sampling was used at SGH to select
the respondents after the total population had been stratified into groups shown in the table
below
Unit Number of respondents
Records 1
Statistic 1
Procurement 3
Public health 2
Nursing 23
Medical doctors 4
Accounts 5
Family planning 2
Eye 2
General OPD 5
Pharmacy 8
X- Ray 2
Lab 5
Total 63
Source: Researcher’s work
Purposive sampling relies on the judgment of the researcher when it comes to selecting the
unit (e.g. people, cases/ organizations, events, pieces of data) that are to be studied. Usually,
the sample being investigated is quite small especially when compared with probability
27
sampling techniques. The main goal of purposive sampling is to focus on particular
characteristics of a population that are of interest, which will be best to enable you to answer
your research questions. In this regard, the researcher selected four managers, namely the
Medical Superintendent, the Health Service Administrator, the Pharmacist, and the
Procurement Officer for the purpose of conducting interview under the various sub-
headings emanated from the research objectives and the results analyzed to aid findings.
3.5 Data and data collection procedures
Two types of data were used for the research. These were primary and secondary data.
Primary data is that which is collected by sociologists themselves during their own research
using research tools such as experiment, survey questionnaires, interviews and observation.
Primary data is the best source of information and always good for surveys. It goes with
various advantages; original data, unbiased information, data from primary market/
population, basic data and data direct from the population. Questionnaires and interviews
were mainly used to obtain the primary data or information for analysis from the
respondents. These instruments helped the researcher to have the needed information to
complete and make a good analysis of the research.
28
The diagram below depicts primary data collection steps.
Source: Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005). Reviewed; Chen Y. et. al (2011)
The most perfect process to generate input from the respondents is the usage of interviews
and questionnaires. Qualitative interview comes out with important knowledge of
communications inputs. Respondents are expected to state their feelings or opinions without
fear of favor. (Lindlof,1995). Various ways to conduct interviews include; structured
interview and unstructured interview. Structured interview method was used for the research
work. At SGH questionaires interviews were used to obtain the data from the respondent to
form the basis for the primary data for the research studies.
The researcher did some pilot studies. Polit and Hungler, (2003), see pilot testing as a
miniature version or trial done prior to the actual study. The reason for conducting pilot or
pre- testing study is to ensure an appropriate level of accuracy and dependability of the data
collection instruments. Pilot testing further helps the researcher to go straight to what his
demands are.
One of the merits of organizing pilot or pre- testing is that, it might indicate where the main
research could fail way ahead of time. It may also indicate where research protocols may not
be followed or whether the suggested procedures or instruments are not in order or too
Primary data
experiment Observations
(human/ mechanical) Communication
(survey/interview)
29
cumbersome. According to De Vaus, (1993), pre- testing is essential for the under listed
reasons;
Firstly identifying logistical problems, this might crop up upon the usage of the proposed
methods. Secondly, coming out with the needed resources for the planned research (finance,
staff).
Thirdly, developing and organizing accuracy testing of the instruments to be used for the
research.
Lastly, forecasting variability in establishing the outcome to offer assistance in establishing
the sample size.
The research instruments were piloted at New Abirem Government Hospital in the Eastern
Region of Ghana. Ten (10) respondents were chosen from the various units randomly using
simple random sampling techniques (lottery method) to represent the total sample size.
Secondary data is the data that have been already collected and readily available from other
sources. Such data are cheaper and more quickly obtainable than primary data and also may
be available when primary data cannot be obtained at all.
30
The diagram below depicts secondary data collection steps;
Source: Ghauri and Gronhang, (2005). Reviewed; Chen Y. et. al (2011)
Secondary data used in this research was picked from internal and external sources. Inputs
and reports taken from the procurement department formed part of the thesis write – up.
For the purpose of this research, other peoples work, journals and manuals on procurement
and management of drugs were read through and very vital information picked and the
source credited. These were used in addition to the primary data to draw conclusions to
confirm or not, previous conclusions by other researchers and recommendations made upon
the outcome that could also be used by future researchers for the same indicators.
3.6 Scientific credibility
With time credibility is ascertained when it comes to in both agreed and precise ways. It
indicates our coexistence with friends and supporters. In principle, it is about the genuine
and sincere evaluation of other people’s work and credit accorded accordingly. It is about
Secondary data
External source Internal source
Published (books &
articles, statistics,
research repot etc.
Commercial ( panel
research monitors etc.)
Reports from different departments ,
invoices, brochures’ and catalogues
etc.
31
documentation, storage of our final findings vis-à-vis the transparency and special attention
in the experiment reporting. In cases of inability to showcase credibility, our work will not
be built upon by others of which the movement of scientific development is put on hold. The
genuineness of an empirical outcome of research would be sincerely based on credibility,
dependability and trustworthiness. Yin, (2008).
3.7 Analysis of data:
It is the process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming and modeling data with the goal of
discovering useful information, suggesting conclusion and supporting decision making. Data
generated from the respondents of the various units within the hospital was processed with
excel spread- sheet to come out with tables, percentages and bar charts, and these aided the
discussion and interpretation leading to conclusions on the objectives of the research.
3.8 Ethical consideration:
The chance to conduct the thesis research was given a green light by the Medical
Superintendent of Suhum Government Hospital and his management team of which a
promise was made to keep all information strictly private and confidential. This led to total
cooperation of all employees of the hospital without obstacles.
32
3.9 Profile of Suhum Government Hospital
The Suhum Government Hospital was started as a Health center in 1958 and was upgraded
to a District Hospital in 1959. The hospital is located in the Suhum Municipality and is
found on the main highway between East Akyem Municipality and Kraboa Coaltar District.
The hospital serves a catchment population of 87,514 (2010, population census) and has a
bed capacity of 131 with a work force of 250.
Vision
The vision of the Suhum Government Hospital is to become a center of excellence in the
provision of quality, affordable and accessible health care to all people living within the
catchment area.
Mission
Suhum Government Hospital is committed to the delivery of health care through client
focused activities, with a well-trained, motivated, disciplined and result -oriented staff.
Overview of activities
The Suhum Government Hospital offers the under listed range of services: Eye services,
Outpatient care, Inpatient care, Pharmacy, X-ray, Laboratory, Public health and Family
planning among others.
33
CHAPTER FOUR
RESLUTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Introduction
This chapter indicates the analysis of data obtained from the 63 respondents which the
researcher took from the study area to address the objectives of the study.
4.2 Background Attributes of Respondents in Percentages
Figure. 3: Gender of the Respondents
Source: Field Data June 2015.
Figure 3 depicts that, out of the 63 interviewees, 54% were males and 46% were females.
The figure indicates, that the male workers out numbered the female workers of the Suhum
Government Hospital.
42
44
46
48
50
52
54
56
MALE FEMALE
PERCENTAGE
PERCENTAGE
34
4.3 Department of Respondents
Table 1:
DELPARTMENT FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
RECORDS 1 1.59
STATISTICS 1 1.59
PROCUREMENT 3 4.76
PUBLIC HEALTH 2 3.17
NURSING 23 36.51
MEDICAL DOCTORS 4 6.35
ACCOUNTS 5 7.94
FAMILY PLANNING 2 3.17
EYE DEPARTMENT 2 3.17
GENERAL OPD 5 7.94
PHARMACY 8 12.70
X- RAY 2 3.17
LABORATORY 5 7.94
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
From table 1, the nurse’s grade formed the highest respondent group with 36.51%, followed
by the pharmacy with 12.70%. Accounts, general OPD and laboratory were next after the
pharmacy. Medical doctors, Procurement officers, X- ray staff, Eye unit, Public health,
35
Statistics, Family planning and Medical records on their part formed 6.35%, 4.76%, 3.17%,
3.17%, 3.17%, 3.17%, 1.59% and 1.59% respectively.
4.4 Academic Qualification of Respondents
Table 2
QUALIFICATION FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
SENIOR HIGH 11 17.46
DIPLOMA 34 53.97
FIRST DEGREE 12 19.05
SECOND DEGREE 6 9.52
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
Table 2 indicates the educational qualification levels of the respondents. Majority of the
respondents had diploma followed by first degree holders with a percentage of 19.05%.
Following was Senior High School education with a percentage of 17.46% and lastly
holders of Second Degree with a percentage of 9.52%. It can be established that, the chunk
of staff of Suhum Government Hospital have a very good academic qualifications which
will affect their final output positively. Below is a pie chart of the academic qualification of
the respondents as explained in table 2 above.
36
4.5 Existence of the Procurement Act (PPA)
Table 3
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
YES 63 100
NO 0 0.00
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
In response to the question whether respondents know about the existence of the PPA, 100%
indicated, that they knew about the existence of the Public Procurement Act 663, (2003).
This indicates that all the respondents were aware of the existence of the Public Procurement
Act.
17%
54%
19%
10%
Accademic Qualification
SENIOR HIGH
DIPLOMA
FIRST DEGREE
SECOND DEGREE
37
The pie chart above further explains the tabular presentation of the existence of the
procurement Act.
4.6 How Respondents got to know about the Public Procurement Act
As to how respondents got to know about the PPA, it was indicated from table 4 below that,
42.86% heard about the PPA during training and staff durbars. Whilst 28.5% knew the
existence of the public procurement Act through the media, 15.87% got to know it during
management meetings and 12.70% through friends. This indicates that the majority of the
staff at Suhum Government Hospital have heard about the Public Procurement Act 2003
(Act 663).
YES 100%
Existence of Procurement Act
38
Table 4
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
IN THE MEDIA 18 28.57
THROUGH FRIENDS 8 12.70
DURING TRAINING/
STAFF DURBAR
27 42.86
AT MANAGEMENT
MEETING
10 15.87
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
In the next page is a pie chart pictorial view of how respondents got to know about the PPA
at SGH.
28%
13% 43%
16%
How respondents heard about the PPa Act.
IN THE MEDIA
THROUGH FRIENDS
DURING TRAINING/ STAFF DURBAR
AT MANAGEMENT MEETING
39
4.7 What the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) Stands For.
To ascertain from respondents what the PPA stood for, it was established from table 5 that,
42.86% described it as an Act of parliament while sixteen (16) respondents, representing
31.75%, described it as a Procurement guideline. Moreover, 15.87% of the respondents
described it as tender documents and 9.52% of the respondents knew it to be just a mere
policy document. It can be realized that, many of the respondents at Suhum Government
Hospital knew the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) as an Act of parliament.
Table 5
VARIABLES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
A MERE POLICY
DOCUMENT
6 9.52
AN ACT OF PALIAMENT 27 42.86
PROCUREMENT
GUIDELINES
20 31.75
TENDER DOCUMENT 10 15.87
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
40
4.8 Access to a Copy of the Public Procurement Act?
Table 6
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
YES 13 20.63
NO 50 79.37
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
To know whether the respondents have had access to copies of the PPA, it was realized as
shown in table 6 that, 79.37% have not had access to a copy of the Public Procurement Act.
However, 20.63% of the respondents indicated otherwise. It can be deduced from the result
that majority of the respondents have not had access to a copy of the Public Procurement
Act. The pie in the next page further enhances table 6 above.
No 79%
Yes 21%
Access to a copy of the PPA
41
4.9 Reading Through or Making Reference to the Public Procurement Act?
Table 7
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
YES 11 17.46
NO 52 82.54
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
To ascertain whether the respondents have read through or made reference to the PPA, it
came out clearly as indicated in table 7 that 82.54% have never read through or made
reference to the Public Procurement Act, while 17.46% have read through and also made
references to the Public Procurement Act. It can be realized that the majority of the
respondents have not read through the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663).
COMPLIANCE WITH PPA WITH REGARDS TO STORES PROCEDURE
The researcher through interview solicited the views of management members, namely; the
Medical Superintendent, the Health Service Administrator, the Pharmacist and the
Procurement Officer, to find out whether Suhum Government Hospital complies with the
provisions of the PPA in its stores procedures.
Information received from all the four officers indicated that the hospital has a well-
established store unit where goods bought are kept for onward distribution to the various
units that need them.
As to whether Suhum Government Hospital has qualified stores personnel, the four(4)
managers of the hospital interviewed, came out clearly that, the hospital has qualified stores
42
personnel who have the requisite qualification coupled with in-depth stores management
skills to man the hospital’s stores unit.
As to the educational background of the store keeper of the hospital, the 4 officials
interviewed clearly stated that, he holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in purchasing
and supply and that, he is very capable to handle the activities of the stores especially in
respect of receipts and issues of drugs and proper documentation of stores transactions. They
supported this claim by the fact that, auditors occasionally examine the stores management
of the Suhum Government Hospital and give a very good report.
It was realized from the interview that, the stores personnel holds the rank of a supply
officer which is, equivalent to the Higher National Diploma in Purchasing and Supply and a
Senior Officer grade in the Ghana Health Service. This indicates that the majority of the
Health Management Team (HMT) of Suhum Government Hospital knew about the rank of
the store keeper.
It was realized from the interview that, three officers work at the hospitals stores unit in
addition to the storekeeper also known as supply officer. The supply officer among other
duties oversees the day- to- day running of the store in addition to maintaining the
cleanliness of the stores and its environs and also ensuring proper arrangement of items in
the store for easy retrieval.
It came out clearly from the interview that, the hospital has no spacious storage facilities to
keep items due to lack of building infrastructure. It was further realized from the interaction
that, they are unable to put up a spacious building to be used as stores due to the suspension
43
of capital expenditure by government and the inability of the hospital to raise sufficient
internally generated fund (IGF) for the purpose.
The officers interviewed said that all items were listed in the stock register as well as stores
receipt voucher before they are received into the stores and issued out of the store upon
demand, indicating that there was a procedure for accepting drugs into stores and issuing
drugs out of the store.
It was established as a fact that, the hospitals internal auditor does checking of each and
every item received or issued out of the store and this is done by way of the certification of
all requisition books from various units of the hospital to the stores for items. The officers
interviewed further stated that the internal auditor does on the spot check of the hospital
stores once every week with the stores keeper and issues a report to management for
consideration.
