Credits to the group owner indicated in the title page.

The following were modified

from original: some headings for update on format, tenses and few statements. This

will serve as reference only in creating qualitative research proposal. When the data

were gathered, past tense will be used all throughout the paper except for specific

part/s to be discussed by the teacher.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Department of Education
Cordillera Administrative Region
City Schools Division of Tabuk
TABUK CITY NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT AND PRACTICES OF LGU IN TABUK CITY HALL

DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

A Qualitative Research

By:

Paga, Barbie
Puday, Gazelle
Sano, Kaye
Patungao, Stephanie

March 2019

1
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Knowledge, attitude and practice toward COVID-19 is one of the commonly

discussed or investigated issues during pandemic.

The Novel Corona Virus also referred to as severe acute respiratory

syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS COV-2) comes a severe respiratory disease known

as Corona Virus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 is an emerging respiratory infection

that was first discovered in December 2019, in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China

(Althaus CL., 2019) SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the larger family of ribonucleic acid

(RNA) viruses, leading to infections, from the common cold, to more serious

diseases, such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe

Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The main symptoms of COVID-19 have

been identified as fever, dry. Cough, fatigue, myalgia, shortness of breath, and

dyspnea (WHO 2020).

COVID-19 is characterized by rapid transmission, and can occur by close

contact with an infected person. The details on the disease are evolving. As such,

this may not be the only way the transmission is occurring. COVID-19 has spread

widely, from Wuhan City, to other parts of the world, threatening lives of many people

(Bhatti JS, 2020).

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the

outbreak of COVID-19 constituted a Public Health Emergency of International

Concern (PHEIC) calling for countries to take urgent and aggressive action against

the spread of the virus. The epidemic here in the Philippines is an unprecedented

crisis in recent history. After the first case was announce on January 20, 2020, there

2
have been 22,845 deaths as of June 14, 2021 (WHO).Given the epidemic’s scale,

timing, and unpredictability threatening the health care system’s routine capabilities,

Philippines is confronting a public health emergency and experiencing an ongoing

battle with the virus.

Responding to the pandemic has become a serious challenge, as little is

known about the epidemiological evidence of the disease, including its transmission

dynamics, epidemic doubling time, and reproductive frequency. With the scarcity of

clinical measures raising heightened concerns, it becomes increasingly essential for

the public to engage in precautionary behaviors and the disease response and

surveillance efforts at the policy level (Nelson C, Lurie N, 2020). Amidst pandemics,

educating, engaging, and mobilizing the public to become active participants may

help achieve public health emergency preparedness, reducing the overall

population’s vulnerability (Zakowski S., 2020).

The Covid-19 remains a worldwide challenge. The pandemic has affected

individuals of all socioeconomic groups, races, nations, and continents, while the

responses have been the quarantining of entire communities, social isolation, closing

of schools, and shelter in-place orders, which have suddenly changed daily life. As a

result of this pandemic, people found themselves forced to cope with new emotional

challenges and particularly with feelings of stress, uncertainty and fear. Despite the

rigorous global control and quarantine efforts, the incidence of Covid-19 continuous

to increase globally (WHO 2020).

COVID-19 is not the first widespread pandemic, its high transmissibility

coupled with the often vague and silent symptom profile have challenged medical

and public health decision-making strategies to contain the virus(Moghadas et al.,

2020). The swift evolution, magnitude and uncertainty associated with the disease

have forced public health authorities worldwide to implement massive and rapid

measures across the board (Smith& Gibson, 2020). This significant global impact of

3
COVID-19 highlights the importance of considering the context in which, ultimately

people deal with the pandemic.

Despite the unprecedented national measures in combating the outbreak, the

success or failure of these efforts is largely dependent on public behavior.

Specifically, public adherence to preventive measures established by the government

is of prime importance to prevent the spread of the disease. Adherence is likely to be

influenced by the public’s knowledge and practices toward COVID-19 (Chen Y-M,

2020).

For non-pharmaceutical public health interventions to successfully encourage

and sustain preventive behaviors among the public, evidence on social, cognitive,

and psychological factors associated with the behaviors is necessary. Prior to studies

on infectious disease epidemic showed that knowledge and awareness, risk

perception, and efficacy belief help motivate people to adopt preventive behaviors.

Studies on COVID-19 revealed that knowledge perceived controllability, optimistic

beliefs, emotion, and risk perception, might all account for precautionary actions of

the public (Klinkenberg D, Hollingsworth TD, 2020).

