Research consultancy
METHODOLOGY
This chapter addresses the methodology that will be used in the study. It covers the research design, population of the study, target population, sample size and sampling procedures, method of data collection methods and instrument construction, data collection procedures, and reliability and validity of the research instruments and data analysis techniques.
Research Design
The study will employ both descriptive and correlation research design, with qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches. Descriptive design will be concerned with describing the situations as they are at the time of the study and hence aim at providing a description that is as factual and as accurate as possible in terms of the roles of computerized accounting information system in regard to planning, monitoring and evaluation on the financial management in terms of profitability, productivity, sustainability, growth and efficiency of BRAC Uganda. The correlation research design will be used to provide a clear information on the relationship between the roles of computerized accounting information system and the financial performance of BRAC Uganda.
According to the information provided by the BRAC Uganda Human Resource Manager (2014), the organization has a total of 60 employees. This number comprises of 5 top managers, 20 staffs from the departments of accounting and technology, 23 procurement officials, and 12 subordinate staff members (security, sweepers or cleaners) at the BRAC Njeru Branch. The employees of this organization are credited for their hard work and work ethics.
Target Population
The study will target the 5 top managers, 55 staffs from the departments of accounting, technology, procurement and subordinate staff members. The researcher has targeted this group of respondents because they are involved much in the organization financial accountability hence they will be able to provide the researcher with the required data. It will be suitable to target staff members in the department of accounting, and technology and procurement because they use computerized accounting information system and the top managers always evaluate what the accountants or financial officers of the organization do. Staff members in the accounting and technology department include chief accountant and his assistant, cashers, clerks and the financial secretary. This gives a total of 60 respondents.
Sample Size
The sample size of this study will be determined using Morgan and Krejcie sample size formulation table (1970), as cited in Amin, (2013) (refer to appendix V). The sample sizes are depicted in Table 3.1. The researcher will use the following formulae by Morgan and Krejcie; s = X2 NP(1 − P) ÷ d2 (N −1) + X2 P(1 − P) where: s = required sample size.
X2 = the table value of chi-square for 1 degree of freedom at the desired confidence level (60).
N = the population size.
P = the population proportion (assumed to be .50 since this would provide the maximum sample size).
d = the degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion (.05).
Thus for the convenience of this study where the population of BRAC Uganda is60 the sample size will be 53 respondents.
Table 3.1: Sample size, categories and selection strategies
| Category | Target Population | Sample size | Sampling procedure |
| Managers | 5 | 5 | Census sampling |
| Financial, procurement and IT staffs | 55 | 47 | Random sampling |
| Total | 60 | 52 |
Sampling Procedure
In order to select representatives of the sample the researcher will use census sampling technique for the top managers and random technique for the accounting, procurement and IT staff members. This means that all 5 top managers will be involved in the study while 47 out of the targeted 55 staff members in the accounting, procurement and IT department will be involved in providing data for this study.
The census sampling technique will be achieved as the researcher will have to visit the organization then inquire for the list of the 5 top managers. The list will contain the names, telephone number and office location of the managers in the organization. This technique will ensure that data is only collected from the intended respondents as it solves the problem of mistaken identity whereby the study may inquire information from someone else who is not in the list of top managers of BRAC Uganda.
On the other hand, random sampling technique will be used on staff members in accounting, procurement and IT department whereby the researcher will have to indicate numbers on pieces of papers whereby the numbers will range from 1-55. Then she will put the numbers in a container and then allow the staff members pick one rolled piece of paper each. Those who will pick a paper in the range of 1 to 47 will be provided with a questionnaire to fill in. This technique is suitable in this study as it will help to solve the problem of biasness as each staff member will have equal chance of participating in the study.
Methods and Instruments of Data Collection
Questionnaire
The main method of data collection will be a questionnaire. The questionnaire will be constructed and modified to be used as both an interview schedule and a self-administered questionnaire. It will be constructed in English and it will be designed to obtain information from all sampled respondents.
The questionnaire will contain both closed and open-ended questions. The close ended questions will be used since the researcher will not give room to the respondents to provide their own opinion and will be limited to the answers, which will be provided by the researcher guided by a five point Likert scale for the scoring of the respondents’ views. The instrument will also have open ended questions in that the researcher will leave room to the respondents to give their own opinion and recommendation on the study subject based on their person experiences. The instrument will have three sections; section (A) will be for demographic characteristics, section (B) will contain closed ended questions answering the intended objectives by providing numerical data (C) will be having open ended questions on respondents’ suggestions and recommendations.
