CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This part of the study captures the methodology of the research design. It deals with the

population and sample selection. It further highlights the research tools and the motives for using

them. It further talks about the data collection and concludes with the data analysis plan.

Research Design

The design employed is the action research. It is a systematic collection of information that is

designed to bring about immediate solution to local problems such as classroom teaching and

learning.

The action research design has been chosen because it brings immediate solutions to classroom

teaching and learning problems. It will therefore help pupils of Bagabaga Demonstration School

to overcome the problem of their inability to understand the composition of the extended family

system. The action research also uses scientific methods in solving problems because finding

from scientific methods are always valid and reliable. However, action research design is costly

and time consuming.

Population and Sample Selection

The population of the research was made up of pupils of Bagabaga Demonstration Primary.

However, the targeted population was made up of pupils in basic six “A” (60). This group

constituted my sample and it was craved using the purposive sampling method.

Research Instruments

The research instruments used were: observations, questionnaires and tests.

Observation

The researcher observed lessons delivered by the regular teacher on the extended family system

and the participation of pupils during the lesson. The researcher observed also pupils’ attendance

in the class the teacher’s relationship with the pupils and the materials used in the teaching

process.

Questionnaires

The researcher used questionnaires for pupils to respond to. This enabled him find out about

pupils’ background teachers’ qualifications and reasons why pupils do not understand the

extended family system, problems some students encounter at school in learning, the provision

of educational and academic performances of pupils in school

Tests

The researcher also conducted a test during the pre-intervention stage. Another test was

conducted at the post intervention stage to find the pupils performance after the intervention the

researcher had with the pupils.

Pre - Intervention

The researcher had to first observe the lesson delivery of the regular teacher of Bagabaga

Demonstration School for a week. It was then realised that during the delivery of the lesson on

the extended family system. Pupils found it difficult to respond to the teacher’s questions. She

also observed the attendance of the pupils’ and their performance in exercises given at the end of

the lesson.

The researcher went further to prepare a questionnaire on pupils’ background, parents

qualification, educational background of parents, reasons why some pupils absent themselves

from school, provision of school materials and payment of school fees and to find out if the

material factors inhibit the pupils’ studies.

She finally conducted a test on the composition of the extended family system. Out of these

measures the researcher found out that most of the pupils’ performance in the test was below

average. Some of the pupils also came from illiterate homes whiles others were not properly

provided with educational materials. Some of the pupils had intermittent attendance to school in

order to work for money to provide their needs.

Intervention

The researcher identified these problems and put in place the following measures to address the

problem.

Role Play

The researcher used the role play method of presenting the topic “the composition of the

extended family system”. The researcher chose a boy and a girl from, the class to represent the

father and mother respectively. The researcher guided the boy to perform the roles of a father

such as taking care of the family and providing the family’s needs whilst the girl performed the

role of the mother such as performing of household chores and taking care of the children.

The researcher also chose five children from then class to act as children of the parents whose

responsibilities were to keep the house clean and assist in household chores.

He then chose six children to represent the siblings of the children and two other boys to

represent the uncles (i.e. brothers of their parents) who should provide support and comfort to the

children in the absence of their parents and two other girls were selected to act as aunts.

Other children were also chosen to act as nephews, nieces, cousins, grandparents and great

grandparents and pupils were taught on the roles of all the individuals in the extended family.

After that pupils who did not fall in any of the groups were described as kinsmen and were

women of the family.

Finally, it was described to pupils that when all these group of individuals come to live together,

an extended family is formed.

During the week of intervention, as pupils absented themselves from school, the teacher told

pupils that those who attended school throughout the week were going to be given special

awards. This activity motivated and excited pupils so much that their attendance to class

improved greatly. The headmaster was also contacted and textbooks which had topics or

passages related to the composition of the extended family system was provided.

Post Intervention

After all, the interventions were undertaken by the researcher, it was observed that there was a

remarkable improvement in the performance of pupils. Absenteeism was now a thing of the past

and most of the pupils were provided with their educational needs.

A questionnaire was administered to find out whether the pupils understood the composition of

the extended family and their responses were very positive. The researcher finally conducted

another test on the extended family system and the performances of pupils were great. About

90% of pupils scored marks above average in the test.

Data analysis plan

The data was presented on a frequency table well distributed according to the research question.

