Researchers’ Experiences At The Time Of Covid-19 Outbreak Among Tertiary Institutions In Calabar Metropolis, Nigeria

This study was conducted to investigate COVID-19 outbreak in Calabar Metropolis. This really analyzed the challenges encountered in carrying out educational research in the time of Covid-19 pandemic, and then, offered solution to strengthen research activities at all times. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional mix methods design involving both qualitative (exploratory) and quantitative (explanatory) approaches. Four research questions and two hypotheses guided the quantitative part of the study while the qualitative part was guided by the a key informant interview with responses grouped in themes and subthemes – reflecting the direct quotes of the participants. The population of this study included all university lecturers (3,860) and postgraduate students (2,383) from public and private tertiary institutions in Calabar Metropolies who were researching at the time of this study. A total of 600 male and female researchers constituted the sample for the quantitative study while 24 key informants constituted the participants for the qualitative part of the study. Participants were sampled through purposive sampling technique to recruit only respondents that have rich information for the study. As inclusion criteria, only researchers who were researching at the time of data collection in the period of the pandemic were recruited in this study. The researchers’ questionnaire and key informant interview guide were the instruments validated and used for data collection. The estimates of Cronbach alpha reliability of the instruments ranged between 0.82 and 0.87. Data were analyzed through descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (independent t-test and analysis of variance- ANOVA). Data from the qualitative part was transcribed and thematically reported verbatim. Ethical clearance was obtained from Cross River State Research Ethics Committee. One of the major experiences of researchers during the pandemic is the inability to interface with respondents, 61.5% of respondents could not participate in the studies because of fear of contracting the virus. Majority of the respondents (91.5%) admitted that the outbreak did help to facilitate the use and mastery of the media in research especially in data collection via calls (50.2%), e-mails (38.5%), zoom (14.8%). The study found out that researchers encountered both negative and positive impact of COVID-19 in the course of researching during the pandemic and this was found to be more among female lecturers and students than their male counterparts. In conclusion, there was high attrition rate and inability to conduct face-to-face investigation and this led to greater need for utilization of media, ICT, and technology in research during the pandemic. This has significant policy implication for increasing technology use and greater capacity building in these areas for enhanced performance in research activities of lecturers and graduate students especially in critical times.