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Institutes, agencies and NGOs in developing countries pay a considerable time tax in the preparation of proposals for calls made by donor funding agencies: the majority of these proposals have little chance of obtaining funding though the lottery character of the overall structure means that no agency can be sure that it does not have a chance on this occasion.
The consequence of the funding lottery is that institutions in developing country play a smaller part in the setting of the development agenda than they rightfully should. Agendas are set outside of the localities in which the problems, possibilities and research of development are located.
This site takes a proactive approach in opening this ACTION AUCTION. It places a suite of research projects relevant to Ghana's social development on the funding table and invites donors to offer funding for these proposals developed from within the local context.
Interested parties please e-mail Professor Nana Apt at csps@ncs.com.gh. Budget details available on request
Centre for Social Policy Studies,
Faculty of Social Studies,
University of Ghana, PO Box 72, Legon, Ghana
Tel: +233 21 502217 Fax: +233
21 500949
e-mail: csps@ncs.com.gh
web site: http://www.oocities.org/csps_ghana
GENDER, TRANSPORT AND HEALTH: BEARING THE WEIGHT OF PROFESSIONAL NEGLECT, THE TRANSPORT BURDEN OF AFRICAN WOMEN
RATIONALE:
Women are part of the
transport structure of Africa: in rural areas, women carry more of the
transport burden on their backs and on their heads than motorised vehicles
transport. Transport professionals have ignored the transport needs of Africa's
women and health professionals have failed to draw attention to the health
problems caused by African women's transport burden. There is a policy vacuum
which needs to be addressed immediately if African women are to live healthy
and prosperous economic lives. Women are weakly represented in the transport
profession and policy makers have failed to develop policy alternatives such as
the creation of transport user groups which have appropriate gender
representation. The transport profession receives little or no feedback from
women on the inadequacies of transport systems despite the centrality of women
in the provision f the agricultural transport system. Research conducted by the
Department of Social Administration, University of Ghana, for the Transport
Research Laboratory, U.K./ODA on the interaction between gender and transport
(Grieco, Apt and Turner, 1996) indicated that this is a critical policy area
for Africa. Building upon this previous research, the Centre for Social Policy
Studies, University of Ghana, will undertake research and dissemination
activities which foster a greater awareness of this critical policy issue.
OBJECTIVES:
1. The health
problems of women as a form of transport have not been systematically
investigated: this project will identify the health difficulties experienced by
women through the active participation of African women who are involved in
load carrying. This participation will form the basis of the generation of
solutions to these transport and health difficulties.
2. To identify local solutions to transport problems of women which have been adopted elsewhere and generate discussions of these options with groups of women load carriers.
EXPECTED OUTPUT:
The project would
make a major contribution to the awareness of policy makers and transport and
health professionals about the interaction of gender, transport and health. It
would also raise awareness amongst those who presently suffer the consequences
for present professional neglect and would enable African women to lobby for
transport provision which more adequately meets their needs.
METHODOLOGY:
This would be a joint
project with a South African organisation. Two hundred women and girls would be
interviewed about their transport experiences and transport needs, most
particularly as these impact on health. One hundred interviews would take place
in South Africa: one hundred would take place in Ghana. The research would make
use of individual interviews, focus groups and consultation groups. In order to
enable women load carriers to envisage solutions to their transport problems,
the researchers will identify local solutions which have been adopted elsewhere
and facilitate discussion of these options with groups of women load carriers.
For example, in South Africa, water containers have been designed so that they
can be rolled; a handle is attached and women can then push their supply of
water at considerably less effort than when it is head loaded. Information on
the 'hippo', as this structure is called, could be disseminated across Africa
but presently is relatively unknown to both transport and health professionals.
After consultation with women load carriers, the researchers will make use of
on-line information technology facilities located at the Centre for Social
Policy Studies to disseminate information on transport experiences and
transport solutions as they affect African women. Participants would be
selected from each life stage (ten from each of ten specified life stages in
each country). Participants would be paid a fee for their membership of the
project. Ten health and transport professional will also be interviewed and
invited to join in group discussions in each country.
