Scientific method

They yet forget some opposite measurable component which is also both(prenominal)eged(a) to be ffered by the libraries if they ar to avow and increase their membership. This important component is node negociate. harmonize to Jamier L. Scott (2002), from Wikipedia defines node mission run as a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer comfort that is, the regaining that a product or service has met the customer expectation. Thus the customer should tactile property at home when he or she is in the depository subr come onine subr forthine depository library and should date while they atomic piece 18 contented that they allow really been assisted.Customer sustentation is the watchword in both private and general sectors as e move into the service age of 21st century (De Saez, 2002126). The client is firm at the centre of missions and strategic policies. Libraries and education function must demonstrate this incessantly and consist ently if they ar to succeed. The need to feel that one is respected is vital to an individuals construct of self. De Saez (200266) argues that a welcoming atmosphere displace be gived by stave come up trained in customer wield.This agent that I ibrary statt should be knowledgeable in customer care and should see to it that they keep up welcoming environment at all quantify. Library ustomers or ex axerophthollers should be welcomed warmly. De Saez (200275) except suggests that however, all library employees be concomitant to recognise their precise real loving occasion as sales spate for the organisation. Their role go away be to make a customer care a high- level priority, presenting a maestro face at all times to establish and develop nigh(a) public relations. Kotler et al (2008 n. ) says that todays companies are going beyond designing strategies to attract new customers and create transactions with them. Companies are now using customer relations caution to obey customers nd build profitable, long-term human relationship with them. Likewise libraries should use customer relations management, customer care inclusive, to concord their customers or attract new members or users. at a time a customer is mis handle and disappointed, he would non want to come tush and entrust definitely be reject others from coming to the library sighting his recognise of mis shroudment as an example.Library caters need to be adequate to their users if they are to underwrite patronizing the libraries. rice (199717) also argues that if you do non care for your customers you entrust surely go ut of business. The customer get out definitely go where they feel that they are welcomed. This implies that in show window of a library they impart relegate coming to the library and p confer other watch sources like the internet where they provide not meet hostility. So if people do not come to the library then(prenominal) the library will be dysfun ctional.Therefore it is as well very important nowadays, like in any(prenominal) other business institutions for librarians to cite customer care in libraries. 1. 2 Background College of medication (COM) is one of the five constituent colleges of University of Malawi. opposite colleges are the Polytechnic in Blantyre, premier College in Zomba, Bunda College of Agriculture in capital of Malawi and Kamuzu College of Nursing with campuses in Lilongwe and Blantyre. COM was schematic in 1991 and enrolled returning students from abroad. Before the College was established, checkup students were being sent to Australia, South Africa and the joined Kingdom.With the establishments of College of practice of medicine, the country is now training its prove doctors locally. The students mode of enrollment is in devil phases. The first separate is that of pre medical exam students. This refers to O-level students. They discipline A-level acquisition subjects like mathematics, chemistr y, biology and physics. by and by successful completion, they are enrolled for five geezerhood in the medical subscriber line. The other group is that of students with A-level science subjects obtained from Chancellor College, Kamuzu Academy or any other high school. These students are enrolled straight into the first year of medical course for five years.COM like any other institution of higher development has a library at its campus. It is come on along Mahatma Ghandi road. For the first ten years, the library operated from the Polytechnic library complex until October 2000 when it move to its present location (Mangumbi, 20061-2). The library is relatively wee and a new and bigger one is under construction which is expect to be occupied by the repeal of the year 2010. The mission of the library is to support teaching, learning and seek activities for the college by providing with-it teaching resources and promoting effective usage of library facilities.The community th at the college of medicine serves is composed of the following. all in all academic, academic related and administration round All registered students ot the college tor the entire duration ot their teaching Members f University of Malawi All college of medicament members of round Visiting lectures, look into fellows and other visitors Interns and other medical personnel and external remunerative up members. The COM library offers various work to its clientele. These are lending work (long lend and short loan), Reference services, Malawiana and interlibrary services scarcely to mention a few.In its holding the library also offers electronic resources like e-books and subscribes to online Journals with the Malawi Library and Information Consortium (MALICO), WHO and INASP. The order of battle includes CD-ROMs and DVDs hich are also lent to people. (College of Medicine 2009 Prospectus) 1. 3 Statement of the problem Although a library may provide a be of services to its cl ientele it is very important to serve these customers with courtesy and punish their needs in a kindly environment. No matter how well stocked the library may be, if it has hostile staff and environment then members will not be attracted to the resources.They will definitely nauseate the library and opt for other information sources. Not only that, with information clog up such as that on tap(predicate) through the internet, some people may ot flitter to stop patronizing the library if they feel are being ill hardened at the library. It is for this reason that a look will be haveed to queue out if there are customer services at College of Medicine. The search will find out how clients are being do by if they come to the library. If they sustain a query, how are they assisted? Are they treated warmly and with courtesy? 1. Aim of the search The look aims at finding out if the customer care services are available at College of Medicine Library. 1. 5 specific Research O bjectives 1. To find out the customer care services at College of Medicine Library 2. To find out if library staff are always golden 3. To find out if library staff are eager to assist library users. 4. To find out user satisfaction, 5. To find out how library staff treat customers. 6. To find out if queries are puzzle out peacefully and amicably. 1. 6 Research Questions 1 . How do library staffs welcome you in the library i. e are you greeted when you tense up the income tax return? . Are they always free and eager to assist when you need a special help at the counter or in the library in general? 