VALIDATING THE RELATIVE SIGNIFICANCE INDEX (RSI)

IN COUNSELLING AND EDUCATIONAL SURVEY RESEARCHES: PREVALENT ONLINE COUNSELLING NEEDS OF STUDENTS IN A NIGERIAN UNIVERSITYBy

Adebowale, O.F.

and Ojo, G.K. (Mrs.)oluadefat@yahoo.com; oluadefat@gmai.com graceojo@oauife.edu.ng Department of Educational Foundations Department of Quantity Surveying

and Counselling, Faculty of Environmental Design and Management Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

Abstract

Obtaining prevalence data remains one of the most popular goals of survey researches. Given the frequency with which survey research and designs are used in counselling and other educational researches, this study focussed on validating the Relative Significance Index (RSI) for use instead of the popular simple percentages. The responses of 200 students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Nigeria to a survey of their online counselling needs were used to compare the use of simple percentages and RSI through a Questionnaire titled Questionnaire on the online counselling needs of OAU students. The result shows a very high correlation in the ranking of the online counselling needs and demonstrated that RSI would be a better tool in interpreting such prevalence data as error due to sampling and bias can be drastically minimized. Introduction

In education, psychology and other social sciences, it is very customary for researchers to employ survey researches and dwell extensively on effort to search for the prevalence of certain behaviour, attitude, interest or opinion in the population. It is particularly popular in opinion polls which has described as the basis of the news reported by the various news media (e.g. Ott and Longnecker, 2001). They further highlighted other roles of opinion polls in which prevalence data are held in high esteem and used for important decision making activities, such as its use by industrial and business magnates to find out customers view in terms of product performance, customers satisfaction, equilibrium price determination, and so on. Opinion polls and prevalence data are also important to politicians, government agencies, private concerns, researchers, marketers, statisticians, medical and allied workers, and so on. Survey research in Guidance and CounsellingThe techniques and procedure used to obtain information about a population, usually a human population in the real world rather than in a laboratory have become collectively known as survey methods (Anderson, Ball, Murphy and Associates, 1975). On the other hand Nworgu (1991) described a survey research as one in which a group of people or items are studied by collecting and analysing data from only a few people or item considered to be representative of the entire group. He further analyzed another form of survey in which the entire population is studied and referred to it as census. Generally, surveys have become known to be the method of data collection in which information is gathered through oral (interview) or written (questionnaire) questioning. Best (1978) however warned that, although survey is an important type of study, it must not be confused with the mere clerical routine of gathering and tabulating figures as it involves clearly defined problem and definite objectives. It also requires expert and imaginative planning, careful analysis and interpretation of the data gathered, and logical and skilful reporting of the findings. Best (1978) posited that several types of information may be required in solving a problem or charting a course of action; information based on the present conditions (present state of the construct), the conditions or situation actually wanted, and how to achieve the condition wanted. He further argued that although some survey studies emphasized only one type of this information, others may deal with two or all of them. He concluded that although a survey study does not necessarily embrace all the steps necessary for the solution of a problem, it may make a valuable contribution by clarifying only one of the necessary steps.Survey research is especially important to all facets of guidance programmes. It is useful in investigating peoples preferences, needs and opinions with a view to designing appropriate guidance programmes that will best suit their personalities and peculiarities. Effective group counselling researches targeted at ensuring a successful behaviour modification or reinforcement will benefit from surveys and the resulting prevalence data. In most of these cases the popular approach has always been the use and comparison of percentages and proportion of respondents that gave a given set of response or responses. This cannot be assumed to be correct given the possibility of sampling error or even chance occurrences; hence, more reliable approach needs to be adopted. Survey research, it should be noted, is a method of gathering data from respondents thought to be representative of some population (Garson, 2007) such that information so obtained can be assumed to be valid concerning the population.