DISSEMINATION: LOCAL AND GLOBAL
The
results will be disseminated through on-line facilities of the Centre for
Social Policy Studies and broadcast on the World Wide Web. Participants will be
actively involved in preparing materials for the World Wide Web and will have
the opportunity to view the materials which will be going out on the Web
through lap top technology. Materials which are designed to reach non-literates
will be prepared for local dissemination: local workshops will be held
subsequent to report production. Every attempt will be made to ensure that the
transport/health dimension is regularly updated on the Centre for Social Policy
Studies Home Page. Specific attention will be given to achievements of local
gender/transport user groups.
Bibliography: Grieco M. Apt, N. A. and Turner, J. At Christmas and on rainy days: transport, travel and female traders of Accra. Avebury: Aldershot, 1996
EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR MARKETS/ GENDER AND AGRICULTURE: A NEGLECTED AREA OF POLICY RESEARCH
RATIONALE:
Over the last five years,
there has been a growing recognition that women's role as farmers in Africa has
been greatly neglected with highly adverse consequences for agriculture and for
African household food security (World Bank Gender Home: agricultural tool kit,
1996). Agricultural development programs in Africa rarely recruit and train
female extension workers and investment is primarily focused on crops.
Recently, policy makers have begun to understand that the current
socio-agricultural context places severe restrictions on women's ability to
enter the paid labour market and agencies such as Sasakawa have begun to engage
in the development of agro-processing activities (Sasakawa gender and
agricultural workshop, Cape Coast, Ghana 1996). At present, insufficient
research has been undertaken on women in agriculture in Africa to provide a
good base line, this research would begin the development of such a base line.
PURPOSE:
To investigate into details
women's access to micro-finance services including the informal arrangements
found extensively amongst women in Africa.
OBJECTIVES:
1. To
investigate the present constraints on rural women's labour market
participation.
2. To investigate the vision of women's potential opportunities in respect of agro-processing and cash farming.
METHODOLOGY:
This study is
comparative in nature. One hundred households in ten rural communities would be
interviewed in Ghana and in Ethiopia.
The survey instrument the questionnaire will be piloted on a small sample before being put to the field. Students from the departments of Social Work and Sociology will be given the appropriate training and consequently will collect data from the field. A review will be undertaken to ensure that all relevant Ghanaian (and other appropriate) materials have been captured.
The survey will reveal the number of hours children provide in domestic and market labour. It will provide information on the age breaks at which children move from one type of task to another. The in depth life history materials will provide high quality process accounts of the occupational socialisation of Ghanaian children.
Initial research findings will be taken back into the research sites and the researched households will be invited to comment on the outcomes. Respondent feedback will be fed into the research in line with good action research practice.
SOCIAL NETWORKS AND KIN STRUCTURES: LABOUR MARKET IMPLICATIONS
There is increasing recognition that the household models used by key development agencies and policy makers are largely inappropriate to Africa (Grieco, Apt and Turner, 1996; Cleaver and Schreiber, 1994). Decisions on many of the key areas of life (education, marriage, employment) are often made by individuals and groups who from a western perspective are outside the household structure (Apt, 1996). Apart from the classical anthropology, there has been little register in the literature of this split between decision making and residential units. The implications of this different mode of social organisation for the operation of industrial and technical organisations has received little consideration. Previous work in Ghana (Grieco, Apt and Turner, 1996), and indeed within Europe (Grieco, 1987, 1996) suggests that social linkages between kin are critical in the acquisition of skill and search for employment.
OBJECTIVES:
1. To identify
social decision making processes around training and employment.
2. To examine the degree to which the skilling of labour takes place on the basis of social network membership in Ghana and in Ethiopia.
3. To use the household interviews to provide a good first base for the design of effective training schemes and other labour market interventions.
