3.8 Data gathering procedures
An introductory letter was obtained from the College of Higher
Degree and Researcher (CHDR) of Kampala International University. This letter
gave a go ahead to the researcher to seek permission from the different
administrators of the selected institutions that have been targeted for this
study. This paved way for sampling of the intended respondents.
Data collection started with a face to face interview
administration towards respondents. This was also done with the help of
research assistants within the institutions. The researcher gathered
information given immediately in the field and then cross-checked if all the
questions were well answered.
3.9 Data analysis
Data analysis of this study was done using the help of SPSS
(Statistical Package for Social Sciences software package). This package helped
in establishment of means, standard deviation, and use of frequencies as well
as percentages. Questions were coded and data entered into computer system.
Quantitative data were presented into tabular form and
frequencies. For qualitative data, the researcher incorporated it into
paragraphs as part of the findings.
For quantitative data, researcher used percentages and cross
tabulation analysis where the researcher quantifies the responses and express
them as frequencies using descriptive.
3.10 Ethical
Considerations
In order to get confidentiality of the information provided by
the respondents and to ascertain the practice of ethics in this study, the
following activities were implemented by the researcher:
- Seeking permission to adopt the standardized questionnaire
on cooperation among States and also on character of crimes that cross through
Gatuna border
-The respondent and institutions were coded instead of
reflecting the names.
-Permission was solicited through a written request to the
concerned officials of the institutions included in the study
- The respondents were requested to sign in the Informed
Consent Form (Appendix 3)
-The authors quoted in this study were acknowledged and the
author of the standardized instrument through citations and referencing.
-The findings of the research were presented in a generalized
manner.
The research began immediately when a testimonial letter was
secured from Kampala International University. Thereafter, copies of the letter
were used to introduce the researcher to the respondents, after getting the
testimonial letter; the researcher made sure that the instruments of the
research were developed and ready for work. Then the researcher proceeded to
the field and visited the Ministry of East Africa in Kigali, the Ministry of
Internal Security which has Immigration Office in his attribution and, the
National Police and different custodies where are travelling offenders.
3.11 Limitations of the
Study
In view of the following threats to validity, the
researcher will claim an allowable 5% margin of error at 0.05 level of
significance. Measures are also indicated in order to minimize if not to
eradicate the threats to the validity of the findings of this study.
.Extraneous variables which will be beyond the
researcher's control such as respondents' honesty, personal biases and
uncontrolled setting of the study.
.Instrumentation: The research instruments on
resource availability and utilization are not standardized. Therefore a
validity and reliability test was be done to produce a credible measurement of
the research variables.
.Testing: The use of research assistants can bring
about inconsistency in the administration of the questionnaires in terms of
time of administration, understanding of the items in the questionnaires and
explanations given to the respondents. To minimize this threat, the research
assistants were be oriented and briefed on the procedures to be done in data
collection.
.Attrition/Mortality: Not all questionnaires were
returned neither were all of them completely answered nor even retrieved back
due to circumstances on the part of the respondents such as travels, sickness,
hospitalization and refusal/withdrawal to participate. In anticipation to this,
the researcher reserved more respondents by exceeding the minimum sample size.
The respondents were also reminded not to leave any item in the questionnaires
unanswered and were closely followed up as to the date of retrieval.
The threats to validity in this study included the
following:
Intervening or confounding variables were somewhat
beyond the researcher's control. Some of these involved honesty of the
respondents and personal biases. To minimize such conditions, the researcher
requested the respondents to be as honest as possible and to be impartial/
unbiased when answering the questionnaires.
The use of research assistants somewhat rendered
inconsistencies such as differences in conditions and time when the data was
obtained from respondents. This limitation was minimized by orienting and
briefing the research assistants on the data gathering procedures.
There was also some limitation in the area of time
whereby the time given was insufficient to complete it qualitatively as needed
by the researcher, and there is also a limitation based on finance to
facilitate the different affairs of this study. The researcher mobilized more
money from his sponsor and friends to cover up all the expenses met in terms of
transport, lunch, communication, typing, and printing among others.
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