Knowledge and practice surveys are commonly used to identify knowledge

gaps and behavioral patterns among sociodemographic subgroups to implement

effective public health interventions. The issue of health inequalities unfolding during

disease outbreaks has been extensively investigated across pandemics. For

example, the novel influenza A (H1N1) burden was substantially higher for people

who were less educated, living in more deprived neighborhoods, and experiencing

more significant financial barriers (Nedjati Gilani G, 2020).

In the case of the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), it has

shown social determinants were directly (gender, education, income) related to

practicing preventive behaviors (Lee et al.). Evidence of an unequal burden of

4
COVID-19 is also emerging fast. People living in impoverished and racially and

economically polarized areas showed considerably more significant morbidity and

mortality rates of COVID-19.

It is also worth noting that the COVID-19 burden may be coupled with existing

non-communicable diseases among marginalized social groups, particularly those in

minority ethnic groups, socioeconomic deprivation, and poverty, aggravating the

population’s overall vulnerability. Behavioral factors related to COVID-19 are also

unevenly distributed among people. Less educated individuals, and the elderly

showed lower COVID-19 knowledge and behaviors than their counterparts, and risk

perception varied by the level of social support (Cucunuba Perez Z, 2020).

The knowledge and practices toward COVID-19 play an integral role in

determining a society’s readiness to accept behavioral change measures from health

authorities. Knowledge and practices studies provide baseline information to

determine the type of intervention that may be required to change misconceptions

about the virus. Assessing the knowledge and practices related to COVID-19 among

the general public would be helpful to provide better insights to address poor

knowledge about the disease and the development of preventive strategies and

health promotion programs. Among the lessons learned from the SARS outbreak is

that knowledge and practices are associated with levels of panic and emotion which

could further complicate measures to contain the spread of the disease (Lopez-Gatell

H, 2020).

Knowledge and awareness of mode of disease transmission, basic hygiene

principles and measures in public health crisis are also important in developing

effective control measures (Li Q, Guan X, Wu P, 2020). By assessing public

awareness and knowledge about the coronavirus, deeper insights into existing public

perception and practices can be gain, thereby helping to identify attributes that

influence the public in adopting healthy practices and responsive behavior.

5
Assessing public knowledge is also importation identifying gaps and strengthening

ongoing prevention efforts (Zhang W, 2020).

Despite this interest, no one to the best of our knowledge has conducted

study related to knowledge and practices of LGU personnel in Tabuk City particularly

in qualitative approach.

The knowledge and practices of LGU in Tabuk City Hall towards this Covid-19

pandemic could play a key role in the way they accept the actions put in place to

control its spread and their willingness to seek and adhere to care. The continuous in

the number of cases and the overall good knowledge and practice justify a further

investigation to understand and explore the effectiveness of their actions to control

the spread of this disease.

Encouraging all the LGU in Tabuk City Hall for this behavior suggests a

chance to normalize safe practices and promote a continued use of these and other

recommended protective behaviors to change to reduce the further spread of

COVID-19. The result may serve as an eye opener to the society as this is a global

issue. To the students, they will be aware of what is happening around them. For the

teachers, the information may serve as a reference material for them. The result may

also serve as a reflection for the local government unit (LGU) on what they can

consider in their decision making. Moreover, the result may serve as ideas for further

research.

Thus, the main goal of the present study is to understand and describe

knowledge and practice concerning COVID-19 of LGU in Tabuk City Hall related to

the prevention of Corona Virus.

6
Research Objectives

This qualitative research aims to understand and explore the knowledge and

practices of LGU officer or personnel in Tabuk City Hall to spread awareness related

to the prevention of Covid-19.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following objectives:

1. To describe the knowledge of the LGU officer or personnel in Tabuk City Hall

concerning COVID-19

2. To describe the practices of the LGU officer or personnel in Tabuk City Hall

during COVID-19 pandemic

Scope and Limitations

The study limits its coverage on the 10 LGU officer or personnel in Tabuk City

Hall only. Its main purpose is to explore the knowledge and practices of the LGU

officers or personnel in Tabuk City Hall to spread awareness concerning COVID-

19.

Definition of Terms

The following words are hereby defined for the understanding of the readers:

LGU means a local government unit which is a political subdivision of the

Republic of the Philippines at the provincial, city, municipal, or Barangay level,

and “LGUs” mean, collectively, the plural thereof

(https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/lgu). In this study, it refers to the officer or

employee presently designated as officer in the city hall of Tabuk City.

