Research Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://atuspace.atu.edu.gh/handle/123456789/30

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Application of multilevel and panel data statistical techniques in modelling the amount of rainfall in selected locals in the Greater Accra Region.
(International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development, 2022) Asare, I. O.; Yeboah, J. O.
This study assessed the factors that affects the amount of rainfall in Ghana. Knowing the factors that influence the amount of rainfall in a given geographical area is very important for planning and decision-making purposes. In this study, temperature, relative humidity, locality and the seasons that these factors occur were considered in determining the amount of rainfall received on land. Multilevel and panel data analysis techniques were used to analyze the data gathered from 2001-2015. The study reveals that temperature has effect on rainfall whiles relative humidity has no significant effect on the amount of rainfall experienced in the selected areas used for the study. The result shows that rainfall is maximized when temperature and relative humidity are at high levels and few rainfalls is expected when both parameters are at low levels. The study also highlighted on the importance of the study variables on food production in Ghana.
Computing statistical precision of efficiency and productivity change indices: A bootstrap application to Ghanaian Polytechnics.
(European Scientific Journal, 2016) Mends-Brew, E.; Ashiagbor, A. A.
This study employs a bivariate smoothing bootstrap technique to obtain a statistical inference for Technical Efficiency and Malmquist Indices and their components of Polytechnics in Ghana over the period 2009-2014. The main contribution of this paper is to provide an Efficiency Analysis using a non-parametric approach with a robust estimator. This methodology is empirically being applied in the analysis of Polytechnic Education in Ghana because it affords us the opportunity to compute the statistical significance of changes in Polytechnics’ Technical Efficiency and Productivity Indices and their respective components. Results showed that averagely, Technical Efficiency fluctuated over the period; however, Polytechnic Education experienced a significant technological regress, with few Polytechnics achieving increases in productivity led by improvements in efficiency. Policy implications are derived.
Evaluating knowledge of quality assurance practices in tertiary institutions in Ghana.
(The International Journal of Business & Management, 2016) Morrison, S.; Mensah, A. C.
Tertiary education assumes greater importance as it generates knowledge, the key engine of global economy and development. One way to guarantee this is constant and efficient assurance of high standards is the setting up of quality assurance agencies to coordinate the proper development of such institutions. This study seeks to evaluate the knowledge of Quality Assurance practices in Accra Polytechnic. A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study approach was used. A total of 50 respondents were sampled and 43 responses received, 26 from the administrative units (non-teaching) and 17 from the schools (teaching staff). The study data was collected using self-administered questionnaires divided into three sections. Accreditation, assessment, academic audit and examination were some of the approaches of QA known and practiced averagely by the institution. The mostly used or known quality assessment is action taken on studentsâ€™ feedback. Staff expertise and initiative were seen as very essential in improving quality in the polytechnic. A gap between policy formulation and implementation was realized due to poor communication. The introduction of the QA system was done by the institutional leadership with little involvement of staff. Almost all the learning resources are available but inadequate. The most available procedure to ensure quality research is internal seminars. Inadequate qualified staff in the quality assurance unit and lack of commitment by management were the challenges regarding effective implementation of internal quality assurance system in the institution. Knowledge on QA practices is average in the institution.
Survival outcomes of breast cancer in Ghana: An analysis of clinicopathological features.
(The International Journal of Business & Management, 2016) Mensah, A. C.