The closed questions will be made by the use of 5 point of Likert scale for the scoring of the responses which will be provided by the respondents. The measurement will be made of 1 = Strongly Disagree (1.00-1.75), 2 = Disagree (1.76-2.50), 3= Not sure 4=Agree (2.51-3.25) and 5 = Strongly Agree. (3.26-4.00).
Interview Guide
Interview guide will help the researcher to get additional qualitative information from top managers of BRAC Uganda who will act as key informants due to their expertise in issues of financial management. This has general open ended questions formulated in line with major variables and objectives.
Validity of the Data Collection Instrument
This refers to the extent to which results can be accurately interpreted and generalized to other populations (Oso and Onen, 2008). These writers further define validity as the extent to which instruments measure what they are intended to measure.
Validity will be tested using content validity index which involves judges scoring the relevancy of the questions in the instruments in relation to the study variables.
The formula for CVI will be
CVI =
Where CVI = content validity
n= number of items indicated relevant.
N = total no. of items in the questionnaire
A minimum CVI value recommended is 0.6 and any value above proves that the research instrument is valid for data collection (Amin, 2005).
The researcher will give the instruments to the two experts who will make an assessment of whether what the researcher is trying to bring out actually does come out. The instrument will then be tried out on selected individuals of the same characteristics as those that will be in the study to assist in identifying deficiencies in the instruments such as insufficient space to write responses, wrong numbering, vague questions, (Muganda and Mugenda 1999).
The researcher will analyze the data collected and were need arises, the instrument will be re-adjusted and re-design to improve reliability and validity.
Reliability of the Data Collection Instrument
According to Sekaran (2013), reliability is consistency of measurement or the degree to which an instrument measures the same ways each time it is used under the same condition with the same subjects. The instrument whose validity will have tested and assured already will thereby tested for reliability through carrying out a pre-test or pilot study. Crobach’s coefficient alpha (a) as recommended by Amin, (2005, P.302) will be used to test the reliability of the research instrument. The instrument is deemed reliable if reliable of 0.7 and above is obtained and therefore, it will be adopted for use in the data collection.
If the researcher gets below 0.7, the questionnaires will be redesigned so as to make the alpha reliability coefficient 0.7 and above.
Formula for reliability is
= ( )
Where = alpha reliability co efficiency.
K=Number of items included in the questionnaire
= sum of variance of individual items
= variance of all items in the instrument.
An introduction letter will be obtained from the school of graduate studies, Islamic University in Uganda to introduce the researcher and the purpose of the study to the director of BRAC Uganda. Thereafter, the research will work hand in hand with the department heads to make appointment for the day and time of data collection. The research will recruit and train one research assistant who knows English well and having accounting qualifications. The researcher will then visit the organization during a set data collection day, present the rolled papers to the staff members and after which administer the questionnaires to those staff members who will have picked any number within the range of 1 to 48 (among accounting, procurement and IT department staff members). Both qualitative and quantitative data will be edited while still in the field to correct errors and mistakes, qualitative data collected using the interview guide will be transcribed during field work.
Data processing in this study refers to editing, coding, transcription, data entry and data cleaning tabulation and report formatting to ensure that the data collected is accurate and complete before data analysis. Data processing will be done during and after fieldwork.
Editing-This is a process of examining the collected raw data to detect errors and omission and to correct these where possible. Editing will involve a careful scrutiny of the completed questionnaires. Editing will be done to ensure that the data is accurate, consistent with other facts gathered to facilitate coding and tabulation. Field editing will be done while in the field and after field work central editing will be done in preparation for data analysis.
Coding–This will be done after the researcher has classified the raw data into some purposeful and usable categories. It is a process of assigning numerals or other symbols to the responses. Section A and the structured questions will be pre-coded by assigning them numerical and alphabetical numbers before fieldwork. The responses from open-ended questions will be post-coded which will involve assigning them numbers, and entered into the computer for analysis.
Data Entry: Information will be entered into a computer using statistical package for social scientists (SPSS). There will be data cleaning involving detecting inaccurate entries from the computer. It will involve identifying incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, irrelevant entries among other parts of the data and then replacing, modifying or deleting the useless data.
Tabulation-This will involve the process of summarizing raw data and displaying the same in compact form, for interpretation. That is in the form of tables for further analysis.
Objective 1-3 will be analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) through descriptive research design while objective 4 and the study hypothesis will be analysed using inferential statistics correlation moment. The level of significance is either 0.01 or 0.05.