Tabuk is a component city in the landlocked province of Kalinga. It serves as the

provincial capital (https://www.philatlas.com/luzon/car/kalinga/tabuk.html)

(add more important terms to define 5-10 terms)

7
 CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of the researcher design, locale and population,

sampling procedure, data gathering instrument, data gathering procedure, and

data analysis.

Research Design

The study will apply phenomenology as its qualitative research design. The

study is claimed to be a phenomenology since it is based on the knowledge and

practice of the 10 LGU’s of Tabuk City Hall.

Phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced

from the first-person point of view. The central structure of an experience is its

intentionality, it is being directed toward something, as it is an experience about

some object. An experience is directed toward an object by virtue of its content or

meaning (which represents the object) together with appropriate enabling

conditions (Husser l,E.,1989). Phenomenology is used to obtain better

understanding of meanings attached by people and its contribution to the

development of new theories (Easterby-Smith, et al.,1991).

Locale and Population

The study will be conducted at Tabuk City, Kalinga. It will involve 10

LGU officers or personnel presently employed at Tabuk City Hall.

Sampling Procedure

The sampling technique to be used in this study is purposive

sampling. The main criterion for choosing each participant is: He/she should be

an officer presently working under the LGU of Tabuk City Hall. Judgmental

sampling, also called purposive sampling or authoritative sampling, is a non-

8
 probability sampling technique in which the sample members are chosen only on

the basis of the researcher's knowledge and judgment (Ben-Shlomo y, Brookes

S, Hickman M. 2013).

Data Gathering Instrument

For the purposes of this research, interview protocol will serve as a guide in

collecting the data. It includes semi-structured interview questions or open-ended

question as main instrument in collecting data from 10 LGU officer or personnel

in Tabuk City Hall.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will prepare interview protocol which also includes two main

questions corrected by the research adviser prior to the conduct of the study, so

as for the researchers to guide the interview towards the satisfaction of research

objectives, however additional questions will be raised if necessary as follow up

questions during the online interview. The researchers will ask consent from

participants if they are willing to cooperate for the purpose of the study and when

they will give permission, the interview will be conducted. The data collected then

will be treated confidential and for the purpose of the study only.

Data Analysis

The collected data will be analyzed by the researchers based on thematic

analysis. According to university of Auckland thematic analysis (TA) is a popular

method for analyzing qualitative data in many disciplines and fields, and can be

applied in lots of different ways, to lots of different datasets, to address lots of

different research questions. Responses and answers from the executed messenger

audio-call interviews transcribed into text which involve making an exact or word-for-

word text version of the contents of the audio messengers audio-call interview will be

translated into English. The text or script will then be scrutinized to draw some codes.

9
Words such as '' Knowledge and practices'' are example preset codes. The main

codes to be formulated will then base on the codes that can be noted during the

analysis and then presented in the corpus part of the study or the collection of

verbatim responses. Then those codes will be then grouped into common themes.

Then interpretation of the data will be discussed that will shed light on the meaning

towards the experiences of the participants about the context.

10
References

Ben-Shlomo Y, Brookes S, Hickman M. 2013. Lecture Notes: Epidemiology,

Evidence-based Medicine and Public Health (6th ed.), Wiley-Blackwell,

Oxford.

Patton, M.Q. (1989), Althaus CL. Qualitative evaluation methods. (10th ed.). Beverly

Hills, CA: Sage. Seidman,I. (1998). Interviewing as qualitative research: A

guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. New York:

Teachers College Press. Sudman, Seymour. 1976. Applied sampling. New York:

Academic Press.

Li Q, Guan X, Wu P, Wang X, Zhou L, Tong Y, Ren R, Leung KS, Lau EH, Wong JY.,

Bhatti JS, 2020. Early transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China, of novel

coronavirus–infected pneumonia. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(13):1199–207.

WHO: Statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations

Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-

nCoV), Geneva, Switzerland, 30 January 2020. 2005. In.; 2020.

Guidelines for reviewers and editors evaluating thematic analysis manuscripts (April

2019)

Anderson RM, Heesterbeek H, Klinkerberg D, Hollingsworth TD. How will country-

based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic?

Lancet.2020;395(10228):931-4.

Nedjati Gilani G, Imai N. Report 9: impact of non- pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)

to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand; 2020.

11