CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1 Study Design
The research design used was descriptive research design. The descriptive survey

design is a mean of reporting data collected from people. Olayiwola (2001) said that

survey design is an effective way of gathering data from different sources within a

short time at a relatively cheaper cost. Survey method was used to collect the data

for the study with the use of researcher’s designed structured questionnaire.

3.2 Area of the Study

Owerri municipal is within the capital of Imo State, Nigeria and has geographical

coordinates of 50 29” 0” N and 70 2” 0’’ E. It occupies an area of approximately

58Km2 and has an estimated population of 127, 213 people (males = 62,990; females

= 64, 223) based on the 2006 National Census Exercise, with about 17, 000

households, including shops and offices. It has the highest number of schools,

hospitals, educational institutions, business outfits, government ministries and

parastatals in Imo state.

It is bounded on the North by Amakohia, on the Northeast by Uratta, on the East by

Egbu, on the Southeast by Naze, on the South by Nekede and on the Northwest by

Irete. The municipal council is made up of five main villages; Umuoyima,

Umuororonjo, Umuonyeche, Amawom and Umuodu. It also has the layout of

Ikenegbu, Aladinma, Trans-Egbu, New Owerri, Works Layout and Uratta road

housing estates. Owerri Municipal Council has 2 geological regions; the coastal plain

and a plateau portion.

The vegetation is typically rainforest, although some parts consist of Guinea savanna

due to poor environmental management and pollution. It has a mean annual rainfall

of about 2,2502,500mm with a mean temperature of 25-270C and a relative humidity

of 80%. It has 72 health institutions, 28 primary schools, 8 secondary schools, 2

universities and one college of education with the inhabitants being mostly civil

servants, students, traders and artisans.

3.3 Study Population

The population for the study is three hundred and ninety-one (391) which includes
all female bankers in Owerri municipal who are between the ages of 18-60years.

3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Methods

The sample size will be calculated using the Taro-yamane (1967) simplified formula

for finite population,

N= the total population size of Ihiagwa which is 17,000 (National Population

Commission, 2016).

Therefore, the sample size was gotten as calculated below,

17,000
n=
1+17,000(0.0025)

17,000
n= = 390.80
43.5

therefore, n = 391 approximately.

3.4.2 Sampling methods

The researcher made use of proportionate sampling as the sampling technique.

Proportionate sampling is a type of sampling method in which a particular number

of respondents will be selected from a particular grouped population based on the

size of each population group (Dalen,2014).

3.5 Instrument for Data Collection

Designed structured questionnaire was used in this study for data collection. The

items of the questionnaire were divided into 4 sections namely “A”, B, C and D.
Section “A” consists of the personal information of the respondents such as Age,

Numbers of Children and Religion. Section “B”, consists of items on the impact of

education on the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among female bankers. Section

“C” contains information on the attitude of female bankers on breastfeeding practice.

Section “D” contains items on the effect of working condition on the practice of

exclusive breastfeeding. The items B, C and D were drawn on a unit scale format

with no right or wrong answers to any of the statements. The respondent indicates

their degree of satisfaction on a four- point

scale where:

SA - Strongly Agree =4

A – Agree =3

D – Disagree =2

SD - Strongly Disagree = 1

3.6 Validity of the Instrument

The instrument used for the validity and reliability of the study was the

questionnaire. The research instrument will be developed by the researcher, sent to

the supervisor for vetting after which it will be sent to 2 experts in Public Health

Department, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, for vetting in relevance to

the topic, coverage of content area, appropriateness of language usage, clarity of the
research objectives. Their modifications and suggestions will help to produce the

final copy.

3.7 Reliability of Instrument

A pilot study was carried out in Ihiagwa health center which was not part of the

population for the study. The researcher randomly selected 32 respondents and

administered the questionnaire to them. The respondents were given two days after

which the researcher went and collected them for analysis by a statistician. The

statistician will decide the tool to be used for the analysis. The idea for the pilot study

was to test and ascertain the difficulty that the researcher may encounter when

carrying out main study also if the subjects for trial test could respond appropriately

to the instrument, then the study subjects will equally respond appropriately. The

Bach’s reliability technique will be used for analysis. The Cronbach’s alpha above

0.50 is considered appropriate for any measuring instrument (Kerlinger, 1986).

Information obtained from the tests was analyzed using Correlation test after which

the Coefficient (r) and the result showed high correlation of 0.70.

3.8 Methods of Data Collection

The researcher personally took the responsibility for the administration of the

instrument with the help of two trained research assistants which took just a day.

The respondents will be obliged to fill the questionnaire immediately. This option
will be chosen so that the filled questionnaire will be collected back the same day

and to avoid losing available respondents.

3.9 Method of Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

Descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage were used to analyze the socio-

demographic variables of the participants while the result of the tested hypothesis

will be analyzed with the aid of chi-square.

3.10 Informed Consent

A letter of introduction will be obtained from the Department of Public Health.

Federal University of Technology Owerri. Permission to carry out the research will

be sought from the Medical Director, Ihiagwa health Centre, Owerri West, Imo

State.

3.11 Ethical Clearance/Informed Consent

This was obtained from the Chairman Ethics Review committee, School of Health

Technology, Federal University of Technology Owerri. The researcher proceeded

with data collection after collecting this clearance. The consent of the participants

will be sought before collecting the data which they will agree to fill in the
questionnaire, all participants were assured anonymity and the information collected

were kept confidential.