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The target population in the study is retirees receiving a pension under the SSNIT pension scheme in Ghana. In order to draw a representative sample from this population, it was important to have an idea of the number of people or units in the target population as well as their characteristics (Royse, 2011, p. 194). For reasons of convenience, time and financial constraints, the study focused on the Greater Accra area, which hosts the capital of Ghana (see Figure 1.1) with individual retirees as the unit of analysis (not households). The area was selected because it has the highest proportion of retirees under the SSNIT pension scheme (28.6% in 2012) (Social Security and National Insurance Trust, 2013). A common

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characteristic in this population is that prior to retirement, they contributed to the SSNIT pension scheme and receive monthly pensions in retirement. SSNIT records show that between 2009 and 2013, an average of 7,462 new retirees were added to the total number of retirees under SSNIT each year. With the Accra area contributing 28.6 percent of this number, it is estimated that an average of 2,014 people were added each year to the number of retirees in the Accra area. Thus between 2009 and 2014, a total of 10,260 people retired under the SSNIT scheme in Accra (Social Security and National Insurance Trust, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013).

Sampling criteria

To obtain a representative sample from this population, the study followed a typology of sampling scheme described as multistage random sampling (Collins, 2010; Onwuegbuzie and Collins, 2007, p. 359) in line with the two-phase model design of the study. The inclusive criteria were retirees who receive monthly pensions from SSNIT, who retired between 2009 and 2016, are 55 years and above, and based in the Accra area. In choosing this boundary for inclusion, consideration was given to the fact that in 2015 average life expectancy in Ghana was 61.5 years (United Nations Development Programme, 2016, p. 200) and retirement age is 60 years (voluntary retirement is permitted at 55 years provided the worker has met the minimum requirement of 180 months’ contributions to the fund). Those who retired before the year 2009 might be too old to recall events during their working life and at the time of retirement.

Recruitment and data collection for Phase 1 of the study

The original plan for recruiting respondents for phase 1 was to send an open invitation to a randomly selected sample of retirees through SSNIT. However, this was not possible because SSNIT did not have the mechanisms for directly contacting the retirees. We therefore activated the back-up plan of reaching the retirees through the Pensioners’ Association, a voluntary community based organisation that supports and advocates for SSNIT retirees. During a meeting with the Public Affairs directorate of SSNIT, the contact of the Executive Secretary of SSNIT Pensioners’ Association was given to the researcher. The researcher then called the Executive Secretary and a meeting was arranged at the offices of the Association in Accra. It happened that the national secretariat of the Association was located in the same building where the Greater Accra regional Association was located. At the meeting, the researcher briefed the Executive Secretary of the Pensioners’ Association about the study and gave him a copy each

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of the study’s information sheet and questionnaire. The researcher was then introduced to the Secretary of the Greater Accra regional Association because he was the gate-keeper to the study population. Another date was fixed for a meeting with the Greater Accra regional secretary of the Association.

The meeting with the Greater Accra regional secretary took place in the office of the regional secretariat of the Association. After a thorough briefing and submission of copies of the study’s information sheet and questionnaire, the structure of the regional Association was made clear to the researcher. The Association operates through its sub-regional groups. At the time of the study, there were 28 groups across the region. The full list of all the sub-regional groups or branches, with the names and contact numbers of their leaders, their meeting days and venues of their meetings was given to the researcher. All the groups meet once every month at central locations within their catchment areas. Most of the groups meet during the weekends, although some of them met on working days.

Because the sub-groups operated independently, there were cases where the meeting days were the same for two or three of the groups, although at separate times of the day. The list was used to randomly select 14 out of the 28 sub-groups for inclusion in the study. Because the groups were scattered across the region, the selection ensured that the selected groups covered both urban and peri-urban locations. This was necessary because retirees join sub-groups that are closer to their homes. Although joining the Association is voluntary, all retirees are encouraged to join one of the groups because SSNIT deals directly with the Association at the national and regional levels and so information flows to retirees through the Association.

Following the meeting with the Greater Accra regional secretary, the leaders of the various groups were informed about the research and a possible visit by the researcher to their meetings. The regional secretariat therefore played the role of gate-keeper by notifying the sub-groups and encouraging them to give the researcher audience. The researcher then called the leader of each sampled group to discuss the study and the need to meet the group at their respective meeting grounds. From November 2015 to January 2016, the researcher attended the meetings of all the 14 sampled groups with the consent of the leaders of the groups. At each meeting, the researcher was given between 15 – 20 minutes to address the group during which the details in the study’s information sheet were read out to the group, as well as the inclusion criteria. The presentation ended with an open invitation to members of the group who met the inclusion

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criteria to show their willingness to participate by raising their hands to draw the attention of the researcher.

The study’s information sheet, consent form and questionnaire were then distributed to those who volunteered to participate in the study. Those who received them proceeded to complete the consent form and handed them over to the researcher by the close of the meeting. Because the meetings took about 2 hours and sometimes 2 hours 30 minutes, it was not possible for the participants to complete the questionnaires for submission at the meeting grounds. They therefore took the questionnaires home and returned them at the next meeting. This process was followed in all the 14 groups visited in the first instance. In attending subsequent meetings, the researcher went to the meeting grounds at least one hour before the start of the meeting. This was to provide the opportunity to meet people individually to retrieve completed questionnaires. It also enabled the researcher to introduce the study to those who were not present at the previous meeting. Through these means, the researcher was able to assist some of the respondents to complete the questionnaires at the meeting grounds.

It took at least two repeat visits to the meetings to be able to retrieve 90.4% of the questionnaires distributed to the retirees. This was due to absenteeism or forgetfulness on the part of the respondents. This was anticipated and so in submitting the consent forms, the respondents were encouraged to include their mobile phone numbers. Those who did were reminded by the researcher through mobile telephone calls to complete the questionnaires and return them at the next meeting. From January 2016 to April 2016, follow-up to the various group meetings occurred. In returning the completed questionnaires, those who were willing to be part of the second phase of the study were required to provide their contact numbers. These numbers were linked to the identity numbers of the returned questionnaires.

Given that the target population in the study area was estimated to be 10,260, a sample size derived from a simple random table for determining sample size yielded a sample size of 370 (0.05% permissible error and 95% confidence interval) (Bartlett, Kotrlik, and Higgins, 2001, p. 46; Royse, 2011, p. 199). However, given the limitations of time and finance, a sample of 330 was achieved. Notwithstanding the shortfall in the targeted sample, a minimum sample size of 300 is deemed adequate for conducting most of the analysis in this study, such as factor analysis and regressions (Tabachnick and Fidel, 2007). A total of 395 surveys were distributed to retirees and 330 responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 90.4%. Of the 330

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retirees that responded to the survey, 45, representing 13.6%, were researcher-assisted in completion of the survey. To facilitate the process, a research assistant was recruited whose duty was to help with the follow up calls to respondents, and also assist in retrieving questionnaires at the meeting grounds.

Recruitment and data collection for phase 2 of the study

The second stage of the sampling process was done after phase 1 of the study was 75% completed, and entailed a purposive selection of interviewees from the respondents in phase 1 (Bergman, 2008a, p. 81) according to level of income (high or low) using the mean income at the time of the classification. In each stratum, six (6) retirees were purposively chosen to represent typical cases for the stratum. A total of twelve (12) retirees were selected for in-depth interviews in phase 2. The selected retirees were then called on the telephone by the researcher and arrangements were made for the in-depth interviews. All interviews were conducted in the homes of the retirees between April, 2016 and May, 2016. Each of the 12 participants in this phase was paid an honorarium of the equivalent of AU$20.00 each. A research assistant was not required in this phase.