The Relationship Between Labour Market Core Skills Requirements And University Graduate Soft Skills Competence
[A CASE STUDY OF NORTH-WEST, NIGERIA]

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
    This chapter discusses procedures used in carrying out this study. The chapter is discussed under the following sub-headings:
a. Research Design
b. Population, Sample and Sampling Techniques
c. Instrumentation
d. Procedure for Data Collection
e. Data Analysis Techniques
Research Design
    The research design for this study will be a correlational study. Best and Kahn (2005) maintained that correlational research design is an approach that seeks to establish relationship between two or more complex variables on the basis of the predictions made. Baba (2005) explained that this type of research design is used where the researcher studies the subjects at one time or within a specified period of time. Therefore, the correlational research design will be considered appropriate and adopted to describe the relationship between labour market core skills requirements and the university graduate soft skills competence as it existed in the North-west, Nigeria. Also, it will allow the researcher to make a careful collection of data in such a way that the information obtained from the representative sample of the target population was analysed for generalisation.


Population, Sample and Sampling Techniques
    The population for this study will comprise Top Management Staff (TMS) in various institutions and organisations in North-west, Nigeria. The target population for the study will consist of 1,212 top management staff in Education, Banking, Commerce, Manufacturing, Science and Technology industries in the North-west, Nigeria (Field work, 2016). The top management staff in this study are directors at States Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), Teachers’ Service Commission (TESCOM), States Ministry of Education, registrars in tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education) in the four selected states, bank managers, banks’ heads of departments (operation and marketing), heads of departments (administrative, human resource, production and marketing) in commerce and industry as well as science and technology organisations. The selection of these management staff will be based on the reason that they are operational managers who evaluate and assess university graduates who work directly under them.
    The four states to be selected for the study will be Zamfara, Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina States. These states will be selected for the study in the North-west zone because they recorded highest rates of unemployment: Zamfara: 42.6%, Jigawa, 35.9%, Kaduna, 30.3% and Katsina, 28.1% (Ajaikaye, 2016).
    The sample for the study will comprise 306 top management staff members which will be selected through the Research Advisors (2006) at 95% confidence level of 5.0% margin of error to determine the sample size of 306. Therefore, the sample for the study will comprise 16 top management staff from SUBEB and 20 from TESCOM, 20 directors and 25 supervisors from the States ministry of education, 24 registrars from the 24 tertiary institutions in the selected states, 84 bank management staff across all the selected banks in the selected states, 64 top management staff from commerce and industry and 64 from different organisations in science and technology industry, totaling 306 participants for the study.