Journal of Management Information and Decision Sciences (Print ISSN: 1524-7252; Online ISSN: 1532-5806)

Research Article: 2022 Vol: 25 Issue: 4S

Public administrative account ability practices among Sulu state college employees

Citation Information: Ututalum, C.S. (2022). Public administrative account ability practices among sulu statecollege employees. Journal of management Information and Decision Sciences, 25(S4), 1-18.

Keywords

Public Administrative, Accountability, Practices, Sulu State College and Employees

Abstract

 This descriptive-correlational study determined the public administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees during Academic Year 2020-2021 in terms of administrative transparency, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility, integrity, and equity and the significant correlation and differences in these levels when data are classified according to respondents’ demographic profiles. In this study, almost three-fourth or majority of the Sulu State College employees are female, within 30 years old & above and 31-40 years old brackets, almost one-half are married, having 10 years and below years of service, and with Bachelor’s degree. Generally, public administrative accountability is practiced to a high extent by Sulu State College employees.  Except for variable educational attainment, all other variables such as gender, age, civil status and length of service do not significantly intervene in ways how Sulu State College employees perceive towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. Doctorate degree holders are better in perceiving the administrative accountability practices in terms of Efficiency, Responsiveness, Integrity and Equity Categories. With high extent of administrative accountability practices and the high positive correlation among the levels of this variable, this particularly study tends to support the model introduced by AbuHasanein’s (2017) Administrative Accountability Model derived from Bovens (2007) which stresses that accountability often covers other distinct concepts such as transparency, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility, integrity and equity (Bovens, 2007 in AbuHasanein , 2017).

Introduction

Accountability is a complex term which is has been a commonplace of public administration literature and discourse. Conceptually, public higher education institutions such as state universities and colleges have a constant accountability issues and concerns. This means that state colleges, per se bear the public mandate that which to take responsibility, irrespective of whether there are apparent problems or ambiguities. Basically, state college employees should be regarded as accountable, not only as individual workers performing their duties, but also as member of an academic organization striving to contribute and maintain good governance, public trust and confidence.

Administrative accountability is pseudo to public accountability which can mainly be studied as a question of the hierarchical responsibility status of the state college organization, as well as of its duties and responsibilities. From a philosophical viewpoint, the focus will lie on the administrative aspect of accountability.

In Sulu State College organizational hierarchy, the administrative accountability is related to an employee’s position whereby a superior call a subordinate to be accountable for their performance of delegated duties. However, managerial accountability is about monitoring output and results and making those with delegated authority in question for carrying out tasks in regard to agreed performance criteria. By looking back it is noticeable that this is different from traditional administrative accountability which is mostly concerned with monitoring the process or procedures whereby inputs are transformed (Christensen & Lægreid, 2015).

That is, the notion answerable of administrative accountability as an important element of good governance involves being answerable for decisions or actions, often to prevent the misuse of power and other forms of inappropriate behavior. This notion of accountability can be dived into a number of components, namely: 1. to give an explanation to stakeholders, 2. to provide further information where required, 3. to review, and if necessary to revise, systems or practices to meet the expectations of stakeholders, and 4. to grant redress or to impose sanctions (Cameron, 2015).

In contemporary academic and scholarly discourse, administrative accountability often serves as a conceptual umbrella that covers various other distinct concepts, such as transparency, equity, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility and integrity. Particularly in American scholarly and political discourse, accountability often is used interchangeably with good governance or virtuous behaviors (Bovens, 2007).

Moreover, we need accountability as a virtue, which in turn is a more comprehensive conceptual entity than the one referred to by ethical accountability, for example. In practice, this means a transfer from passive accountability, such as control-oriented activity and actors, to a proactive and predictive aspect of accountability. Active accountability may be realized in the framework of a hierarchical organizational structure and management system and, therefore, it is more appropriate to talk about bureaucratic virtues.

Having referred to several researchers’ and authors’ views on what accountability actually is, this researcher can therefore assumed that accountability is an essential tool to different people in the organization because it helps in measuring the success and progress, accelerating the performance, keeping the employee responsible, and validating the thoughts and principles. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the extent of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College as perceived by faculty and staff.

Methods

This chapter focuses on the research methodology that will be adopted in the conduct of this study. It covers research design, research locale, respondents of the study, sampling procedure, data gathering procedure and tools, research instrument, validity and reliability, and statistical treatment of data.

Research design

According to Bless and Higson-Smith (1995) a research design is “a program that guides a researcher in collecting, analyzing and interpreting observed facts.” Similarly, Babbie and Mouton (2001) regard research design as the road map or blueprint by which one intends to conduct a research and achieve his/her research goals and objectives.” A descriptive research design method was employed in this study, that is, with the intent to describe, quantify, and infer as well as to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge or phenomenon of college faculty members and none-teaching staff, namely: 1) The socio-demographic profile of faculty members and none-teaching staff of Sulu State College in terms of gender, age, civil status, length of service, and educational attainment; 2) The extent of administrative accountability practice such as administrative transparency, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility, integrity, and equity; and 3) The significant difference in the extent of administrative accountability practice at Sulu State College when data are grouped classified according to gender, age, civil status, length of service, and educational attainment.