4. To contribute to current information on this topic.
RURAL-URBAN LINKAGES: MIGRANTS AS RURAL DECISION MAKERS
INTRODUCTION:
Links between urban
dwellers and home town communities are strong in many areas of Africa. The
assumption that such links would disappear with modernisation have largely been
unfounded. Urban dwellers frequently invest in their home towns and remain
strongly attached to family lands. In Ethiopia, where forced resettlement of
peasants took place, the dead were often transported back to their home
communities for burial and when returning to home communities became possible
the living returned in their numbers. In Ghana, urban dwellers frequently
construct dwellings within their rural home community and make contributions
towards community development projects such as electrification. Members of
rural communities who have migrated to urban locations for employment often
retain important decision making roles in their rural community of origin. This
component of the survey would investigate rural-urban decision making linkages
at the household level and would begin to explore the ways in which such
linkages could be better harnessed for local development.
EXPECTED DURATION OF STUDY: 12 MONTHS
CHILD LABOUR: A KEY COMPONENT OF HOUSEHOLD SURVIVAL STRATEGIES
RATIONALE:
Child labour is an aspect
of growing significance in Africa: according to UNESCO there are some five
million street and working children in Africa. This figure does not include
those children working within their own domestic environment or on agricultural
tasks in rural areas. Child labour is a feature of African households' survival
strategies and is unlikely to disappear in the context of worsening
environmental and poverty conditions. The extent of child labour in Africa has
been greatly under recorded. Firstly, much child labour takes place within the
domestic context: children are 'fostered' out within the wider kin network to
perform domestic, agricultural and petty training tasks (Goody, 1978;
Ainsworth, 1993; Grieco;, Apt and Turner, 1996).
In this context, it is important to recognise that children's labour is essential for the accomplishment of many of the infrastructural tasks necessary to household survival in Africa in situations where there are many infrastructural inadequacies (lack of piped water, weak retail distribution systems, lack of sewage systems, lack of readily available fuel) (Dankwa et al., 1994; Joekes, 1994).
Similarly, children's labour is often essential to the care of the elderly whilst the elderly often perform the parenting function in respect of children: this situation of interdependence between distant generations is increasingly in need of preservation as the number of older persons grow in Africa without any corresponding possibility for growth in formal social sector provision.
This results in the disguising of the true extent of child labour, most particularly in respect of school age girls who work as maidservants. The current protocols for household interviews among the major development agencies contribute towards this opaqueness: data is often 'cleaned' so as to remove servants from household data and surveys have not been designed so as to elicit information on the economic activities of children within the household. Economic fostering, although undoubtedly prevalent as a social practice in West Africa, has disappeared from view in the literature as a consequence of the use of inappropriate household survey instruments.
Secondly, systematic research into the links between domestic labour and the informal labour market has not yet been conducted for Africa: to provide an example, the links between girls' water carrying for the benefit of their family members and water selling to raise cash income would benefit from research (Agarwal et al. 1997).
GOAL:
The goal of this research is to
examine child labour in urban Ghana from the perspective of low income
household survival strategies (Turner and Kwakye, 1996; Grieco, 1996; Ross,
1993). It will identify appropriate educational policy measures which can be
taken to enable households to meet both their survival needs (for which they
need access to the labour of their children) and the educational requirements
of their youth.
PURPOSE:
The purpose is to undertake
high quality baseline research on child labour in order to serve policy
guidance needs, a multiplicity of modes of dissemination of materials to best
meet this purpose.
There is considerable policy interest in street children and child labour in Ghana. The research would benefit from the synergies produced by interacting with other agencies active in this field. Ghana is currently viewed as something of a leader in the area of social policy provision and development and represents an appropriate point of contribution to indigenous African social policy development.
KEY ASSUMPTION:
The key assumption
made is that most policy researchers have operated with the view that child
labour can be eradicated. This study assumes that it can not: Children are key
resources in low income household survival strategies. Policy measures must,
therefore, be taken to ensure that working children receive educational
opportunities outside the conventional educational arrangements.
HYPOTHESIS:
The
progression hypothesis
The research will test
the hypothesis that girls progress on a well defined career from carrying water
at younger ages to selling water whilst older but still of school
age
The occupational socialisation
hypothesis
The hypothesis that domestic labour is
a form of occupational socialisation for the positions children will take up in
the informal labour market will also be tested
The infrastructural inadequacy
hypothesis
The hypothesis that infrastructural
inadequacies create household dependence on the labour of children for survival
will be tested
The interdependency hypothesis
The hypothesis that children's labour is crucial to the welfare
of older persons will be tested.