Usually, surveys are not concerned with characteristics of individuals as individuals but with generalized statistics that results when data are extracted from a number of individuals (Best, 1978). In counselling, however, the individual is the focus of the helping relationship. It is believed that if the individual members of the community properly understand him/herself, he/she can be helped to design means of making himself a functional and effective member of the community and by so doing be able to contribute his/her quota to its development and continued existence. If every member of the community could achieved this, then the society would be a better place to live.

Survey in counselling researches seeks to collate individual views, attitudes, preferences, opinions, and so on, with a view to understand the population from which the sample has been drawn. Generally, survey methods include both questionnaires and interview (Smith, 1975). According to Nworgu (1991) questionnaires are the most frequently used instrument in educational research and its popularity might have been demonstrated by the number of published studies and students project s in education that employed questionnaire. On the other hand Anderson et al (1975) described interview as oral questionnaire wherein an interviewer tries to obtain information from and sometimes about an interviewee. He stated that the process of developing interview schedules and questionnaire are very similar.Relative Significance Index (RSI)

It is no longer novel to recall that achievement tests samples the examinees maximum performance under certain given conditions, aptitude test predict the ability of an individual to attain given level of expertise after training, while psychological tests attempt to sample the individuals typical or usual behaviour under given circumstances. In all these cases, there exists the need to obtain the predetermined behaviours of the subjects which are prevalent in order to enable policy makers take decision which sometimes border on behaviour modification, provision of facilities and infrastructures, understanding the basis of certain behaviours, and so on. Hence reliable and valid prevalence information is required to achieve such a feat. The use of Relative significance index or index of relative importance/significance has been widely canvassed and used in researches across the globe. Its earliest use was found in Kometa et al (1994). Several researchers have since demonstrated the usefulness of RSI in reporting prevalence data. Hart, Calver and Dickman (2002) discovered that RSI would be very useful in reporting prevalence as it reduces bias in descriptive data. Also Sley, Jarboui, Ghorbel and Bouain (2008) have employed RSI to determine the prevalent food habits of certain Mediterranean fish species. Even in Nigeria, Odusami (1999) used this technique to obtain the prevalent types of project undertaken by quantity surveyor firms and the prevalent services rendered by quantity surveyors in Nigeria; Idowu and Odusami (2006) employed this technique in determining the prevalent functions performed by professional quantity surveyors in Nigeria; Ojo (2007) also used the technique to find the relative importance of methods used in determining contract time. However, no literature evidence has been found to demonstrate its use in counselling or in other aspects of educational research. This study therefore explores the use of this statistical approach to determining prevalence in counselling researches and other educational scientific investigations.Limitations of Prevalence Research

NRC (1999) raised some statements of caution which researcher need to consider in the use of prevalence research. First, comparing and interpreting prevalence findings may become problematic when different studies use different screening and/or diagnostic instruments or criterion levels to measure different levels of data. Furthermore, a prevalence estimate requires specifications of the population or geographical area represented and the time frame over which prevalence is defined (Walker and Dickerson, 1996). Clear-cut attempt must be made to distinguish between prevalence and incidence of the construct of interest with particular reference to geographical area and time frame..

Concurrent ValidationValidity is generally referred to as the extent to which a test, instrument or tool measures what it purports to measure. It is vital for the test, instrument or tool to be valid in order for the results obtained from it to be accurately applied and interpreted. Concurrent Validity refers to a measurement devices ability to vary directly with a measure of the same construct or indirectly with a measure of an opposite construct (Allpsych, 2004). According to Siegle (Undated), concurrent validity compares scores on a test, an instrument or a tool with current performance on some other measure. Unlike predictive validity, where the second measurement occurs later, concurrent validity requires a second measure at about the same time. The concurrent validity is often quantified by thecorrelation coefficientbetween the two sets of measurements obtained for the same target population - the measurements performed by the evaluating instrument and by the standard instrument (Statisics.com, 2004-2009). Concurrent validityis demonstrated where the scores on a test, instrument or tool correlates well with a measure that has previously beenvalidated. The two measures may be for the same construct, or for different, but presumably related, constructs.Procedures

This study is an exploratory study using the descriptive survey design. Babbie and Mouton (2007) recommended that this approach should be employed when a researcher examines a new interest or when the subject of study itself is relatively new. This study thus sought to confirm the usefulness of Relative Significance Index (RSI) for reporting prevalence data for counselling and other educational investigative endeavours.

