Journal of Science and Technology: A Review of Research Philosophies and Approaches of Published Papers From 2000-2020

Esther  White; Divine Kwaku  Ahadzie

doi:10.4314/just.v43i1.1730

Esther White College of Art and Built Environment Library, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6339-4604
Divine Kwaku Ahadzie Centre for Settlement Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4909-7491

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/just.v43i1.1730

Keywords: JUST, Research approaches, analytical tools, statistical tools, methodology

Abstract

Understanding research philosophies and approaches are important for identifying appropriate research design, their suitability, reliability and validity for research projects. Here, research philosophies and approaches employed by contributors to the Journal of Science and Technology (JUST) from the year 2000 to 2020 are reviewed. All papers (580 articles) were retrieved from African Journals Online (AJOL), the KNUST institutional repository and the JUST Website. The papers were grouped to reflect the academic disciplines offered at KNUST, the publishers of JUST. The abstracts of the papers were first scrutinised to appreciate the contents and collated keywords. Thereafter, the introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusions sections were thoroughly critiqued. The findings revealed that positivism rooted in deductive reasoning dominates the JUST accounting for 87.8% of articles. The use of quantitative analytical tools namely, statistical analysis (68.27%), simulation (7.41%) and mathematical modelling (0.17%) featured in the order presented. Interpretivism rooted in inductive reasoning/qualitative analytical tools represented 14.31% in use. Agriculture, Health and Pure Sciences widely used statistics whilst disciplines in Engineering relied mostly on simulation and modelling. While Agriculture used mostly inferential statistics, the health-related disciplines produced mostly descriptive statistics. Social sciences and humanities including Library and Information studies relied largely on descriptive statistics except economics, which was dominated by inferential statistics. Built environment research relied largely on descriptive statistics while Art-based programmes rely largely on qualitative approaches and narrations. These findings are important in helping the JUST to identify the strengths and weak areas towards encouraging a multi philosophically inclusive publications in the JUST, as a multidisciplinary academic journal. The findings could be helpful to the management of JUST and interested stakeholders towards expanding the profile of research publications knowledge promotion and as training manual for potential authors.

Author Biographies

Esther White, College of Art and Built Environment Library, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Dr. (Mrs.) Esther White is a Senior Assistant Librarian and Acting College Librarian for the College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. She has publications in Academic Librarianship, Scholarly communication guidance, Information literacy skills training, Publishing trends and channels, Research and scholarly communication mentorship and Research support by academic librarians. She is also a part-time Senior Lecturer in the Department of Publishing Studies, KNUST, where she teaches courses in Library Studies and Information Literacy Skills. She teaches and trains students, lecturers and other researchers in the effective utilisation of library and information resources for the conduct of research.

Divine Kwaku Ahadzie, Centre for Settlement Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Award-winning Professor Divine Kwaku Ahadzie is a professor of construction and human settlements development and former head of the Centre for Settlements Studies, KNUST. He is an emerald Real Impact Award winner for 2020, an outstanding reviewer recipient for the International Journal of Project Management, Elsevier in 2017 and the Journal of Urban Planning and Development, ACSE in 2020. He has reviewed close to 200 manuscripts for leading international Journals and is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Urban Planning and Development published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He is the lead author of the edited handbook: Flood Risk Management and Community Action published by Taylor and Francis