Faculty members and none-teaching staff were the main source of data which were quantified to answer the research questions in this study. Library and internet research were used as the sources of information that were used to enrich the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of this research. The data from the respondents were collected through the use of questionnaires.

Research locale

This study was conducted in Sulu State College specifically among faculty members and none-teaching staff during the School Year 2020-2021. This higher educational institution is under the direct supervision of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Faculty members included in this study are those college professor and instructors teaching at the different academic departments regardless of courses/subjects they are handing, while none-teaching staffs were taken from different administrative and academic department offices.

Respondents of the study

The respondents of this study were college faculty members and none-teaching staff who are currently employed at the Sulu State College during the school year 2020-2021 (Table 1).

Table 1
Distribution of the target samples among faculty members and none-teaching staff
Sulu State College Faculty None-Teaching Total
Schools/
Academic Departments
Frequency Frequency
Agriculture 10 30  
Arts and Sciences 10
Business Administration 20
Computer Science and Engineering 10
Education 10
Nursing 10
Total 70 30 100

Sampling design

A purposive sampling method was employed in this study. Representatives of one hundred (100) samples were purposively chosen based on the availability of faculty and none-teaching personnel. The use of purposive sampling in this study was to ensure the representation of gender, age, civil status, length of service, and educational attainment.

Data gathering procedure

The following steps were followed in the course of data gathering:

  1. A permit to administer the questionnaire was sought from the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies, the College President, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Deans of the different Schools of the Sulu State College; and
  2. The launching and administering as well as the retrieval of the questionnaire were conducted personally by the researcher.

Research instrument

A survey questionnaire was the main instrument employed to gather data on the extent of administrative accountability practice as perceived by college faculty and nine-teaching personnel. It was adapted and patterned from Abu Hasanein (2017) which was used in his study on “The Effect of Accountability Elements on Public Trust: An Empirical Study on the Palestinian Authorities in Gaza Strip” with established reliability where Cronbach's Alpha equals0.959.

The research instrument used in this study consisted of two parts. Part I of the questionnaire focused on obtaining the demographic profile of the respondents which include gender, age, civil status, length of service, and educational attainment. Part II was geared towards obtaining data on the extent of administrative accountability practice such as administrative transparency, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility, integrity, and equity.

Validity and reliability

The instrument used in this research was patterned and adapted from standardized questionnaires which have been used in previous studies. However, to suit its applicability to the local settings, these questionnaires were subjected for perusal of at least two experts from among the faculty members of the Graduate Studies of Sulu State College.

Statistical treatment of data

Both descriptive and inferential statistical tools were appropriately employed in the treatment of data that were gathered for this study, namely:

  • Frequency counts and percentages were employed to determine the profile of respondents in research problem number one (1);
  • Mean and standard deviation were employed to determine the extent of administrative accountability practices in research problem number two (2);
  • t-test for independent samples was employed to determine the significant differences in the extent of administrative accountability practices when data are grouped according to sex; and
  • One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed to determine the significant differences in the extent of extent of administrative accountability practices when data are grouped according to age, marital status, length of service, and educational attainment.

The following rating scales intervals were adopted in the analyses of the results of the computations to be yielded by both descriptive and inferential statistical tools (Table 2):

Table 2
Rating scales interval on respondents’ levels of administrative accountability practices based on 5-point likert’s scale
Point Scale Value Descriptors
5 4.50-5.00 Strongly Agree (Very High Extent)
4 3.50-4.49 Agree (High Extent)
3 2.50- 3.49 Undecided (Moderate Extent)
2 1.50- 2.49 Disagree (Low Extent)
1 1.00- 1.49 Strongly Disagree (Very Low Extent)

Objectices of the study

This study geared to determine the following:

  1. The profile of college faculty and staff in terms of gender, age, civil status, length of service, and educational attainment;
  2. The level of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College in each of the following categories; administrative transparency, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility, integrity, and equity; and
  3. The significant difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College when data are classified according to; gender, age, civil status, length of service, and educational attainment.

Results

In terms of gender

Table 3 shows the demographic profile of college faculty and staff in terms of gender. This table reveals that out of 100 employee-respondents, 72 (72.0%) are female and only 28 (28.0%) are male. This means that, in this study, almost three-fourth or majority of the college employee-respondents are female. This result implies that female employees at Sulu State College are far dominating in number as compared to their male.

