CONSTRAINTS FACED DURING FIELD WORK: THE CASE OF NIGERIAN POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Dr. (Mrs.) Anne OGUNSOLA -  Training & Research Fellow
National Institute for Educational Planning & Administration (NIEPA NIGERIA), P.M.B. 562, Ondo, Ondo State Nigeria
laraogunsola@yahoo.com;  +234-0703-394-1015

Abstract
For any meaningful growth to take place in any country, industries, establishment or organization, research should be given serious priority. The motivating force in all research is the existence of a problem and the urge to take care of, or solve it. The focus of this study was to critically analyze the constraints faced by researchers during field work. The study population was made up of all the postgraduate students in Nigerian universities with the sample from six universities in the six geo-political zones. One research question and two hypotheses were formulated. A ten-item questionnaire titled “Constraints Faced During Field Work Questionnaire (CFDFWQ)” was used to gather data. Frequency, average, percentage and one-way ANOVA were the statistical tools used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that dearth of adequate statistical data (75%), poor data storage and retrieval (68%), financial constraints (78%), lack of cooperation of respondents (69%), inadequate facilities/equipment (60%), bureaucracy (62%), difficulty in getting the samples (57%), time constraints (66%), high level of illiteracy (69%) and deliberate falsification of data (48%) were identified as major constraints. Moreover, location of the university has no significant difference in the constraints faced during field work while the course of study has a significant difference in the forms of constraints faced during field work by postgraduate students. Based on the findings, some workable recommendations were made.