OBJECTIVES:
1. To establish the extent to which
children's labor is vital to low income households' survival in urban
Ghana.
2. The study will establish what adjustments can be made to educational provisions to ensure that households have adequate access to the labour of all their members.
3. To identify measures which can be put in place to ensure that working children receive the necessary education to meet the skills of a modern economy.
4. To make the results of the study available to labour market agencies interested in intervening in children's early movement into the world of work in order to learn better skills.
5. To avail the results to conventional educators for curriculum design and education planning purposes. Social policy agencies would also benefit from access to the results of the research as base line research on the extent to which children make crucial contributions to household survival in Ghana has not yet been undertaken.
METHODOLOGY:
Two hundred households
will be interviewed in each of four Ghanaian urban locations: namely
Bolgatanga, Tamale, Takoradi and Accra, to gain insight into the occupational
careers of children from domestic support to market earners. The investigation
will take place within the framework of household survival strategies (Grieco,
1996; Ross, 1983) with explicit focus on the role played by households in
providing skills for their younger members.
Ten of the two hundred households in each location will be selected for in depth study making use of a life history approach: this will provide good qualitative materials against which the general household survey can be set.
The survey instrument the questionnaire will be piloted on a small sample before being put to the field. Students from the Departments of Social Work and Sociology will be given the appropriate training and consequently will collect data from the field. A review will be undertaken to ensure that all relevant Ghanaian (and other appropriate) materials have been captured.
The survey will reveal the number of hours children provide in domestic and market labour. It will provide information on the age breaks at which children move from one type of task to another. The in depth, life history materials will provide high quality process accounts of the occupational socialisation of Ghanaian children.
Initial research findings will be taken back into the research sites and the researched households will be invited to comment on the outcomes. Respondent feedback will be fed into the research in line with good action research practice.
DOMESTIC ORGANISATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
RATIONALE:
Research undertaken by the
Social Administration Unit, University of Ghana, Legon, and commissioned by the
Transport Research Laboratory, U.K. (1994), revealed the involvement of
children in refuse disposal, including the disposal of human excrement, and
water collection. The report observed that households compensated for
infrastructural deficiencies in the developing urban context by the use of
children's labour. Inadequate infrastructure increases the task burden of
children and increases their exposure to health risks. It is proposed that
action research be undertaken to investigate ways in which the infrastructural
burden of water collection and refuse disposal can be moved off the shoulders
of children. Existing research indicates that whilst adult women often
undertake their full share of meeting the burden imposed by infrastructural
difficulties, adult men do not. The redistribution of tasks within the
household so as to more fully incorporate adult men in domestic duties could do
much to free up the time of children and ease their participation in the
education system. The development of an Information, Education and
Communication campaign directed at achieving such a distribution of tasks is a
key component of this project.
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY:
Stage 1:
Identify
a sample of low income households (approx. 100) to consult on current practices
of water collection, fuel collection, refuse disposal, domestic and communal
cleaning of the environment.
Stage 2:
Identify
practices with these low income households and hold group discussions with a
number of households to discuss ways in which current practices can be
improved.
Video discussions for development into advocacy materials.
Stage 3:
Development
Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns based upon local
input. Include local NGO input in the development of IEC materials.
Information, Education and Communication campaign to be targeted at the
community level with local community meetings supported by reporting and
discussion of the topics in the media, most particularly television.
DURATION OF RESEARCH: 6 MONTHS
PERSONNEL
The team will be jointly
led by an experienced geographer with knowledge of environmental issues and an
experienced social worker with an extensive knowledge of Ghanaian household
organisation. In addition, there will be six researcher/health workers involved
in conducting the research and developing the IEC materials.
EQUIPMENT
In order to develop the IEC
materials, the project will need to purchase a VCR and CAM recorder which will
be used by all members of the team in their development of materials with the
community.
DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: AN APPRAISAL OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES
RATIONALE:
The Local Government Law
PNDC L. 207 Section 6 (5) charges the District Assemblies with responsibility
for the over-all development of their districts. It is in this regard that the
District Assembly should be seen as 'the pivot of the decentralisation
programme around which every activity in the district will evolve' (From Centre
to Grassroots, 1992.)