Table 3
Demographic profile of employee-respondents in terms of gender
Gender Number of Employees Percent
Male 28 28.0%
Female 72 72.0%
Total 100 100%

In terms of age

Table 4 presents the demographic profile of the college faculty and staff in terms of age. This table reveals that out of 100 employee-respondents, both 30 years old & above and 31-40 years old are 32 (32.0%) each, 28 (28.0%) are 41-50 years old, and 8 (8.0%) are 51 years old & above. This means that, in this study, employee-respondents’ age are concentrated more on 30 years old & above and 31-40 years old brackets. This result implies that majority of the employees at Sulu State College are belonged to the lower age bracket.

Table 4
Demographic profile of employee respondents in terms of age
Age Number of Employees Percent
30 years old & below 32 32.0
31-40 years old 32 32.0
41-50 years old 28 28.0
51 years old & above 8 8.0
Total 100 100%

In terms of civil status

Table 5 presents the demographic profile of the college faculty and staff in terms of civil status. This table reveals that out of 100 employee-respondents, 48 (48.0%) are married, 40 (40.0%) are single, 9 (9.0%) separated, and 3 (3.0%) are widowed. This means that, in this study, almost one-half of employee-respondents are married and followed in number by single which is 40%. This result implies that majority of the employees at Sulu State College are married.

Table 5
Demographic profile of employee-respondents in terms of civil status
Civil Status Number of Employees Percent
Single 40 40.0
Married 48 48.0
Separated 9 9.0
Widowed 3 3.0
Total 100 100%

In terms of length of service

Table 6 illustrates the demographic profile of the college faculty and staff in terms of length of service. This table reveals that out of 100 employee-respondents, 57 (57.0%) are 10 years & below, 35 (35.0%) are 11-20 years and 8 (8.0%) with 21 years & above years of experiences. This means that, in this study, more than half or majority of the employee-respondents are having 10 years and below years of service. This result implies that Sulu State College is having employees with considerable less number of years of working experiences.

Table 6
Demographic profile of employee-respondents in terms of length of service
Length of Service Number of Employees Percent
10 years & below 57 57.0
11-20 years 35 35.0
21 years & above 8 8.0
Total 100 100

In terms of educational attainment

Table 7 presents the demographic profile of employee-respondents in terms of highest educational attainment. This table reveals that out of 100 employee-respondents, 48 (48.0%) are Bachelor’s degree, 45 (45.0%) are Master’s degree, and 7 (7.0%) are doctorate degree holders. This means that, in this study, almost one-half of the employee-respondents are with Bachelor’s degree and followed by those with master’s degree holders. This result implies that, in Sulu State College there are still a significant number of employees having only with Bachelor’s degree.

Table 7
Demographic profile of employee-respondents in terms of highest educational attainment
Educational Attainment Number of Employees Percent
Bachelor’s degree 48 48.0
Master’s degree 45 45.0
Doctorate degree 7 7.0
Total 100 100

In terms of administrative transparency

Table 8 shows the level of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees in terms of administrative transparency. Under this category, employee-respondents have total weighted mean score of 4.0129 with standard deviation of .61019 which is rated as “Agree” and interpreted as “High Extent”. This result indicates that employee-respondents perceive that there is a high extent of administrative transparency practices in the administration of Sulu State College.

Table 8
Extent of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees in terms of administrative transparency

Statements

Mean

S.D.

Rating

1

The administration follows the policy of not to hide information from workers in the authority.

4.0500

.62563

Agree

2

The administration communicates with workers through open multidirectional communication channels.

4.0400

.76436

Agree

3

The administration accepts notes and suggestions from members in the authority

4.0000

.75210

Agree

4

The administration follows clarity policy in practicing its work and complies with accountability.

4.0300

.74475

Agree

5

There is trust and reliability between the administration and members in the authority.

4.0900

.80522

Agree

6

The administration implements accountability system effectively and in public.

3.8800

.79493

Agree

7

The administration believes in the right of the external community to monitor the performance of the authority.

4.0000

.81650

Agree

Total Weighted Mean

4.0129

.61019

Agree

Legend: (5) 4.50-5.00=Strongly Agree; (4) 3.50-4.49=Agree; (3) 2.50- 3.49=Undecided; (2) 1.50- 2.49=Disagree; (1) 1.00- 1.49=Strongly Disagree

Moreover, from among the items under this category, employee-respondents rated with High extent the following items: “The administration follows the policy of not to hide information from workers in the authority”, “The administration communicates with workers through open multidirectional communication channels”, “The administration accepts notes and suggestions from members in the authority”, “The administration follows clarity policy in practicing its work and complies with accountability”, “There is trust and reliability between the administration and members in the authority”, “The administration implements accountability system effectively and in public”, and “The administration believes in the right of the external community to monitor the performance of the authority”.

