Theses
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://197.255.125.131:4000/handle/123456789/22146
A long essay or dissertation or thesis involving personal research, written by postgraduates of University of Ghana for a university degree.
Browse
2024 results
Search Results
Item Ssessing the Influence of Online Customer Experience on Repurchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Shopping Attitude(University of Ghana, 2023) Arikor, I.The success of every online retailer depends on delivering a distinctive online customer experience which serves as a pivotal determiner in building a viable competitive edge in a market filled with opportunities. Thus, on the tenets of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) and the Belief Attitude-Intention (B-A-I) theory this study aims to assess the influence of online customer experience on Ghanaian customers’ intention to repurchase, considering the mediating role of shopping attitude. Two objectives and eleven hypotheses were formulated by reviewing the literature on online customer experience, shopping attitude, and repurchase intention. The study sought to assess the influence of online customer experience dimensions on Ghana customers’ intention to repurchase. Also, the study assessed the mediating effect of consumers’ attitudes towards shopping on the relationship between a pragmatic experience, visual experience, intellectual experience, social experience, emotional experience, and repurchase intention among Ghanaian customers. The study adopted a purposive and a snowball sampling method to gather data from four hundred and thirty-five online shoppers in the southern part of Ghana. Descriptive and structural equation modelling analytical methods were employed to evaluate the research objectives. However, the results revealed that pragmatic experience, intellectual experience, visual experience, and social experience had an insignificant effect on Ghanaian customers’ intentions to repurchase. Nonetheless, emotional experience significantly and positively influenced Ghanaian customers’ intentions to repurchase. Also, the study outcome revealed that shopping attitude partially mediates the relationship between emotional experience and repurchase intention among Ghanaian customers. More importantly, consumers' shopping attitudes failed to mediate the relationship between pragmatic experience, visual experience, intellectual experience, social experience, and online repurchase intention. In addition, the findings show that shopping attitude had a favorable and significant effect on Ghanaian customers’ intentions to repurchase. The study, therefore, recommends that to enhance the experience of online shoppers in Ghana, online retailers should improve the functionality of their websites by making the online retail platforms attractive, simplifying the buying procedures, employing assisted selling tools (e.g., dynamic imaging, store locators, body measurement tools, Chatbots, and tracking systems), enhancing the ease to navigate, improve the convenience of shopping online, and engaging customers via social networking platforms.Item Records Management and Small and Medium Enterprise in Ghana: A Case Study of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Area(University of Ghana, 2022) Sammor, A.T.Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play significant role in the socio-economic growth of both developing and developed countries. Their contribution in terms of employment creation, wealth creation, poverty reduction, and sustenance of socio-economic growth and development has been recognized globally. The development and performance of SMEs, therefore, is of maximum importance in all countries. SMEs need accurate, reliable, and timely information to survive and grow. They also need to create and manage their business records properly because both large and small enterprises can hardly survive without effective and efficient record keeping. Therefore, the study explored the records management practices of SMEs in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Area. The main objective was to find out the types of records the SMEs generate and maintain, determine the records management training and competences of the SME managers, establish the relationship between records management and performance of SMEs and find out the challenges the SMEs face with records management. The study was guided by the Decision Usefulness Theory, the Records Life Cycle Theory, and the Records Continuum Model. The study adopted the qualitative approach and case study design, with five SMEs purposively selected for the study. Data gathered through semi structured interviews were analysed through thematic analysis. The study found out that the SMEs create and keep financial, administrative, and operational records both in paper and electronic formats; that the SME managers and employees who keep records do not have qualifications, training, and competences in records management; that there is a strong relationship between records management and performance of SMEs; that the SMEs face some challenges with record keeping, notable among them being lack of knowledge and competence in record keeping. The study recommended that Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), formerly National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) should educate the SMEs on the need to keep records; that regulatory bodies of SMEs should make it mandatory for SMEs to keep records; that arrangements should be made for Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) to regularly train SMEs in record keeping; that awards should be given regularly to SMEs for proper record keeping, in order to encourage them to keep records; that SMEs should attach importance to record keeping and employ professionals to manage their records.Item Factors Influencing Adherence to Antiretrovirals (ARVS) Among Persons Living With HIV in the Eastern Regional Hospital, Ghana.