All the interviewees disagreed that the poor procurement organization and procedures led to
employees of the Suhum Government Hospital not complying with the PPA.
The interviewees strongly agreed that, the PPA is an act passed by parliament and all
departments and agencies are supposed to comply and that under no circumstance will one
attribute lack of qualified procurement staff as a basis for non-compliance.
The interviewees disagreed that, poor stock management prevented staff of Suhum
Government Hospital from complying the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663).
44
THE EFFECT OF THE IMPLIMENTATION OF THE PPA ON THE
PERFORMANCE OF THE HOSPITAL
4.10 What does the Public Procurement Act Seek to Achieve?
Table 8
VARABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
RIGHT PROCUREMENT
PROCEDURES
29 46.03
JUDICIOUS USE OF
GOVERNMENT FUNDS
21 33.33
EQUITY AND FAIRNESS 13 20.64
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field data June 2015
To solicit from respondents what the PPA seeks to achieve, the result in table 8 above shows
that, 46.03% are of the opinion that, the Public Procurement Act seeks to achieve right
procurement procedures, while 33.33% indicated that, the Public Procurement Act seek to
achieve the judicious use of government funds. 20.64% thought the Public Procurement Act
seeks to achieve equity and fairness. It can therefore be established that, many of the
respondents were of the opinion that the Public Procurement Act defined the right
procurement procedure. Furthermore to boost table 8 above is the pie chart below.
45
4.11 The PPA is Useful in the Conduct of Business of the Hospital
Table 9
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
HIGHY AGREE 44 69.84
AGREE 10 15.87
DISAGREE 4 6.35
HIGHLY DISAGREE 5 7.94
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
To establish whether the PPA is useful in the conduct of business of the hospital; as shown
in table 9, 69.84% highly agreed that it is useful, while 15.87% agree that it is useful.
14.92% of the respondents disagreed that it is useful. It was realized that the majority of
46%
33%
21%
What does the PPA seek to achieve?
RIGHT PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES
JUDICIOUS USE OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS
EQUITY AND FAIRNESS
46
respondents agreed that, the application of the Public Procurement Act at Suhum
Government Hospital was useful.
As to the question whether the implementation of PPA has resulted in value for money,
Table 10(a) and the pie chart below, indicates that 61.91% of the respondents who were in
the majority highly agreed that, the Public Procurement Act has achieved value for money.
Table 10 (A) Value For Money;
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERENTAGE %
HIGHYLY AGREED 39 61.91
AGREED 18 28.57
DISAGREED 6 9.52
HIGHLY DISAGREED - -
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field data June 2015
62%
29%
9%
0%
Value for money
HIGHYLY AGREED
AGREED
DISAGREED
HIGHLY DISAGREED
47
Table 10(B) Accountability
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
TO A LARGE EXTENT 27 42.86
TO SOME EXTENT 30 47.62
TO LITTLE EXTENT 6 9.52
TO NO EXTENT - -
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
Table 10(b) shows that, 42.86% of the respondents were of the opinion that to a large extent
the Public Procurement Act brought about accountability while 47.62% agreed with the
assertion to some extent; inferring that the implementation of the Public Procurement Act
brought about accountability. Below is a pie chart to highlight the presentation in table 10(b)
above.
43%
48%
9%
0%
Accountability
TO A LARGE EXTENT
TO SOME EXTENT
TO LITTLE EXTENT
TO NO EXTENT
48
Table 10 (C) Cost Reductions
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
TO A LARGE EXTENT 18 28.57
TO SOME EXTENT 45 71.43
TO A LITTLE EXTENT - -
TO NO EXTENT - -
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field data June 2015
Table 10 (c) indicates that 28.57% and 71.43% were of the opinion that the implementation
of the Public Procurement Act to a large and some extent respectively brought about cost
reduction. Below is a pie chart of table 10 (c).
29%
71%
0% 0%
Cost Reduction
TO A LARGE EXTENT
TO SOME EXTENT
TO A LITTLE EXTENT
TO NO EXTENT
49
Table 10 (D) Quality Of Service Delivery.
Table 10(d) and the pie chart below shows that, 21 and 30 of the respondents, representing
33.33% and 47.62% respectively agree to some extent that the Public Procurement Act has
led to quality service delivery.
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
TO A LARGE EXTENT 21 33.33
TO SOME EXTENT 30 47.62
TO A LITTLE EXTENT 12 19.05
TO NO EXTENT - -
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field Data June 2015
33%
48%
19%
0%
Quality of service delivery
TO A LARGE EXTENT
TO SOME EXTENT
TO A LITTLE EXTENT
TO NO EXTENT
50
Table 10 (E) Transparency
VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
TO A LARGE EXTENT 30 47.62
TO SOME EXTENT 18 28.57
TO A LITTLE EXTENT 15 23.81
TO NO EXTENT - -
TOTAL 63 100
Source: Field data June 2015
As to the extent to which PPA has affected transparency in the management of stores in the
hospital; table 10(e) and the pie chart shows that, 47.62% of the respondents concluded that
it has to a large extent brought about transparency while 28.57% indicated that it has to
some extent resulted in transparency. This shows that the implementation of the Public
Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) brought about transparency.
48%
28%
24%
0%
Transparency
TO A LARGE EXTENT
TO SOME EXTENT
TO A LITTLE EXTENT
TO NO EXTENT
51
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter discusses the summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations of the
research.
5.1 Summary of Findings
The following findings were established from the analysis of the result of the study;
It was established that, staff of SGH were aware of the existence of the Public Procurement
Act 2003(Act 663).
It was realized that, staff in SGH have heard about the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act
663).
It was realized from the study that, Suhum Government Hospital considers the Public
Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) as an Act of parliament.
From the study, it was clearly established that; staff of SGH have either not seen or got copy
of the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663).
It came out explicitly, that the staff of SGH have not read through or made reference to the
Public Procurement Act in their endeavors.
It was established that the application of the Public Procurement Act is very useful at SGH.
It was established that, the Public Procurement Act seek to define the right of procurement.
52
It was highly agreed that the application of the PPA was useful in the conduct of the
business at Suhum Government Hospital.
It was established that, Suhum Government Hospital indeed had a store unit where drugs
procured are kept for safe keeping and for onwards transmission to the user unit upon
request.
It was also revealed that, Suhum Government Hospital had qualified stores personnel to
manage the day- to day activities of the store, which confirms Omari- Siaw B. (2014) work
on “Assessment of Pharmaceutical Supply Chain” done at Kwahu Government Hospital
(KGH), Atibie in the Eastern Region of Ghana. This also attest to the fact that personnel
involved in the procurement processes indeed had knowledge and requisite training in the
handling of procurement activities which goes contrary to Dowling, (2011) work on
“Healthcare Supply Chains in Developing Countries” which indicated that, in lower and
middle income countries, there is lack of skilled personnel with requisite training for them to
function appropriately.
It also came out that the stores personnel are highly qualified and have an in-depth
knowledge when it comes to delivery on their work and this was confirmed by Omari- Siaw.
B. (2014).
It was established that the rank of the stores personnel at SGH was known.
It established that three staffs work at the Suhum Government Hospital stores to facilitate
the smooth running of the stores.
53
It was realized that there wasn’t enough space at the stores where drugs are kept. This
confirms Dowling (2011)’s Analysis of Poor Supply Chain System compounded by
insufficient storage space in developing countries. It furthermore came to confirm Omari-
Siaw, B. (2014)’s research conducted at KGH, Atibie in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
It was established that the procedure for accepting drugs into stores is the listing of all items
in stores receipt vouchers, which confirms Dowling’s situational analysis on healthcare
supply chains in developing countries.
It was established that, the internal auditor does the checking of drugs before they are
received into stores.
It was established that the Public Procurement Act had to a large extent contributed to the
achievement of value for money. This confirms Anvuu et. al, (2006) assertion that a
structured approach putting into consideration all the necessary procurement arrangements
and project outcomes as well as laid down procedures is the best way to ascertain value for
money.
It was also realized that the Public Procurement Act contributed towards accountability. This
came to confirm Anvuur et. al (2006) research which spells out that when the five pillars of
the procurement are adhered to, it leads to the achievement of accountability. It once again
came out that the introduction of the Public Procurement Act has brought cost reduction. In
addition to that, the Public Procurement Act has led to the delivery of quality of service and
has brought transparency in the day - to - day activities of Suhum Government Hospital,
which confirms Anvuur et. al (2006) position.
54
Finally, it was established from the research that the 4 managers knew their roles when it
comes to procurement activities and had detailed knowledge of the Public Procurement Act
2003 (Act 663).
5.2 Conclusion
In conclusion, it was established through the research that, the staff of SGH knew about the
PPA which references could be made to it to serve as a guide during procurement activities.
The existence of the PPA as an Act of parliament seeks to achieve the procurement
procedure, judicious use of government and the hospital’s funds, fairness and equity in value
for money. It also came to light through the research that, the SGH does not have spacious
storage facility and the internal auditor checks every item before they are sent into or out of
the stores. It however came to light also that, there was a qualified stores personnel manager
in charge of the stores of SGH and the inception of the PPA has led to achieving health
services delivery since its inception or when it was passed into a law.
The research conducted can be used by by future researchers. The idea put across shows a
decision reached and a performance for each activity needs further testing and be validated
in other studies. The methodology used or implemented is an approach to a quantifiable and
step by step investigation. This research study has added to the knowledge in the area of the
implementation of the PPA in Ghana and recommendations prescribed. This study indicates
the benefits of looking at public procurement and the management of logistics towards
achieving accountability, transparency and value for money. What came out of the research
is a credible conclusion of what the PPA and management of logistics put together seeks to
achieve in terms of health services delivery in a district hospital in Ghana as a whole.
55
5.3 Recommendations
Depending on the findings of the study to achieve the stated objectives, the following
recommendations are made to improve the practice of procurement and management of
drugs in the Suhum Government Hospital.
Avoidance of Bureaucratic corruption
The Ministry of Health (MOH)/ Ghana Health Service (GHS) should ensure that, there is a
strict adherence to the Public Procurements Act to prevent collusion of top managers,
procurement officers and suppliers to manipulate the procurement system to their advantage.
In doing so, a lot of savings could be made to affect other areas which might need attention
to help proper delivery of health care to Ghanaians in general.
Training sessions
The MOH/GHS should ensure that, in service and external training should be organized for
GHS staffs preferably the procurement officers, Hospital Management Team (HMT) and
internal auditors to update them at regular interval the current issues that crop- up in the
procurement activities to enhance proper accountability, transparency, value for money and
availability of logistics (drug) in the various regional, district and other health facilities in
the country as a whole. This could even be fused into the thought courses of all health
related training institutions in the country in collaboration with the Universities,
Polytechnics and various health institutions.
56
Availability of funds
The government of Ghana as matter of importance must see to it that funds are readily made
available to all health institutions in the country to purchase adequate logistics (drugs) into
their stores to fore- store any intermittent shortages of very important drugs and non drugs
consumables in all health facilities.
Avoidance of corruption in the procurement system
To prevent or minimize corruption in the procurement processes of Suhum Government
Hospital, the researcher is of the opinion that, the suppliers of logistics for both drugs and
non-drugs should not be limited in terms of numbers of qualified suppliers but the hospitals
doors in terms of registration of suppliers should be opened and suppliers evaluated at
regular interval to check pricing and provision of quality products to the hospital.
Internal controls
In order to avoid waste and purchase of shoddy products, the management team of Suhum
Government Hospital should ensure that duties are segregated in terms of procurement to
ensure transparency and value for money. The government should also empower the Ghana
Audit Service (GAS) to initiate prosecution against whoever goes contrary to the Public
Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663).
Empowerment of the procurement committee of Suhum Government Hospital
The hospital management team should be committed to empower and strengthening their
procurement committee. This could be done based on at regular interval meetings with the
57
procurement committee members to give recommendations of products or items that would
be of importance to the hospital for a period.
58
REFERENCES
Aniekwu, A N and Okpala, D C (1988) The effect of systemic fators in contract services in
Nigeria. Construction Management and Economics, 6,171-82.
Anvuur A., Kumaraswamy M. and Male S. (2006). “Taking Forward Public Procurement
Reforms in Ghana. CIB W107 Construction in Development Countries International
Symposium. January 18 th
– 20 th
2006”. ( Assessed: 4 th
March, 2015).
Ayirebi, d (2005) Strategic Planning Practice of Construction Firms in Ghana. Construction
Management and Economics, 23(2), 163-168.
Bossert T. Bowser d., Amenyah J. and Copeland B., (2004). Ghana: Decentralization and
Health Logistics Systems: Arlington, Va.: John Snow, Inc./ DELIVER for USAID for the
U.S Agency for International Development. Available. (Assessed: 3 rd
Feb., 2015)
Bryman A. & Bell E. (2003). “ Business Research Methods”. Oxford University Press.
Hongkong.
Crown Agent (1998) The World Bank Procurement Audit in Ghana. Value for Money Audit
Report for Ghana, Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations LTD, UK.
Dowling P. (2011); “Healthcare Supply Chains in Developing Countries”
59
Eyiah, A K and Cook, P(2003) Financing small and medium –scale contractors in
developing countries. A Ghana case study. Construction Management and Economics,
21(4), 357-367.
Falkenberg, T. and Tomson, G. (2000) “The World Bank and Pharmaceutical” Health Policy
and Planning. 15(1) 52-58
Ghana Health Service.( July, 2002) Logistics Management of Public Sector Commodities in
Ghana
Ghauri, P. &Gronhangg, K. (2005). “ Research Methods in Business Studies: A Practical
Guide.” Macmillan.
Gyimah E. P. Yellu D. F. Andrews – Annan E., Gyansa –Ltterodt M. and Koduah A., 2009.
Assessment of Medicine Procurement and Supply management Systems in the Public Health
Sector: Ministry of Health ( MoF), Ghana National Drug Programme (GNDP) Ghana.
Available on: (Accessed, 31 st March, 2015).
