Ranking Indicators Of Statistics Programs Of Some Universities In Ghana: A Pca, Rough Set Theory And Topsis Approach

Abstract

Rating undergraduate programs of higher educational institutions is a common, albeit argumentative practice. However, prospective students, parents and faculty members deserve the opportunity to compare the relative strengths of the programs and the institutions when making educational and (or) personal decisions. The main objective of this research is to evaluate statistics programs indicators of the tertiary institutions. The researcher actually wants to know which of the indicators, is the most important in contributing to the success of the tertiary institutions academically. With a well-structured questionnaire, data was collected from the statistics departments of 5 tertiary institutions. Rough Set theory was used to reduce dimensionality (taking off miscellaneous indicators) and then form a core indicator system of attributes. TOPSIS algorithm and PCA were used to rank the rest of the indicators based on indicator weights. The study revealed that, adequate classroom and computer laboratory space ranked first with a TOPSIS value of 0.7 (70%) approximately. The PCA also ranked that same variable as first with a weight of 2.51. Ethics policy, environmental sanitation and the availability of staff development scheme, made a tie at the third position with a TOPSIS value of 0.62 (62%). The Principal component analysis extracted 4 components. The first component, thus, Faculty Resources explained 38.79% of the total variability in the data set. Academic matters, the second principal component explaining 29.13% of the total variability in the data set. Cumulatively, the third and fourth components explained 32% of the total variability in the data set. The TOPSIS and the PCA models ranked the same variable first. This thesis recommends that, the tertiary institutions in Ghana must pay much attention to providing an adequate classroom space and equipment, workshop space and equipment, and staff offices for staff and students to give off their best. This will promote the best academic performance.