Critical realism and its prospects for African development research and policy

This paper outlines critical realism, a relatively new philosophy of science, in an attempt to increase awareness of it amongst African researchers. The paper argues that this school of thought has important implications for framing social science research and development policy in developing countries. Critical realism is a radical critique of the Western philosophy, especially positivism that is closely associated with rational choice theory and Western modernity. It has four discernible progressive phases, each of which is a complete philosophical system. A discussion of its relevance to African scholars follows, centered on the fact that critical realism gives primacy to the human values of freedom and emancipation rather than to material concerns which are central to Western modernity. Recent publications have challenged contemporary African philosophy to be more responsive to popular aspirations for socio-economic development, instead of dwelling excessively on long running debates amongst different schools of philosophy. Critical realism is presented as worthy of further investigation by scholars in Africa that seek new ways forward, and relevance in a rapidly changing world. Development research and policy is used to illustrate its potential. It is found that a critical realist approach may lead to meeting of some important precedents necessary for any meaningful development to occur in Africa.  Key Words. Critical realism, economic development, development policy, social science research   Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK)New Series, Vol.3 No.1, June 2011, pp.61-8

ICT for development reconsidered: a critical realist approach to the strategic context in Kenya's transition to e-governance

This study contributes to critical information systems research understanding of the broader strategic context of information systems initiatives in developing countries. It investigates contextual influences with structural impacts that may lead to instabilities and discontinuities in the immediate project context using a critical realist paradigm. It was informed by literature on development as discourse, ICT4D policy and technology transfer, E-Government adoption, and information systems research paradigms and applications in developing countries. A disconnection was observed between ICT4D policy practice that favors positivist technology diffusion models and research findings that suggest interpretive and critical contextual approaches. A theoretical framework was developed to reconsider ICT4D from a postcolonial country perspective by integrating critiques of modernity from Critical realism and postcolonial theory. An empirical case study investigation of change in Kenya‘s transition to E-Governance was then conducted and analyzed using a critical realist research framework, the Morphogenetic approach, supplemented by Q-methodology to study subjectivity. Finally ICT change was interpreted using critical realist concepts for structure, culture, and agency, with an overriding direction towards greater freedom. The main research contribution is a new approach to ICT4D where change is conceived within a dialectical framework that assumes people are moral and ethical beings possessing values. Research findings have implications for understanding the strategic context of E-Governance and ICT4D, time and temporality in contextual integrative frameworks, and suggest an alternative approach to strategy analysis in situations of rapid political and institutional change. They highlight the importance of political leaders and development agencies as mediators and interpreters of the strategic context. Development was conceived as a dialectical process towards transformative praxis, which together with the suggested approach to the strategic context, may require us to rethink the meaning of IS project success or failure in postcolonial developing countries

PRINCIPALS’ INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP ROLE AND LESSON STUDY PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KAJIADO COUNTY, KENYA

The study investigated principals’ instructional leadership role and lesson study program implementation in public secondary schools in Kajiado County. The objectives were to find out the role the principals played in supervising the implementation of the lesson study program and to find out the role the principals played in promoting collaborative practices when implementing the lesson study program. The study was anchored on Carrier’s instructional leadership model and Vygotsky’s social-cultural theory. A mixed-methods research approach was used with a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. The study’s target population consisted of 95 public secondary schools, 95 principals, and 651 mathematics and science teachers from Kajiado County, with a sample size of 29 principals and 248 mathematics and science teachers. This was achieved using probability and non-probability sampling techniques, which included purposeful, proportionate, and simple random sampling. The collection of data was done using an interview guide for principals and a questionnaire for teachers. A pilot study was conducted in two schools that had characteristics similar to those of the schools that were involved in the study. The research instruments were validated by experts with knowledge of instructional leadership from Tangaza University College and the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. The analysis of quantitative data was done using descriptive statistics, which included frequency distributions and percentages, and were generated using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The data was presented in the form of bar graphs, pie charts, and frequency tables. Qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic approach and presented using narratives and direct quotes. The findings revealed that secondary school principals carried out supervision throughout the process of lesson study by attending lesson study meetings, observing lessons, and giving feedback. They also discuss challenges encountered by teachers during lesson study implementation, such as limited time, lack of funds, heavy workload, and competing programs. School principals were also found to be supportive in terms of collaborations such as teamwork, peer lesson observation, and team teaching. However, the study found some challenges that face such collaborations which include a lack of clear understanding of lesson study by newly employed teachers as well as uncooperative teachers, especially those with many years of experience. The study concluded that despite the challenges facing lesson study implementation, public secondary school principals in Kajiado County make an effort to supervise lesson study implementation. The study also concluded that secondary school principals promote collaborative practices that support the implementation of lesson study programs. The study recommends that Center for Mathematics Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA) organizes training on lesson study for mathematics and science teachers with a teaching experience of less than five years as well as sensitization workshops on lesson study for secondary school principals who are newly employed. Also, the study recommends that the Ministry of Education (MOE) develops a clear policy for lesson study implementation. The study suggests that further research be conducted to investigate lesson study program and students’ academic achievement.  Article visualizations

