Stakeholders in dispute resolution in Ghana constituted the population of the study. Stakeholder is the one who can affect and who is affected by the achievement of (an organization’s) objectives.565 In the context of this study, a stakeholder is anyone who is affected or who affects dispute resolution irrespective of how this occurs. In this respect, disputants, dispute resolution practitioners or experts, dispute resolution fora and the community constitute the stakeholders.
Addition of the foregoing comprised the population of the study. Unfortunately, there is no reliable data for quantification of these stakeholders to determine the exact population in numerical terms.
However, in order to determine the appropriate sample size, criteria is required. These are level of precision, confidence level, and variability level.566 Precision level, also known as sampling error, is the range where the actual value of the estimated population will fall. Confidence level refers to the rate of precision regarding the true value. The risk is reduced for 95% level of confidence. Degree of variability refers to the attributes of distribution in a population. The more heterogeneous the variables in a population the larger the sample size required to attain the level of precision required.567 All these three were considered.
564 Merriam Sharan, Qualitative research and case study applications in education (Jossey-Bass Publishers San Francisco 2000) 83.
565 Freeman R Edward, Strategic Management: A stakeholder Approach (Pitman Boston MA 1984) 34.
566 George Miaoulis and Michener Dean, An Introduction to Sampling (Hunt Publishing Company Dubuque 1976) 64.
567 Ajay S Singh and MS Masuku, ‘Fundamentals of applied research and sampling techniques’ [2012]
International Journal of Medical and Applied Sciences 128.
111
The researcher used the most primary dispute resolution stakeholders per the criteria posited by Mitchell and Bradley568 which considers the power to influence a dispute and its resolution, the legitimacy of relationship with dispute, and urgency of claim on the dispute and its resolution. In this regard disputants, judges in the district courts in Accra, lawyers in Accra, chiefs of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, Other dispute resolution practitioners, and Christian religious leaders. The lack of adequate and reliable data made it difficult determining the population of dispute resolution stakeholders in Accra. The following was therefore used to estimate the population.
The primary stakeholders were placed in two categories, that is, those for which the population was known and those for which the population was unknown. Six strata were used to determine the population for the study. These were judges, lawyers, religious leaders, traditional leaders, other dispute resolution practitioners, and disputants. The compositions of the known population included Lawyers – 2,800,569 Religious Leaders – 9,570 Chiefs 10,571 Judges 35,572 Other Dispute Resolution 420.573 The total of these gave a figure of 3,274, and this constituted the known population. The population of the sixth stratum, that is, disputants was undeterminable.
Accra was preferred as the main location to conduct this study. The reason is that Accra is cosmopolitan and represents all the ethnic groups (all 16 regions) in Ghana. It is indeed a mirror of Ghana. The judges who participated in the study were District Court judges in Accra. The District Court was included because it is the largest court in Ghana574 and handles the most
568 Ronald K Mitchell, Agle R Bradley and Donna J Wood, ‘Toward a Theory of Stakeholder Identification and Salience: Defining the Principle of Who and What Really Counts’ [1997] The Academy of Management Review 863.
569 Ghana Bar Association, ‘Members in good standing’ (Ghana Bar Association 2020)
<https://ghanabar.org/members-in-good-standing/> accessed 6 January 2020.
570 The Council Officers of the Christian Council of Ghana (4 in all), and the Principal Officers of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (5 in all).
571 All Chiefs of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs (some seats were vacant at the time of this study).
572 See page Judicial Service of Ghana Annual Report 2017 – 2018 (Judicial Service of Ghana 2018) 43.
573 See Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners ‘Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners membership’ (Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners 2020) <gnaapgh.com/membership/all- members> accessed 30 December 2020.
574 The District Court has 192 out of the 379 Courts in Ghana. See the 2017-2018 Annual Report of the Judicial Service of Ghana at 43.
112
cases575, in fact it has jurisdiction in all the types of disputes of concern to this study. Since there were 35 District Courts in Accra at the time of the study, the total number of judges was taken to be 35.576 To get the total number of ODR practitioners, the total registered members of the most recognized ‘other dispute resolution’ professional Association – Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners was used. This number was 420.577 This number consisted of Negotiators, Mediators and Arbitrators. On traditional leaders (Chiefs), the total number of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs constituted the population of Chiefs. This number was ten (10) at the time of the study since some of the Paramount Areas did not have representation. The officers of the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council578 were used to represent religious leaders. This was used because Christians constituted 71% of Ghana’s total population.579 The sixth strata (group) was disputants. There was no reliable way of determining the population of disputants.