(University of Ghana, 2023) Wordi,A.A.D.Background: Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of new and prevailing HIV infections and several countries in this region were unable to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target by 2020. Antiretrovirals are free and readily accessible in Ghana yet adherence levels continue to be suboptimal. There is the need to explore the factors that account for adherence to ARVs in order to capitalize on them and improve adherence levels and ultimately achieve the 95-95-95 agenda by 2030. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine factors that influence adherence to antiretrovirals among adult PLHIVs in the Eastern Regional Hospital in Ghana. Method: This study was a cross sectional one involving 330 participants who were attendants at the ART clinic of the Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua. Questionnaires employed in the study were pretested and participants were selected over a 4-week period using consecutive sampling. Factors influencing adherence were categorized as individual, economic, treatment-related and health system factors. Adherence was determined using the self-report 3-day recall and 7-day recall methods. The most recent viral loads of these participants were also recorded and the association between the viral load measurement and the adherence level was determined using the crude odds ratio and the adjusted odds ratio. Level of significance for the study was set at a value of p < 0.05. Results: With a response rate of 100%, a majority (77%) of the respondents were females and the dominant age group was the 40 – 49 age bracket. A majority of the respondents (84.2%) had some form of formal education. Though most of the respondents denied missing their ARVs, those who missed some of their medications cited forgetfulness as the reason for missing their medications. Using the 7-day recall method, adherence was capped at 85% and 84% of respondents were found to have achieved virological suppression with values professionalism among health workers in the HIV sector and reduced pill burden will improve upon ARV adherence. respondents were on the single pill combination of tenofovir/lamivudine/dolutegravir and side effects attributable to the ARVs were not found to affect the adherence levels. There was a positive association between adherence and virological suppression with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.811. Conclusion: Ghana has made strides when it comes to HIV care. There is however room for improvement and this study has revealed that strong social support, decentralization of HIV care with resultant reduced hospital waiting time, professionalism among health workers in the HIV sector and reduced pill burden will improve upon ARV adherence.Item Serological Diagnostic Survey and Farmer Perception of Cucumber Mosaic Virus Disease in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana(University of Ghana, 2023) Asem, W.Vegetables are important in diets of practically every household in Ghana. Vegetables are essential dietary portion that provide important vitamins and minerals. In addition to providing farmers with a source of income, vegetable cultivation helps the economy of the country to grow by creating jobs and bringing in substantial amount of foreign currency. Viral diseases are one of the largest obstacles to vegetable production, and in Ghana they are regarded to be a significant factor limiting the output of vegetable production. The Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), one of these viruses, is extremely devastating and infects more plant families than any other plant virus. Unfortunately, since its discovery in 1974, the host range of CMV among important vegetable crops in Ghana has gotten comparatively little research attention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the prevalence, host range, and severity of CMV among the main vegetables grown in Ghana's Greater Accra region, namely in the districts of Tema West, Ga East, and Ayawaso West. A standardized questionnaire was used to conduct a survey involving 120 farmers in these districts to assess the perception of the importance of CMV in vegetable production. It was discovered that the majority of farmers had little to no knowledge about viruses and instead implicated abiotic and biotic factors for their problems. After making extensive visual observations, it was discovered that CMV symptoms were present in every farm that was visited. The presence of CMV in tomato, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, radish, and cabbage was confirmed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) on samples taken from symptomatic plants. This is the first account of broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and radish in Ghana testing positive for CMV. The disease is spread mechanically through sap inoculation from an infected plant to a healthy plant, according to an ELISA confirmation test. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of efficient control methods that would help manage the disease, particularly given the new host range of CMV discovered in Ghana.Item Incidence of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFIS) of Covid-19 Vaccines in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2023) Asare, A.F.Introduction: To fight the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines form part of an important public health tool in this quest. In Ghana, five (5) COVID-19 vaccines (COVISHIEDTM (AstraZeneca), SPIKEVAXTM, COMIRNATYTM, Gam-COVID-Vac and Janssen) which were given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) have been used in the mass vaccination campaign since March 2021. Since early phase trials of the vaccines were mostly not conducted in Africans, assessing safety data during their deployment under real-life conditions in the Ghanaian population is important. Methods: This study was a retrospective study involving secondary safety data analyses of AEFI reports from active (cohort study) and passive surveillance (spontaneous reporting) of the 5 COVID-19 vaccines deployed in the mass vaccination campaign involving adults in Ghana since March 2021. Data obtained from the primary data host institution (FDA) in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and on paper forms, were cleaned and imported into STATA I/C 16 (Stata Corp LLC, Texas, USA) for analyses. Descriptive characteristics of study participants were done using frequency and percentages for categorical variables, and median and interquartile range for continuous variables. Bar- and pie charts were also used to describe characteristics such as chronic medical conditions, the cumulative incidence of adverse events following immunization (AEFIs), the various forms and number of AEFIs experienced, as well as the latency of AEFIs experienced. For the cohort event study, the cumulative incidence, the incidence rate per 100,000 person days, and the incidence rate ratios were estimated using the dose of vaccines as the unit of analysis. The Pearson chi-square test was used to assess the factors associated with the cumulative incidence of AEFIs among study participants. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to assess the factors associated with the risk of AEFIs among the study participants. For the analysis of the spontaneous (self-reporting) data, descriptive analysis was performed across the various vaccine types. The Pearson chi-square test was also used to assess the association between the severity of AEFIs experienced and the background characteristics. The binary logistic regression model was also used to assess the factors associated with severe AEFIs and deaths following the occurrence AEFIs among vaccine recipients. Similarly, the outcome of the AEFIs experienced was also described across the background characteristics and the Pearson chi-square test was used to assess the association. All statistical analyses were considered significant with p-values less than 0.05. Approval was obtained on 13th June 2022 from the FDA to use the AEFI data and ethics approval was obtained from the Ghana Health Service Ethics Committee on 18th October 2022. Results: The overall incidence of AEFIs among the 6,100 vaccine recipients in the cohort study was 14.0% (851/6,100). For the spontaneous reports, of the 10,733,719 vaccinated population, 8,498 AEFIs were reported giving an incidence of about 0.049% (49 per 100,000 persons). In the cohort study, most AEFIs (88.7%) occurred by the following day after vaccination and the proportion of females who experienced AEFIs (15.6%) was higher than that of males (12.4%) and this was statistically significant (p<0.001). Also, in both the cohort study and the spontaneous reports, the incidence of AEFIs was higher in the younger age groups compared with those in the 60 years and older age group with the most common AEFIs being headache, body pain, fever and injection site pain. These events were mostly mild and resolved within a few days. The occurrence of AEFIs was found to be dependent on the age, vaccine type, vaccine dose as well as the enrolment site of vaccine recipients in the cohort study. Also, in terms of severity of the AEFIs, age and vaccine type were factors found to be associated with having a severe adverse event in spontaneous reports. Conclusion: There was a low incidence of AEFIs following all 5 COVID-19 vaccines used in Ghana since the mass immunization with the events being generally mild and resolving within a few days. The public should be made aware that the vaccines are safe and encouraged to get vaccinated to increase vaccine coverage across the country.Item Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Diarrhoea Incidence among Children Under Five Years in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2023) Nyarko, A.A.Inadequate access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are some of the major risk factors associated with diarrhoea incidence among children under five years. The study explored the relationship between household WASH conditions and diarrhoea incidence among children under five years in Ghana using data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). A sample of 5965 children under five years was used in this study. An index was developed to measure households’ drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions. The data were analysed at three levels. Univariate analysis was used to provide descriptive statistics on household WASH conditions and describe the socio-demographic characteristics of the study sample. The bivariate level of analysis examined the association between the independent and dependent variables as well as the controlled variables. Multivariate analysis was carried out using binary logistic regression since the dependent variable (child had diarrhoea) was coded as a dichotomous variable with yes and no response options. The findings revealed that 11.8% of the children experienced episodes of diarrhoea two weeks prior to the survey. Also, there was a significant association between sanitation, wealth quintile, sex of child, age of child, mothers’ educational level, and diarrhoea incidence among children under five years in Ghana. At the multivariate level, the results indicate that having unimproved sanitation significantly increases the likelihood of a child contracting diarrhoea. The study recommends that stakeholders should continue to encourage and promote the building and usage of improved toilet facilities in households to enhance sanitation at the household level.Item Trends and Levels of Poaching in Wildlife Protected Areas of Ghana: A Case Study of the Kakum National Park(University of Ghana, 2022) Frimpong, A.Poaching has been an age-old challenge faced by park managers who are tasked to maintain and improve the ecological health of protected areas. Although poaching is a major challenge facing the Kakum National Park (KNP), a holistic research on how this menace has evolved since the gazette of the park 30 years ago is still lacking. This research therefore, was to investigate the key drivers of poaching as well as the law enforcement efforts and poaching trends of the KNP in the last 10 years (2011 to 2021). Data for the study was obtained from primary sources including key informant interviews with park staff and focus group discussions with 141 persons from 10 fringe communities. In addition to this secondary data from desktop reviews and quarterly reports of the park (2011 to 2021) were obtained to augment data needed. Analysis of data on poaching legislation was done through a comparative analysis of Ghana’s poaching laws and that of Nepal (the country with the least poaching in the world) to ascertain the effectiveness of Ghana’s laws. Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framework was also adapted to analyze the drivers of poaching whereas semi-log linear regression was used to deduce the trends of poaching activities in the last 10 years. The model for catch per unit effort was used to measure law enforcement performance of the park (using Stata and MS Excel). The results show that laws used in prosecuting poaching cases are less punitive with very low fines and jail terms hence ineffective in controlling poaching. Economic hardship was identified as the main driver of poaching in the KNP. The trend analysis shows a significant reduction in the number of poachers arrested in the park suggesting that the poaching activities are gradually reducing which may be attributed to effective law enforcement or the poachers resorting to other ways of poaching without being noticedItem Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Medical Abortion Amongst Doctors at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Accra Ghana(University of Ghana, 2023) Ackon, A.Background: Unsafe abortion is a major contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality in Ghana and other developing countries. Safe termination of pregnancy is very crucial to reducing Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio of 15 to 30% maternal deaths with 308 per 100, 000 live births according to the World Bank. Medical abortion is preferred to surgical method of termination of early pregnancy because the procedure is non-invasive with greater privacy and often does not involve hospitalization. Understanding the perspectives of doctors on medical abortion service delivery is pertinent to identifying barriers and enablers to the successful integration of medical abortion into general practice and is critical to increasing access to these services for women. The study sought to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical abortion amongst doctors at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. Method: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out among medical doctors at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Part one of the questionnaire was used to collect information on the demographics, part two involved questions on knowledge of medical abortion whereas part three included information on the attitude of doctors towards medical abortion The data was analyzed using STATA version 16. Categorical variables were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Bivariate and multiple regression analysis were used to establish the relationship between factors influencing the practices of medical abortion among the doctors. Results: The mean (± SD) age of the respondents was 35 (± 7.67) years, with a range of 18-50 years. One hundred and sixteen 116 (53.5%) of the participants were male and the majority (60.4%) were married. The majority of the participants (81%) have adequate knowledge about medical abortion, while a few (3.7%) have low knowledge about medical abortion. Results of the study revealed that about (57%) of participants do not carry out elective medical termination of pregnancy. The major reason given for not carrying out elective early medical termination of pregnancy was outside of the scope of practice (48%) and against religious practice (35%). There was significant difference between doctors at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital who practice medical abortion and those who do not practice medical abortion based on age (χ2= 30.44, p<0.0001), marital status (χ2= 11.26, p=0.001), specialization (p<0.0001), grade (p<0.0001), number of years of practice (p<0.0001), comfortable working in medical abortion facility (χ2=8.77, p=0.003), willingness to provide evidence-based dosing regimen (χ2=26.64, p<0.0001), experience complication while administering medical abortion (χ2= 20.59, p<0.0001) and experience of complication of medical abortion offered by another doctor (χ2= 30.25, p<0.0001). After adjusting for confounders, participants who experienced complications while administering medical abortion were 5.56 times more likely to practice medical abortion compared to participants who had not experienced complications while administering medical abortion[AOR=5.56, CI= (2.05-15.10), p value=0.001)] Conclusion: Doctors generally have adequate knowledge about medical abortion. Attitudes of medical doctors and their practice of medical abortion is significantly influenced by personal, religious, and cultural beliefs. Those who have been trained in abortion procedures were more comfortable practicing or referring patients. The study recommends that the Ministry of Health must ensure that health professionals are trained on medical abortion.Item Fiscal Decentralisation, Revenue Performance and Poverty in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2023) Fiagbe, A.K.Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has experienced robust growth since the mid-1990s however, formidable development challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and low revenue, and inefficient public service delivery persist. Poverty particularly has become a major global concern, with its eradication in all forms and dimensions by 2030 constituting the first, and perhaps the most critical goal among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Against this background, SSA countries including Ghana have adopted decentralization policy since the 1980s as an alternative development strategy. The decentralization policy is anchored on grants from the central government and donors. Additionally, the Local Authorities are granted the autonomy to mobilize resources to fund their local development plans. The relationship between decentralization and development outcomes as espoused in the theoretical and empirical literature remains unclear. Whilst a school of thought postulates that the grant system discourages revenue effort and exacerbates poverty, others proffered otherwise. Also, some studies show that intergovernmental transfer arrangements may be susceptible to political manoeuvering that could create social conflicts. Whilst extensive empirical studies exist on fiscal federalism and development outcomes such as poverty in developed economies, very little is known about Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study contributes to the literature on SSA, specifically Ghana using the recent Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS 7), district and community-level data for the period 2012-2016 to examine the relationship between grants, local revenue mobilization, and poverty in Ghana. It also examines the influence of political manipulation on DACF disbursements in Ghana. The contribution made to the literature in this thesis covers a number of areas. First, we examine the effect of grants on local revenue mobilization by testing the flypaper hypothesis. The system GMM results show that a 10 percent increase in total transfer leads to 2.7 percent reduction in local revenue at 1 percent. However, disaggregated components of grants into unconditional, conditional and sectorial-limited transfers have no effects on revenue. Second, The OLS regression results show that a 10 percent increase in DACF reduces district-level poverty by 6 percentage points whilst local revenue does not affect poverty. Moreover, the Logit and Probit regression results show that local services such as complementary (non formal) and primary education, construction of development projects, and improvement in job opportunities are positively associated with perceived improvement in community welfare. Third, the thesis assesses the extent to which political consideration influences DACF allocation in Ghana. The system GMM result reveals that not only politically-aligned districts are targeted in the distribution of DACF, but also politically-swing districts are well targeted. This study found evidence in support of the argument that grants crowds-out revenue whilst the former reduces poverty. It is recommended that, grants should be directed towards improving local tax administration system whilst innovative strategies are adopted to maximize local revenue. Grants should be invested in technology to ensure that local tax administration processes are digitalized. Additionally, the 5 percent minimum threshold of the DACF allocation should be reviewed to 10 percent of national revenue similar to those in SSA in order to accommodate the rising cost of living in the various localities. Furthermore, apolitical team of experts should be formed to manage the DACF in consultation with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organization (CSOs) and the MMDAs to minimize the occurrence of political manipulationItem Effects of Soil Amendments and Rhizobium Inoculation on Soybean Nodulation, Growth and Yield in the Semi-Deciduous Forest Agro-Ecological Zone of Ghana(University of Ghana, 2023) Mohammed, A.Ghana's soybean cultivation is primarily restricted to the Guinea savanna and the forest/savanna transitional agro-ecological zones. Although soybean can be grown in the semi deciduous forest zone, its productivity is limited due to low soil pH and limited nodulation. The study was conducted at the University of Ghana Forest and Horticultural Crops Research Centre at Kade in the semi-deciduous forest agro-ecological zone of Ghana between August and December, 2021.The objective of the study was to assess the combined effects of soil amendments, phosphorus fertilizer and rhizobium inoculation on soil chemical properties, nodulation, growth and yield of soybean. The experiment was laid in a split-split plot design with four (4) replications with main plot being soil amendments (No amendment, 2 tons/ha lime and 5 tons/ha rice husk biochar), subplot being P fertilizer at 0 and 20 kg P ha-1 and sub subplot with or without Rhizobium inoculation. Data on nodule number and effectiveness, shoot biomass, one hundred seed weight and grain yield were taken. Results from the study indicated that phosphorus application significantly influenced grain yield as grain yield was increased by about 60% due to P application. There wasincrease in soil pH from the initial 5.09 to 5.52 and 5.54 on plots that received biochar and lime respectively, 17 weeks after treatment application. The effect of inoculation on pH was also significant (p < 0.05). Rhizobium inoculation had significant effects on exchangeable K and Mg. The inoculated plots had exchangeable K and Mg values of 0.37 and 2.62 cmol (+)/kg soil, respectively, while the values for the uninoculated plots were 0.33 and 3.31 cmol (+)/kg soil for K and Mg respectively. Inoculation significantlyinfluenced nodulation parameters such as nodule number, nodule effectiveness and nodule fresh weight of soybean. The application of rhizobium inoculant significantly (p < 0.001) increased nodule number and nodule effectiveness by 44 % and 45 % respectively, over plantsthat received no inoculants. The sole application of P fertilizer increased the number of nodules by 44 % compared to the plots that received no P fertilizer However, this did not translate intoincreased grain yield. The interaction between Rhizobium inoculation and Phosphorus fertilizer significantly affected dry shoot biomass of soybean. Treatment interaction between soil amendments and P fertilizersignificantly influenced P-use efficiency. The results show that the three factors that were studied did not interact to significantly influence nodulation, growth and yield of soybean However, the three factors interacted to significantly enhance nodulation and improve P-use efficiency and some soil chemical properties (OC, Total N and exchangeable Ca and Mg). However, it is recommended that farmers can apply phosphorus fertilizer at the rate of 20 kg P/ha for increased grain yield of soybean on acid soil.