Kumaraswamy, MM (1994) Growth strategies for less developed construction industries. In:
Skitmore,R M and Betts, M (Eds.), 10 th
Annual ARCOMC Conference, September 14-16,
loughborough University. Association of Researchers in Construction Managemnt,
Vol.1,154-163.
60
Leiselink, M and Tellgen, J. ( 1998)“Inkoop Management in de Zorgsector” The
Netherlands: Deventer Inc.
Lindlof, T.R. (1995). “ Qualitative Communication Research Methods”. Thousand Oaks.
USA.Assessed: (30 th
March, 2015).
Lyson K. and Farrington B. (2006). “Purchasing and Supply Cha
Manso J. F, (2012) “ Procurement Circle Principles and Practice”
Manso J. F, Annan J, &Anane S.S, (2013) “Assessment of Logistics Management in Ghana
Health Service”.
McGinnis, Michael A. and Jonathan W. Kohn (2002), “Logistics Strategy – Revisited,”
Journal of Business Logistics, 23(2).1-17.
Ministry of Finance (2001) “ Procurement Reform Proposal: A Component of the Public
Financial Management and Reform Program( PUFMARP), Accra: Ministry of Finance,
Ghana.
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. 2010. “ Financial Administration Regulations”
Accra: Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Finance(2004). “Financial Administration Regulation “Pages 82& 83.
61
Ministry of Health(2010). “Accounting, Treasury and Financial Reporting Rules and
Instructions Manual” Page 58. Accra: Ministry of Health.
Monczka R. M, Handfield R. B, Guinipero L. C, and Patterson J.L. (2009). “Purchasing and
Supply Chain Management “. Fourth Edition. SOUTH- WESTERN CENGAGE
Learning.UK.
Omari-Siaw, B. N. K. (2014); “Assessment of Pharmaceutical Supply Chain; A case study
of Kwahu Government Hospital”.
Poulin E. 2007, Benchmarking the Hospital Logistics Process: “ A potential cure for the
ailing health care sector, Business Logistics & SCM”. Available on:
http//logisticsmanagementandsupplychainmanagement.wordpress.com/category/healthcare-
logistics”. (Assessed: 25 th
Febuary, 2015).
Public procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663)
PUFMARP, (1996) Public Financial Management Reform Programme
Rwelamila, P D, Talukhaha, AA and Ngowi, A B (1999) Tracing the African Project Failure
Syndrome: the significance of “Ubuntu”. Engineering, construction and Architectural
Management, 6(4), 40-44.
62
Saunders M., Lewis P. Thornhill A., (2009). “Research Methods for Business Students “. 5 th
Edition, Personal Education Limited. England.
USAID/DELIVER PROJECT, Task Order 1. (2011). The Logistics Handbook: A Practical
Guide for the supply Chain Management of Health Commodities. Arlington, Va.
Westring, G (1997) Ghana Public Procurement Reform. An Audit Report prepared for the
World Bank, Stockholm: Advokatfirmcederquist KB.
World Bank (1995) Guidelines: Procurement Under IBRDLoans and IDA Credits,
Washington, DC: THE World Bank.
World Bank (1997) Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank,
Borrowers, Washington, DC: The World Bank.
World Bank (2003) Ghana 2003 Country Procurement Assessment Report, Washington,
DC: Ghana Country Department, the World Bank.
World Health Organisation (1997) Management Science for Health
World Health Organization(WHO) (1996). “ Guidelines for Implementation of the WHO
Certification Scheme on the Quality of Pharmaceutical Products Moving in International
Commerce. Thirty – Fourth Report of the WHO – Expert Committee on Specifications for
63
Pharmaceutical Preparations”. WHO Technical Report Series No. (863), Annex 10. Geneva:
WHO.
World Health Organization(WHO), (1999). “ Operational Principles for Good
Pharmaceutical Procurement.”. WHO/EDM/PAR (99.5). GENEVA: Department of
Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy.
Yin, R.k. (2008). “Case Study Research Design and Methods”, Stage Thousand Oaks, CA.
Ying C., Weihua . (2011). “ Purchasing Process Integration in Manufacturing Industries in
China”. A case study of three Chinese manufacturing Companies.
64
APPENDIXES
RESEARCH QUESTIONARE
This study is purely for academic purposes. All responses will be treated with due
confidentiality. This instrument is designed to draw out responses from employees at Suhum
Government Hospital as part of a research on the procedures of procurement and
management of Logistics (drugs) to assess whether they are effective and efficient to the
organization.
SECTION A: SOCIO- DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
1. Gender a) male b) female
2. Grade/ Position at the hospital……………………………………………………….
3. Academic Qualification………………………………………………………………
SECTION B: EXISTENCE OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ACT
4. Have you heard about the Procurement Act? A) Yes b) No
5. If yes, how did you hear about it?
a) In the media
b) Through friends
c) During training/ staff durbar
d) At management meeting
65
e) Other (specify)
6. What do you know about the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663)?
a) A mere policy document
b) An Act of parliament
c) Procurement Guidelines
d) Tender Document
e) Other ( specify)
7. Have you seen or got a copy of the Public Procurement Act?
a) Yes b) No
8. If yes, have you been reading it or making it a reference source at regular interval?
a) Yes b) No
9. What does the Public Procurement Act seek to achieve?
a) Defined right procurement procedures
b) Judicious use of government funds
c) Equity and fairness
d) Value for money
e) Other (specify)
10. How is it applied at the hospital?
a) Highly agree
66
b) agree
c) disagree
d) strongly disagree
e) Other (specify)
SECTION C: COMPLIANCE WITH PPA WITH REGARDS TO STORES
RECEIPTS AND ISSUE PROCEDURE
11. Does your hospital have a store unit?
a) Yes b) No
12. Do you have qualified stores personnel?
a) Yes b) No
13. What is the educational background of the personnel?
a) MSLC/JSS b) SSCE/WACCE c) DBS d) HND
e) Other (specify) …………………………..
14. What is the rank of the stores personnel?
a) Storekeeper
b) Senior storekeeper
67
c) Principal storekeeper
d) Supply officer
e) Other (specify)
15. How many staff works at the stores?
a) One b) Two c) Three d) Four
e) Other (specify) ………………………….
16. Does your Hospital have spacious storage facilities at the stores?
a) Yes b No
17. What procedure does your hospital follow in accepting logistics (drugs) into the stores?
a) Listing all items in a notebook
b) Listing items in stock register
c) No documentations made upon receipt
d) Listing all items in the stores receipts voucher
e) Other (specify) ……………………………..
18. Who does the inspection and the quantity checks of stocks of logistics (drugs) received?
68
a) Internal auditor
b) Accountant
c) Storekeeper
d) Administrator
e) Other (specify) ……………………………….
SECTION D: CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ACT
Please indicate by ticking the appropriate responses to each of the following indicators ( to a
larger extent, some extent, a little extent, to a no extent).
19. What is the effect of the implementation of the PPA on the performance of the hospital?
Effect of the Public
Procurement Act
To a larger
extent
To some
extent
To a little
extent
To a no
extent
a) Value for money
b) Accountability
c) Cost reduction
d) Quality of service
e) Transparency
69
20. What factors prevents employees from complying with the Public Procurement Act
theories at Suhum Government Hospital? Please tick the appropriate response to each of the
following indicators(strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree)
Factors Strongly
agree
Agree Disagree Strongly
disagree
a) Unclear statutory
basis and absence
of procurement
code
b) Inadequate
procurement
policy, strategy,
planning and
management
capacity
c) Poor procurement
organization and
procedures
d) Lack of qualified
procurement staff
e) Poor stock
management
f) Lack of availability
g) High prices
70
21. How can the above problems be controlled? …………………………………………
Awareness Level of the Public Procurement Cycle
22. Do you know about the existence of the Public Procurement Cycle?
a) Yes b) No
23. If yes, do you know the composition of the Public Procurement Cycle?
a) Yes b) No
24. If yes do you know the membership of the entity tender committee?
a) Yes b) No
25. What work does the evaluation members do? Please comment
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………
26. Do you have an annual procurement plan for the hospital?
a) Yes b) No
71
SECTION E: INTERVIEW GUIDE
Open- ended question was used as an interview guide by the researcher. the interviewees of
which the interview guide was used were; the Medical Superintended of the Suhum
Government Hospital, the Health Services Administrator, the Accountant, the Head of
pharmacy and Head of the procurement unit. The questionnaires for the interviewees are
structured below;
1) Do you have annual procurement plan for the hospital?
2) What role do you play in procurement as a manger?
3) Do you know about the existence of the procurement cycle?
4) How well does the institution adhere to the procurement ACT?
5) What procedure does your hospital follow in accepting logistics (drugs) into stores?
Hypotheses__14 Jan 2020__01+-1.ppt
- Research hypothesis
A hypothesis can be defined as a prediction or explanation of the relationship between one or more independent variables (PREDISPOSING/RISK FACTORS) and one dependent variable (OUTCOME/CONDITION/DISEASE).
A hypothesis, in other words, translates the problem statement into a precise, clear prediction of expected outcomes.
It must be emphasized that hypotheses are not meant to be haphazard guesses, but should reflect the depth of knowledge, imagination and experience of the investigator.
Therefore, in the process of formulating hypotheses, all variables relevant to the study should be identified.
*
Example: Health education involving active participation by mothers will produce more positive changes in child feeding than health education based on lectures.
Independent variable (predisposing factor): types of health education.
Dependent variable (outcome): changes in child feeding.
*
Research Traditions in the Use of Hypotheses
- Hypotheses are always tentative
- Research hypothesis, not the null hypothesis, is the focus of the research and presented in the research report
Hypotheses
An hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction. It describes in concrete (rather than theoretical) terms what you expect will happen in your study.
Not all studies have hypotheses.
A single study may have one or many hypotheses.
*
Hypotheses
Alternative /null hypothesis
Usually, we call the hypothesis that you support (your prediction) the alternative hypothesis, and we call the hypothesis that describes the remaining possible outcomes the null hypothesis.
*
Hypotheses
Sometimes we use a notation like HA or H1 to represent the alternative hypothesis or your prediction, and HO or H2 to represent the null case. You have to be careful here, though.
Alternative hypothesis __ HA or H1
Null hypothesis __ HO or H2
*
Hypothesis Testing
The Steps:
1. Describe in words the population characteristics about which the hypotheses are to be tested.
2. Define/ state the null hypothesis: H0 or H2
3. Define/ state the alternative hypothesis: H1 or Ha
4. State test statistic to be used associated with alpha [] the level of significance of the test.
Summary: Hypothesis Testing
The Steps:
5. Calculate the p-value of what you observed
6. State the conclusion / Reject or fail to reject (~accept) the null hypothesis
That is, decide whether to reject the null hypothesis or fail to reject the null hypothesis. The conclusion depends on the level of significance of the test. Also, remember to state your result in the context of the specific problem.
Hypotheses
Working example : Alternative /null hypothesis
For instance, let's imagine that you are investigating the effects of a new employee training programme and that you believe one of the outcomes will be that there will be less employee absenteeism. Your two hypotheses might be stated something like this:
*
Hypotheses
Working example: Alternative /null hypothesis
The null hypothesis for this study is:
HO: As a result of the XYZ company employee training program, there will either be no significant difference in employee absenteeism or there will be a significant increase.
Which is tested against the alternative hypothesis:
HA: As a result of the XYZ company employee training program, there will be a significant decrease in employee absenteeism.
*
Hypotheses
Keep in mind: Alternative /null hypothesis
The important thing to remember about stating hypotheses is that you formulate your prediction (directional or not), and then you formulate a second hypothesis that is mutually exclusive of the first and incorporates all possible alternative outcomes for that case.
*
Hypotheses
Keep in mind: Alternative /null hypothesis
If your prediction was correct, then you would (usually) reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative.
If your original prediction was not supported in the data, then you will accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternative.
*
Common “Z” levels of confidence
Commonly used confidence levels are 90%, 95%, and 99%
Confidence Level
Z value
1.28
1.645
1.96
2.33
2.58
3.08
3.27
80%
90%
95%
98%
99%
99.8%
99.9%
Statistically Significant
Denote:
** = 1 percent
* = 5 percent
*** = 10 percent
Statistics vs. Parameters
Sample Statistic
– any summary measure calculated from data; e.g., could be a mean, a difference in means or proportions, an odds ratio, or a correlation coefficient
Population Parameter
– the true value/true effect in the entire population of interest
*
The P-value
- P-value is the probability that we would have seen our data (or something more unexpected) just by chance if the null hypothesis (null value) is true.
- Small p-values mean the null value is unlikely given our data.
P values
P values = the probability that the observed result was obtained by chance
- i.e. when the null hypothesis is true
α level is set a priori (Usually 0.05)
If p < α level then we reject the null hypothesis and accept the experimental hypothesis
- 95% certain that our experimental effect is genuine
If however, p > α level then we reject the experimental hypothesis and accept the null hypothesis
*
P = Probability
this value tells us the probability that the observed result was obtained by chance
That there is no difference between the two groups
Each test result (e.g. t value) is associated with a particular p value
α level is set a priori
This is basically an acceptance level
Usually this is set to 0.05
But as I understand, α levels are usually much lower than this in fMRI
If p < α level then we reject the null hypothesis and accept the experimental hypothesis
- concluding that we are 95% certain that our experimental effect is genuine
If however, p > α level then we reject the experimental hypothesis and accept the null hypothesis
- that there was no sig diff in brain activation levels between the two conditions
The Meaning of the "p Value" from a Test
- The end result of a statistical significance test is a p value, which represents the probability that random fluctuations alone could have generated results that differed from the null hypothesis (H0), in the direction of the alternate hypothesis (HAlt), by at least as much as what you observed in your data.
If this probability is too small, then H0 can no longer explain your results, and you're justified in rejecting it and accepting HAlt, which says that some real effect is present. You can say that the effect seen in your data is statistically significant.
- How small is too small for a p value? This determination is arbitrary; it depends on how much of a risk you're willing to take of being fooled by random fluctuations (that is, of making a Type I error). Over the years, the value of 0.05 has become accepted as a reasonable criterion for declaring significance.
