Research on the numerical strength of statistics students in koforidua Polytechnic

CHAPTER 1

Introduction and Background:

Statistics is a branch of mathematics that deals with the analysis and interpretation of numerical data in terms of samples and populations.

Statistics we say is a broad programme that has no limitations. It is used in our daily life activities such as Marketing, Banking and Finance, and domestically has an effect on everybody.

Based on statistics; forecasting, modelling, and proper planning are drawn by individuals, groups and a nation as a whole.

Statistical methods and equations can be applied to a data set in order to analyse and interpret results, explain variations in data, or predict future data. A few examples of statistical information we can calculate are:

·        Average value (mean)

·        Most frequently occurring value (mode)

·        On average, how much each measurement deviates from the mean (standard deviation)

Statistics is important in the field of engineering, it provides tools to analyse collected data. For example, a chemical engineer may wish to analyse temperature measurements from a mixing tank. Statistical Methods can be used to determine how reliable and reproducible the temperature measurements are, how much the temperature varies within the data set, what future temperatures of the tank may be, and how confident the engineer can be in the temperature measurements made.  

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Table 1.1

From graph 1.1, It can be seen that from the trend analysis, the numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic from the academic year 2001/2002 students enrolled to offer the programme statistics has reduced.

Herein therefore, analysing the numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic is very low as compared to other programmes.

HYPOTHESIS

Ho: The numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic is weak

H₁:  The numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic is strong

OBJECTIVES:

1.     General  Objective:

Ø To access the poor numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic and find solutions to them.

                                                                                                                               

2.     Specific Objectives:

Ø The reasons behind why most students do not have interest in Statistics

Ø  Why students see statistics as being difficult

Ø To establish measures to increase the numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic

Research Questions

The following research questions were raised to guide the conduct of the study.

        i.            The gender of the respondent

      ii.            The course the respondent offered at SHS

    iii.            The school of the respondent

   iv.            The programme the respondent is offering

     v.            Did the respondent choose the programme by him/her?

   vi.            If YES/NO, why is the respondent offering the programme

 vii.            Is the respondent interested in the programme they are offering

viii.            Why the respondent did choose statistics

    ix.            What the respondent know about statistics

      x.            Would the respondent have accepted statistics if it was offered to them

    xi.            Why do the respondent think why students are not interested in statistics

  xii.            Does the respondent have friends who are offering statistics

xiii.            Does the comments of their friends encourage or discourage

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

As most of us know, most people in Koforidua Polytechnic are here with the hope of giving themselves the foundation that they need to be successful in life or the skill that they need to find a good job. Every year, more than one thousand students are admitted to offer different programmes rather than statistics. For instance, about 96.3% of the student population offer different programmes whilst 3.7% offer statistics. From the information above, the numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic is weak compared to other programmes due to some of the following reason or information we gathered from students in Koforidua Polytechnic. Many reseachers have tried to determine why most students prefer to offer other programmes instead of statistics in Koforidua Polytechnic but they cannot find exclusive reasons. One might think that the programme statistics is a difficult programme compared to other programmes in Koforidua Polytechnic and that is not exactly true.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Sampling Technique

The target population used is the Koforidua Polytechnic student population. Samples of fifty students were used by using the simple random sampling technique (23 male and 27 female). The reason for selecting the variable is because the students are the major stakeholders of the numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic.

Data Collection Procedure

23 male and 27 female were randomly selected for the purpose of this study. We went round the school to administer the questionnaire in various schools and departments.

Research Instruments

The main instrument used for this study was a designed questionnaire on students’ views on the numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic. The questionnaire contains two sections; Q1-Q5 sought information on personal data of the respondent and from Q6-Q13 propel about the knowledge of the respondent about statistics. In all, the questionnaire contains thirteen (13) items seeking information about the reduction of the number of statistics students in Koforidua polytechnic

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

The thirteen (13) research questions raise for this study were answered using frequency count and percentage.

Question 1:

The gender of the respondent

From the sample that was used (fifty) the number of male is 23 and that of female is 27 which constituents 46% and 54% respectively.

Question 2:

The course the respondent offered at SHS

Fig 1.0

Fig. 1.1 The graph of courses the respondents offered at SHS. The courses are General Science with frequency 4 (8.0%), Visual Arts with frequency 3(6.0%), Business with frequency 16 (32.0%), General Arts has a frequency of 12 (24.0%), Home Economics with frequency of 6 (12.0%), Electrical Installation and Building and Construction both had a frequency of 3 (6.0%), A frequency of 2 (4.0%) for metal work and finally Draughtsmanship had a frequency of 1(2.0%)   Question 3 The school of the respondent                                                        Fig 1.1 School of Business and Management Studies (SBMS) had the highest frequency of 50 (64.0%) with School of Applied Science and technology (SAST) and School of Engineering (SOE) having a common frequency of 9 (18.0%). Question 4 The programme the respondent is offering                                                        Fig 1.2

Purchasing and Supply (PS) had the highest frequency of 12 (24%) followed by Accountancy with frequency of 10 (20.0%). Marketing and Hospitality also had common frequency of 6(12.0%). Building Technology (BT) 4 (8.0%), Electricals with Secretariaship and Management also had a frequency of 3 (6.0%), Mechanical and Computer Science had a frequency of 2 (4.0%). Computer Network and Entrepreneurship had the least frequency of 1 (2.0%).