In terms of efficiency

Table 9 shows the level of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees in terms of efficiency. Under this category, employee-respondents have total weighted mean score of 3.8775 with standard deviation of .62411 which is rated as “Agree” and interpreted as “High Extent”. This result indicates that employee-respondents perceive that there is a high extent of efficiency practices in the administration of Sulu State College. Moreover, from among the items under this category, employee-respondents rated with High extent the following items: “The employees have skills and knowledge that matches the requirements of their jobs”, “The employees have enough information to do their tasks completely”, “The knowledge and experiences of the workers are kept in a database to get back to it when needed”, “The employee can provide new knowledge and skills to the authority”, “The workers can acquire knowledge quickly and use it through to implement work with a high quality”, “The workers have intellectual skills, having a comprehensive view of the organization, connecting parts of the subject together to perform their tasks”, “The authority utilizes skills and abilities of workers use it in all the services provided”, and “Workers develop their abilities and skills constantly according to work requirements”.

Table 9
Level of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees in terms of efficiency
Statements Mean S.D. Rating
1 The employees have skills and knowledge that matches the requirements of their jobs. 3.9200 .67689 Agree
2 The employees have enough information to do their tasks completely. 3.9100 .76667 Agree
3 The knowledge and experiences of the workers are kept in a database to get back to it when needed. 3.8900 .70918 Agree
4 The employee can provide new knowledge and skills to the authority. 3.8400 .74833 Agree
5 The workers can acquire knowledge quickly and use it through to implement work with a high quality. 3.8900 .79003 Agree
6 The workers have intellectual skills, having a comprehensive view of the organization, connecting parts of the subject together to perform their tasks. 3.8800 .79493 Agree
7 The authority utilizes skills and abilities of workers use it in all the services provided. 3.8700 .83672 Agree
8 Workers develop their abilities and skills constantly according to work requirements. 3.8200 .75719 Agree
Total Weighted Mean 3.8775 .62411 Agree
Legend: (5) 4.50-5.00=Strongly Agree; (4) 3.50-4.49=Agree; (3) 2.50- 3.49=Undecided; (2) 1.50- 2.49=Disagree; (1) 1.00- 1.49=Strongly Disagree

In terms of responsiveness

Table 10 shows the level of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees in terms of responsiveness. Under this category, employee-respondents have total weighted mean score of 3.7114 with standard deviation of .56889 which is rated as “Agree” and interpreted as “High Extent”. This result indicates that employee-respondents perceive that there is a high extent of responsiveness practices in the administration of Sulu State College.

Table 10
Level of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees in terms of responsiveness
Statements Mean S.D. Rating
1 Workers in the authority explain to clients how services are provided accurately. 3.7600 .69805 Agree
2 Workers in the authority are ready to respond to the needs of the clients immediately. 3.7300 .69420 Agree
3 Workers in the authority would always like to provide assistance to people. 3.7100 .75605 Agree
4 People don’t wait long time to receive the service 3.5600 .72919 Agree
5 The procedures are simplified in a way to allow finishing the work without complications. 3.7100 .74257 Agree
6 The authority provides clear and easy to use forms for work. 3.7600 .72641 Agree
7 The rules and systems of the authority facilitate
accomplishing work.
3.7500 .71598 Agree
Total Weighted Mean 3.7114 .56889 Agree
Legend: (5) 4.50-5.00=Strongly Agree; (4) 3.50-4.49=Agree; (3) 2.50- 3.49=Undecided; (2) 1.50- 2.49=Disagree; (1) 1.00- 1.49=Strongly Disagree

Moreover, from among the items under this category, employee-respondents rated with High extent the following items: “Workers in the authority explain to clients how services are provided accurately”, “Workers in the authority are ready to respond to the needs of the clients immediately”, “Workers in the authority would always like to provide assistance to people”, “People don’t wait long time to receive the service”, “The procedures are simplified in a way to allow finishing the work without complications”, “The authority provides clear and easy to use forms for work”, and “The rules and systems of the authority facilitate accomplishing work”.

In terms of responsibility

Table 11 shows the level of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees in terms of responsibility. Under this category, employee-respondents have total weighted mean score of 3.9111 with standard deviation of .57724 which is rated as “Agree” and interpreted as “High Extent”. This result indicates that employee-respondents perceive that there is a high extent of responsibility practices in the administration of Sulu State College. 