- If you adopt the criterion that p must be less than or equal to 0.05 to declare significance, then you'll keep the chance of making a Type I error to no more than 5 percent.
11.*
Concepts of Hypothesis Testing
The two possible decisions that can be made:
Conclude that there is enough evidence to support the alternative hypothesis
(also stated as: reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative)
Conclude that there is not enough evidence to support the alternative hypothesis
(also stated as: failing to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative)
NOTE: we do not say that we accept the null hypothesis if a statistician is around…
11.*
Interpreting the p-value…
The smaller the p-value, the more statistical evidence exists to support the alternative hypothesis.
If the p-value is less than 1%, there is overwhelming evidence that supports the alternative hypothesis.
If the p-value is between 1% and 5%, there is a strong evidence that supports the alternative hypothesis.
If the p-value is between 5% and 10% there is a weak evidence that supports the alternative hypothesis.
If the p-value exceeds 10%, there is no evidence that supports the alternative hypothesis.
11.*
Interpreting the p-value…
Overwhelming Evidence
(Highly Significant)
Strong Evidence
(Significant)
Weak Evidence
(Not Significant)
No Evidence
(Not Significant)
0 .01 .05 .10
p=.0069
11.*
Conclusions of a Test of Hypothesis…
If we reject the null hypothesis, we conclude that there is enough evidence to infer that the alternative hypothesis is true.
If we fail to reject the null hypothesis, we conclude that there is not enough statistical evidence to infer that the alternative hypothesis is true. This does not mean that we have proven that the null hypothesis is true!
Keep in mind that committing a Type I error OR a Type II error can be VERY bad depending on the problem.
Type I Error
H0 ------true
But we reject H0
Example: Innocent but found guilty.
- Type II Error
- H0 ------false
- But we fail to reject H0
Example: Guilty but found innocent
Two types of errors
11.*
Hypothesis Testing…
The probability of a Type I error is denoted as α (Greek letter alpha). The probability of a type II error is β(Greek letter beta).
- The two probabilities are inversely related. Decreasing one increases the other, for a fixed sample size.
In other words, you can’t have and β both real small for any old sample size. You may have to take a much larger sample size, or in the court example, you need much more evidence.
Types of Errors
There are two types of error that you can make:
A Type 1 (or alpha) error denotes a false positive result, i.e. that you accept the H1 in your data, even though the H0 is true
Conversely, a type 2 (or beta) error denotes a false negative result, i.e. that you accept the H0, even though the H1 is true
The two green fields describe the remaining probability that, given alpha (or beta), you are making the correct decision when you accept the H0 (true negative result) or reject the H0 (i.e. accept the H1) (true positive result)
The way in which we decide whether a given value is highly unlikely (i.e. Statistically significant) is to look at the underlying distribution
| Population | |||
| H0 | H1 | ||
| Sample | H0 | 1-a | b-error (Type II error) |
| H1 | a-error (Type I error) | 1-b |
*
Two types of errors
Type I error = false positive
- α level of 0.05 means that there is 5% risk that a type I error will be encountered
Type II error = false negative
*
Beware of errors
We must be aware that errors can occur during this process
Two types of errors
- type I error = false positive
Where we incorrectly reject the null hypothesis.
The pre-determined α level determines the risk of this type of error.
α level of 0.05 means that there is 5% risk that a type I error will be encountered.
The other type of error is…
- type II error = false negative
Where we incorrectly reject the exp hypothesis
Significant?
11.bin
The P-value
By convention, p-values of <.05 are often accepted as “statistically significant”
*
Example: Health education involving active participation by mothers will produce more positive changes in child feeding than health education based on lectures.
Independent variable (predisposing factor): types of health education.
Dependent variable (outcome): changes in child feeding.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
P = Probability
this value tells us the probability that the observed result was obtained by chance
That there is no difference between the two groups
Each test result (e.g. t value) is associated with a particular p value
α level is set a priori
This is basically an acceptance level
Usually this is set to 0.05
But as I understand, α levels are usually much lower than this in fMRI
If p < α level then we reject the null hypothesis and accept the experimental hypothesis
- concluding that we are 95% certain that our experimental effect is genuine
If however, p > α level then we reject the experimental hypothesis and accept the null hypothesis
- that there was no sig diff in brain activation levels between the two conditions
*
*
Beware of errors
We must be aware that errors can occur during this process
Two types of errors
- type I error = false positive
Where we incorrectly reject the null hypothesis.
The pre-determined α level determines the risk of this type of error.
α level of 0.05 means that there is 5% risk that a type I error will be encountered.
The other type of error is…
- type II error = false negative
Where we incorrectly reject the exp hypothesis
Decision Chart for Significance
Meaning: there is a
sig. relationship. b/w
the two variables
it is sig.
if prob. smaller than
0.05
Meaning: there is No
Sig. relationship
b/w the two
variables
it is Not Sig.
if prob. bigger than
0.05
Is It significant?
Qualitative-sampling-techniques-01+-1.pdf
2) Qualitative
Sampling Techniques
Training Course in Sexual and Reproductive Health Research
Geneva 2012
Dr. Khalifa Elmusharaf MBBS, PGDip, FRSPH, PhD researcher Health System & Policy
RCRU / UMST
Objective of Presentation
By the end of this presentation you should be able to:
• Describe the justification of qualitative Sampling Techniques
• Understand different types of Sampling Techniques
Sampling for Qualitative
Research
• The aim of the qualitative research is to understand, from within, the subjective reality of the study participants.
• This will not be achieved through superficial knowledge about a large, representative sample of individuals.
• Rather we want to reach people within the study area who can share their unique slice of reality, so that all slices together illustrate the range of variation within the study area.
Sampling for Qualitative
Research
• The general rule in qualitative research is that you continue to sample until you are not getting any new information or are no longer gaining new insights.
“Saturation”
Sampling for Qualitative
Research
• With careful sampling and equally careful collection techniques, a surprisingly small number of interviews, narratives or focus groups can yield the data to answer your research question.
Types of Sampling
Convenience Sampling
(ease of access)
• Convenience sampling defined as a group of individuals believed to be representative of the population from which it is selected, but chosen because it is close at hand rather than being randomly selected. – Selection of the sample is at the convenience of the
researcher – Biased
• e.g. when you simply ask any patient in your clinic who is willing to participate.
Convenience
• Saves time, money, and effort. Poorest rational; lowest credibility. Yields information-poor cases.
• This is the least rigorous technique, involving the selection of the most accessible subjects. It is the least costly to the researcher, in terms of time, effort and money, but may result in poor quality data and lacks intellectual credibility.
• There is an element of convenience sampling in many qualitative studies, but a more thoughtful approach to selection of a sample is usually justified.
Theoretical Sample
The process of data collection for generating
theory whereby the analyst jointly collects, codes, and analyzes his data and decides what data to collect next and where to find them, in order to develop the theory as it emerges”
(Glaser and Strauss, 1967)
• The sampling process is entirely controlled by the emerging theory
Purposive Sampling
(judgemental)
• The researcher attempts to obtain sample that appears to him/her to be representative of the population.
Snowball Sampling
(friend of friend)
• You initially contact a few potential respondents and then ask them whether they know of anybody with the same characteristics that you are looking for in your research.
• For example, if you wanted to interview a sample of vegetarians / cyclists / people with a particular disability / people who support a particular political party etc.
Extreme or Deviant Case
• Learning from highly unusual manifestations of the phenomenon of interest, such as outstanding success/notable failures, top of the class/dropouts, exotic events, crises.
• To obtain information on unusual cases, which can be especially ‘problematic’ or especially ‘good’.
Intensity
• Information-rich cases that manifest the phenomenon intensely, but not extremely, such as good students/poor students, above average/below average.
Maximum Variation
• Purposefully picking a wide range of variation on dimensions of interest...documents unique or diverse variations that have emerged in adapting to different conditions. Identifies important common patterns that cut across variations.
• To obtain information about the significance of various
circumstances for processes and outcome (e.g. three to four cases that are very different on one dimension: e.g. largest, median and smallest size; government, aided, not-for-profit and commercial funding patterns; city, town and rural area).
Homogeneous
• Focuses, reduces variation, simplifies analysis, facilitates group interviewing.
Typical Case
• Illustrates or highlights what is typical, normal, average.
• The case is specifically selected because it is not in any way atypical, extreme, deviant or intensely unusual.
• This strategy is often used when the units of analysis are large, as for example in studies of villages in developing countries.
• Selecting a typical village allows the research to illustrate the general process that occurs.
• This strategy is particularly useful if the research report will predominantly be read by people who are unfamiliar with the area of research.
Stratified Purposeful
• Illustrates characteristics of particular subgroups of interest; facilitates comparisons.
• The technique is a kind of ‘statistically non representative stratified sampling’ because, while it is similar to its quantitative counterpart, it must not be seen as a sampling strategy that allows statistical generalisation to the large population.
Critical Case
• Permits logical generalization and maximum application of information to other cases because if it's true of this once case it's likely to be true of all other cases.
• To test a hypothesis by choosing the case that permits logical deductions of the type, “If this is valid for this case, then it should apply to all cases.” Or “If it is not valid for this case, it is unlikely to be valid for any other cases”.
Key Informant Sample
• Key informants, as a result of their personal skills, or position within a society, are able to provide more information and a deeper insight into what is going on around them.
• Characteristics of an "ideal" key informant: 1. Role in community 2. Knowledge 3. Willingness 4. Communicability 5. Unbiased
Criterion
• All cases that meet a set of criteria are selected. In criterion sampling it is important to select the criteria carefully, so as to define cases that will provide detailed and rich data relevant to the particular research problem.
• For example, all former clients of an intensive care unit who return to intensive care with the same complaint within three weeks may constitute a sample for in-depth, qualitative study.
• These criteria would facilitate a study of the effectiveness of after-care programs attached to intensive care units.
Confirming or Disconfirming
• Elaborating and deepening initial analysis, seeking exceptions, testing variation.
Opportunistic
• New opportunities to recruit participants or to gain access to a new site may develop after the fieldwork has begun.
• A researcher studying heart attacks may, for example, meet a cardiologist while interviewing one of his or her patients.
• The cardiologist may suggest how the researcher can contact other cardiologists who would be willing to refer clients to the researcher.
Random Purposeful
• (still small sample size) Adds credibility to sample when potential purposeful sample is larger than one can handle. Reduces judgment within a purposeful category. (Not for generalizations or representativeness)
Politically Important Cases
• Attracts attention to the study (or avoids attracting undesired attention by purposefully eliminating from the sample politically sensitive cases).
Volunteer Sampling
• Samples are often drawn through advertising, requesting people to volunteer to participate in the study.
• This can be particularly useful when potential participants are dispersed throughout the community or difficult to contact directly.
• However, volunteer samples are typically biased in particular ways.
• For example, a volunteer sample of people living with HIV/AIDS will systematically be biased to exclude people who are denying or ignoring their HIV status.
Combination or Mixed
Purposeful
• Triangulation, flexibility, meets multiple interests and needs.
End
Research Methods __ Feb - May __2020__.ppt
*
The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn (Alvin Torffler, 2006).
“Kindness in an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do” (Emmanuel Swedenborg, 1688 – 1722).
“The surest way to keep people down is to educate the men and neglect the women. If you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation“ (James Kwegyir Aggrey).
SPSG 704 :Research Methods
Welcome August 10th - 28th 2020
“-- First you must say what you are going to talk about,
--- Secondly you must talk about it,
--- And then you must say what you talked about”
(Alistair Cooke: 2004:14)
*
Definitions of Research
The main goal of research is the gathering and interpreting of information to answer questions (Hyllegard, Mood, & Morrow, 1996).
Research is a systematic attempt to provide answers to questions (Tuckman, 1999).
Research may be defined as the systematic and objective analysis and recording of controlled observations that may lead to the development of generalizations, principles, or theories, resulting in prediction and possible control of events (Best & Kahn, 1998).
Research is a systematic way of asking questions, a systematic method of inquiry (Drew, Hardman, & Hart, 1996).
Source: https://www.hanze.nl/en/research/researchportal/centre-of-applied-research-and-innovation/art-society/lifelong-learning-in-music/knowledge-base/online-research-coach/pages/what-is-research.aspx?wbc_purpose=B
*
Development of Research Skills
Learning how to conduct good research:
- Review knowledge base
- New skills (that many people do not have)
- Better understanding and interpretation of the literature
- Recognize new questions that need investigation
Objectivity is the key element of research
Search for Truth
Five sources of evidence in the pursuit of truth:
Custom and tradition
Authority
Personal experience
Deductive reasoning
Scientific inquiry
Code of Conduct for Practice Based Research for Higher Professional Education (HPE)
1. Researchers in HPE serve a professional and a social interest
They will contribute to the profession and the professional practice concerned and they will make an effort to serve public interest. They will focus on relevant themes and problems from the professional practice and on creative, innovative and applicable solutions for the professional practice.
They will contribute to the development of knowledge and theory, stimulate knowledge circulation about both practice and education and they will strive for making results accessible according to the principles of Open Access.
Code of Conduct for Practice Based Research for Higher Professional Education (HPE)
2. HPE researchers are respectful
They will take into consideration the rights, interests, privacy, viewpoints, beliefs, theories and methods of those involved and of fellow researchers. They will abide by the rules and protocols which apply to the professional practice for doing research.
Should research with people and animals give rise to any risk, the interest of the research should justify the taking of that risk. In this case external advisors will be consulted.
Code of Conduct for Practice Based Research for Higher Professional Education (HPE)
3. HPE Researchers are careful
They will consider various scientific viewpoints and related forms of research, the available research methods and the methodological rules which are part of this, as well as the research and professional ethics and values which apply to the professional practice concerned. They will make use of available knowledge from the professional practice and science.
They will write reports which are accurate, complete, exact and replicable. They will take into consideration the desirability of a careful preservation of the data and make sure that intellectual property rights concerning data, results and innovations have been properly dealt with.
Code of Conduct for Practice Based Research for Higher Professional Education (HPE)
4. HPE Researchers have integrity
They will be critical concerning opinions and problem definitions held in the professional practice, independent in their choices of method and honest about the sources they use.