Preliminary data from a de novo trauma registry

Background: Trauma remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Trauma registries are a key component of trauma systems in developed countries which have promoted improvement of patient care and outcomes. The experience with trauma registries in low income countries is limited. The current study shares preliminary data from the Kenyatta National Hospital Trauma Registry whilst documenting the process of design to implementation.Methods: A de novo registry dataset was designed based on previous studies and programmed as a custom application for deployment to the site. Scope of data collected was demographic, details of injury, pre-hospital events, hospital care and outcomes. Data were summarized as percentages and means for analysis.Results: The development of the registry from concept to operational software took 12 months. Preliminary data revealed an average completion rate of 88.6%. Majority of patients were young males who were referred to the hospital. Accidental injury at home or on the roads was the most common cause of admission with majority of patients not receiving any pre-hospital care. Sixteen percent of patients died while admitted.Conclusion: The data obtained from this de novo registry largely aligns to previous institutional reports while revealing data points for increased focus during training for registry abstraction. This experience may form the platform for trauma quality improvement initiatives at the institution as well as scaling to other institutions to allow for collation of regional trauma data.Keywords: Trauma; Registry; LMIC; Keny

INFLUENCE OF HEADTEACHERS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DODOMA URBAN DISTRICT, TANZANIA

The quality of education in Tanzania has declined over the past five years with unsatisfactory results recorded in summative evaluation. The purpose of the study is to assess the influence of head teachers’ leadership styles on students’ academic performance in Dodoma Urban District Council, Tanzania. The specific objectives of this study were to determine the influence of head teachers’ supportive leadership style on students’ academic performance and to assess the influence of head teachers’ participative leadership style on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Dodoma Urban District Council, Tanzania. The study adopted a mixed research approach. Specifically, the researcher adopted a concurrent mixed-method design. The target population for this study consisted of seven (7) head teachers and 110 teachers from seven (7) public secondary schools in Dodoma Urban District. The study used proportionate random sampling and purposive sampling to sample respondents. A closed and open-ended questionnaire was used on teachers and interviews were used on head teachers. The study employed Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 26, to analyze quantitative data which was generated by the use of frequencies, tables, and percentages. The analysis of the interviews involved reading the transcript, annotating the transcript, conceptualizing the data gathered from respondents, segmenting the data, analyzing the segment, and writing the results that were obtained. Findings indicated that, to improve students’ academic performance, head teachers encourage team members to express their ideas or suggestions ensure work is done independently, and provide the opportunity to make decisions. In addition, findings revealed that supervision is done to the team members to meet school objectives and achieve better academic performance in schools. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education (MoE) needs close monitoring of the leadership styles to ensure that it is current and preferably suits both students and teachers to be able to achieve the intended goals and objectives of the school. Good cooperation among the heads of schools, teachers, and students should be strengthened to ensure the excellent academic performance of the students.  Article visualizations

Moderating Effect of Organizational Capability on the Relationship Between Business Intelligence Capability and Performance Among Public Listed Firms in Kenya

Business Intelligence remains a primary focus in many organisations and it naturally attracts significant investment. Existing literature is nebulous and fragmented on the real impact and how well the insights induced by this technology have been transformed into successful business learning. Consequently, this paper focuses on determining the influence of organizational capabilities on the relationship between Business Intelligence capability and firm performance. The study employed interdisciplinary theories to realize the research objective, namely Information Systems Capability theory and Organizational Learning theory. In addition, the study was conducted using mixed methods research methodology and a crosssectional approach. The study used structural equations modeling technique (Partial Least Squares approach- SEM-PLS) to analyse quantitative data and validate the developed research model. Thematic analysis aided by Atlas.ti version 8 software was applied to analyse qualitative data. Findings of quantitative and qualitative strands of the study were triangulated at the data analysis stage based on convergence model. Results revealed that organizational capability has a positive and significant moderating impact. The findings provide fresh enlightenment into current Business Intelligence literature and opportunities for future research with implications for management, policy makers, and academia

