EASTERN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE (ETU – SL)– KENEMA

SUMMARY REPORT ON THE TWO  DAY  STAFF CAPACITY  BUILDING  WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH (4^TH-5^TH APRIL, 2025) BY THE PARTNERSHIP FOR  RESILIENCE (PARES) PROJECT IN  PARTNERSHIP WITH THE  EASTERN  TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY  OF  SIERRA  LEONE.

Submitted by: Anthony Kamara

Secretary General

ASA, ETU-SL

EASTERN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE (ETU – SL) – KENEMA

SUMMARY REPORT ON THE TWO DAY  STAFF  CAPACITY  BUILDING  WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH (4^TH-5^THAPRIL, 2025) BY THE PARTNERSHIP FOR RESILIENCE (PARES)  PROJECT  IN  PARTNERSHIP WITH THE  EASTERN  TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY  OF  SIERRA  LEONE.

DAY ONE-4 APRIL 2025

The training which  attracted  186  staff  members  of  22  females  and  164  males  from  the 6  Faculties of the  institution commenced  at about  10:00 am   with  both  Muslim and  Christian  prayers  led  by Sheik  Mohamed  Fomba  Bao and  Rev  Dr. Matthew  Jusu Kanneh respectively.  Welcoming   the  PARES  Project  facilitators and  all participants,  the Vice  Chancellor  and  Principal ,   Prof  Mohamed Tailu Lahai  said, the  training was meant for  strengthening the knowledge  base of  all staff in  research  grant  and,  Textbooks  writing ,   publication and dissertation writing and  supervision;  Facilitators  were  introduced  by  Doctor  Lawrence  Sao Babawo,  Dean  of  Post  Graduate  Studies  of  the Eastern Technical  University.

• Professor Susannah Mayhew  –         Adjunct Professor of Eastern  Technical 

University and the Principal investigator

• Professor Freddie Ssengooba –   Makerere University in Uganda  
• Professor Dina Baladanova     –         ISHIM of  London  School  of Hygiene
• Professor Kemoh Rogers    –    Dean,  School  of  Public  Health- Njala University
• University staff members similarly introduced themselves by Faculties.

During   the  first  session  of the  training  facilitated   by  Professor  Susannah   Mayhew,  expectations  of  the training   put   forward  by   the  participants   included:

• Acquisition of  ;
• Knowledge in  writing  research grant  proposals
• Skills and  knowledge  in  text  book writing
• Knowledge to  develop a  good   literature  review
• Knowledge in  developing   training  manuals  for  students
• Ability to write articles   for Publication in peer review   Journals and
• New knowledge in both quantitative   and qualitative research.

Qualitative data collection methods according to Professor Susannah   include;

• Qualitative interview
• In-depth interviews   e. direct  conversation
• Key informant  interviews
• Focus group  discussion (FGD)

Which  are  all  guided  by  broad  topics rather  than a  structured  questionnaire (s).

• Semi structured   topic guide
• Informal and participatory.
• Key informant Interview according to  the  Facilitator  may  include:
• Setting up of focus group discussion with homogenous groups having common socio-economic status as such group must be manageable and normally conducted by two people. One of the focus group discussion skills requires   the use of language.

Other concepts taught by Professor Susannah included:

Ethnography which refers to the study of social interactions in an anthropological manner noting that  when  people  are  aware of  being  observed,  they  tend  to  alter  or  conceal their  actual  behaviour.

She stated that some   ethnographers   may keep a personal diary to keep  flow   of  events.

In  the  next  slide,  the  facilitator presented  illustrative  pictures  on  Core  Science  Skills.  Discussions   on  the  pictures  of  chickens ,  sheep ,  pigs were  used  to  pose   several scientific questions  hinging on skills of  learning Science  such  as  interpretation, listening  ,effective communication   etc. She   said, there is a different between hearing and   listening.  Simple listening techniques involve interpersonal skills.  Note taking as a systematic and orderly manner of writing information from different   sources.

• Probing Skills
• Observational skills – Systematic description of events. questions  relating  to  Female  Genital  Cutting  (FGC) and  expert  interview were  asked  by  some  participants  and  clarified by  the  The Session ended  for  a  lunch  break  at  11:42 am  with  reading  assignment to  all  participants  in  groups  on the  TOPIC MANAGING HIV  IN THE  INDIAN  PRIVATE MEDICAL  SECTOR a people-centred  lens- in low  and middle  income  countries.

