This section involves three phases, which was carried out to respond to research questions one, two and three respectively. Phase involved the use of desktop review, document analysis and closed-ended questionnaires. These phases are elaborated upon in the section below.
4.7.1.1 Phase 1: Desk Review
Data collection for this phase was executed through a desk review of the NBTE website (NBTE, n.d) on the number of technical colleges approved for each states of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.
4.7.1.2 Phase 2: Documents Analysis
Data for the second research question in Phase 2 of the preliminary study was generated through the analysis of the NBTE page on the number of TCs and a statistical report,
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Transforming Secondary Education in Nigeria by Ford Foundation (NBTE, n.d; Eze, Nwaura & Ngenda, 2014). The purpose is to compare TVET provision and that of general education across the six geopolitical zones
4.7.1.3 Phase 2: Close-ended Questionnaire
The data set for the third research question was generated through the use of a closed- ended questionnaire which explored the internal efficiency of TVET provision. Closed-ended questionnaires are questions that allow the respondents to choose only from the options provided (Land, 2010). The questionnaire consisted of seven facets of interests and 47 indicators, as illustrated in chapter 4 (IDEAS, 2008). This questionnaire was used to evaluate the efficiency of TVET provision for the engineering trade in four geopolitical zones, namely South-South, North-Central, South-West, and South-East.
4.7.1.4 Questionnaire Design
The closed-ended questionnaire adopted and used in this study was also was applied by Infotechs IDEAS (Pvt) Ltd (2008) to assess the efficiency of 50 governmental and non- governmental TVET institutions. The questionnaire was slightly modified to include three parts, A, B, and C. Part A of the questionnaire began with demographic and institution information, whereas part B focused on the nature of TVET provision. Furthermore, part B included eight items that sought to ascertain the extent of TVET provision in each of the technical colleges surveyed. The first seven items spoke to the facets of interests with their corresponding number of indicators, description of each indicator, definition, respondent’s response, and source of data, whilst the eight and last item focused on any additional information that may be needed beyond what the instrument covered. The seven facets of interests and number of indicators include:
Trainees, six indicators that focuses on enrolment target and ratio, among others;
Staff utilisation, five indicators that centre on the number of academic staff per cadre, among others;
Training courses, which has eight indicators that speak to the number of courses offered in the colleges, among others;
Training facilities and utilisation, which foregrounds nine indicators that speak to training facilities and their utilisation;
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Financial performance: nine indicators that focus on college budget information, cost per trainee information and revenue generation, among others.
Performance management: five indications that focus on implementation plans and performance reviews with staff, among others;
Services facilities: also has five indicators that talk to the extent of adequacy of laboratory, library and safety facilities, among others; the last item of part A included an open-ended item with the phrase (any additional comments) this is such that if the respondent has any additional information that is not covered by the instrument they may include it.
Part C of the instrument explores questions on the college’s involvement in partnership. This part of the instrument is mainly to address the third research question, which is based on both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The instrument contains nine items that covers:
Existence of partnerships;
Types of partnerships,
Roles of partners,
Relevance/effectiveness/efficiency of partnerships; and
Sustainability of these partnerships.
4.7.1.5 Validity and Reliability of Research Instruments
The validity of an instrument, according to Thatcher (2010, p. 125), is referred to the extent to which that tool measures what is intended to measure, whilst reliability refers to the degree of consistency of an assessment tool to produce stable results when applied in similar situations but in different circumstances (Twycross & Shields, 2004; Phelan & Wren, 2014).
The validity of Part B of the assessment was not a problem since it was adopted from IDEAS (2008) without any change made on the content. However, to ensure the reliability of the instrument used in the study, a pilot study was conducted on two different technical colleges in Rivers State, South-South. And one each from Federal and State owned institutions. The findings of the pilot study never indicated the need to make changes to the content of the instrument, rather on the sampling strategy.
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4.7.1.6 Piloting
According to Creswell and Plano Clark (2011), there is a need to administer any data collection instrument first to a sample for validation. This is to reduce the likelihood of missing data by revealing questions that may be misunderstood or may make respondents uncomfortable (Bryman, 2012). It was further recommended that a pilot study be conducted on a small set of respondents with characteristics comparable to the population studied (Bryman, 2012).
In order to escape the pitfalls inherent in the methods adopted for this research, a pilot study was conducted in two different technical colleges in South-South. This was carried out to test the research instrument. Six different sets of two each were administered to the six participants from the two mentioned technical colleges. This was to ensure that the piloting is done in the same way the main study will be done (Dube, 2013). The result of the pilot conducted showed the need to adopt a sample strategy that will facilitate effective data gathering. The following two major issues were brought to the fore:
Lack of willingness by respondents to participate in the study; and
Lack of understanding of some items in the questionnaires These problems were resolved as follows:
Firstly, having the understanding that refusal by respondents to participate would affect the sample size, I resorted to convenience sampling, a non-probability sampling, against the stratified random sampling techniques proposed.
Secondly, the issue of lack of understanding of some questions was handled through the orientation given to research assistants in the area where the instruments were administered by research assistants. A further strategy adopted was to speak directly with the respondents by phone in cases where more clarity was needed.
In the end, the sample strategy enabled me to gather the relevant data needed to answer the research questions set in the study. Although similar issues relative to the first listed above occurred, but since the sample strategy had changed, I opted for respondents from colleges that were available and willing to participate.
4.7.1.7 Administration of Questionnaires
Considering the nature of the study, that it covers a wide scope, it is evident that the researcher cannot carry out the study in isolation without involving other persons. Some
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categories of persons were recruited to aid in the execution of the study. The categories include National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, technical colleges teachers, colleagues from my office, university and college of education, among others.
A total number of 24 research assistants were recruited. Seven were from North- Central, one from North-East, two from North-West and South-East each, seven from South- West, and five from South-South. Their recruitment was based on the following factors: language, proximity to the colleges, availability of finance, and knowledge about the study. A brief explanation of these factors is outlined below.
Language barriers: Nigeria is a multilingual state, therefore the possibility that one researcher could speak all languages was unlikely. As a result of this, individuals from various states were recruited to avoid the challenges that could result from language difficulties. There is a programme undertaken by Nigerian graduates before they will have full access to the labour market; the programme is known as NYSC. It is organized in such a manner that people from all over Nigeria take part in it. As someone who has passed through the process, I had to recruit one person from the North West to cater for two states, Jigawa and Kano States, whilst another person was recruited for Katsina. However, from other states, non-NYSC members were also recruited. The major task carried out by these persons recruited were to administer and retrieve the questionnaires.
Proximity to the colleges: As in Rivers State, these Colleges are spread apart from each other, so a form of snowball sampling was used to trace those who are very close to any of the colleges in the various states where the study was conducted. This was done to avoid excessive expenditure.
Availability of finance: The rationale behind the proximity to colleges was the availability of finance. The research employed all avenues to avoid incurring debt as a result of this study, since it was carried out without any financial assistance from any organisation.
Knowledge about the study: Recruiting a total novice will amount to investing much money. This implies that you will have to train the person for a longer period compared to how long it will take you to train someone who already has a little knowledge about the study (TVET).
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