They will be communicative about their behaviour during the carrying out of the research, autonomous in their analyses and impartial in their reports.
Code of Conduct for Practice Based Research for Higher Professional Education (HPE)
5. HPE Researchers are answerable for their choices and behaviour
They will be accountable concerning the relevance of their chosen theme, their choice of research setup and the used methods and their restrictions, the care concerning the carrying out, the underpinning of the conclusions, the sources consulted, the implementation in the professional practice, as well as the way it will affect education.
*
Course Outline & Topics
*
*
Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigms
*
*
Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigms
*
*
Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigms
*
*
Qualitative and Quantitative Paradigms
Subject matter of lecture: Research Methods __ Overview
Qualitative Research Quantitative Research
Also known as interpretative / responsive positivist /hypothetico-deductive
Type of reasoning (usually) inductive (usually) deductive
Link with concepts identifies concepts identified concepts and
investigates relationships
Action sometimes only describes a situation tests relationships between
But in action-research openly intervene concepts
Outcome illuminates the situation accepts or rejects proposed theory
Approach to validity truth seen as context bound truth seen as objective and
(socially constructed) universal
*
*
Typical Methods
*
*
Typical Methods
*
*
Research Methods Categorised by Activity
*
*
Research Methods Categorised by Activity
*
*
Research Methods Categorised by Activity
*
*
Software
*
*
Conclusion
*
*
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT HOW & WHERE TO START?
*
*
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT HOW & WHERE TO START?
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
*
Science and Research
*
Science and Research
According to Plato, knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed
*
Scientific Revolution
The event which many historians of science call the scientific revolution can be dated roughly as having begun in 1543, the year in which Nicolaus Copernicuss published his De revolutionibus orbium coelestiumm (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) and Andreas Vesaliuss published his De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human body).
As with many historical demarcations, historians of science disagree about its boundaries. Although the period is commonly dated to the 16th and 17th centuries, some see elements contributing to the revolution as early as the middle ages, and finding its last stages in chemistry and biology in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Scientific Revolution
*
Significance of the Revolution
Many contemporary writers and modern historians claim that there was a revolutionary change in world view. In 1611 the English poet, John Donnee, wrote:
[The] new Philosophy calls all in doubt,
The Element of fire is quite put out;
The Sun is lost, and the earth, and no man's wit
Can well direct him where to look for it
Scientific Revolution
*
Renaissance
The Renaissance (meaning "rebirth"; Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere "be born") was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of western Europe.
Scientific Revolution
*
Renaissance
The Renaissance saw developments in most intellectual pursuits, but is perhaps best known for its artistic aspect and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who have inspired the term "Renaissance men".
Scientific Revolution
*
Paradigm Shifts
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (SSR) Kuhn argued that science does not progress via a linear accumulation of new knowledge, but undergoes periodic revolutions, also called "paradigm shifts" (although he did not coin the phrase), in which the nature of scientific inquiry within a particular field is abruptly transformed.
In general, science is broken up into three distinct stages. Prescience, which lacks a central paradigm, comes first.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
*
Paradigm Shifts
This is followed by "normal science", when scientists attempt to enlarge the central paradigm by "puzzle-solving". Thus, the failure of a result to conform to the paradigm is seen not as refuting the paradigm, but as the mistake of the researcher.
As anomalous results build up, science reaches a crisis, at which point a new paradigm, which subsumes the old results along with the anomalous results into one framework, is accepted. This is termed revolutionary science.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
*
- Thomas Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Samuel L. Kuhn, an industrial engineer, and Minette Stroock Kuhn. He obtained his bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1943, and master's and Ph.D in physics in 1946 and 1949, respectively. He later taught a course in the history of science at Harvard from 1948 until 1956 at the suggestion of university president James Conant. After leaving Harvard, Kuhn taught at the University of California, Berkeley, in both the philosophy department and the history department, being named Professor of the History of Science in 1961. At Berkeley, he wrote and published (in 1962) his best known and most influential work: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
- Kuhn was married twice, first to Kathryn Muhs (with whom he had three children) and later to Jehane Barton (Jahane R. Kuhn)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
*
The Polanyi-Kuhn Debate
Scientific historians and scholars have noted similarities between Kuhn's work and the work of Michael Polanyi.
Although they used different terminologies, both scientists believed that scientists' subjective experiences made science a relativistic discipline. Polanyi lectured on this topic for decades before Kuhn published "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions."
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
*
The Polanyi-Kuhn Debate
Supporters of Polanyi charged Kuhn with plagiarism, as it was known that Kuhn attended several of Polanyi's lectures, and that the two men had debated endlessly over the epistemology of science before either had achieved fame.
In response to these critics, Kuhn cited Polanyi in the second edition of "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," and the two scientists agreed to set aside their differences in the hopes of enlightening the world to the dynamic nature of science.
- Despite this intellectual alliance, Polanyi's work was constantly interpreted by others within the framework of Kuhn's paradigm shifts, much to Polanyi's (and Kuhn's) dismay.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
Where can you find people conducting social research, students, professors, professional researchers, and scientists' in universities, research centers, and the government, with an army of assistants and technicians, conduct much social research.
This research is not visible to the average person. Although the results may appear only in specialized publications or textbooks, the basic knowledge and research methods that professional researchers develop become the basis for all other social research.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct science social research?
In addition to those in universities, people who work for newspapers, television networks, market research firms, schools, hospitals, social service agencies, political parties, consulting firms, government agencies, personnel departments, public interest organizations, insurance companies, or law firms may conduct research as part of their jobs.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct science social research?
The findings from research yield better informed, less biased decisions than the guessing, hunches, and intuition:
Science does not, and cannot, provide people with fixed, absolute truth. This is because science is a slow, incomplete process of reducing untruth. It is a quest for the best possible answers carried out by a collection of devoted people who labour strenuously in a careful, systematic, and open-minded manner.
Many people are uneasy with the pain-staking pace, hesitating process, and incertitude of science. They demand immediate, absolute answers. Many turn to religious fanatics or political demagogues who offer final, conclusive truths in abundance.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct science social research?
What does this mean for diligent practitioners (e.g., human service workers, health care professionals, criminal justice officers, journalists, peace and security analyst, econometrist or policy analysts) who have to make prompt decisions in their daily work?
Must they abandon scientific thinking and rely on common sense, personal conviction, or political doctrine? No.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
They too, can use social scientific thinking. Their task is difficult but possible. They must conscientiously try to locate the best knowledge currently available; use careful, independent reasoning; avoid known errors or fallacies; and be wary of any doctrine offering complete, final answers.
Practitioners must always be open to new ideas, use multiple information source and constantly question the evidence offered to support a course of action.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct science social research?
Misuse:
Unfortunately, those being studied may feel over studied or overloaded by the research. For example, the many exit poll studies by the mass media during elections have prompted a backlash of people refusing to vote and debates over legal restrictions on such polling.
Also, some people misuse or abuse social research– use sloppy research techniques, misinterpret findings, rig studies to find previously decided results, and so on. But the hostile reactions to such misuse may be directed at research in general instead of at the people who misuse it.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
For over a century, social research has had two wings.
Researchers in one adopt a more detached, scientific, and academic orientation; those in the other are more activist, pragmatic, and reform oriented. This is not a rigid separation.
Researchers in the two wings cooperate and maintain friendly relations. Some move from one wing to another at different stages in their careers.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
The difference in orientation revolves around how to use social research. In simple terms, some focus on using research to advance general knowledge, whereas others use it to solve specific problems.
Those who seek an understanding of the fundamental nature of social reality are engaged in basic research (also called academic research or pure research).
Applied researchers, by contrast, primarily want to apply and tailor knowledge to address a specific practical issue. They want to answer policy question or solve a pressing social problem.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
Basic Research:
Basic research advances fundamental knowledge about the social world.
It focuses on refuting or supporting theories that explain how the social world operates, what makes things happen, why social relations are a certain way, and why society changes.
Basic research is the source of most new scientific ideas and ways of thinking about the world. It can be exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory; however, explanatory research is the most common.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
Basic Research:
Many non-scientists criticize basic research and ask, ‘’What good is it ?’’
They consider basic research to be a waste of time and money because it does not have a direct use or help resolve an immediate problem.
It is true that knowledge produced by basic research often lacks practical applications in the short term.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social research?
The Use of Research:
Basic Research:
Yet , basic research provides a foundation for knowledge and understanding that are generalizable to many police areas, problems, or areas of study.
Basic research is the source of most of the tools – methods, theories, and ideas – that applied researchers use. Really big break through’s in understanding and significant advances in knowledge usually come from basic research.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
Applied Research:
Applied researchers try to solve specific policy problems or help practitioners accomplish tasks.
Theory is less central to them than seeking a solution to a specific problem for a limited setting (e.g. ‘’Will the number of auto accidents involving drunk drivers decline if governments sponsor road safety educational programmes?’’).
Applied research is frequently descriptive research, and its main strength is its immediate practical use.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
Applied Research:
People employed by businesses, government agencies, social service agencies, health organizations, and educational institutions conduct applied research. It often affects our daily lives.
Decisions to market a new product, to choose one policy over another, or to continue or end a public programme may be based on applied research.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
Applied Research:
The scientific community is the primary consumer of basic research. The consumers of applied research findings are practitioners such as teachers, counsellors', and caseworkers, or decision makers such as managers, committees, and officials. Often, someone other than the researcher who conducted the study uses the results of applied research.
The use of the results may be beyond the researcher’s control. This means that applied researchers have an obligation to translate findings from scientific technical language into the language of decision makers or practitioners.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
The Purpose of Research __ why conduct social science research?
The Use of Research:
Applied Research:
Applied and basic researchers adopt different orientations toward research methodology. Basic researchers emphasize high scientific standards and try to conduct near-perfect research.
Applied researchers make some more trade-offs. They may compromise scientific rigor to get quick, usable results.
Compromise is no excuse for sloppy research, however.
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
Basic and Applied Research Compared
Basic Applied
Research is intrinsically satisfying and Research is part of a job and is judged by sponsors
judgements are by other researchers. who are outside the discipline .
Research problems and subjects are Research problems are narrowly constrained to
selected with a great deal of freedom. the demands of employers or sponsors.
Research is judged by absolute norms of The rigor and standards of scholarships depend on
scientific rigor, and the highest standards the uses of results. Research can be quick and dirty
of scholarship are sought. or may match high scientific standards.
The primary concern is with the internal The primary concern is with the ability to generalize
logic and rigor of research design findings to areas of interest to sponsors.
The driving goal is to contribute to basic The driving goal is to have practical payoffs or uses
theoretical knowledge for results
Success comes when results appear in a Success comes when results are used by sponsors in
scholarly journal and have an impact on in decision making
others in the scientific community
*
Why Conduct Social Science Research
*
Acquiring knowledge
Issues
As the previous discussion has shown, a distinguishing characteristic of science is the method by which we know something to be true. This can be highlighted by contrasting science to other methods of knowing reality.
Charles Peirce (in Kerlinger, 1986), classified methods of knowing, or as he called them, methods of “fixing belief” into four categories:
1.) the method of tenacity,
2.) the method of authority,
3.) the “a priori” method and finally,
4.) the method of science.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Method of Tenacity
Probably the least sophisticated method for fixing belief is the method of tenacity.
This method determines truth, or establishes explanations, by asserting that something is true simply because it is commonly known to be true. This sometimes-fanatical adherence to a set of beliefs is exemplified in racial or ethnic stereotypes.
In the method of tenacity, the process of formulating beliefs occurs entirely within a given individual and is entirely subject to that person’s beliefs, values and idiosyncrasies.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Method of Tenacity
Although it is the most primitive, this method of forming beliefs about what is true and what is false is very commonly used.
Remarkably, people often sustain belief even in the face of contrary evidence.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Method of Authority
The second method is the method of authority.
In this method, truth is established when someone or something for which I have high regard states the truth.
I may accept my physician’s diagnosis of my illness as truth because my physician has been correct in the past, or because I have been taught that physicians are expert in what they do.
Or I may regard a religious text or a political tract as the distillation of truth, because they are sources of authoritative statements.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Method of Authority
The second method is the method of authority.
This method has an advantage over the method of tenacity because it often relies on the testimony of experts. If the source is indeed expert, adopting the expert’s advice may be beneficial.
In the case of medical problems, for instance, it would be better if a patient followed a doctor’s expert advice rather than clinging to the personal belief that his condition was the consequence of the wrath of a vengeful god and not subject to cure.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Method of Authority
The method of authority is quite widespread and has both its uses and abuses. The number of people who make a living as consultants, or purveyors of expertise, testifies to its popularity.
The method is also used in advertising, as products are ringingly endorsed by people who “ought to know”, such as a champion tennis player endorsing a racquet.
But this method is dangerous when the purported expert is really not knowledgeable (such as a medical “quack”), or when persons with expertise in one area give advice in an unrelated area (a movie star endorses a political candidate).
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
A priori and a posteriori (philosophy)
The third method of knowing is the a priori method or the method of reasonable men.
This method rests on the idea that the propositions submitted are self-evident, that is, they agree with reason.
The terms "a priori" and "a posteriori" are used in philosophy to distinguish between deductive and inductive reasoning, respectively. Attempts to define clearly or explain a priori and a posteriori knowledge are part of a central thread in epistemology, the study of knowledge.
One rough and oversimplified explanation is that a priori knowledge is independent of experience, while a posteriori knowledge is dependent on experience.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Scientific method __last method
What is Science?
Science is the concerted human effort to increase knowledge and understanding of the natural world and how the natural world works. Approaches to scientific work have evolved throughout history to well-defined knowledge acquisition workflows, techniques and standards, which are known as the ‘scientific method’. Following the principles of the scientific method is the essence of academic work. In your Master Thesis you will demonstrate the academic working skills that you have acquired during your MSc/MA study.
In the future you will find these skills useful in asking the right questions, the approach to problem solving and presenting what you have done. Academic work is not restricted to academia!