The target population for this study consisted of all the 28,416 students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, according to the OAU Computer Centre. Two hundred undergraduate and postgraduate students were randomly selected by visiting the eight cybercafs available on the university campus and approaching students wearing the university ID card for possible willingness to participate in the study. Out of the 200 students who took part, only 172 of the responses were useful as eighteen questionnaires were not properly filled while ten of them did not return their copies. The characteristics of the participants are presented in Table 1. Table 1: Distribution of Study Participants

Research subjectsDescriptionsFrequencyPercent

Students100 level31.7

200 level4425.6

300 level2916.9

400 level1911.0

500 level5532.0

Postgraduate2212.8

Total172100.0

The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire titled online counselling needs of Obafemi Awolowo University students. It elicited information from the students, concerning their online counselling needs. Respondents who answered Agree were scored 3, indifferent were scored 2 and Disagree were scored 1. The validity of the instruments was obtained using Cronbachs alpha determination and the scree plot of its factor analysis. These were done to ensure unidimensionality among the test items. An instrument is said to be unidimensional and valid if there is a single dominant first factor and this was the case for the instrument. This has been said to be the central determinants of an internally consistent instrument (Santos, 1999) and by extension, a valid one.

To obtain the reliability, the instrument was administered on an intact group of 30 students who were not included among the sample used for the study. The resulting respondents responses were used to obtain the internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbachs alpha = 0.89 and split half =0.83). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to describe the students online counselling needs and correlated with the result obtained when RSI was employed for concurrent validation of RSI.Results

Research Question: What are the prevalent online counselling needs of students of Obafemi Awolowo University?

In order to answer this research question, two statistical approaches were adopted. In the first approach a descriptive analysis of the respondents responses to their online counselling needs was carried out and the results were as shown in Table 2:

Table 2: Students Responses to Online Counselling Needs in PercentagesYesNoNot sureRanking based on % yes

F%F%F%

1Interpersonal and social skills (getting along with peers, parents and authority figures)12069.8.2615.12615.19

2Self-awareness(understanding and appreciating the self.13176.22011.62112.26

3Coping with peer pressure11667.42916.92715.710

4Sexual issues (sex education, STIs and HIV/AIDS).10460.53721.53118.011

5Time management14483.7158.7137.63

6Career planning14785.5116.4148.21

7.Dating and relationship issues9454.73922.73922.712

8.School adjustment (making friends, getting along with lecturers13176.22212.81911.06

9.Coping with stress12773.81911.02615.18

10Improving academic performance14483.7158.7137.63

11Problem solving skills14282.6116.41911.05

12Acquiring effective study skills14584.3158.7127.02

Table 2 shows that the largest percentage of 85.5% of the students agreed that they would like to receive online counselling in career planning and hence was ranked 1, 84.3% in acquiring effective study skills and was ranked 2, 83.7% in time management and improving academic performance was found to tie on a rank of 3 each, and 82.6% in the area of problem solving skills, ranked 5 and so on. It can be seen in Table 2 that two of the online counselling needs ranked on the basis of their percentage scorings gave a tie, each (Ranks 3 and 6).