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in female’s worldwide. Its incidence is on the ascendancy in Africa including Ghana. In addition, Ghanaian women are more likely to be diagnosed with high-grade tumours that are triple negative breast tumours. The objectives of the study were to investigate the clinicopathologic features of breast cancer in Ghanaian women; identify and describe breast cancer survival pattern in Ghana and factors that explain the disparity in survival rates for breast cancer by the use of Cox proportional hazard. Two thousand three hundred and ninety seven (2397) women were sampled for the study from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), of which 1022 (42.64%) were diagnosed with breast cancer between the periods 1st January 2002 to 31st December 2008. The cases were followed up to January 2011. It was found that Mean age for the cases was 47.97 years. The largest number of cases being 59.69% was aged 40 - 49 years. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) was 72.90%, 71.28% had lump size of 2-5 cm. Axillary lymph node involvement was found in 90% of the women diagnosed with breast cancer. 5-year cumulative survival was 91.94% for stage 0&I and 15.09% for stage IV. Data relating to tumour grading were 92.07% for high grade 2 and 3. Triple negative breast cancer was identified in 66.38% (77 out of 116) of the cases with complete information on Estrogen Receptor, Progesterone Receptor and HER2 status. Cumulative 5-year survival was 47.91. Survival rate was better for early staged presentation; lymph node involvement of less than 25% and tumour size of less than 5 cm. The study reinforces the urgent need for improved screening techniques for early detection, and for an aggressive health education campaign to increase the awareness of women in Ghana about the potential risk of breast cancer and early detection by regular testing.
Cocoa production in Ghana: Trends and volatility
(International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 2016) Okyere, E.; Mensah, A.C.
The Ghanaian economy is dependent to a high degree on primary production, in agriculture and mining for exports. The exports of cocoa, gold and timber traditionally account for the greatest bulk of merchandise exports. The production of cocoa beans is thought to employ more than 1.5 million Ghanaians. Cocoa is still the single-most important commodity to the country's economy. For this study econometric methods were used to explore the patterns of domestic production volatility of cocoa under consideration in Ghana from October 2000 to September 2015 major crop seasons by developing GARCH model. From the results it was observed that daily cocoa purchases show a higher purchase follow lower purchase. In particular, high increases of purchases are observed in the October 2011. Crop purchases for 2014/2015 were the lowest over the past six main cocoa seasons. The empirical result shows the average purchase per tonne for cocoa to be 18,896.2 with standard deviation of 17,852.1. The series were positive Skewness (2.3) and longer tails. Excess kurtosis coefficients 12.3 indicated that the distribution of purchase series for cocoa possess leptokurtic characteristics. The Jarque-Bera test statistic indicates that the purchases series is non-normality. Further, the computed ADF test - statistic (-20.80127) was seen to be significant, hence the return of cocoa purchases series doesn't have a unit root problem. The ARCH and GARCH coefficients (0.53 and 0.15) are statistically significant which indicate that shocks to volatility have a persistent effect on the conditional variance. The conditional standard deviation shows periods of high volatility.
Factor analysis of competency based trained graduates of polytechnic/technical universities in
(European Scientific Journal, 2017) Mends–Brew, E.; Dadzie, J.; Apau-Dadson, B.; Amoamah, M. O.
Higher Education, particularly Polytechnic education which sits at the apex of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has undergone a great deal of transformation over the last several years. Polytechnic education was incorporated into the educational system with the primary objective of providing employable skills needed to propel growth in the various sectors of the economy. Therefore, Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) plays a significant role for the socioeconomic development of any country to meet the challenges of skilled labour in the global market and the ever widening digital divide coupled with the development of a knowledge-based economy. Competency Based Training (CBT) which entails the practical aspect of technical and vocational training relates theoretical knowledge to actual practice. For more than a decade, this has been part of the curricula of polytechnic education in Ghana as an alternative method of delivery to equip students with hands-on experience and competencies required in the job market (Salifu et al, 2010). CBT provides an improved form of delivery centered on the integration of acquired knowledge, professional and practical skills and attitude, coupled with a market-driven focus on the student (Afeti et al, 2003). Having churned out graduates through the CBT approach, it is imperative to assess the readiness of these graduates for the job market. It is against this background that the study was conducted to do a ‘Need Analysis’ of these graduates. A total of 55 graduates in two polytechnics were used for the study. The study sought to examine the relative influence of factors influencing career choices of these graduates having been trained through the competency based mode of Teaching and delivery. Factor analysis of ratings of importance of a number of job creation characteristics were used. These results were used to build scales of importance and preference, which were then tested with other variables in a predictive model in which the dependent variable was the decision to be self-employed or to be engaged for employment by third parties upon completion of their respective programmes. The following were found to influence decisions; work-related concerns, gender, age, financial support, family background and internship placements. The results also showed that most of the graduates exhibited that sense of inadequacy towards becoming entrepreneurs or starting their own businesses.