Source: https://elearn.sbg.ac.at/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_34719_1&content_id=_1023514_1
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Scientific method __last method
- Scientific method refers to the body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
- It is based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning.
- A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Scientific method __last method
Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process must be objective to reduce a biased interpretation of the results.
Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them.
This practice, called full disclosure, also allows statistical measures of the reliability of these data to be established.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Scientific method __last method
Limitations of the Scientific Method
The scientific method cannot be used to study all questions. We cannot employ the scientific method when objective observation is not possible. In this case, we must use other methods of fixing belief.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Acquiring knowledge__ Types of Knowledge
Scientific method __last method
Limitations of the Scientific Method
- Basic beliefs or assumptions are not testable propositions, as they can never be disproved, and thus they cannot be investigated scientifically. The statement that “We take these truths to be self-evident … that all men are created equal….” is a wonderful statement of personal truth, but it lies outside the realm of scientific investigation.
The limits of science are clear; the limits of belief are not.
Refer to slides: Religion and science _Best_011.ppt
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Exercise __ in-class
Discuss the two main categories of research methodology; make your preference known.
What matters is that the methodology used fit the intended purposes of the research. Do you agree with this statement; justify your position.
Within the philosophy of science and research, we are informed “truth” is important. As a graduate student and, in view of the quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan how would you explain this statement to your undergraduate friend.
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
*
Ontology - The Nature of “Reality”
Realism
There is an independently existing “objective” reality.
Idealism
“Reality” exists only in our minds
*
Epistemology - The Nature of Knowledge and Meaning
1. Objectivism
Meaning exists in the world.
2. Constructionism
Meaning comes from our interactions with the world (and others).
3. Subjectivism
We impose meaning on the world.
*
Epistemology Personified
Image Sources: http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/bertrand-miner.jpg ; http://www.hmoon.com/garments/cloaks/traveler1-detail.jpg; http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42854000/jpg/_42854125_activist_afp416.jpg
Objectivism
Subjectivism
Constructionism
The Miner
The Traveler
The Activist
Meaning exists in the world
Meaning comes from our interactions with the world
We impose meaning on the world
*
Contrasting the Approaches
| Objectivism | Construct- ionsim | Subjectivism | |
| Goal: | Explanation | Exploration | Empowerment |
| Looking for: | Truth | Understanding | Progress |
| Subjectivity: | Error | Embrace Multiple Perspectives | Specific Perspective |
| Look at: | States (static) , Pieces | Processes (active), Whole | Processes (active), Whole |
| Design is: | Pre-planned | Emergent | Emergent |
| Logic: | Causal, “hard” | Constraining Factors, “Soft” | Constraining Factors, “Soft” |
| Extrapolation: | Generalization (given representative sampling) | Lessons learned, “petite generalizations” | Lessons learned, “petite generalizations” |
| Kinds of Questions | “Does…” “What…” | “How…” | “How…” |
*
Examples of Approaches in Each Epistemology
Objectivism
- Postivism
- Post-positivism
Constructionism
- Phenomenology
- Hermenuetics
- Ethnography
Subjectivism
- Post-modernist
- Structuralist
- Post-structuralist
- Critical Inquiry
*
Some Objectivist Research Approaches
Postivism
- An independent reality exists and we can learn about it through empirical investigation.
Post-positivism
- An independent reality exists but we can only know it indirectly. Big focus on the process of inference and warranting knowledge claims.
*
Some Constructionist Research Approaches
Phenomenology
- The study of lived experience from the perspective of those who experience it (Trying to make meaning of a phenomenon)
Hermenuetics
- Interpretation of signs and symbols as systems of meanings as they are used (Trying to make meaning of a symbol system)
Ethnography
- Study of how people in a group manage and organize their lives as social actors (Trying to make meaning of a culture)
*
Some Subjectivist Research Approaches
Post-modernist
- Research constructs, rather than reveals, meaning. Focus on subjectivity and plurality of meaning across (and within) participants and the researcher.
Structuralist & Post-structuralist
- The study of how meaning is produced within a culture through its structures (linguistic, psychological, sociological). Post-structuralism does not assume critiques structuralist assumptions that structures are unitary, uncontentious and timeless
Critical Inquiry & Feminist
- Driven by a concern with existing power inequalities, actively promotes social change, often begins begins with the standpoints and experiences of the less powerful
*
The Research Proposal
Research Management Process
Phase 1: Research Proposal
Phase 2: Research Plan
Phase 3: Research Execution
Phase 4: Dissertation/thesis/report
Phase 5: Examination and Dissemination
NB Refer to Document: Nap_ research proposal_guide_2014123
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
After examining the processes of selecting the research topic, in this lecture we examine in detail the research proposal:
__the purpose;
b. __ the content of the research proposal -- title or topic – background which includes the problem statement and relevant literature or problem statement – literature review – research objectives/questions/hypothesis – method/procedure – time scale – resources – references – research budget.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Length
Your Research Proposal should aim to be clear and concise but will vary in length according to the subject area:
For Humanities, Languages, Education, Social Sciences and Business Related studies, research proposals should be in the region of 2,500 - 3,750 words
Science, Computing and Engineering research proposals should be in the region of 1000 - 1500 words
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Not a commitment
The proposal you submit at this stage will not commit you to an irrevocable course of research, rather it will allow us to assess the potential of the project, and whether we have sufficient expertise in the area to provide adequate supervision for your project.
It will also serve as an indicator of your ability to undertake a masters/doctoral studies
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Cover
-- the title of the proposal
A good title is usually a compromise between conciseness and explicitness. Although titles should be comprehensive enough to indicate the nature of the proposed work, they should also be brief.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Cover
-- the title of the proposal
-- Name : your name
-- Level of study/degree : Master Research Proposal
-- Institution : the name and address of the University/unit
-- Date : date submitted
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Abstract
Every proposal, even very brief ones, should have an abstract.
Some readers read only the abstract, and most readers rely on it initially to give them a quick overview of the proposal and later to refresh their memory of its main points.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Abstract
Though it appears first, the abstract should be written last, as a concise summary (approximately 200 words) of the proposal.
It should appear on a page by itself numbered with a small Roman numeral if the proposal has a table of contents and with an Arabic number if it does not.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Table of Content
Long and detailed proposals may require, in addition to a table of contents, a list of illustrations (or figures) and a list of tables.
If all of these are included, they should follow the order mentioned, and each should be numbered with lower-case Roman numerals. If they are brief, more than one can be put on a single page.
The table of contents should list all major parts and divisions (including the abstract, even though it precedes the table of contents). Subdivisions usually need not be listed. Again, the convenience of the reader should be the guiding consideration.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Introduction
The introduction of a proposal should begin with a capsule statement of what is being proposed and then should proceed to introduce the subject to a stranger.
It should give enough background to enable him to place your particular research problem in a context of common knowledge and should show how its solution will advance the field or be important for some other work.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Background
Sufficient details should be given in this section (1) to make clear what the research problem is and exactly what has been accomplished; (2) to give evidence of your own competence in the field; and (3) to show why the previous work needs to be continued. Some sponsors want to know also who has funded the previous work.
Discussions of work done by others should therefore lead the reader to a clear impression of how you will be building upon what has already been done and how your work differs from theirs. It is important to establish what is original in your approach, what circumstances have changed since related work was done, or what is unique about the time and place of the proposed research.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Statement of the Research Problem
Research forms a cycle. It starts with a problem and ends with a solution to the problem. The problem statement is therefore the axis which the whole research revolves around, because it explains in short the aim of the research.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Statement of the Research Problem
What is a Research Problem __source?
Own experience or the experience of others may be a source of problem supply.
scientific literature/policy/ies.
Theory/ies
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Statement of the Research Problem
Sub-problem (s)
Sub-problems are problems related to the main problem identified. Sub-problems flow from the main problem and make up the main problem.
It is the means to reach the set goal in a manageable way and contribute to solving the problem.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Statement of the Research Problem
What is a research problem?
A research problem is the situation that causes the researcher to feel apprehensive, confused and ill at ease.
It is the demarcation of a problem area within a certain context involving the WHO or WHAT, the WHERE, the WHEN and the WHY of the problem situation.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Statement of the Research Problem
Keep the following in mind:
- Highlight key theories, concepts and ideas current in this area.
- Why are these issues identified important?
- What needs to be solved?
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Statement of the Research Problem
CHECKLIST FOR TESTING THE FEASIBILITY OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM:
- Is the research free of any ethical problems and limitations?
- Is the research problem important? Will you be proud of the result?
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Research Goals and Objectives
Goal __ broad purpose of study
The primary goal of this research project is to standardize the measurement and characterization of building energy performance. Outcomes of this project include a common language and standards that produce consistent results independent of the user.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Research Goals and Objectives
Objectives __ secondary purpose/aims of study
Although many performance attributes of buildings require clearly defined metrics, we are only concerned with metrics related to energy consumption and on-site energy production. Our objectives are to:
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Research Goals and Objectives
Objectives __ secondary purpose/aims of study
More specifically, the objectives of this study are as follows:
Identify existing performance metrics
Clearly define new performance metrics that characterize building energy performance and provide guidance on their use
Standardize the methods or procedures for quantifying the metrics
Develop and validate procedures for collecting data, assuring data quality, and reporting data needed to support the building energy performance metrics.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Study Assumption(s)
Philosophical work abounds on the use of assumptions in both natural science and social science.
assumptions are integral parts of scientific explanations
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
An hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction. It describes in concrete (rather than theoretical) terms what you expect will happen in your study.
Not all studies have hypotheses.
A single study may have one or many hypotheses.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
Alternative /null hypothesis
Usually, we call the hypothesis that you support (your prediction) the alternative hypothesis, and we call the hypothesis that describes the remaining possible outcomes the null hypothesis.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
Sometimes we use a notation like HA or H1 to represent the alternative hypothesis or your prediction, and HO or H2 to represent the null case. You have to be careful here, though.
Alternative hypothesis __ HA or H1
Null hypothesis __ HO or H2
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
Working example : Alternative /null hypothesis
For instance, let's imagine that you are investigating the effects of a new employee training program and that you believe one of the outcomes will be that there will be less employee absenteeism. Your two hypotheses might be stated something like this:
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
Working example : Alternative /null hypothesis
The null hypothesis for this study is:
HO: As a result of the XYZ company employee training program, there will either be no significant difference in employee absenteeism or there will be a significant increase.
which is tested against the alternative hypothesis:
HA: As a result of the XYZ company employee training program, there will be a significant decrease in employee absenteeism.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
keep in mind: Alternative /null hypothesis
The important thing to remember about stating hypotheses is that you formulate your prediction (directional or not), and then you formulate a second hypothesis that is mutually exclusive of the first and incorporates all possible alternative outcomes for that case.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
keep in mind: Alternative /null hypothesis
If your prediction was correct, then you would (usually) reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative.
If your original prediction was not supported in the data, then you will accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternative.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
Working example: Environmental policy, innovation and performance : new insights on the Porter hypothesis
Jaffe and Palmer (1997) present three distinct variants of the so-called Porter Hypothesis.
The “weak” version of the hypothesis posits that environmental regulation will stimulate certain kinds of environmental innovations.
The “narrow” version of the hypothesis asserts that flexible environmental policy regimes give firms greater incentive to innovate than prescriptive regulations, such as technology-based standards.
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
Working example:
Finally, the “strong” version posits that properly designed regulation may induce cost-saving innovation that more than compensates for the cost of compliance.
In this paper, we test the significance of these different variants of the Porter Hypothesis using data on the four main elements of the hypothesized causality chain (environmental policy, research and development, environmental performance and commercial performance).
The Research Proposal
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Hypotheses
Working example:
The analysis is based upon a unique database which includes observations from approximately 4200 facilities in seven OECD countries. In general, we find strong support for the “weak” version, qualified support for the “narrow” version, and qualified support for the “strong” version as well.
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Methodology of the Study
the science of method; the science dealing with principles of procedure in research and study.
--- Research like any other socially constructed activity exists in context
--- Hence, the need to state the particular method/s of collecting and collating data and information
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Significance/Justification of the Study
Critical analysis of the concept/paradigm
Knowledge __ reflexive consideration of the implications of the research for knowledge production
Policy: __ policy formulation __ solve a problem
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Scope of the Study
Para-meters of study
Each study has its own Parameters __ depth of study (micro/macro) or meso
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Limitation/s
Anticipated problems
Time/Financial
Biases of various administrators of questionnaire
Socio-economic and political
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter One
Organisation of the study
Chapters
---- Division of the dissertation/report into chapters (Five/Six)
---- Summary of each chapter; linkage
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter Two
Literature Review
What is a literature review?
It is a critical look at what has been written on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers.
It is NOT just a summary of other people's work.
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter Two
Literature Review
What is its purpose?
You are showing your ability to scan the literature efficiently and apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid studies.
You are demonstrating your ability to synthesise information and think critically.
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Steps to a Lit Review
Problem formulation:
- which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues?
Literature search:
- Find materials relevant to the subject being explored
Data evaluation:
- determine which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
Analysis and interpretation:
- discuss the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature
The Research Proposal
Source: http://writingcenter.utah.edu/_docs/organization_693_1320713252.pdf
*
The Purpose of a Literature Review
To explain the historical background of a topic
To describe and compare the schools of thought on an issue
To synthesize the available research
To highlight and critique research methods
To note areas of disagreement
To highlight gaps in the existing research
To justify the topic you plan to investigate
The Research Proposal
Source: http://writingcenter.utah.edu/_docs/organization_693_1320713252.pdf
*
Common Problems
DO NOT:
Include every source found
Include every source in a sequential order
Summarize without relating the source to the topic
Organize the discussion in an ineffective manner
Lose track of sources and spend time searching for them.
The Research Proposal
Source:
*
Transitions
Transitions help connect paragraphs together
Examples:
One of the first researchers to investigate this problem is Chen . . .
Smith and Jones counter Chen’s argument . . .
The issue becomes more complex when a third school of thought is considered . . .
One researcher who agrees with Chen is . . .
A different approach to this question looks at problems in X
One of the most troublesome problems is addressed by Green . . .
