CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter focuses on research methodology under the following sub-headings;

research design, area of study, population of study, sampling and sampling techniques

adopted, research instruments, validation of research instrument, reliability of the

instrument, method of data collection, method of data analysis for the study.

3.1 Research Design

According to Best and Khan (2001) the purpose of descriptive design is to study the

relationships that exist, practices that prevail, beliefs and attitudes held, the processes

that are going on and the effects felt or trends that are developing. In this study the

researcher adopted a descriptive survey research design to assess the effect of teachers’

competence on students’ academic performance in secondary school biology. The design

was considered relevant since the researcher was to collect, analyze and report

information as it exists in the field without manipulation of variables. It involved the

use of questionnaires to a sample of teachers.

3.2 Area of Study

The study was carried out in Lagos State in the South West geopolitical zone , located

on 6˚35̍ N 3˚45̍ E / 6.583˚N 3.750˚E.The area is made up of 20 Local Government. On

the North and East it is bounded by Ogun State, in the west it shares boundaries with

The Republic of Benin, behind its Southern boarders lies the Atlantic Ocean. It has an

estimated population of over 17,552,940 population and the smallest land mass of the
Nigerian States of 3,577 square kilometer of which 22% of it are lagoons and creeks.

Lagos is predominantly inhabited by the Yoruba tribes and the Eguns from Badagry

region of the state with every tribe of the nation represented as a commercial capital of

the country. The major occupation of the people is Fishing and Commerce. The area

was chosen for the study due the availability of schools and students across all levels

of education in the state.

3.3 Population of the Study

Orodho (2005) states, all the people under consideration in any field of inquiry

constitute a universe or targeted population. The target population for this study

comprises all biology secondary school teachers in Mushin Local Government of

Lagos State.

3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Procedures

Orodho and Kombo (2002) define sampling as the procedure a researcher uses to

gather people, places or things to study. The sample for the study was made up of one

hundred and fifty biology secondary school teachers randomly selected from Lagos

metropolis. The respondent includes 75 males and 75 females which are qualified

teachers based on their competence in teaching profession, year of teaching

experience, academic qqalification, good age bracket, gender and good `ttitude do

teacxing biology.

3.· Research Instrumgnt

A self-co}structed questi\nnaire titled “2cademic Performƒnce, teachers competence

and te`chers attitude”Þwere administerqd to all the seDected secondary¢school

statemenðs. Section A sowght information0on biological data of the restondents while

section B consists of 8 statements which investigated statement on students’ academic

performance. The sectioj C consists of 10 statements based on teachers’ competence

while section D consists of 4 statements based on teachers’ attitude. The instrument

was validated by the project supervisor. The four point rating scale response option

provided for respondents to choose from are: Strongly Agree (S.A) =4 points, Agree

(A) = 3 points, Disagree (D) = 2 points and Strongly Disagree (S.D) = 1 for positive

statement while reverse scoring was used for negative statements.

3.6 Validation of Instrument

The initial draft of the questionnaire was presented to an expert in the Department of

Educational Foundations who supervised the research work for criticism, assessment

and corrections to ensure validity of the instrument. The corrections were effected on

the final draft of the questionnaire before the administration to respondents.

3.7 Reliability of Instrument

To ensure the reliability of the instrument, a pilot was done which involves 30
teachers who were not included in the study. The participants were administered the
instrument. After two weeks, the same instrument was re-administered on the same
participants given the same administrative condition. Thereafter each respondents
score on the 1st and 2nd test were collated and Pearson Product Moment Correlation
Coefficient formular was used to check the level of relationship existing on the test.
The result is presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Test retest reliability estimate of index of teacher competence and its effects
on students’ academic performance
Variables Number of Test Mean SD Correlation
Item Position (PPMC)
Academic Performance 1st 20.75 4.32 0.68
8 2nd 21.07 7.46
Teachers Competence 1st 24.25 6.78 0.74
10 2nd 23.97 4.66
Teachers Attitude 1st 10.39 4.62 0.70
4 2nd 12.72 5.03

Table 1 shows that the test retest reliability estimate of index of teacher teaching

effectiveness ranging between r= 0.68 to r=0.74. These calculated r-values were

deemed acceptable since human behaviour being measured in complex in nature.

Consequently, the instrument was accepted to be stable over time. Hence, adequate for

use in this study

3.8 Method of Data Collection

The copies of the questionnaire were administered by the investigator to the

respondent with the cooperation of the management of the sampled schools. A total of

one hundred and fifty copies of the questionnaire were given out to respondent and

provision was also made to accommodate equal percentage of sex in each school.

Likewise, explanation was made where necessary for clarification on the

questionnaire. The questionnaire was filled immediately while collection was equally
made to minimize the loss of questionnaire and to ensure high return rate. Thereafter,

copies of the questionnaire were collected and collated for analysis of data.

3.9 Method of Data Analysis

Based on the formulated hypotheses in the study, the data were analyzed using One

way analysis of variance and independent-sample t-test. All hypotheses were tested at

0.05 level of significance.