The session continued with the second presenter, Professor Dina Baladanova ISHIM at 1:27pm.  Each of the  groups was  to  read  the document  and  make  critical appraisal on  the part played  by  the  Medical Doctor, Care  Giver, Consultant, Technician, patient in diagnosis and  treatment  of  the HIV  patient.  Various groups presented   their perceptions followed by discussion by all based on group analyses.

Eminent amongst the group  analyses  were  lack  of  confidentiality, counselling and  consent  on the  parts  of  the  Medical Doctor , Technician and the  consultant  in  dealing  with the HIV patient.  Recommendations  for improving  the  conduct  of those  personnel included:  policy formulation,  education in dealing  with  HIV  cases  and  provision of  required  resources.

The  third presenter, Professor  Freddie Ssengooba  took over   the  facilitation at  about  2:45PM  on  the  topic “Policy  Research Insight” as  he  asked  all  participants ”WHY DO WE NEED BOSSES“? Some responses to the question included:  We need bosses to guide, protect, to take decision etc.

The facilitator displayed the picture of Solomon’s Justice and discussed the following questions with the participants. Why do we need policy?  Two main reasons provided were:

• For common resource problem
• For distribution of capacity problem

Note also that “research in a particular situation is what is referred to as upstream.

The facilitator presented the following questions for discussion with the participants:

1. What do Policies do?

• Policies set goals and benefits for cooperate actions
• Policies provide principles that guide cooperation etc.

2. What are Policy Instruments

       Instruments are tools targeted by policies to influence policy goals;

• Information awareness education
• Legislation mandates regulation guidelines,
• Standard procedures
• Monitoring system
• Partnership collaboration
• Programmes, plans, grants.

3. How is Policy Developed?

       The process (or stages model) is identified below:

• Problem definition
• Alternative solution
• Agenda setting
• Policy formulation/design
• Decision making/legislation
• Policy implementation
• Policy evaluation

The facilitator further presented/displayed policy design four main perspectives to the policy influence and threw light on some key issues. He displayed other models such as; key “variables” in policy analyses “The Policy Triangle.

• Agenda setting concepts, multiple stream model (Kingdom 1978)
• Stakeholder analysis, mapping, dialogue and policy reforms.

He further explained the relationship between problems, political context and solutions idea. Prof. Ssengooba made further discussed stakeholder dialogue, sense making rooted in community creativity and agency with the participants. Day one training ended at about 3:59 p.m.

DAY TWO – 5 April 2025

Day two started with silent prayers at 9:20; and moderated by Doctor Lawrence S. Babawo who gave a space to the Academic Staff Association President to make a statement. President Joe Diawo appreciated everybody with special reference to the facilitators for knowledge sharing. He made reference to a plea made to the University administration in the last emergence senate meeting for staff capacity building. He described the workshop as apt and timely. The ASA President stressed that the three core mandates of academic staff in Universities are teaching, research and community service. Thus, in academia ”if one fails to publish, one perishes” the training package was a step in the right direction as it covered research grant proposal writing, text books writing, dissertation writing and supervision the President underscored. He expressed hope for continuance of the PARES Project training from time to time in the life of the University.

Doctor Lawrence S. Babawo made an announcement to all applicants for further studies at M. Phil and Ph. D levels at Njala University under the Memorandum of understanding between Njala University and the Eastern Technical University of Sierra Leone that on Tuesday, 9 April 2025 there would be a meeting for them all commencing 10:00 am at the same venue.

The session on research grant funding insights was facilitated by Professor Susannah Mayhew.

She displayed photos and discussed with participants the under mentioned criteria to be considered in putting together a quality research grant proposal(s).

• Develop the research identity
• Define the research identity and have confidence in the identity
• Training and development
• A well thought training may be accepted.
• Many donors favour collaborative approaches to scientific research
• Find collaborators with different expertise that support and or complement your own skills.
• Clearly state the role and input of every collaborator or mentor.
• Think around whether you have the right funder for the topic selected.
• Ask yourself whether you are fit for purpose and meet the eligibility criteria.
• Note that, sometimes donors limit the number of times for submitting the same idea.
• What does a good application look like?
• Some research proposals require interview stage.

Some links of donors were supplied by the facilitator eg; African Leaders Funding Schemes, Climate Financing Instruments such as GCF and National Adaptation Plans. Professor Susannah advised participants to be regularly checking the websites and that some donors are predictable while some others are not. She promised to supply the participants list of donor organisations through Doctor Babawo.