Question 5

Did the respondent choose the programme by him/herself?

                                                                     Fig 1.3

                                             

46 of the sample (92.0%) chose the programme by themselves and 4 (8.0%) did not choose the programme by themselves.

Question 6

  If YES/NO, why is the respondent offering the programme?

                                                                        Fig 1.4

                            

25 (46.0%) from the sample chose their respective programmes because of their aspirations in life, 14 (28.0%) for convenience that is making things easy for them, 8 of them also chose their programmes because of easy acquisition of Jobs and lastly, the fourth group is because of their courses they offered back at the Senior High School (SHS).   

Question 7

Is the respondent interested in the programme they are offering?

                                                                                    Fig 1.5

                                           

48 (96.0%) are interested in their respective programme of study and only 2 (4.0%) are not interested in their programmes being offered.

Question 8

Why the respondent did not choose statistics

                                                                             Fig 1.6

                                   

Majority of the sample 54.0% ( 27 out of 50) did not choose statistics because they have no interest in the programme , 22% (11 of 50) also had no knowledge about the programme while the remaining  24% also have reasons such as weak in Mathematics, Job opportunities and very difficult.

Question 9

What the respondent know about statistics

                                                                         Fig 1.7

                                    

15 (30.0%) of the sample knew something about statistics that was relevant to the programme, 12 with a percentage of 24.0 also knew something about the programme but was irrelevant and 23 (46.0%) knew nothing about the programme.

Question 10

Would the respondent have accepted statistics if it was offered to them?

                                                                        Fig 1.8

                                   

Only 3 (6.0%) out of the sample would have accepted the programme if it was offered to them but the majority of the sample (47 which is 94.0% of the sample) would have turned down the offer.

Question 11

Why do the respondents think students are not interested in statistics?

                                

                                                                        Fig1. 9

30.0% thus, 15 of the sample think student are not interested statistics because they weak in Mathematics, 26.0% (13 out of 50) also dislike statistics because it involves tedious calculations, also 13 (26.0%) have the perception that the programme is very difficult, some (10 out of 50 which constituents 20.0%) think inadequate education about the programme contributes to students not having interest in statistics, and finally, 2 (4.0%) dislike the programme because of job opportunities.   

Question 12

Does the respondent have friends who are offering statistics?

                                                                        Fig 2.0

                                   

33 (66.0%) have friends who are offering statistics whilst 17 (34.0%) do not have friends offering the programme.

Question 13

Do the comments of their friends encourage or discourage them

                                                                        Fig 2.1

                                           

30.0% of students offering the programme (15 out of the sample) encourage their friends and 36.0% (18) also discourage their friends through their comments about the programme.

CHAPTER 5

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

From our research it was observed that the weak numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic is due to:

                   I.            The programmes the respondents are offering corresponds with the courses they offered in Senior High School.

                 II.             Most of the respondents have weak Mathematical background.

              III.            Inadequate education about the programme; that is, the respondents do not know anything about the programme; they have the perception that the programme is difficult.

              IV.            We found out from the respondents that, statistics involves tedious and much calculations which prevents them from offering the programme statistics even though some have mathematical background.

                V.            The students are concerned about their job opportunity after completion. The respondents do not know the jobs available after offering the programme

              VI.            It is the aspiration of some of the respondents to engage in a particular field pertaining to the programme they are offering now. For instance, it has always been the dream of most Business students to be Accountants.

           VII.            The respondents are offering the programme at their convenience. Example, some of the students have jobs available which is linked to the programmes they are offering after completion, others have no choice than to offer the programme they were offered, some also think the programme they are offering are easy to pass.

         VIII.            Most students offering statistics discourage students from offering the programme. 

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Comparing Fig. 1.0 to 1.1 and Fig 1.2, it could be seen that most of the respondents offered business and relating that to Fig 1.4 which tells us why the respondents are offering their respective programmes is mostly based on what they wish to aspire in future and is making the probability to offer statistics low. Also, the calculation aspect involved in statistics programme puts much fear into students from offering the programmes.

Besides, from Fig 2.1, it shows that most of the statistics students discourage others and that prevents them from offering the programme.

            Therefore, we conclude that, the programmes offered at the Senior High School, the weak mathematics background, the calculations involved in statistics, the discouraging words from some statistics students, inadequate education about the programme, aspirations, job opportunities and for the convenience are the contributing factors to the weak numerical strength of statistics students in Koforidua Polytechnic.

Recommendations:

Based on the findings of this research work, it is recommended that:

a.     Effective Education; Ghana Association of Statistics Students (GASS), and other stakeholders in the education industry should organize periodic seminars and workshops for students, parents, teachers and school administrators on the importance of statistics.

b.     Students offering statistics should have a positive mind set about the programme

 

c.      Teachers teaching Elective Mathematics in the various Senior High Schools should be qualified.

d.     The administration should offer the students with good Mathematics background and most especially Elective Mathematics and Economics to offer statistics during admissions.

REFERENCES:

a.     The office of the Head of Department (HOD) of Statistics

b.     The student body (Koforidua Polytechnic)

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