A problem with this approach is that . . .
A recent study adds this to the mix . . .
A crucial issue that has not been addressed is z . . .
Adapted from the University of Houston-Clear Lake PowerPoint
The Research Proposal
Source:
*
Tips for Success
Look at other lit reviews in your area of interest or in the discipline
Clarify the assignment with your instructor
Keep track of sources
Give yourself time for multiple drafts
Have someone in your field read your lit. review
The Research Proposal
Source:
*
Example
Most of the professional and scholarly literature on downtown development has
neglected small cities. Frieden and Sagalyn's (1999) widely cited book Downtown, Inc.
concentrates on largescale projects in Seattle, Boston, St. Paul, and San Diego, while
Loukaitou-Sideris and Banerjee (1998) profile Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego in
their book on downtown design.
Almost all the examples provided in Whyte (1988), Abbott (1993), and Robertson (1995)
are from large cities, and Brooks and Young (1993) use New Orleans as their case study. The
Downtown Development Handbook (McBee, 1992), considered by many to be the bible of
downtown development, is heavily dependent on projects in large cities to illustrate key
points.
Articles addressing a particular downtown development strategy such as retailing
(Robertson, 1997; Sawicki, 1989), stadiums (Noll and Zimbalist, 1997; Rosentraub, Swindell,
Pryzbylski, and Mullins, 1994), pedestrianization (Byers, 1998; Robertson, 1993), and open
space (Loukaitou-Sideris, 1993; Mozingo, 1989) all emphasize large cities as well. The
professional magazine Urban Land has published numerous articles on downtown
development in recent years, most of which feature a single large city (e.g., Holt, 1998;
Howland, 1998; Lockwood, 1996)
The Research Proposal
Source:
*
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter Two
Literature Review
Parts of literature Review
you should view it as having three main sections:
- An introductory section which sets the context for the reader
- The main body where you develop your argument and discuss the literature
- A conclusion.
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Recap __ What is a Literature Review
A Lit Review is NOT
a report that summarizes articles and books about many different topics
a research paper
a list of important research, presented chronologically (in most cases)
A Lit Review
surveys scholarly articles, books, and journals relevant to your narrow topic.
provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each scholarly work.
provides an overview of the significant literature published on your topic
http://writingcenter.utah.edu/_docs/organization_693_1320713252.pdf
*
Recap _ Evaluate the Literature
How do you know what literature to include?
Possibly most recent information
Questions to consider:
Has the author clearly defined the problem/issue?
Could the problem have been approached more effectively from a different perspective?
Does the author show bias?
What is the author’s theoretical approach?
How good is the study design?
How valid are the results?
Are there flaws in the logic of the discussion?
How does the work contribute to the discipline’s understanding of the problem?
What problems has the author avoided or ignored?
Recap _ Evaluate the Literature (Con’t)
Evaluating and describing
other people’s work
- What is a literature review?
- How do I decide what goes where?
- Learning From Secondary Research
- Evaluating Primary Research
- Additional information
1: What is a literature review?
What is a literature review?
- A description of your topic area, supported by references
- A summary, discussion and critical analysis of academic work related to your research question
What can you gain from literature reviews?
- Ideas about which approaches are likely to work, and which are the best
- If you find something similar, you can get
- Ideas for how to implement your deliverable
- Ideas for how to evaluate your deliverable
- The best ways to do things
- E.g. the fastest search algorithm
- Justification for the approach that you are taking
Copying
=
automatic fail
What can you gain from literature reviews?
- Knowledge of what everyone else has done so that you don’t exactly replicate it
- Without a literature review you risk reinventing the wheel
- If you find something similar you may have to slightly change what you are doing to make it novel, or build upon what you found
Organising the review
- In a separate chapter
- The normal approach, used in this module
- In several chapters
- If it is the main part of the thesis, or very important
- Incorporated throughout the thesis as and when needed
- In addition to either of the other two approaches
- Perhaps incorporating individual facts from books
May use books as a reference source: e.g. the definition of SSL.
Overall Structure [Very important]
In this module, we insist on a 3 part approach
- Part 1: Overview of your chosen broad topic
- The field that contains your research question
- Part 2: Explanation of your sub-area
- The area containing your research question
- Part 3: In-depth analysis of research relevant to your research question
- Critical evaluation of the primary research papers directly related to your research question
Overall Structure
Broad Topic
Specialist sub-area
Relevant
Primary
research
Your research question
Add your research topics
Melding the Structure
The three parts of the review need to be melded together by explaining:
- how part 2 fits inside part 1
- how part 3 fits inside part 2
2. How do I decide what goes where?
Conceptual models to help understanding
- Conceptual models can help you understand how the different research fits together
- Helps you decide upon an appropriate structure
- Choose a technique that you are comfortable with
- Spider diagram of the different papers?
- List of keywords?
The literature review process
- The literature review process should help shape
- what you do, and
- how you do it
You should be prepared to change your mind or alter your approach in response to what you discover
Always write up the literature review soon after reading the papers – otherwise you may forget what you have read
The finished review should also shape how others perceive the quality/value of your work
The literature review process
The first role of
a literature review
is often to learn
the topic.
3: Learning From Secondary Research
Secondary research includes books, research summaries and literature reviews
Secondary Research
- Books, literature reviews and web pages can give an overview of a research area
- These can help you to learn what a research area is about before having to read primary research
- Literature reviews should always start with reading secondary research, if possible
Copying
=
automatic fail
Reading books
- Not enough time to read many books all the way through
- Can still use as a reference source, just read relevant chapters/sections
- Books tend to be less controversial and may also summarise the pros and cons of topics discussed (i.e. like a mini-literature review)
- The introduction of a relevant book should summarize the research area
4: Evaluating Primary Research
Primary research is research papers containing new findings - not a literature review
Copying
=
automatic fail
Your evaluation 1
- Read the abstract and conclusions first
- Is it really relevant and useful to you?
- Summarise how it is useful
- Read the whole paper
- Are the methods correct?
- [BOUNDARIES] Is the scope of the study appropriate for your use?
- Make sure that you understand the findings
- [CONCLUSIONS] Read the abstract and conclusions again
- To make sure that you have understood the results and their context
Your evaluation 2
- [LIMITATIONS] The discussion of limitations
- Should be near the end of the paper
- Read to make sure that the findings really apply to the situation in which you are using them
- How significant is the work?
- Does it make a major contribution?
- How does it complement other papers?
BOUNDARIES, LIMITATIONS, CONCLUSIONS
BOUNDARIES, LIMITATIONS, CONCLUSIONS are the key ideas here
Multiple Papers
- Need more than one paper about important points
- Discuss points of agreement
- Discuss points of difference
- In computing there can be differences of opinion, but should not be big differences of fact
- The papers may try different techniques to solve the same problem
- Must use your own opinion on differences, but try to argue your case
Copying
=
automatic fail
Selective reading
- What to do if you do not understand the paper
- Too complex maths
- Too much terminology
- >>Consider reviewing the outcomes of the research and not the technical details [black box approach]
- When to just read the abstract
- If it is clear that the paper is not relevant.
- Can still cite the paper in the literature review if it is near to being relevant and explain briefly why it is not relevant
- This shows that you have done a better literature review
Maths – have to skip, in refereed publications, should be able to take it on trust that the referees have checked it, unless there are other reasons to suspect it.
Get other papers, do web search for terminology.
Common mistakes 1
- Your own opinions without backup, no matter how strongly you believe them (it does not count!)
- E.g. Microsoft is good/rubbish
- Discussing irrelevant literature
- Short literature reviews
- Have not demonstrated the literature review skill
- Have not shown that you understand the context of your work
- Not targeting the review at an appropriate audience
Common mistakes 2
- Not joining the literature together into a coherent whole
- Not targeting the review to the research question
- Missing an important reference
- Your work is seriously undermined if you write about something as though you are the first, but someone else has already published on the subject
Swales’ perspective
- "not sufficiently theme-based“
- "not structured according to the issues“
- "insufficiently informed by the research hypotheses“
- "boringly chronological"
- "just describe each piece of research one by one without adequate linkage"
Professor John Swales, linguistics expert on the structure of scientific communication.
5: Additional information
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is passing off somebody else’s work as your own
- In a literature review you are discussing other people’s work so must clearly reference it
- In this module you must NEVER copy an entire phrase or sentence even if it is in quotes and properly referenced
- If you cannot describe something in your own words then you must not include it in your literature review.
- If you paraphrase other people’s ideas you still need to reference them
Writing tips
- Structure to present an argument, discussing similar papers together
- Do not list the papers and write separate reviews
- Explain the useful information that each paper gives and compare and contrast to other similar papers
- Build an argument that will support the main aim of your thesis
- What you are doing/How you are going to do it/Why you are doing it
- Show how what you are doing is different to what has been done before
Referencing your work
- You MUST reference your work
- This means giving the author name and publication date for all ideas and facts you have used (Harvard /APA format)
Failure to reference your work is Plagiarism and is an automatic fail.
Annotated Bibliography
Session Vocabulary
You might also hear or see
Annotated bib
or
Annotation
or
Lit review
All of these terms are synonymous with annotated bibliographies or literature reviews.
Do note that throughout the presentation, and within your coursework, you may hear terms like annotated bib, annotation, or lit review. [CLICK] Know that annotated bib and annotation are other ways to refer to elements in an annotated bibliography, and lit review is a shortened way to say literature review.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
What does the term mean?
According to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary (2011),
Annotate: “to make or furnish critical or explanatory notes or comment”
Bibliography: “the history, identification, or description of writings or publications”
How do these definitions combine?
Now that we have some vocabulary terms settled, let’s first begin with the term annotated bibliography. We at the Writing Center often receive questions from students on what this term means, so let’s break it down: According to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, the verb “annotate” means “to make or furnish critical or explanatory notes or comment.” The words to pick out of this definition are “critical, explanatory, and notes.” As for the term bibliography, this term is defined as “the history, identification, or description of writings or publications.” So, if we are to combine these terms together, we can determine that an annotated bibliography is a collection of explanatory, critical notes on a list of sources. You could also think of this term to refer to a reference list with a chunk of text below each entry that describes the nature of that source.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
The purpose of an annotation bibliography is:
- To learn about a particular topic
- To demonstrate the value of a particular source
- To inform fellow or future researchers about a topic or a source
Before we get into how to create an annotated bib, writers do need to understand the purpose of the assignment. Without knowing why you are writing an annotated bib, your assignment might not be fulfilling the expectations of your instructor. Overall, there can be many functions of an annotated bib. As a reader, you might want to seek out an annotated bibliography to learn about a specific topic. As a writer, however, creating a annotated bib will allow you to demonstrate the value (or lack of value) of a particular source and to help inform future researchers about a source or topic.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
The format of an annotated bibliography can change depending on the assignment, but the typical format is a list of reference entries followed by annotations.
- Alphabetized by author
- No headings
- Brief
One of the primary questions we at the Writing Center receive about annotated bibliographies is how to format them. Understanding the format of an annotated bib can be the first step in your prewriting process. Essentially, while the format can change depending your specific assignment, an annotated bibliography is formatted as a list of alphabetized reference entries (think of how a typical course paper reference list would look), with each entry followed by an annotation. There are typically no headings to separate the sources or within the annotations, and each annotation should be brief (anywhere from one to two pages). [CLICK] While these formatting requirements are typical for annotated bibs, be sure to ask your instructor about any alternative expectations for your specific assignment.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Here is a visual representation of a portion of an annotated bibliography. [CLICK] You will notice the annotation begins with a reference citation, followed immediately by the first line of text. This reference citation should be in typical APA formatting (for example, double spaced, using a hanging indent, and so forth). This first annotation is concise and is only about one page in length. [CLICK] Typically, you will want subsequent annotations to begin immediately following the previous one. Note that there are no spaces or headings between the end of this first annotation and the new reference entry of the next.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Within each annotation, there are typically three elements:
- Summary
- Critique/analysis
- Application
These elements can often be formatted as three paragraphs.
Now that we have the overall formatting down, let’s get into the nitty gritty details about what an “annotation” is and what is entailed within this text that follows the reference entry. As you begin to construct your annotation, you will focus on three elements: a summary of the source, a critical analysis of the source, and an explanation of how that source applies to your particular topic. To ensure that you fully develop each part of the annotation, instructors will usually ask for each element to be in its own paragraph.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Summary
You will want to answer some or all the following questions:
- What is the topic of the source?
- What actions did the author perform within the study and why?
- What were the methods of the author?
- What was the theoretical basis for the study?
- What were the conclusions of the study?
Let’s start with the summary element. After reading a source and determining how it would fit into your research or topic, your natural instinct is to, typically, summarize the source. When creating a summary paragraph for an annotation, some questions to answer and include within your summary paragraph could be:
What is the topic of the source?
What actions did the author perform within the study and why?
What were the methods of the author?
What was the theoretical basis for the study?
What were the conclusions of the study?
These questions hit at all key elements of a study and give your reader a high level view of that source.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
How to approach a summary:
- Similar to an abstract of a source
- In the past tense
“The authors found…”
- Not the abstract of an article
- Should be written in your own words
Just like answering those questions, some strategies to creating a summary paragraph are to think of it like an abstract, which introduces the topic, development, and conclusions of an article. However, you will want your phrasing of the summary to be in the past tense per APA 3.06 preferences, using phrases like “The authors found…” or “stated.” Do note, though, that a summary paragraph should not be the exact abstract of the article. Avoid the temptation to copy/paste the abstract information into an annotation and instead summarize the source in your own words.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Example Summary:
Gathman, A. C., & Nessan, C. L. (1997). Fowler’s stages of faith development in an honors science-and-religion seminar. Zygon, 32(3), 407–414. Retrieved from http://www .zygonjournal.org/
The authors described the construction and rationale of an honors course in science and religion that was pedagogically based on Lawson’s learning cycle model. In Lawson’s model, the student writes a short paper on a subject before a presentation of the material and then writes a longer paper reevaluating and supporting his or her views. Using content analysis, the authors compared the answers in the first and second essays, evaluating them based on Fowler’s stages of development. Examples of student writing are presented with the authors’ analysis of the faith stage exhibited by the students, which demonstrated development in stages 2 through 5.
