Principal stage study

The principal stage, and perhaps the most important stage, given that the focus of the key research questions is made up of the following activities and processes of the stage:

• questionnaire construction including assumptions, ethical consideration of issues, and a letter of introduction request to facilitate the data collection

• questionnaire development processes, and one short interview guide for financial data

• questionnaire pre-testing for revision, and sampling techniques

4.3.2.1 The questionnaire construction

A Likert 5-point numerical rating scale has been employed in the construction and the development of the questionnaires. The 5-point rating scale offers respondents five response patterns, starting from the very negative to the very positive towards an issue or a question under study. The Likert rating scale allows respondents to respond to issues with degrees of agreement or disagreement (Kerlinger 1986) or to indicate how they agree or disagree with the statements relating to certain issues (Zikmund 1991). It is a technique that offers the respondents specific and limited alternatives to choose the one closest to their viewpoint (Duffy et al. 1992). Kumar (1996), as well as Sekaran (1992), advise that the statements on a rating scale be constructed in a manner that permits the reflection of opinions (and attitudes) about an issue in varying degrees, usually starting from the very negative to the very positive. A questionnaire with a 5-point rating scale in a three-directional anchor was considered a more appropriate primary data collection tool over other research tools for two primary reasons. All the study participants had tertiary-level qualifications; hence it is more helpful to the researcher and respondents alike because it offers the latter (respondents) the advantage of specific and limited alternatives from which to choose the one closest to their viewpoint, and the former (researcher) the advantage of easier analysis (Duffy et al. 1992). It was also considered more suitable because of the huge cost involved for any other alternative techniques in a country as big as Nigeria. The limited alternatives to choose from (reflecting issues or statements in varying degrees) are generally presented in a table format with endpoints such as: Minimum (Low), Medium (Average), and Maximum (High).

Ethical consideration of the issues became significant from this stage and this continued until the research was completed. As a result, due care was taken during the time of the questionnaire’s construction and development to ensure that the only issues put forward to the study participants were the ones that did not pose a danger or threat to any of them. The ethical issues are discussed further below.

4.3.2.2 The questionnaire development processes

There are two schools of opinion on the best way to order questions in a questionnaire design and construction. One school advises random questioning (Hoinville and Jowell et al. 1987)

while the other advises that questions be constructed in a logical progression sequence based on the objectives of the study (Kumar 1996). The research has adopted a mixture of both approaches in ordering questions at the time of the questionnaire construction to maximise input from the study participants. For instance, the items or issues with close links were organised in a sequence as in the case of the program manager’s questionnaire attached as ‘A’ of Appendix 1. In this questionnaire, respondents were asked to make an evaluation on every item or issue presented to them. Similarly, in the program beneficiary’s questionnaire attached as ‘B’ of Appendix 1, respondents have been asked questions on various issues that were arranged in orderly fashion to elicit their interests in the exercise. For instance, the respondents were asked to describe their experience (satisfaction levels) with the SSE program in terms of the provision and delivery of the resources pledged for the program. Thus it is believed that the combination of the two approaches in the ordering of questions in the questionnaire construction and development would not only stimulate the participants’ interest and passion in the survey, but could also sustain their interest in the completion and returning of the completed questionnaires.

During the questionnaire development processes care was taken to ensure that the final product was developed in a manner that could draw out varying degrees of opinions and attitudes from the study participants on the achievements and successes of the program as well as its failures and weaknesses, and the possibility of its modifications based on the integrated characteristics of the GB and ROSCA microfinance institutions. As a part of the questionnaire development process, numerical values (or codes) were assigned to each response category for analytical purposes. These numerical values or codes would not only make the computation of the evaluative score of each respondent easy, but would also be useful in the way the survey results are interpreted and the findings presented. The response categories were assigned code numbers starting from ‘0’ in some cases (meaning that no issues were identified), followed by 1 (meaning lowest importance), and through to 5 (meaning highest importance). The coding system in surveys allows responses to be classified into meaningful categories in order to bring out their essential pattern and features (Moser and Kalton 1983).

4.3.2.3 Rationale behind the choice of the questionnaire over other major survey instruments

As already highlighted, a questionnaire with a five-point rating scale in a three-directional anchor (Low, Moderate/Average, and High) was considered a more appropriate primary data collection tool over other research tools owing to these advantages:

• all participants, (managers and beneficiaries), had tertiary-level qualifications

• the study population was scattered all over the Nigerian Federation, therefore a mail questionnaire administered through the Abuja NDE headquarters was less expensive and less time consuming than other primary survey methods

• the majority of the answers were structured and standardised and could easily be compared from person to person

• the answers would be easier to code than most other methods, thereby saving time and money.

4.3.2.4 Questionnaire pilot study

Several drafts of the questionnaire were made prior to the acceptance of the final version for the pilot study. Some academics and research scholars in the Business and Law Faculty of Victoria University helped check the questionnaire for content and clarity. The feedback on several drafts of the questionnaire helped the investigator to further modify and develop it before the pilot study. A questionnaire ought to engage and encourage the cooperation of the respondents in an interesting way so as to elicit answers as close as possible to the truth because their participation in a survey is voluntary (Hoinville et al. 1987). In view of the advice of Hoinville et al. (1987) after several drafts of the questionnaire had been produced and its format accepted, it was pilot-tested in September and October 2004. The final questionnaire was then ready for fieldwork that took place in Nigeria in late November 2004 through to mid-February 2005.

4.3.2.5 Ethical considerations of issues during the questionnaire’s construction and development

As hinted earlier, ethical conduct in research that involves humans is a big issue (Sekaran 1992). In cognisance of this, the author lists a number of things a researcher should not indulge in while conducting such research in Nigeria. Some of these abiding principles are:

• putting pressure on individuals to participate in the research

• asking demeaning questions that diminish self-respect

• deceiving subjects deliberately about the purpose of the research

• exposing participants to physical or mental stress.

Based on the advice suggested, invariably, ethical considerations of issues were of significance to the researcher from the period the questionnaire’s construction commenced. As a result, due care was taken to ensure that the only issues that appear in the final questionnaire version were the ones that do not pose any danger or threat to the study participants. Two actions taken in this regard to ensure that the study questionnaires conform to the University’s accepted moral and ethical guidelines were in the:

• completion of an application form, and the submission of it along with the survey instruments for scrutiny and approval by the Research Ethics Committee of the University

• detailed instructions that were given in the accompanying letters to the questionnaires regarding the assurances of confidentiality and anonymity of the information supplied.