Table 11
Level of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees in terms of responsibility
Statements Mean S.D. Rating
1 Workers believe that responsibility is part of practical life. 4.0000 .79137 Agree
2 When I have an assignment, I finish it at the assigned time. 3.9900 .74529 Agree
3 I put a plan for the required work and the long term and short term objectives I have. 3.9800 .72446 Agree
4 The employee doesn’t pretend to have work load to avoid taking responsibility. 3.8300 .71145 Agree
5 I prefer taking responsibility than enjoying my time doing anything else. 3.7900 .85629 Agree
6 I take responsibility for the work I am performing. 3.9100 .81767 Agree
7 I am always totally reliable. 4.0600 .77616 Agree
8 I avoid making mistakes related to work. 3.7800 .70467 Agree
9 I make sure to perform work according to the general plan of the authority. 3.8600 .80428 Agree
Total Weighted Mean 3.9111 .57724 Agree
Legend: (5) 4.50-5.00=Strongly Agree; (4) 3.50-4.49=Agree; (3) 2.50- 3.49=Undecided; (2) 1.50- 2.49=Disagree; (1) 1.00- 1.49=Strongly Disagree

Moreover, from among the items under this category, employee-respondents rated with High extent the following items: “Workers believe that responsibility is part of practical life”, “When I have an assignment, I finish it at the assigned time”, “I put a plan for the required work and the long term and short term objectives I have”, “The employee doesn’t pretend to have work load to avoid taking responsibility”, “I prefer taking responsibility than enjoying my time doing anything else”, “I take responsibility for the work I am performing”, “I am always totally reliable”, “I avoid making mistakes related to work”, and “I make sure to perform work according to the general plan of the authority”.

In terms of integrity

Table 12 shows the level of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees in terms of integrity. Under this category, employee-respondents have total weighted mean score of 3.4614 with standard deviation of .64907 which is rated as “Undecided” and interpreted as “Moderate Extent”. This result indicates that employee-respondents perceive that there is a moderate extent of integrity practices in the administration of Sulu State College.

Table 12
Level of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees in terms of integrity
Statements Mean S.D. Rating
1 A person may lie or deceive in order to succeed. 3.2200 1.1333 Undecided
2 People who do not cheat or lie are less successful than others. 3.3800 1.0710 Undecided
3 I am totally satisfied with my ethics and character. 3.9500 .74366 Agree
4 The values and behaviors I followed when I was young are the same I am following now. 3.9600 .92025 Agree
5 I don’t hide or change important information when
communicating with my boss.
3.7400 .83630 Agree
6 I lie to my clients and hide important information from them. 3.0400 1.0817 Undecided
7 I use the internet for more than 30 minutes for personal reasons during work hours. 2.9400 1.1961 Undecided
Total Weighted Mean 3.4614 .64907 Undecided
Legend: (5) 4.50-5.00=Strongly Agree; (4) 3.50-4.49=Agree; (3) 2.50- 3.49=Undecided; (2) 1.50- 2.49=Disagree; (1) 1.00- 1.49=Strongly Disagree

Moreover, from among the items under this category, employee-respondents rated with High extent the following items: “A person may lie or deceive in order to succeed”, “People who do not cheat or lie are less successful than others”, “I lie to my clients and hide important information from them”, and “I use the internet for more than 30 minutes for personal reasons during work hours”.

However, respondents agreed to the following items: “I am totally satisfied with my ethics and character”, “The values and behaviors I followed when I was young are the same I am following now”, and “I don’t hide or change important information when communicating with my boss”.

In terms of equity

Table 13 shows the level of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees in terms of equity. Under this category, employee-respondents have total weighted mean score of 3.7483 with standard deviation of .60465 which is rated as “Agree” and interpreted as “High Extent”. This result indicates that employee-respondents perceive that there is a high extent of equity practices in the administration of Sulu State College.

Table 13
Level of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees in terms of equity
Statements Mean S.D. Rating
1 I am satisfied with justice and equity in promotion and other chances. 3.6300 .79968 Agree
2 I feel equality if I consider the responsibilities I have. 3.7300 .73656 Agree
3 The administration rewards me equally if they consider my scientific level and training. 3.7600 .71237 Agree
4 My boss cares about treating me equally. 3.6900 .84918 Agree
5 When my direct responsible takes a decision on my work he gives acceptable clarification and justification on it. 3.7100 .72884 Agree
6 I treat all people equally. 3.9700 .83430 Agree
Total Weighted Mean 3.7483 .60465 Agree
Legend: (5) 4.50-5.00=Strongly Agree; (4) 3.50-4.49=Agree; (3) 2.50- 3.49=Undecided; (2) 1.50- 2.49=Disagree; (1) 1.00- 1.49=Strongly Disagree

Moreover, from among the items under this category, employee-respondents rated with Moderate extent the following items: “I am satisfied with justice and equity in promotion and other chances”, “I feel equality if I consider the responsibilities I have”, “The administration rewards me equally if they consider my scientific level and training”, “My boss cares about treating me equally”, “When my direct responsible takes a decision on my work he gives acceptable clarification and justification on it”, and “I treat all people equally”.

