RESEARCH METHOD FOR STUDENTS POOR PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION



            This chapter of study discusses the method used in carrying out the research.
            The method used are discussed under the following sub-headings; research design, area of the study, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques,  instruction reliability of the instrument, method of data collection and method of data analysis.

3.1       Research Design    
            The research design used in carrying out the study is descriptive survey design due to the
fact that only a sample of the population was used for the study and it is assumed that the findings from the few will be generalized to the entire population.

3.2       Area of the Study
            The study was carried out in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State which is located at Ebonyi South Senatoral Zonal of Ebonyi State which has boundary form the North with Ohaukwu Local Government Area from the South Ohaozara Local Government Area respectively. Onicha Local Government Area has (16) sixteen wards and five communities.
3.3       Population of the Study 
            The population consist of all the fourteen (14) secondary schools which has 2,539 students according to the statistics from Secondary Education Board Abakaliki (2007) where SS III students were selected.

3.4       Sample and Sample Techniques
            Sample and sampling techniques for the purpose of the research, sample size of 175 was used. They were randomly selected from each schools using simple random technique.

3.5       Instrument for Data Collection   
            To ensure appropriate research findings, the instruments used for the data collection is a questionnaire. In order to collect vital information for this research work the questionnaire was divided into six set of questions as it relates to the six being used in the work the questionnaire was developed by the research after the review of literature. The questionnaire is made up of two section A and B.
“A” consists of personal data, which seeks the name of the respondents and level.
“B” was fashioned out using 4 point liter scale thus (SA) strongly Agree, 4 points (A) Agree 3 points (D) Disagree, 2 points (SD) Strongly Disagreed 1 point and a brief letter of introduction containing the purpose of the study will be attached to each copy of the questionnaire.

3.6       Validation of the Instrument   
            The validation of the instrument was carried out by presenting the draft to the researcher’s supervisors and also to two senior lectures in department of educational foundation who gave it a backing.
            These experts validated item in terms of sentence structure and adequacy of the instrument on the basis of their comments and suggestions, the instrument was modified to suit the study.

3.7       Reliability of the Instrument  
            The questionnaire was filled by the respondents in the presence of the researcher and submitted same to the researcher and the researcher also conducted oral interview with the help of school principals and other teachers that assisted in the process, this information’s give the study more backing.

3.8       Method of Data Collection    
            The 200 copies of questionnaire was distributed to SS III student of the assistances of two teachers, the researcher collected 175 copies filled correctly while 25 copies were not returned by the student.
3.9       Method of Data Analysis   
            For the purpose of this research and to ensure a clearer understanding, mean and frequencies shall be used for data analysis. Research questions were answered on individual item basis in a 4 points likert scale.  Thus: Strongly Agree (SA) 4 points Agree (A) 3 points Disagree (D) 2 points and Strongly Disagree (SD) 1 point.

Formular for data analysis
X         =          ∑fx
                         N  

Where   
X         =          mean
         =          summation
fx        =          frequency x
N         =          number of scores
The decision rule therefore            = 4+3+2+1
                                                                        4
Mean =          10        =          2.5
                                     4

This means that mean of 2.5 and above was accepted, while a mean below 2.5 was rejected. 

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