The second session was facilitated by Professor Baladanova –ISHIM on the concept “Successfully publishing your research” insight from practice BMC Health Services Research.

Such a task according to the facilitator requires a lot of consideration including:

• Maximising chances of winning a grant as the scholar needed to step back and consider.
• What is the potential contribution of the target paper?
• Current knowledge
• Global debate – policies and practices
• What is the audience and what is the most relevant information to include in the target paper?

Which Journal is the best for the paper? (e.g. BMC and Implementation Science)

• What section is most important?
• Interest for global and regional audience
• Consider regional journal (political event/ declaration/ lancet commission)

The facilitator further provided hints on ways to find journals such as predatory journal, choosing your focus and trying to be realistic about the scope as a scholar and grounding in the literature.

Writing up qualitative research

• The facilitator presented and discussed with participants the uses of AI as:-
• Evidence synthesis
• Creating a comprehensive structure/ outline

She noted that AI is not yet useful for:

• Analysis and
• Interpretation as it always needs validation and cross checking.

Other additional issues discussed with the participants included:

• Ethics for reporting
• Editing for English Language –attempt to simplify the document/ paper.
• A scholar should secure an informal peer review or advice.
• Agree with author’s contributions from the start
• Funder requirements – acknowledgement

Other factors that help to publish are:  Reading high quoted papers in your field, discuss with colleagues (e.g. Journal club or other mechanisms).

In response to questions asked regarding the use of AI to avoid plagiarism, the facilitator said they are thinking to come up with policy for the use of AI A participant raised concern on the high cost of publication. Dean of Post Graduate Studies informed all about pending workshop on predatory journals and methods of scoring after senate meeting on Thursday 10 April, 2025.

The 3^rd presentation on dissertation supervision was presented by Professor Ssengooba. Professor Ssengooba displayed a slide on some reflections, roles and responsibilities. The overall goal was competence development and that dissertation writing supports scholarly skills development.

The scholar is required to write a problem statement to justify the study.

Professor Ssengooba discussed with the participants some relevant points to be considered in dissertation supervision:

• Effective communication and relationship between the supervisor and the supervisee.
• Managing expectations and timelines
• Patience and commitment to work by both the supervisor and supervisee.

Some participants raised questions around negligence on the part of students during supervision and responded to by the facilitator.

Session ended at about 1:01 pm for lunch break.

The final session was facilitated by Professor Kemoh Rogers – Dean, School of Public Health – Njala University.

TOPIC: Research Meeting

Presenting on the topic, Professor said, qualitative research cannot be done in a short time. Qualitative research is normally presented differently from quantitative research. He presented a qualitative perspective throwing light on primary research methodologies, quantitative triangulation (mixed methods) nature of qualitative research: learning how individuals experience and interact with their social world, the meaning it has for them, is considered an interpretive qualitative approach. Quantitative research is not uniform.

A discussion to distinguish the types of qualitative research showed that:

• All fields use qualitative research
• All types of qualitative research have common features
• Scholars should read several text books on phenology.
• Basic interpretive study
• Phenology
• Grounded theory
• Case study
• Ethnographic study
• Narrative analysis
• Critical qualitative research
• Postmodern research.

For qualitative research, data are collected through interviews, observations or document analysis.

Professor Kemoh Rogers similarly facilitated on situating a qualitative research within an appropriate philosophical framework, paradigm, positivism and naturalism naturalistic paradigm as it is assumed that, individuals are not passive objects in their social world.

There was a discussion on ontology and epistemology. That research method refers to tools while research methodology refers to philological concept. He stated that qualitative data collection makes use of interviews and focus groups discussions.

As learnt from professor Kemoh, one should not advise anybody to use qualitative research without reflexivity. Reflexivity refers to how research findings came about. Qualitative research has many or several answers with different approaches, about meaning and not numbers and hinges on the understanding of some of the main variables.

• Grasping the methodology
• Understanding different sources of data, observation, interview and it involves subjectivity and reflexivity.

The second day training ended at 2:45 pm with a statement from the Dean of Post Graduate Studies that, the next training would be purely in the hands of the ASA executive and the Department of Languages and Linguistics Studies.

The acting DVC, Mr. Gbessay Y. Amadu tendered an appreciating statement and hoped for the knowledge gained to have positive impact on the community.

Faithfully submitted by,

Anthony Kamara

SECRETARY GENERAL

Academic Staff Association – ETU-SL, Kenema