3. How do you rate estimable will of staffs? 4. Which group of library staff is loving? . Do you have any trace on how best the library bum improve its customer care services? 1. 7 Significance of the Study The paper will assist the library management to make recommendations in coming up with plans on how to improve the customer care services in order to retain its clientele an d encourage those that are graduating to continue being members and patronize the library.Scope and Limitations Since the explore will only focus on students, the findings will not reflect the real results that are on the ground. It would have been better if the interrogation involved all ossible library members. overleap of enough time and money will also be a hold in factor to this research. 3. 0 METHODOLOGY Research orderology is a dish out whereby selective information is collected for the research project. It is simply a set of procedures and modes utilize to carry out a research. Macmillan and Schumacher (1997n. ) define research methodology as a design whereby a researcher selects information parade instruments and uses synopsis procedures to investigate specific research problems. On the other hand, research methodologies according to Powell and Connaway (2004286-287) refer to strategies urrounding the use of multiple methods of info in acquireing as required b y distinct types of attempts to achieve higher degree of reliableness and validity. This involves gathering the opinions of people on a particular topic. Neuman (2000122) has shared methodology into categories frankincense three-figure and soft.Qualitative research stresses the experiences and meanings of phenomenon. While quantitative puts emphasis on the empirical geographic expedition and explanation of phenomenon, where generalization from the adjudicate to commonwealth is the goal (Newman & Benz, 1998 n p). This research will use quantitative and qualitative methods to allow the researcher to get the in-depth information form students on how they are treated in the library. 3. 1 Research regularity This basically is the specific method that is employ in a research. Social sciences use various methods in research simply the common one is survey method.Powell & Connaway (200461) define research method as specific means of collecting selective information. integri ty of the research methods used in social science is survey. Survey is the research outline where one collects data from all or part of a world to pass judgment the relative ncidence, distribution and interrelations of naturally occurring variables (Powell 200461). Aina and AJiferuke (200232) observe that a social survey research involves a systematic and comprehensive array of information about the opinions, attitudes, feelings, beliefs and behavior of people.Therefore this research will use survey method as it is widely used in social sciences, and library and information science being one of them. It is also tensile because a wide range of data can be collected. 3. 2 lay race According to Powell (200484) nation is the come of all cases that conform to a re-specified meter or set of criteria. He tho states that the nation is the aggregate of units to which one wishes to generalise the results of a research study. Since COM is still young, its population is not as big as its other sister colleges.It has the population of 585 students in its various programs. So this means that the population of this research will be establish on the population of the college which is 585 students. The population of the students is presented in table below. remand 1 Population surface for students COURSE NUMBER OF STUDENTS premedical Students 160 Pharmacy Students 71 bachelor of Medicine, knight bachelor of Surgery (MBBS ) Students 298 Medical science laboratory Science 51 Total number of Students Source College of Medicine library users register, may 2010 3. Sampling Methods Sample as be by Lo Biondo-Wood and Haber (1998250) is a portion or a subset of research population selected to act in a study, representing the research population. secernate simple random will be used to get the participants. In this method the population will be dual-lane into strata. The population of students will be divided according to courses, levels of study, male and female a nd then selected randomly. The method is advantageous because it guarantees fair delegation of different segments of population and biasness is minimized. 3. Sample size of it Chowdhury (200883) defines sample as the sub-group of a population to be studied. Sample is a small amount of something or quantity or part of something to be used for study in a research. But Powell (2004193) defines sample as a selection of units from the integral population to be studied. Leedy and Ormrod (2005207) argues that the big the sample, the littler the amount of sampling error. However, a larger sample does not guarantee good results if it is not well represented. The sample size of the students will be calculated at 20% to have a good representation.Table 2 below illustrates the sample size. Table 2 Sample size 32 Pharmacy students 14 Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) Students 59 Medical science lab Technology 10 Total number of students 115 3. 5 Research Instruments According to Aina (2004), data collection instruments are instruments used to collect data. Seaman (199142) defines data collection instruments as devices used to collect data such as questionnaires, tests, structured interview schedules and checklist. Questionnaires will be used to gather data trom participants tor this study.They have been chosen because they have an advantage of giving actents an opportunity to respond at their convenient time. Not only that, but are also affectionate and simple method of reaching a large sample of people. The questionnaires will dribble both open and closed end questions so as to cater for both qualitative and quantitative techniques. 3. 6 selective information Collection Procedures entropy is information obtained during the course of investigation or study (Polit Hungler 1999267). The questionnaires will be distributed to students who will be dvised not to write their names.The questionnaires will be self-administered by the researcher. 3. 7 Pre- Testing of Research Instruments To plug dependableness and validity, the questionnaires will be tested ahead distributing them to respondents. 3. 8 Ethical Consideration To ensure confidentiality, all questions will not bear names of the respondents. However, numbers will be assigned on each questionnaire for participants to hold on anonymous. As Polit and Hungler (1999132-134) advise that researchers need to turn care that the rights of individuals and institutions are safeguarded.Permission will be sought from the College of Medicine Registrar to conduct the study. And also legal and ethical issues regarding this research will be observed. 3. 9 Data Analysis Data analysis is the technique used to interpret, organize and present data that has been collected. Powell (200453) defines data analysis as the process of analyzing the data gathered basically involves cryptanalytics the responses or placing each item in the appropriate category tabulating the data and execute appropr iate statistical computation. The data from questionnaires will be checked and processed using.