Informal Entreprenurship in Ghana: An analysis of motivational factors.
(International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 2017) Kumi, K. P.; Mensah, A.C.
The study was conducted in Ghana specifically Greater Accra region. The aim was to identify the motives for informal entrepreneurship. A total of 400 respondents were selected for data collection. A structured questionnaire which has been pre-tested was used. The collected data was analysed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were the mode of data presentation. The results revealed that, 48.2% of owners of small scale informal enterprises were females and 51.8% males. Majority (65%) of the respondents were between the year group 21 to 40. The majority of the respondents (60.1%) were married and 29% of them were single. Moreover, the owners of small enterprises surveyed were fairly literate: 32% of them were educated up to Senior High level, 28% of them have received Junior High Education, whiles 14.3% have up to primary education. However, 6.4% of them have no formal education. Further analysis using logistic regression, showed that, financial challenge, unemployment, experience acquired from previous employment and ones’ expectation of being better off as an entrepreneur will push an individual into entrepreneurship. The findings are that Ghanaian entrepreneurs are motivated mainly by necessity to start their engagements in the informal economy.
Does concurrent chemoradiotherapy preceded by chemotherapy improve survival in locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer patients? Experience from Ghana.
(Cancers of the Head & Neck, 2017) Yarney, J.; Aryeetey, N. A.; Mensah, A.; Kitcher, E. D.; Vanderpuye, V.; Aidoo, C.; Baidoo, K.
Background: To find out how chemotherapy given prior to concurrent chemoradiotherapy compares with concurrent chemoradiation alone in the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer. Methods: Patient charts were examined and found to have submitted to one of two regimes as follows: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin (group1), or concurrent cisplatin based chemoradiotherapy only (group 2). Radiation treatment dose of 70Gy in 35 fractions was given in each group. Results: Forty-seven patients were evaluated with 68% male. Stage 4 disease comprised 83%, WHO type 3 was the commonest histologic type (53.2%). Median follow up period was 20 months (4-129). The 3-year overall survival for group 1 was 52.1%, and for group 2:65.7% (p = 0.47). The 3-year disease free survival for group 1 was 61.4, and 81.4% for group 2 (p = 0.03). Conclusion: The study revealed that concurrent chemoradiation alone yields better disease free survival compared to chemotherapy given prior to it. There is however no difference in overall survival between the two regimes.
Modelling the trend of road traffic accidents in Accra.
(2018) Mends-Brew, E.; Dadzie, J.; Apau-Dadson, B.; Amoamah, M. O.
Road transportation remains the dominant mode of transporting goods and commuters in Ghana. Over the last couple of decades, the Government of Ghana has aggressively pursued a comprehensive road infrastructural development and maintenance programmes with the aim of improving the entire road network in response to increase in travel and transportation. This is as a result of growth and expansion of economic activity with raised consumption levels of the people. Consequently, this improvement is aimed at reducing the menace and the carnage on roads in the country. Unfortunately, with the increasing road network, the number of fatalities has also been on the rise leading to great concerns for road safety. The purpose of this paper is to come out with a predictive mathematical model on the trend of Road Traffic Accident (RTA) occurrence in Ghana. Descriptive data in the public domain from statutory bodies especially the Motor Traffic and Transport Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service on RTAs together with a host of academic papers on the subject matter were used as sources of information. The result of the sixth order polynomial analysis showed an r-squared value of 0.957 which was statistically significant inferring that the model has a 95.7% accuracy of predicting road traffic accidents in Ghana. It was also evident that road traffic accidents significantly increased with increased stretch of roads (km), absence of road safety officials and the blatant disregard for road safety measures aimed at ensuring safety on the roads. Based on the findings, recommendations were advised on how to reduce the phenomenon of traffic accidents in Ghana particularly in the Greater Accra region.
Analysis of Ghana’s imports and exports
(Journal of Economics and Financial Research, 2018) Mensah, A.C.; Okyere, E.