Various District and Metropolitan Assemblies have recently been inaugurated to begin a second term. It is important that a study be undertaken in order to find out what the Assemblies managed to achieve in their first term, how it is done and also to find out, if developmentally, they are on track. If they are not on the right track, it is important to determine what measures must be put in place.
In an international policy climate where the predominant focus on the new parliamentary institutions of Ghana, it is important that the participative aspects of local government do not become neglected.
PURPOSE:
1. This study
proposes to focus on Assemblymen and Assemblywomen in order to build up more
information on District Assemblies as a major factor in rural development.
2. To assess the various levels of rural development programming and management and to identify measures or strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of rural development programmes.
3. To make a contribution within an action research framework both to the presently scant literature on Ghanaian local government organisation and to the practice of local government operation in Ghana as it affects rural development.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
1. To compare the financial resources available in the District Assemblies
for developmental activities in the rural areas.
2. To compare the overall development activities carried out by the Assemblies and Decentralised Departments.
3. To identify changes in the Districts since the inception of the District Assembly Concept.
4. To examine the planning procedures for development projects.
5. To examine how decision powers are exercised by the Assemblies.
6. To examine decision making procedures.
7. To examine the extent of community participation in the developmental activities of the Assemblies.
8. To establish the priorities of development projects.
9. To examine the implementation of development schemes.
10. To appraise the performance of Decentralised Departments.
AREAS OF STUDY: MODEL AND DEPRIVED DISTRICTS:
Model Districts Region
Jirapa-Lambussie Upper West
Bongo Upper East
Zabsugu-Tatale Northern
Tano Brong-Ahafo
Amansie-West Ashanti
Juabeso-Bia Western
Asikuma/Odobem/Brakwa Central
Fanteakwa Eastern
Ga Greater-Accra
Nkwanta Volta
Deprived Districts Region
Nadwoli Upper West
Bawku Upper East
Saboba-Kyerepone Northern
Sene Brong-Ahafo
Bosomtwe-Atwima Ashanti
Ahanta-West Western
Twifo-Praso Lower Denkyira Central
Donkorkrom-Afram Plains Eastern
Dangbe-West Greater-Accra
Kadjebi Volta
METHODOLOGY:
The core information for
the study will be collected by means of questionnaires and interviews. The
sample to be interviewed will be all the Assemblymen and women of the selected
districts.
Open ended interviews will be conducted with:
1. All District Chief Executives
2. Presiding Members
3. Chairpersons of all the Assemblies Sub-Committees
4. Heads of Government Departments
5. Leaders of 2 major local organisations in each selected District.
In addition, field observation and participant research will also be used as a means of gathering relevant supplementary data.
EXPECTED DURATION OF STUDY: 12 MONTHS
BUILDING DISTRICT LEVEL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT CAPACITY FOR DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.
PROJECT BACKGROUND:
The government
policy of decentralization places great responsibility on each District
Administration machinery to be able to identify its development needs and the
resources available locally and externally to enable it adequately plan and
implement development programmes.
The ability for the district administration to do this effectively, will facilitate sustained economic and social growth: The district administration will able to help District Assemblies to take decisions more efficiently and in line with realities on the ground.
The absence of sustained data base in the various districts unfortunately leave a big gap in the development planning process. Each individual project is thereby called upon to do its own raw data collection and processing. Their findings may or may not present the true picture of the state of affairs; hence their prescribed solutions may not produce the desired impact. There are several such 'white elephant' projects in each districts.
PROJECT GOAL:
This project aims at
building up the capacity of each district administration to be able to collect,
process and disseminate information and network with other districts. The
Association of Local Governments shall therefore be enabled to set up a human
resource development programme and provide each district with the necessary
logistics to handle the information management facility and also co-operate in
the net working.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
1. To establish district level data banks in all 110
districts.
2. To establish a framework for sustainable field data collection and information flow from sub units of the district administrative network, from the community level through the unit committee to the district level.
3. To set up regular administrative monitoring and evaluation of the data handling processes to ensure efficiency, eliminate distortions and false figures being presented.