The second approach adopted was the use of Relative Significance Index, RSI (also known as Index of Relative Importance, IRI or Relative Importance Index, RII) to determine which of the stated online counselling needs is the most prevalent among the students under study. The statistic was operationalized thus:The responses to the items on the questionnaire were obtained on a 3-point scale ranging from 1 to 3. Agree responses were scored 3, indifferent were scored 2 and Disagree were scored 1. Bakhary (2005) gave an equation that could be useful for determining relative Importance Index (RSI) in prevalence data as:

RSI =

ANWhere is the weighting given to each factor by respondents;

A is the highest weight (i.e 3 in this case);

N is the total number of respondents

Idowu and Odusami (2006) gave a more friendly approach to computing RSI. They posited that RSI should be calculated via the equation:

RSI = 3a + 2i + 1d

jNWhere

a = number of respondents who responded agree.

i = number of respondents who responded indifferent.

d = number of respondents who responded disagree.

N = sample size= 172.

J = number of response categories = 3.For instance for item 1 on the original questionnaire, Interpersonal and social skills (getting along with peers, parents and authority figures), 120 respondents gave agree, 26 respondents gave Indifferent and disagree each. The relative significance index is given as:

RSI =(120 X 3) + (26 X 2) + (26 X 1)

(3 X 172)

= 0.849The results off other computations are as shown in table 3

Table 3: Relative significance analysis of students counselling needs

S/NOriginal Item NoStudents online counselling needsRSIRanking

16Career planning0.9301

211Problem solving skills0.9212

312Acquiring effective study skills0.9193

45Time management0.9174

510

Improving academic performance0.9174

62Self-awareness(understanding and appreciating the self.0.8826

78School adjustment (making friends, getting along with lecturers0.8787

89Coping with stress0.8758

91Interpersonal and social skills (getting along with peers, parents and authority figures)0.8499

103Coping with peer pressure0.83510

114Sexual issues (sex education, STIs and HIV/AIDS).0.79211

127Dating and relationship issues0.77512

From Table 3, two pieces of information were evident. It can be seen that the RSI of all the items clearly surpass the threshold of 0.5 as advised by Ojo (2002) and hence can be said to be significant online counselling needs of students in Obafemi Awolowo University. Secondly, it confirms that the most prevalent counselling needs of the students under study was career planning (RSI = 0.930) and ranked 1, closely followed mostly by other academic/educational needs such as problem solving skills ranked 2, acquiring effective study skills ranked 3, time management and improving academic performance both tied on rank 4. It further shows that students consider their online social interaction needs as secondary to their online educational/ academic needs. In fact, dating and relationship issues ranked last among their online counselling needs (RSI = 0.775).

Furthermore for the purpose of validating the statistical approach and in line with recommendation of Statisics.com (2004-2009), a Spearman Rho rank correlation was carried out for the two rankings and the result was as presented in Table 4.Table 4: Spearman Correlation between the ranks yielded by percentages and RSI.

RSI rankingPercentage-yes rankingSpearman RhoP

1660.9790.000

21112

31210

455

510

11

622

788

899

911

1033

1144

1277

Table 4 shows that a significant and high correlation was produced between the two measures RSI ranking and Percent-yes ranking (r = 0.979, p = 0.000). Hence RSI ranking can be a very useful approach to interpreting prevalence data.DiscussionThis study sought to show that RSI can be as highly comparable to simple percentages in interpreting prevalence data and a better one in that it reduces error and bias commonly evident in ranking prevalence and relative positioning of data. In the study, both of them pin-pointed career choice as the most prevalent online counselling needs of OAU students. The next in ranking by simple percentages was acquiring study skills which reported 84.3% of the Yes responses, this was instead ranked 3rd by RSI. In contrast, RSI ranked Problem-solving skills 2nd, next to the most prevalent need of career choice, but was ranked 5th by simple parentages. Simple percentage also ranked Time management and Improving academic performance third while they were both ranked 4th (tied) by RSI. These types of variation permeated the comparisons. This differences can be attributed to the fact that ranking and comparison through simple percentages made use of those who responded yes only and probably ignored those who responded No and Not sure. All the response categories were taken care of in RSI. For instance, the most prevalent online counselling need should be expected to have the least percentage for No responses and this was found to be true of career planning (6.4%), but not in the case of problem solving skills which also had the lowest percentage of No responses and was actually ranked 5th by simple percentage. The fact that only those who responded yes were considered in simple percentage accentuated the error due to sampling in the analysis. This kind of error will normally be eliminated when RSI is employed.