The tables were formed with the following headings: responses, numbers, percentages and total.
 CHAPTER FOUR

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

Introduction

This chapter deals with the analysis of findings from the data collected. It contains the responses

on why pupils cannot understand the composition of the extended family system and the post

intervention test result analysis.

Reasons why pupils could not understand the composition of the extended family

The study revealed that the reasons why pupils could not outline the composition of the extended

family were: the use of inappropriate teaching and learning techniques; lack of textbooks; poor

backgrounds of pupils and absenteeism of pupils during lessons (see table 3).

Table 3: Reasons why pupils could not understand the composition of the extended family

Responses Percentage (%)

Teachers who stay in campus up to 1.30 pm 5 8.3

Teachers’ attendance to in-service training 7 11.7

Use of appropriate teaching methodology 15 25.0

Background of pupils 5 8.3

Lack of textbooks 20 33.3

Absenteeism 8 13.3

Total 60 100.0
Table 3 shows that 5 students representing 8.3% of the responses identified the short duration of

teachers in the school as the cause, 7 students representing (11.7%) also cited the fact that most

of the teachers do not attend in service workshops in order to upgrade their skills. Whiles 15

(25%) said the use of inappropriate teaching techniques was the cause. Majority of the responses

identified the lack of appropriate textbooks as the main reason why pupils could not understand

the composition of the extended family. The implication of the analysis is that for one to address

the problem, one must employ appropriate teaching techniques in addition to the appropriate

textbooks and other reference materials. It is also essential for teacher to adopt not only the right

pedagogical strategies of variables but to use the correct teaching and learning resources.

Table 4: Pre Intervention Test Results

Scores (40 marks) No. of pupils Percentage (%)

0–5 10 17

6 – 10 15 25

11 – 15 12 20

16 – 20 8 13

21 – 25 5 8

26 – 30 5 8

31 – 35 4 7

36 – 40 1 2

Total 60 100
Table 4 shows results of pupils in Bagabaga Demonstration School during a pre intervention test

on the composition of the extended family system. It shows that majority of the pupils 27 (45%)

scored below 20% which was very poor indeed.

Table 5 post intervention test

Scores (40) No. of Pupils Percentage (%)

0–5 1 2

6 – 10 2 3

11 – 15 3 5

16 – 20 4 7

21 – 25 6 10

26 – 30 14 23

31 – 35 10 17

36 – 40 20 33

Total 60 100

After the pre intervention test the researcher realized that pupil’s performance was very poor in

the test. She therefore designs practical activities, teaching techniques like brainstorming and

questionnaire.
She also used methodologies such as role play, dramatization to enable pupils understand the

topic. The researcher designed a detailed lesson plan which included the teaching techniques and

methodologies. This can be seen in appendix three (3). She began by brainstorming for the

composition of the extended family and later moved on by asking pupils to mention the people

they stay with at home.

She then used the role play method of presenting the topic. A boy and a girl were chosen from

the class to perform the roles of a father and a mother respectively. Five children from the class

were selected to act as children of the parents and were assigned roles as children play. Uncles

and aunts were represented by two boys and two girls respectively.

The researcher continued to use the students to represent all members of the extended family

system and they were all given roles to play. After the practical activities, pupils became

interested in the lesson and the lesson’s objectives were duly achieved. Pupils performed very

well in the post intervention test conducted by the researcher as clearly depicted by table three

which shows the then post intervention test results from pupils of Bagabaga Demonstration

School. The table shows that most of the pupils 54 (73%) passed the test after the intervention.

Discussion

The study was conducted to found out why pupils did not comprehend the composition of the

extended family system and how to use concrete activities to handle the lesson which will enable

them to acquire the concept of the extended family system. The problem was identified when the

researcher handled a lesson on the extended family system and later conducted a class test for

them. The test results were poor. There researcher also discovered that pupils had no interest in

the lesson. As a result most of them absented themselves during the lesson on the said topic.
The researcher adopted role play and dramatization in order to make the lesson interesting

Students performed various roles as family members and acted practically the concept of

extended family system. After the practical activities, pupils developed interest in the lesson and

the attendance to class increased. Pupils also performed very well in the post test conducted by

the researcher. From their performance and active participation in the lesson, it was a clear

indication that pupils understood the concept of the extended family system very well.