4. To organise staff training in information technology, research and computer systems.
5. To maintain a data bank on district administration development activities at the CSPS and set up a dynamic national bureau of district level information in the Ministry of Local Government, Accra.
6. To provide service to callers who need detailed information from the districts. This office shall provide a hot-line with the districts through the electronic communication media for current information from each end of the line.
EXPECTED OUTPUT:
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY:
CSPS shall
set up a technical committee to supervise the process of implementation. Its
composition shall include representations from the Ministry of Local Government
and other collaborating agencies including the Network Consultant of the
Project. The Committee shall meet regularly to review plans and appraise
project performance. Its decisions at such meetings shall be recycled to adjust
programme policies and to keep project objectives in line.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
EXPECTED DURATION OF STUDY: 18 MONTHS
EVALUATION OF FORMAL AND INFORMAL SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR THE RETIRED ELDERLY IN GHANA A STUDY PROPOSAL
The main aim of this proposal is to evaluate formal and informal social support systems for elderly persons in selected Ghanaian communities. This is to help understand the social and economic factors involved in planning for the elderly and the retired and the nature of the relationship between social roles and social support systems and the current urbanisational family life. Furthermore the study is expected to provide practical answers and guidance in the event of the Government of Ghana's formulating a national policy on ageing and retirement.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
The objectives of the study are as
follows:
1. To determine, in three Ghanaian
communities, social support systems for elderly persons.
2. To evaluate critically the support and welfare resources available to the retired person formally and informally at a community level. The investigation will be directed toward the identification of social support systems that would meet the growing and changing needs of the retired.
3. To study both support providers and the beneficiaries comprehensively in order to understand how poverty and the needs of the retired are distributed, and how they are dealt with in practice.
4. To determine the degree of success of formal and informal interventions of support provision to the elderly.
5. To ascertain the social pattern of relief and support, and to draw the social implications of the existing and changing patterns so that appropriate and adequate social policies may be formulated.
These specific objectives will be framed around the following main
questions:
1. What are the general cultural
expectations about the retired person in the community and how are these
changing?
2. What resources are available to them?
3. To what extent do retired persons avail themselves of the community resources and at what cost?
4. What factors encourage or discourage utilization of such resources?
5. To what extent do the resources available complement one another to meet the needs of the retired and what needs are left unmet?
6. What are the principles of reciprocity involved in these various support arrangements in the family and the community?
METHODOLOGY:
Three communities will
be selected, each in a different region, based on the criteria that they are
manageable for ethnographic research and also suitable in terms of providing
sufficient sample sizes of retired persons. Communities selected should be
located either in rural, small town or in the city. In the city the selected
area must be a section of the city where many old people reside. In each of the
sampling community a representative sample will be taken based on systematic
selection of houses with randomisation start. It will be based on the principle
of equi-probability i.e. in each and every house within the selected houses all
household members will be interviewed. The critical factor is that in each of
the selected house there must be a person who is classified as above the age of
60 years and who has retired from the public sector.
Data will be collected from a variety of sources within the selected communities, from households, from families, kin, neighbours, shopkeepers, legal and health practitioners, from neighbourhood and community associations, religious groups welfare agencies, specialised groups such as trade unions, from local councils and other organised groups. Further information gathered will come from retired persons themselves, from their families/kin, extra familial networks, neighbourhood, their community and from state agencies. The material gathered from these levels will be in a complementary relationship to one another in order to approximate a high degree of reliability and validity.
The principal data gathered through the ethnographic methods will
include the followings:
(a) Community profiles: geographic, demographic,
historical, political-social and economic conditions of the community, placed
within the national context.
(b) Prevailing cultural norms and the expectations concerning the retired persons and their care, conceptions about reciprocity and exchange, family and kinship relationship etc.
(c) Inventory and detailed descriptions of indigenous informal support systems and of formal support systems available within the community.
Another source of data collection will be a historical review of formal and informal support systems available in the community, at the national, community and local levels. At the formal level, data will include the public services and programmes instituted by the government at different levels. At the informal level, data will include information on the traditional supporting roles played by family, kin, patrons and others.
