Demographic characteristics as correlates to the choice of librarianship as a profession in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between demographic characteristics and the choice of librarianship as a profession in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The study was prompted by poor job performance, loss of interest and abandoning of the job as a result of demographic characteristics. The study was carried out using a correlation research design. Four research questions, four objectives guided the study and four research hypotheses were formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study was 47 Librarians permanently employed in the University libraries. The Census sampling technique was used for the study. This enables the use of all the 47 Librarians employed in the academic libraries in Bayelsa state. Questionnaire entitled “Demographic Characteristics and Choice of Profession Questionnaire” (DCCPQ). The instrument with the purpose of the study and the research questions were given to three experts in the Departments of Library and Information Science, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rivers State, to validate the instrument. The experts validated items for clarity, relevance to the purpose of the study and the appropriateness of the language and the accuracy of the instructions to the respondents. The reliability of the instrument was established using the test-re-test method. Copies of the questionnaires were administered to 20 librarians at Rivers State University Library, Nkpolu, Rivers State, Nigeria who were not part of the main study. The data obtained from the administration were analyzed using the Pearson products moment formula. The result yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.65. The r-value was subjected to the Spearman-Brown Prophetic formula which yielded a coefficient of 0.82 signifying that the instrument was reliable for the study. Copies of the questionnaire were administered to the respondents by the researcher, with the research assistant each from the university under study. Linear Regression analysis was used to answer and test the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance with the help of Statistics Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. The findings of the study showed the relationship between demographic characteristics and the choice of librarianship as a profession in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. It is recommended among others that Demographic characteristics should be considered by school counselors where students are guided to choose librarianship as a profession.