The long-run relationship between exports and imports has been the subject of intensive research in developed and developing economies. This relationship is of importance due to the fact that it reflects the stability of foreign trade situation of a country. The main objective of this paper is to study and investigate the long-run relationship between exports and imports in Ghana’s economy. A time series econometric techniques of unit root tests, Johansen cointegration and error-correction mechanism were applied. Annual data for real exports and real imports for the period 2002 – 2015 were used. The results of ADF unit root tests suggest that the two variables export and imports are integrated of order one. Johansen cointegration test revealed that, a long-run cointegrating relationship exist between exports and imports in Ghana. The error-correction model found a long-run unidirectional causality from imports to exports. This means that the short run fluctuations between exports and imports are sustainable since, in the long run, they will eventually converge towards an equilibrium state. The study confirms that Ghana is not in violation of its international budget constraints, and macroeconomic policies have been effective in bringing exports and imports into a long-run equilibrium.
Causality analysis on export and economic growth nexus in Ghana.
(Open Journal of Statistics, 2020) Mensah, A. C.; Okyere, E.
The study examined the causal relationship between export and economic growth based on monthly data for the period 2010 to 2019. Composite Index Economic Activity (CIEA) was used as a proxy for real GDP (economic growth). Time series econometric techniques were employed to explore long-run and short run relationships as well as the causality between them. The results revealed the existence of long-run relationships; evidence of bi-directional causality and a rapid adjustment to equilibrium between real GDP and exports. Recommendations are that, policy makers should focus on implementing export oriented policies and promote economic growth to achieve sustainable development.
Use of principal components regression and time-series analysis to predict the water level of the Akosombo Dam Level.
(2018) Asare, I.O.; Frempong, D.A.; Larbi, P.
Knowing the water level of the Akosombo Dam would help Ghanaian since we depend heavily on hydroelectric power. When the future of the water level is known, society would be able to plan on the usage of electricity for the industries, society, individuals who use some of the water storage for irrigation, water supply purposes. The study employed rainfall from the 12 catchment areas to the River Volta and the daily water level of the dam for a period of 78-years. Principal Component Regression was applied to the input variables for the reduction of its large size to a few principal components to explain the variations in the original dataset. The outcome of the PCR extraction was two principal components. Time Series using Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average was used to model the data. The appropriate model that fit the data well was ARIMA (2,1,2) (1,0,0) [12] after comparing other models AICs. The model with the smallest AIC and the least number of parameters was selected as the best model.
The prevalent causes of non-disclosure of HIV status and their effect on Tema Municipality.
(2019) Tawiah, S. K; Dzivor, N. D.; Mensah, A. C.; Adjei, S
This research looks at the widespread effect of HIV patients (adults)’ unwillingness to disclose their HIV Status. The study takes the Tema Municipality as a case study to investigate the causes of non-disclosure of HIV status. A sample of 300 HIV-infected adults who currently attending Tema General Hospital for medicals and counseling are selected. The focus was on their disclosure rate, gender disclosure rate, outcomes of disclosure and non-disclosure and causes of non-disclosure of their HIV status. The study reveals that 75% of the sampled respondents had revealed their HIV status and 25% failed to do so. A lot of factors were found out to be the reasons for non-disclosure. Key among them are fear of victimization, rejection, physical abuse and breach of confidentiality. The non-disclosure rate for male is 2.096 times higher than that of female. Out of the 75 nondisclosure respondents, 93.3% of them are living their normal lives while 6.7% of respondents felt like there was a heavy responsibility on their shoulder for not disclosing their status. The result of multivariate analysis shows the variables (gender, educational status and use of condom during sex) are significant in determining non-disclosure rate. Though there are more females living with HIV status, males have higher non-disclosure rate. Furtherance However, educational level of the individual and use of condom at the time of sex have negative impact on non-disclosure rate. The study recommends that the hospital attendants ensure, they listen to and document reactions of PLHIV victims and also organize counseling session for the victims on how to disclose their status immediately to, especially, partners and families. The Government should encourage the existing health institutions to provide friendly sexual and reproductive counselling and testing services. This should include voluntary counselling and testing for HIV.