Is there a significant difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees when data are classified according to

  1. Gender,
  2. Age,
  3. Civil status,
  4. Length of service,
  5. Educational attainment?

In terms of gender

Table 14 presents the difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees when data are classified according to gender. It can be gleaned from this table that except for sub-category Efficiency with a Mean Difference = -.28249*, t-value = -2.066 with probability value of .042 which is significant at alpha .05, the rest of the sub-categories are not significant at alpha .05. This means that, male and female employee-respondents in this study generally do not differ in their perceptions towards the extent of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees. This result implies that being a male employee-respondent may not probably make him better perceiver towards the extent of administrative accountability practices than his female counterpart, or vice versa.

Table 14
Difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees when data are classified according to gender
Variables Grouping Mean S. D. Mean Difference T Sig. Description
Administrative transparency Male 3.9796 .66974 -.04620 -.338 .736 Not Significant
Female 4.0258 .58991
Efficiency Male 3.6741 .61833 -.28249* -2.066 .042 Significant
Female 3.9566 .61243
Responsiveness Male 3.5816 .56334 -.18027 -1.430 .156 Not Significant
Female 3.7619 .56688
Responsibility Male 3.9087 .48484 -.00331 -.026 .980 Not Significant
Female 3.9120 .61255
Integrity Male 3.5153 .62614 .07483 .516 .607 Not Significant
Female 3.4405 .66088
Equity Male 3.6250 .53021 -.17130 -1.276 .205 Not Significant
Female 3.7963 .62812

Hence, it is safe to say that variable gender has no significant influence in the ways how Sulu State College employees perceive towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. Therefore, the hypothesis which states that “There is no significant difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College when data are classified according to gender” is accepted.

*Significant at alpha 0.05

In terms of age

Table 15 presents the difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees when data are classified according to age. It can be gleaned from this table that the F-ratio values and probability values of all sub-categories subsumed under administrative accountability practices are not significant at alpha .05. This means that, employee-respondents in this study despite of the variations in their age ranges do not differ in their perceptions towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. This result implies that an employee-respondents within the age of 30 years & below may not probably better perceiver towards the extent of administrative accountability practices than those within the age ranges of 31-40 years, 41-50 years, and 51 years & above, or vice versa.

Table 15
Differences in the levels of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees when data are classified according to age
Sources of Variation Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Description
Administrative Transparency Between Groups .606 3 .202 .535 .659 Not Significant
Within Groups 36.255 96 .378      
Total 36.861 99        
Efficiency Between Groups .992 3 .331 .845 .473 Not Significant
Within Groups 37.570 96 .391      
Total 38.562 99        
Responsiveness Between Groups 1.285 3 .428 1.337 .267 Not Significant
Within Groups 30.755 96 .320      
Total 32.040 99        
Responsibility Between Groups .452 3 .151 .444 .722 Not Significant
Within Groups 32.536 96 .339      
Total 32.988 99        
Integrity Between Groups 1.501 3 .500 1.195 .316 Not Significant
Within Groups 40.207 96 .419      
Total 41.708 99        
Equity Between Groups 1.437 3 .479 1.323 .271 Not Significant
Within Groups 34.757 96 .362      
Total 36.194 99        

Hence, it is safe to say that variable age has no significant influence in the ways how Sulu State College employees perceive towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. Therefore, the hypothesis which states that “There is no significant difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College when data are classified according to age” is accepted.

*Significant at alpha 0.05

In terms of civil status

Table 16 presents the difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees when data are classified according to civil status. It can be gleaned from this table that the F-ratio values and probability values of all sub-categories subsumed under administrative accountability practices are not significant at alpha .05. This means that, employee-respondents in this study despite of the variations in their age ranges do not differ in their perceptions towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. This result implies that an employee-respondents who are single may not probably better perceivers towards the extent of administrative accountability practices than those who married, separated and widowed, or vice versa.

Table 16
Differences in the levels of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees when data are classified according to civil status
Sources of Variation Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Description
Administrative Transparency Between Groups 1.302 3 .434 1.172 .325 Not Significant
Within Groups 35.559 96 .370      
Total 36.861 99        
Efficiency Between Groups .567 3 .189 .477 .699 Not Significant
Within Groups 37.995 96 .396      
Total 38.562 99        
Responsiveness Between Groups 1.511 3 .504 1.584 .198 Not Significant
Within Groups 30.529 96 .318      
Total 32.040 99        
Responsibility Between Groups 1.096 3 .365 1.100 .353 Not Significant
Within Groups 31.891 96 .332      
Total 32.988 99        
Integrity Between Groups 2.247 3 .749 1.822 .148 Not Significant
Within Groups 39.462 96 .411      
Total 41.708 99        
Equity Between Groups 1.407 3 .469 1.294 .281 Not Significant
  Within Groups 34.788 96 .362      
  Total 36.194 99        
*Significant at alpha 0.05

Hence, it is safe to say that variable civil status has no significant influence in the ways how Sulu State College employees perceive towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. Therefore, the hypothesis which states that “There is no significant difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College when data are classified according to gender civil status” is accepted.