Let’s take a look at this sample summary paragraph of an annotation. Note: these elements, like the reference entry and text, will be double spaced for the final paper. I won’t read this entire paragraph to you, but I’ll quickly highlight what the author is doing here. [CLICK] First, this opening line of the annotation immediately discuss the topic and purpose of the article. The reader does not have to dig through a lot of background information to get to the “meat” of the summary. [CLICK] Also, this writer briefly refers to the method, data collection, and analysis of the material that these authors included in the article. This student included all of these elements into one or two sentences, which allows the reader to quickly move into the conclusions of the article. [CLICK] These conclusions are also mentioned in this summary paragraph at the end, and this student takes particular care to mention the results of the study and their overall implication to the study.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Critique/Analysis
You will want to answer some or all the following questions:
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article?
- Methodology, language choices, organization, level of detail
- What, if any, information is missing?
- Is the article scholarly or generalizable? Why or why not?
The next element to a successful annotation is the critique or analysis portion. This aspect is often neglected by students, but this paragraph can be the most important to you as the researcher and to your reader. To help create this paragraph, try answering the following questions:
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article?
Methodology, language choices, organization, level of detail
What, if any, information is missing?
Is the article scholarly or generalizable? Why or why not?
*
Annotated Bibliographies
How to approach a critique/analysis:
- Focus on strengths of the article or study
- What would make your reader want to read this source?
Do not feel the need to be nice
- Your reader will want to know if there are any deficiencies or areas for improvement
There are also some ways to approach your critique outside of these questions, and the best way to ensure you don’t forget to include this part to the annotation is to focus on the strengths. Highlighting these strengths will help an outside reader understand the impact and influence this source has on your research field, and this approach can also help you remember to revisit this source as you develop your own study and want to know what works best. However, students often will feel the need to be “nice” to the author in the analysis paragraph just because the article has been peer reviewed or published. Remember, though, that the majority of published authors in the social science field were once students, and just like a capstone or final project for a course, there can also be room for revision or areas for improvement. If you wished that the author had place more emphasis on a particular result or included more tables in the article to aid readability, feel free to refer to these missing elements and explain how they could have improved the source. That way, your reader will know that you not only engaged with the topic of the article but also the method and mode of the written aspect.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Example Critique/Analysis:
The authors made no mention of how to support spiritual development in the course. They were interested in the interface between religion and science, teaching material on ways of knowing, creation myths, evolutionary theory, and ethics. They exposed students to Fowler’s ideas, but did not relate the faith development theory to student work in the classroom. There appears to have been no effort to modify the course content based on the predominant stage of development, and it is probably a credit to their teaching that they were able to conduct such a course with such diversity in student faith development. However, since Fowler’s work is based largely within a Western Christian setting, some attention to differences in faith among class members would have been a useful addition to the study. There was no correlation between grades and level of faith development.
Using this approach, here’s an example analysis paragraph in an annotated bibliography. [CLICK] The student here notes an aspect of the article where information was lacking. Similarly, [CLICK] at the end of the paragraph, the student mentions what could have been added or improved in the study but is being constructive in the approach.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Application
You will want to answer some or all the following questions:
- Does this article fill a gap in literature?
- How would you be able to apply this method to your area of focus?
- Is the article universal?
The final element to an annotation is the application portion. This element can be just as tricky as the analysis part, as it requires you as the writer to view a source not just by methods or written quality but as a piece of literature in the broader field of research. To do so, you will want to answer these types of questions:
Does this article fill a gap in literature?
How would you be able to apply this method to your area of focus?
Is the article universal?
Don’t feel any pressure to “get it right,” though. Remember this annotation is your interpretation of the applicability of a source, so as long as you have support to back up your claims, your reader will understand your rationale for this annotation element.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
How to approach the application:
- Consider how you would justify the use of the source for your paper
- How is this source different than others in the same field or on the same topic?
- How does this source inform your future research?
When creating the application paragraph, which is often the shortest paragraph in an annotation, consider how you would justify using (or not using) a particular source for your research. Focusing on the unique elements of a source, such as population or method, will help you collect a series of diverse sources on your topic. Similarly, though, if a source is too unique or too narrow, include these limitations in your text. In addition, this application portion should hint at how this source would justify the need for your own research, such as if an author mentioned how to build upon a study or where the field as a whole needs more data.
*
Annotated Bibliographies
Example Application:
Fowler’s work would seem to lend itself to research of this sort, but this model is the only example found in recent literature. This study demonstrates the best use of the model, which is assessment. While the theory claimed high predictive ability, the change process chronicled is so slow and idiosyncratic that it would be difficult to design and implement research that had as its goal measurement of movement in faith development continuum.
These three elements create an annotation.
Let’s take a look at this example application paragraph. You may notice that, when compared to the previous two paragraphs, it is the shortest. [CLICK] here, the student mentions how this article and approach is unique within the literature. [CLICK] Also, the student ends with a discussion on the universal nature of the source and why (or why not) it would be beneficial to the student’s own research or topic. [CLICK] These three elements, summary, critique, and application, create an “annotation.”
*
Annotated Bibliographies
There are some unique characteristics of which to be aware regarding annotations:
- No citations crediting the source or outside sources
- The presence of the reference entry make citation redundant
- No direct quotes
- Your reader will want to hear your interpretation of the material
- No referrals to the first person
- Be objective and removed in your description of the source
- No reference list
- All sources have already been included in the reference list format
Again, be sure to contact your instructor for his/her expectations for your particular assignment.
When constructing these annotations, do know that there are some unique characteristics of which to be aware, and these characteristics do differ from typically coursework expectations. First, there is no need to cite your source within your annotation; the reference entry that begins the annotation will let your reader know to what source you are referring (which, in essence, is what a citation is supposed to do). Also, you will want to avoid including any outside source citations. Each annotation should purely focus on what is housed within that source, and comparing/contrasting sources should be saved for a literature review (which we’ll get to soon). Second, direct quotes should not be present in an annotation. This text is intended for you as the author to demonstrate the value of a source, so paraphrasing is key. You will also want avoid references to yourself or the first person (like I, my, or mine). An annotation should be objective and, just like the guideline to only paraphrase, should just focus on the validity of the source in regard to the overall field. And lastly, you will typically not have to include a reference list for an annotated bibliography, as each source has already been included in its APA format. However, if an annotated bibliography is a part of a longer document, there may be different requirements for that assignment, so contact your instructor for his or her preferences.
*
Annotations and Lit Reviews
How does an annotation relate to a literature review?
An annotated bibliography is often a precursor to a literature review, as it allows an author to collect sources and determine their value to a particular topic or area of research.
In a literature review, the author uses the sources to create a foundation for his/her research.
Now that we know the purpose and format of an annotated bibliography, how does this assignment relate to a literature review? [CLICK] Well, an annotated bibliography is often the first step to creating a literature review, as it will allow you to collect sources and determine their value to your research. [CLICK] In a lit review, however, you will use these sources together to create a foundation or justification for your research.
*
REFERENCING STYLES
American Psychological Association (APA Style)
Harvard Referencing Style
Your Guide to
the Magic and Mystery of
APA Style
Why do you have to do this?
Because learning to write means mastering an accepted and uniform writing style.
Because APA style is the most common writing style in the social sciences.
What’s Included in APA Style?
Basically everything in your paper:
- How your pages are set up
- How you cite sources
- Your references
- Even your language
We’ll start with the list of references
Required if you cite any sources in your paper
Every source cited in your paper must appear on the reference list, and every entry in your reference list must be cited in your paper
Double spaced!
Single-authored book
Perloff, R. M. (1995). The dynamics of persuasion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
*Note: In the 5th edition of APA, there is NO underlining
Reissued book
Newcomb, H. (Ed.). (1995). Television: The critical view (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
*Note: Capitals in the title of the book are restricted to the first letter of the first word of the title, the first letter of any proper names, and the first letter of the first word after a semicolon, period, or question mark.
Dual-authored book
Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. K. (1995). Mass communication theory: Foundations, ferment and future. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
*Note: when listing authors, use an ampersand (&) in the reference list, not “and.”
Essay or chapter in an edited book
Bryant, J. (1989). Message features and entertainment effects. in J. J. Bradac (Ed.), Message effects in communication sceince (pp. 231-262). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
*Note: You must include the page numbers if you’re just referencing one part of a book.
Single-authored article
Garramone, G. M. (1985). Effects of negative political advertising: The roles of sponsor and rebuttal. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 29, 149-159.
*Note: The first letter of every important word in the title of the journal is capitalized.
Two or more authors (article)
Suzuki, S., & Rancer, A. S. (1994). Argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness: Testing for conceptual and measurement equivalence across cultures. Communication Monographs, 61, 256-279.
*Note: Can you find the volume number and page numbers in this citation?
Unpublished convention paper
Thomas, S., & Gitlin, T. (1993, May). Who says there’s a dominant ideology and what happens if that concept is falsified? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Washington, DC.
*Note: Conference papers are less highly regarded than published works
Internet articles based on a print source
VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates. [Electronic version]. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123.
*Note: Sometimes electronic versions are different from the print versions.
Article in an internet-only journal
Frederickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3. Retrieved November 20, 2000, from http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.html
*Note: this would be the correct citation format for the article you abstracted.
Hang on, you’re not done!!
Learning how to do your reference page is only the beginning to APA style!!
When do you cite your sources in your work?
When you’re referring to an idea or concept you drew from something you read.
When you quote from something you read or heard.
When you want to give the reader some other places to look for additional information.
Paraphrasing
Scott (1992) identified…
Several researchers (Anthony, 1990; Gregory & Jacobs, 1985; Polk et al., 1980) reported…
Or at the end of a sentence paraphrased from another work (Scott, 1992).
Citing while paraphrasing
- List the last names of all authors the first time you cite them, unless there are more than 5.
If there are more than five, or you are citing the paper of 3 or more authors for a second or more time, list last name of first author, followed by “et al.,” and the date.
Examples
Scott, Williamson, and Schaffer (1990) reported that…
(FIRST TIME)
Scott et al. (1990) reported that
(EVERY TIME AFTER)
Scott and Williamson (1990) reported that…
(FIRST TIME and EVERY TIME)
6 or more authors, use “et al.,” first time and every time.
Citing while quoting
You need to put the author last name(s) and date, like while paraphrasing, but also the PAGE NUMBERS or PARAGRAPH NUMBERS (for online sources).
Example: “the research findings clearly indicate support for the hypotheses” (Douglass, 1986, p. 55).
Warning
Keep quotations to a minimum (less than 3 per page)
- Don’t forget the quotation marks and page numbers (or paragraph numbers), or you will be guilty of plagiarism!
How to set up your paper in APA
Double space EVERYTHING
Font should be pica 10 pitch or New Times Roman 12
Single spaces between sentences
Page numbers in upper right hand corners
Don’t get tied up in knots…
Ask your instructor if you’re unsure about anything..
Subject matter of lecture: The Research Proposal
Chapter Three
Research Methodology and Design
Introduction section: Qualitative Research Methods
The section covers human inquiry and science, research paradigms, assumptions and types of qualitative studies (Case Study, Grounded theory, Phenomenology, Ethnography, Content Analysis and historical studies), Sampling and types of data collection that is interviewing, written descriptions and observations.
The Research Proposal
Source: http://ideas.repec.org/p/gbl/wpaper/200706.html
*
Methodology and Methods
Methodology is not just method _ (Methodology and Method are often incorrectly used interchangeable)
The study of the general approach to inquiry in a given field
Methodology is the philosophical basis for methods:
Positivism; Phenomenology; Interpretative approaches
Method – the specific techniques, tools or procedures applied to achieve a given objective
- Research methods in economics include regression analysis, mathematical analysis, operations research, surveys, data gathering, etc.
Methods of Collecting Data _Qualitative Versus Quantitative Methods
Qualitative assessment:
Collects data that does not lend itself to quantitative methods but rather to interpretive criteria; “data” or evidence are often representative words, pictures, descriptions, examples of artistic performance, etc.
Quantitative methods are associated with empirical, and positivist research .
Quantitative assessment:
Collects representative data that are numerical and lend themselves to numerical summary or statistical analysis.
Qualitative research is associated with anti-positive philosophies, such as inter-pretivism, ethnography, phenomenology, etc.
Programmess are free to select assessment methods appropriate to their discipline or service.... choices must be valid and reliable
Valid and Reliable Methods
Valid:
The method is appropriate to the academic discipline and measures what it is designed to measure
Reliable:
The method yields consistent data each time it is used and persons using the method are consistent in implementing the method and interpreting the data
Qualitative research...
Commonly called “interpretive research”
…its methods rely heavily on “thick” verbal descriptions of a particular social context being studied
- Is useful for describing or answering questions about particular, localized occurrences or contexts and the perspectives of a participant group toward events, beliefs, or practices
…a helpful process for exploring a complex research area about which little is known
Generally speaking, qualitative researchers….
…spend a great deal of time in the settings being studied (fieldwork)
…rely on themselves as the main instrument of data collection (subjectivity; inter-subjectivity)
…analyze data using interpretative lenses
The general characteristics of qualitative research...
Data are descriptive
Emphasizes a holistic approach (processes and outcomes)
Data sources are real-world situations
Data analysis is inductive
Describes the meaning(s) of research finding(s) from the perspective of the research participants
Uses inductive reasoning…
…involves developing generalizations from a limited number of specific observations or experiences
…highly dependent on the number and representativeness of the specific observations used to make the generalization
- Issues in qualitative research...
b. contacting potential research participants
a. gaining entry
c. selecting participants
d. enhancing validity and reducing bias
e. leaving the field
a. gaining entry...
may require considerable negotiation and compromise with a gatekeeper
access is very much dependent upon the researcher’s personal characteristics and how others perceive the researcher
b. contacting participants...
dealing with gatekeeper(s)
gaining access
issues of building trust and ensuring confidentiality and anonymity __ trust is earned, not given