The existing literature will be thoroughly reviewed in terms of existing works which can help throw some light on the aged in Ghana and the modalities to provide support for them. Libraries, and archival material will be of benefit. In other words, the literature review work will include pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial documentation.
The particular observation techniques will also be used. During this phase it will be desirable for researchers to take up residence in the communities for a period of time as deemed appropriate. The purpose is to gather substantive data on the research problem and its objectives by establishing relationships within the community and its activities. Field notes obtained here should allow the investigator to form appropriate judgements and interpretations of the overall data to facilitate the descriptive analysis.
Another source of data collection method will be the case studies approach. About ten/10 case studies will be documented from each community. The case studies will focus on personal history and life style of the retired elderly person and his family, on the systems of reciprocity and exchange, during the course of their lives that ensure security in old age. They will also focus on details and nuances of daily interaction and exchange of support between the retired person and the community. The subjective perception held by the retired with respect to their needs and the support environment and their degree of satisfaction will be studied and documented.
It must be restated here that in terms of the household survey, the sample size will be approximately 150 given the limitation of field problems. Household selected for the study must contain at least one person over the age of 60, and that the selected sample will be representative of the community.
In terms of priorities, after a pilot study the ethnographic study will begin. Then it is expected that questionnaires will be constructed and pretested. It is only when the ethnographic study has been completed that field questions will be distributed and filled.
EXPECTED KEY OUTPUT:
The Ministry of
Employment and Social Welfare is seriously considering the development of a
national policy on ageing. The results of this study should identify and
address gaps in existing information.
EXPECTED DURATION OF STUDY: 12 MONTHS
EXPANDING AWARENESS: RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAM FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN GHANA.
RATIONALE:
This proposal contains two
distinct components: a research activity and a training activity. The research
activity will establish the current skills needs of Ghanaian trade unionists.
On the identify the skills needs of Ghanaian trade unionists. On the basis of
this identification of skills needs, training programs will be developed.
Expected training needs are:
The research activity to identify skills needs before developing training programmes is essential. Simply importing training courses for Ghanaian trade unionist without first establishing their exact circumstances is counter productive: appropriate training courses must be based in (i) Ghanaian trade unionist own perceptions of their needs and (ii) an objective evaluation of the effectiveness of Ghanaian provisions as compared with that available elsewhere. In order to achieve this balance it is suggested that a Ghanaian trade unionist form part of the research team and that external support be obtained from an expert in industrial relations on both the research and training program. This latter support could be provided in the form of two short advisory visits.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
General
parameters of Ghanaian industrial relations system will be established (how
many trade unionists; trade union leaders; age structure; gender structure;
etc);
Interviews will be conducted with trade union leaders on what they perceive the existing skills base to be and what improvements they view as necessary.
Researchers will attend a set of industrial relations meetings to view exercise of skills.
Researchers will select an industrial relations case history and talk through it with the relevant industrial relations officers to see what skills could have made a beneficial impact on the outcome.
The researchers will integrate the results into a report which identifies the communication skills needs to Ghanaian trade unionists.
TRAINING PROGRAMME:
On the basis of
the needs identification, experts in communication skills and group dynamics
will develop appropriate training programs for trade unionists.
A short course of four days will be developed and provided at the Centre for Social Policy Studies. In order to keep group size sufficiently small for effective communication purposes, it is proposed that several sessions of the short course be run - perhaps five.
Within the short course, experts on communication technology will provide attendees with an introduction to the use of the Internet as a way of gaining important industrial relations information and a mechanism for interacting with unionists elsewhere.
PERSONNEL:
The team will be led by an
experienced social worker with extensive communication skills and training
experience. She will be assisted by a team of three researcher/interviewers. In
addition, a trade unionist will be recruited to join the team and an external
advisor with an expertise in industrial relations will also be recruited.
EXPECTED DURATION OF RESEARCH: 3 MONTHS
Centre for Social Policy Studies,
Faculty of Social Studies,
University of Ghana, PO Box 72, Legon, Ghana
Tel: +233 21 502217 Fax: +233
21 500949
e-mail: aptnana@hotmail.com
web site: http://www.oocities.org/csps_ghana