Linking entrepreneurship education and training with students and graduates entrepreneurial intention.
(ProQuest, 2020) Pobbi, M. A.; Antiaye, E.
Recognising the relevance of entrepreneurship, most African universities have made significant input into delivering Entrepreneurial Education in Higher Educational Institutions. However, the rising number of graduate unemployment raises concerns with regard to quality of educational content, and programmes. This study sought to investigate the impact of entrepreneurship course content on entrepreneurial intention and the mediation of individual entrepreneurial characteristics and also to investigate if graduates’ exposure to extra entrepreneurship training and university programme type does account for differences in individual entrepreneurial characteristics. A context specific framework which explains entrepreneurial intention as a function of course content, programmes type, and extra entrepreneurial training is tested based on data from 400 undergraduate students and 400 graduates from eight Ghanaian universities. Evidence from the model reveal that entrepreneurial course content did impact entrepreneur Intention, however, this impact is partially mediated by the attitudes, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms of Ghanaian students and graduates. Again, while it was found that extra entrepreneurial training did account for differences in individual entrepreneurial characteristics and entrepreneurial intention of graduates, the difference due to programme type was not significant. Theoretical, policy, and practical implications findings of this study are discussed.
Monetary policy and private sector credit interaction in Ghana.
(2020) Mensah, A. C.; Okyere, E.
Using a series of econometric techniques, the study analysed interaction between monetary policy and private sector credit in Ghana. This study made use of monthly dataset spanning January 1999 to December 2019 of credit to the private sector (PSC) and broad money supply (M2). The results reveal that there exists cointegration, a long run stationary relation between monetary policy and private sector credit. This implies, increases in credit should prompt long-term increases in monetary policy. It is not surprising that growth in the private sector might have a stronger effect on monetary policy. The Error Correction Test is statistically significant and that all the variables demonstrate similar adjustment speeds. This implies that in the short run, both money supply and credit are somewhat equally responsive to their last period‟s equilibrium error. There is unidirectional causation from private sector credit to monetary policy. It can be said that, there is an interaction between money supply and private sector credit. Thus, credit to private sector holds great potential in promoting economic growth. It can be recommended to the government to increase the credit flow to the private sector because of its strategic importance in creating and generating growth of the economy.
Comparative analysis of parametric models on survival of breast cancer patients in Ghana.
(International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics, 2017) Mensah, A. C.; Nokoe, S. K.; Yarney, J.; Okyere, E.
Survival analysis methods that measure the risk of death or progression of a disease provide predictions that help clinicians to estimate trends in their patient outcomes. The objective of the study was to determine the survival pattern of breast cancer patients, using the parametric modeling strategies. Five parametric models-exponential, Weibull, Lognormal Gamma and Llogistic—were applied to the real life data which consisted of 1022 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1 st January 2002 and 31st December 2008. Survival time was calculated from the date of the diagnosis of breast cancer to the date of death or, if alive, at 31 December 2011. Using the log likelihood method and the Akaike information criterion (AIC) the gamma model was found to be the best-fitted model for predicting survival following a diagnosis of breast cancer. Several covariates-including size of tumour, tumour grade; stage at diagnosis; axillary node involvement; Body Mass Index (BMI) and Age (age of the patient in years)—were included in the parametric model to predict factors associated with future mortality. Size of tumour, stage at diagnosis and Body Mass Index (BMI) were found to be significant variables associated with mortality of breast cancer patients
Application of principal component analysis on perceived barriers to youth entrepreneurship
(2020) Mensah, A. C.; Dadzie, J.