Sample size calculation:
Separate sample sizes were calculated for the two groups (that for the known population and that for the unknown population). This was to ensure accurate representation.
1. Sample size for disputants (unknown population)
Sample representativeness is determined by: (1) sampling procedure; (2) sample size; and 3) response.580
Since the population of disputants was unknown, the following formula was used:
n = 𝑧2 P (1 – P) 𝐶2
575 The District Court received 75,529 of the 110,550 cases filed in all the Courts in Ghana between July 2017 to June 2018. See page 75 of the 2017-2018 Annual Report of the Judicial Service of Ghana.
576 Judicial Service of Ghana Annual Report 2017-2018 (Judicial Service of Ghana Accra 2018) 43.
577 Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners, 2021.
578 Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, ‘Principal Officers’ (Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council 2020) <https://gpccghana.org> accessed 12 April 2020.
579 Ghana Population and Housing Census 2010.
580 See Kanupriya Chaturvedi, ‘Sample size determination’ (University of Pittsburgh 2015).
< https://www.pitt.edu> accessed 4 April 2021.
113
Where, n = sample size, z = standard normal deviation which is set at 95% confidence level, P = percentage of selecting a choice or response, c = confidence interval.
z = 1.96 (chi-square value at 95% confidence level)
P = proportion of population (taken to be 0.5 since it will provide the maximum sample size) C = 5%.
Therefore, sample size:
n = 𝑧2 * P(1 – P) 𝐶2
n = 1.962 * 0.5(1 – 0.5), 0.052
n = 1.962 *0.5 (1 – 0.5), 0.052
n = 3.84* 0.5 (0.5), 0.0025 n = 3.84* 0.25), 0.0025 n = 0.96, 0.0025 n = 384
Based on the above, the sample size for disputants was 384.
2. Sample size for known population
The population for five of the strata was 3,274 (Lawyers – 2,800; Judges – 35; Religious Leaders – 9; Chiefs – 10; other dispute resolution practitioners – 420).
Formula:
114 s = 𝑥2 *NP (1 – P) ,
𝑑2(𝑁 − 1) + 𝑥2 𝑃 (1 − 𝑃)
Where, s = sample size, x = chi-square value at 1 degree of freedom at the desired confidence level (1.96), N = population size, P = population proportion, d = degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion
X = 1.96, N = 3,274, P = 0.5, d = 0.05 s = 𝑥2 *NP (1 – P) ,
𝑑2(𝑁 − 1) + 𝑥2 𝑃 (1 − 𝑃)
s = 1.962 *3,274*0.5 (1 – 0.5), 0.052(3,274 − 1) + 1.962 0.5 (1 − 0.5) s = 1.962 *3,274*0.5 (0.5),
0.0025(3,273) + 1.962∗ 0.5 (0.5)
s = 3.84 *3,274*0.5 (0.5),
0.0025(3,273) + 3.84 ∗ 0.5 (0.5)
s = 3.84 *3,274*0.25,
0.0025(3,273) + 3.84 ∗ 0.25
s = 3.84 *3,274*0.25, 0.0025(3,273) + 0.96
s = 3.84 *3,274*0.25, 8.18 + 0.96
s = 3143.04, 9.14
115 S = 344
Therefore, sample size for the known population was 344.
Table 6: Summary of Population and Sample Size Determination
Number Participant Group Population Sample Size
1. District Court Judges in Accra 35 3
2. Lawyers in Accra (GBA members) 2,800 292
3. ODR Practitioners (GNAAP members) 420 45
4. Disputants Unknown 384
5. Religious Leaders (Ex. of CCG & GPCC) 9 2 6. Chiefs (Gt. Accra Regional House of Chiefs
members)
10 2
TOTAL 3,274 728
Note: CCG stands for Christian Council of Ghana, GPCC represents Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council and GNAAP stands for Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners.
The sample size for each category was determined using the formula for calculating known population as used above.