It is therefore recommended that RSI be employed whenever unbiased prevalent data are to be drawn from a research work as interpretation is easier and more error-free than simple percentage. ReferencesAllPsych (2004) Research Methods: Variables, Validity and Reliability retrieved on 9th April, 2009 from http://allpsych.com/researchmethods/validityreliability.htmlAnderson, Ball, Murphy and Associates (1975) Encyclopedia of Educational Evaluation. Concepts and Techniques for Evaluating Education and Training Programs. USA: Josssy-Bass Limited.pg 408-411.Babbie, E and Mouton, J. The Practice of Social Research. 7th Edition. South Africa: Oxford University Press

Bakhary, N. (2005) Arbitration in Malaysia Construction Industry.retrieved 12th January 2008 from http://www.efka.utm.my/thesis/images/4MASTER/2005/2JSBP/Part1/ CHOOTZERCHING MA011138D03TT1.docBest, J.W. (1978) Research in Education. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Privaate Limited.Garson, D. (2007). Survey Research. Retrieved 12th May, 2009 from http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/PA765/survey.htmHart, R. K., Calver, M. C., and Dickman, C. R. (2002). The Index of Relative Importance: An Alternative Approach to Reducing Bias in Descriptive Studies of Animal Diets. Wildlife Research Vol.29,no 5,pp.415-421Idowu, F.O. and Odusami, K.T. (2006) An Evaluation of the Competencies of the Nigerian Professional Quantity Surveyors The Quantity Surveyor, NIQS Journal Vol. 54 No2 pp22 - 28Kometa, S.T., Olomolaiye, P.O. and Harris, F.C. (1994)Attributes of UK Construction clients influencing project consultants perfomace. Construction Mangement and Economics. Vol. 12 pp 433 443.

National Research Council (U.S.).Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of Pathological Gambling, National Research Council (1999) Pathological Gambling: A Critical Review. Pg 63. US: National Academies Press.

Odusami, K.T. (1999). A survey of Current Trends in Quantity Surveying Consultancy Practice in Nigeria. The Quantity Surveyor, NIQS Journal pp57 62.

Ojo, G.K. (2002) A study of the Relationship between Contract Period and Tender Sum of Construction Projects in South Western Nigeria. An Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis of the Department of Quantity Surveying, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Nigeria.

Ojo, G.K. (2007) An assessment of factors influencing contract period of construction project in South Western Nigeria: Towards a sustainable built and national environment. Proceeding of the Annual Conference of the Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Nigeria. Sept. Vol. 2 pgs 119 125. Ott, L. and Longnecker, M. (2001) An Introduction to Statistical methods and Data Analysis. 5th Edition. California: Duxbury.

Siegle, D. (Undated) Validity. Retrieved on 9th April, 2009 from http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/Siegle/research/Instrument%20Reliability%20and%20Validity/Validity.htmSley, A. , Jarboui, O., Ghorbel M. and Bouain A. (2008) Diet composition and food habits of Caranx rhonchus (Carangidae) from the Gulf of Gabes (central Mediterranean). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (2008), 88 : 831-836 Cambridge University Press

Smith, H.W. (1975) Strategies of social research: the methodological imagination. London: Prentice Hall International.

Statistics.com (2004-2009) Statistical Glossary:Concurrent Validity retrieved on 9th April 2009 from http://www.statistics.com/resources/glossary/c/contralto.phpWalker, M &Dickerson, M. (1996) The prevalence of problem and pathological gambling: a critical analysis. Journal of Gambling Studies. 12(2)