Effect of Human Resource Management on Operational Efficiency of Universities in Kenya

Operational efficiency facilitates an organization to increase profitability, improve competitiveness, increase productivity, use freed up capacity and position business for growth and increase organizations’ prospective market significance. The effects of information systems are often indirect and are influenced by environmental, organizational, technological, and human resource factors. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of human resource management on operational efficiency of universities in Kenya. Operational efficiency is defined as aligning resources with core mission and services, reducing fragmented, duplicative operations, and goal of increasing service levels of an organization To maximize organization’s operational efficiency, it is paramount that more dependable means of dealing with the organizational, technological and environmental variations related with IS projects be established. Understanding how teaching, research, extension and prudent utilization of public resources allocated to universities contribute to the overall efficiency of university operations is of great importance for universities to improve their performance. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is proven to be reliable for appropriately assessing the efficiency of university operations due to its capability of effectively handling the multiple input and output simultaneously in a given situation. This study attempted to establish whether a combination of appropriate IS and HR coupled with institutional factors may lead to enhanced operational efficiency of an organization. Given the pivotal role universities play in the development of a country, this study adapted a multi-theory paradigm to outline a socio-technical information system implementation and organizational change for improved efficiency. To achieve the overall goal, hypothesis were formulated and tested. The interaction effects and relationships of the constructs were specified using SEM diagrams comprising of measurements and models. A cross sectional survey was conducted on all the universities charted in Kenya. A census survey was employed since the total population was considered relatively low and could further be reduced by possibility of non-response. A total of 102 questionnaires were dropped to the 34 universities which had approved the request. Out of the 102 questionnaires, 70 responses were received for a response rate of 68.6 percent. On examination of the completeness of the questionnaires, 11 were found to be incomplete. To complete the missing values, a sub-group mean value replacement function and linear interpolation methods were used. To test for reliability of the individual construct items Cronbach’s Alpha test was used. The results indicate that human resource management practices have a negative effect on the universities’ operational efficiency in Kenya. A major implication of this study is that human resource management practices in universities be improved. Additionally, the findings have implications on the formulation and implementation of IS innovations policy. Keywords: Operational efficiency, Human Resource Management, Data envelopment analysis DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/11-2-07 Publication date: June 30th 202

Adoption of Cloud Computing by Firms in Kenya: The Role of Institutional Pressures

While there is substantial literature on the adoption of IT innovations based on utility computing, there is a dearth of studies on cloud computing adoption by business organizations. Given that cloud computing adoption has been steadily increasing in Kenya, this study aim to investigate the determinants of cloud computing adoption from an institutional perspective. The relationship between institutional pressures and cloud computing adoption was evaluated and tested using structural equation modelling (PLS SEM). A firm level cross sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 93 firms in the financial, manufacturing, and ICT sectors. The results indicate that coercive and normative pressures have a significant positive relationship with cloud computing adoption. The hypothesis that mimetic pressures have a relationship with cloud computing adoption was not supported. A major implication of this study is that professional and standards bodies do influence technology adoption through normative pressures

Morphology of the Sacral Hiatus in an African Population – Implications for Caudal Epidural Injections

Background The sacral hiatus exhibits variations in morphology which differ among populations. These variations may influence the success of caudal epidural injections for anaesthesia. This study describes the morphological and morphometric characteristics of the sacral hiatus in an adult Kenyan population. Study design A descriptive cross-sectional study. Materials and methods Eighty eight dry human sacra obtained from the Department of Osteology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi were used. The shape of the sacral hiatus was described as inverted-V, dumb-bell, inverted-U or irregular. The distance of the hiatal apex from the lower limit of S2 vertebra, the inter-cornual distance and the apical antero-posterior diameter were measured and tabulated. Results The inverted-V was the most common (32.1%) shape. The apex of the sacral hiatus was at the level of 4th sacral vertebra in 62% of cases. Mean distance of the hiatal apex from the S2 level was 43.1 + 12.9mm whereas antero-posterior diameter of the sacral hiatus at the apex was 6.4 + 3.1 mm. The sacral hiatus was absent in 1.2% of cases. Conclusion The level of the sacral hiatus in the African population implies minimal risk of dural puncture during caudal epidural injections