Entrepreneurship is an imperative driving force for innovation in a country. Nevertheless, there is lack of systematic investigation in the area of barriers to entrepreneurship and its effects on the intentions of the youth becoming an entrepreneur. As a result, the primary objective of the study is to analyze perceived barriers to youth entrepreneurship. The study used responses from 186 students of a tertiary institution, who were selected based on convenience sampling method. A 5 point likert scale was used to measure the responses and the data analyzed with descriptive statistics, correlation and principal component analysis. The results indicate that youth perceive lack of capital, lack of skill, lack of support, lack of market opportunities and risk as the main barriers to youth entrepreneurship. Nine (9) factors with Eigenvalues greater than one accounted for 73.35% of the variance explained. The study recommends that, stakeholders precautiously design courses and policies to minimize the perception of entrepreneurship barriers and maximize motivational factors. Entrepreneurship education be designed to enhance skills and knowledge in entrepreneurship and also to reorient students’ career choices towards entrepreneurship. Awareness campaign of government support instruments should be done. Policy makers should implement sound economic policies to boost the country’s economic environment.
Investigating impact of parental motivations and involvement within a developing country
(Science Gate, 2021) Pobbi, M. A.
Abstract Introduction The physicians are responsible for prescribing medicine rationally. Physician's awareness of prescribing guidelines can lead to the selection of the most effective, appropriate and effective measures to the improved prescription. This study aim is to determine the factors influencing drug prescribing behaviour in family physicians. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 on a case study including 150 family physicians from Shiraz City who were selected by systematic random sampling method. A questionnaire related to the behaviour of prescribing physicians was used based on the theory of planned behaviour to collect data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the experts' opinion and its reliability was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha. The data were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM) by SPSS and Smart PLS software. Results It was specified that 39.3% of Shiraz family physicians have prescribed medicines for their most patients (61-70%) during the last month. Furthermore, 60% of physicians have prescribed for about 20% of their patients without any examination. In addition, 63% of doctors have repeated prescription for about 20% of patients with chronic disease. Based on the obtained results of the Research Structural Equation Model, none of the four considered variables explains changes in physicians' behaviour regarding prescribing. Although, “mental and perceived behavioural control” explain 30.2% of the changes in the intention of prescribing medication of family physicians in Shiraz. Conclusions The family physicians' behaviour in prescribing medicine shows the impact of factors such as the patient's request, as well as the role of the patients and colleagues pressure for prescribing medicine as a quality criterion for their practice. norms of mental and perceived behavioural control are effective in explaining the purpose of prescribing. Key messages Policymakers should implement policies to develop physicians’ behavior and logical prescription by education, financial incentives; consequently. Mental and perceived behavioral control are effective in explaining the purpose of prescribing.
Kumaraswamy-Janardan distribution: A generalized janardan distribution with application to real data
(Asian Journal of Probability and Statistics, 2021) Dzivor, N. D.; Otoo, H.; Wiah, E. N.
The quest to improve on flexibility of probability distributions motivated this research. Four-parameter Janardan generalized distribution known as Kumaraswamy-Janardan distribution is proposed through method of parameterization and studied. The probability density function, cumulative density function, survival rate function as well as hazard rate function of the distribution are established. Statistical properties such as moments, moment generating function as well as maximum likelihood of the model are discussed. The parameters are estimated using the simulated annealing optimization algorithm. Flexibility of the model in comparison with the baseline model as well as other competing sub-models is verified using Akaike Information Criteria (AIC). The model is tested with real data and is proven to be more flexible in fitting real data than any of its sub-models considered.
Exponentiated janardan distribution: A modification of janardan distribution and application to life time data.
(Scientific & Accademic, 2021) Dzivor, N. D.; Otoo, H.; Wiah, E. N.
Applications of probability distributions have spread over the years from game of chance to all facet of life and disciplines. Due to quest of precision in modeling lifetime data, existing probability distributions are been improved upon through method of parameterization. This study introduced a new distribution called Exponentiated Janardan distribution of which Janardan distribution forms the baseline. This new distribution is a three-parameter distribution. Some statistical properties such as moments, MLE, survival/hazard rate are established. The proposed distribution was run on a number of life time datasets concurrently with the baseline distribution and the output result indicates that Exponentiated Janardan distribution produces smaller AIC value than the baseline distribution in all datasets considered. This indicates that Exponentiated Janardan distribution fits lifetime data more closely than Janardan distribution. The behavior of the pdf, survival function and hazard rate function are pictorially demonstrated. The role of each parameter in the proposed distribution is also pictorially demonstrated.

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