In terms of length of service

Table 17 presents the difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees when data are classified according to length of service. It can be gleaned from this table that the F-ratio values and probability values of all sub-categories subsumed under administrative accountability practices are not significant at alpha .05. This means that, employee-respondents in this study despite of the variations in their length of service do not differ in their perceptions towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. This result implies that an employee-respondents who have been in service for 21 years & below may not probably better perceivers towards the extent of administrative accountability practices than those who have been in service for 11-20 years and 21 years & above, or vice versa.

Table 17
Differences in the levels of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees when data are classified according to length of service
Sources of Variation Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Description
Administrative Transparency Between Groups 0.025 2 0.012 0.033 0.968 Not Significant
Within Groups 36.836 97 0.38      
Total 36.861 99        
Efficiency Between Groups 0.185 2 0.093 0.234 0.792 Not Significant
Within Groups 38.377 97 0.396      
Total 38.562 99        
Responsiveness Between Groups 0.002 2 0.001 0.003 0.997 Not Significant
Within Groups 32.038 97 0.33      
Total 32.04 99        
Responsibility Between Groups 0.002 2 0.001 0.004 0.996 Not Significant
Within Groups 32.985 97 0.34      
Total 32.988 99        
Integrity Between Groups 1.776 2 0.888 2.157 0.121 Not Significant
Within Groups 39.933 97 0.412      
Total 41.708 99        
Equity Between Groups 0.274 2 0.137 0.37 0.692 Not Significant
  Within Groups 35.92 97 0.37      
  Total 36.194 99        
*Significant at alpha 0.05

Hence, it is safe to say that variable length of service has no significant influence in the ways how Sulu State College employees perceive towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. Therefore, the hypothesis which states that “There is no significant difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College when data are classified according to length of service” is accepted

In terms of educational attainment

Table 18 presents the difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees when data are classified according to educational attainment. It can be gleaned from this table that except for Administrative Transparency and Responsibility which have the F-ratio values of 2.392 and 3.051 with probability values of .097 and .052 are not significant at alpha .05, all the other sub-categories subsumed under administrative accountability practices are significant at alpha .05. This means that, employee-respondents in this study by virtue of the variations in their educational attainment really differ in their perceptions towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. This result implies that an employee-respondents who have bachelor’s degree may probably better perceivers towards the extent of administrative accountability practices than those who have master’s degree and doctorate degree, or vice versa.

Table 18
Differences in the levels of administrative accountability practices among sulu state college employees when data are classified according to educational attainment
Sources of variation Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Description
Administrative Transparency Between Groups 1.733 2 0.866 2.392 0.097 Not Significant
Within Groups 35.128 97 0.362      
Total 36.861 99        
Efficiency Between Groups 2.763 2 1.382 3.744* 0.027 Significant
Within Groups 35.799 97 0.369      
Total 38.562 99        
Responsiveness Between Groups 2.354 2 1.177 3.847* 0.025 Significant
Within Groups 29.686 97 0.306      
Total 32.04 99        
Responsibility Between Groups 1.952 2 0.976 3.051 0.052 Not Significant
Within Groups 31.036 97 0.32      
Total 32.988 99        
Integrity Between Groups 5.491 2 2.746 7.354* 0.001 Significant
Within Groups 36.217 97 0.373      
Total 41.708 99        
Equity Between Groups 8.929 2 4.465 15.883* 0 Significant
Within Groups 27.265 97 0.281      
Total 36.194 99        
*Significant at alpha 0.05

 

Table 19
Post hoc analysis: differences in the administrative accountability practices of employees of sulu state college in terms of efficiency, responsiveness, integrity and equity when data are categorized according to educational attainment
Dependent Variable (I) Grouping by Educational Attainment (J) Grouping by Educational Attainment Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig.
Efficiency Doctorate degree Bachelor's degree .63021* .24579 .042
Master's degree .43333 .24683 .219
Dependent Variable (I) Grouping by Educational Attainment (J) Grouping by Educational Attainment Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig.
Responsiveness Doctorate degree Bachelor's degree .61990* .22382 .025
Master's degree .52426 .22477 .071
Dependent Variable (I) Grouping by Educational Attainment (J) Grouping by Educational Attainment Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig.
Integrity Doctorate degree Bachelor's degree .82866* .24722 .005
Master's degree .49433 .24827 .143
Dependent Variable (I) Grouping by Educational Attainment (J) Grouping by Educational Attainment Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig.
Equity Doctorate degree
Doctorate degree
Bachelor's degree 1.18948* .21450 .000
Master's degree .93069* .21541 .000

 Hence, it is safe to say that variable educational attainment has no significant influence in the ways how Sulu State College employees perceive towards the extent of administrative accountability practices. Therefore, the hypothesis which states that “There is no significant difference in the levels of administrative accountability practices at Sulu State College when data are classified according to educational attainment” is rejected.

* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Is there a significant correlation among levels of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees?

Table 20 illustrates the correlation among the sub-categories of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees in terms of Administrative transparency, Efficiency, Responsiveness, Responsibility, Integrity, and Equity. It can be gleaned from this table that the computed Pearson Correlation Coefficients (Pearson r) between these variables are all significant at alpha .05.

Table 20
Correlation between administrative transparency, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility, integrity, and equity among sulu state college employees
Variables Pearson r Sig N Description
Dependent Independent
Administrative Transparency Efficiency .666* .000 100 High
Responsiveness .555* .000 100 Very High
Responsibility .672* .000 100 High
Integrity .332* .001 100 Moderate
Equity .463* .000 100 Moderate
Efficiency Responsiveness .641* .000 100 Very High
Responsibility .580* .000 100 High
Integrity .264* .008 100 Low
Equity .506* .000 100 High
Responsiveness Responsibility .700* .000 100 High
Integrity .420* .000 100 High
Equity .652* .000 100 High
Responsibility Integrity .401* .000 100 Moderate
Equity .627* .000 100 High
Integrity Equity .527* .000 100 High

*Correlation Coefficient is significant at alpha .05

Correlation Coefficient Scales Adopted from Hopkins, Will (2002):

0.0-0.1=Nearly Zero; 0.1-0.30=Low; .3-0.5 0=Moderate; .5-0.7-0=High; .7-0.9= Very High; 0.9-1=Nearly Perfect

Specifically, the degree of correlations among the sub-categories of administrative accountability practices among Sulu State College employees are as follows:

  • High positive correlation between Administrative Transparency and Efficiency;
  • Very High positive correlation between Administrative Transparency and Responsiveness;
  • High positive correlation between Administrative Transparency and Responsibility;
  • Moderate positive correlation between Administrative Transparency and Integrity;
  • Moderate positive correlation between Administrative Transparency and Equity;
  • Very High positive correlation between Efficiency and Responsiveness;
  • High positive correlation between Efficiency and Responsibility;
  • Low positive correlation between Efficiency and Integrity;
  • High positive correlation between Efficiency and Equity;
  • Very High positive correlation between Responsiveness and Responsibility
  • High positive correlation between Responsiveness and Responsibility;
  • High positive correlation between Responsiveness and Integrity;
  • High positive correlation between Responsiveness and Equity;
  • Moderate positive correlation between Responsibility and Integrity;
  • High Positive correlation between Responsibility and Equity;
  • High positive correlation between Integrity and Equity.

Discussion

Post Hoc Analysis using Scheffe’s Test was conducted to determine which among groups classified according to educational attainment to have different levels of mean in areas subsumed under Efficiency, Responsiveness, Integrity and Equity as perceived by employee-respondents of Sulu State College.

The result of the analysis which is shown in Table 19 indicates that the difference in the means of the Efficiency, Responsiveness, Integrity and Equity are obtained by way of lower group means minus higher group means.

  1. On Time Efficiency Category: It shows that Doctorate Degree group of respondents obtained the mean difference of .63021* with Standard Error of .24579and p value of .042 which is significant at alpha=.05 over Bachelor's degree. So under this sub-category, no other groups of respondents supposed to have better ways of perceiving the administrative accountability practices in terms of Efficiency among employees of Sulu State College than those with doctorate degree.
  2. On Responsiveness Category: It shows that Doctorate Degree group of respondents obtained the mean difference of .61990* with Standard Error of .22382and p value of .025 which is significant at alpha=.05 over Bachelor's degree. So under this sub-category, no other groups of respondents supposed to have better ways of perceiving the administrative accountability practices in terms of Responsiveness among employees of Sulu State College than those with doctorate degree.
  3. On Integrity Category: It shows that Doctorate Degree group of respondents obtained the mean difference of .82866* with Standard Error of .24722 and p value of .005 which is significant at alpha=.05 over Bachelor's degree. So under this sub-category, no other groups of respondents supposed to have better ways of perceiving the administrative accountability practices in terms of Integrity among employees of Sulu State College than those with doctorate degree.
  4. On Equity Category: It shows that Doctorate Degree group of respondents obtained the mean difference of 1.18948* with Standard Error of .21450 and p value of .000 which is significant at alpha=.05 over Bachelor's degree. So under this sub-category, no other groups of respondents supposed to have better ways of perceiving the administrative accountability practices in terms of Equity among employees of Sulu State College than those with doctorate degree.

These results indicate that the Sulu State College employees who perceived the level of Administrative Transparency as “Agree” or “High Extent” are most probably the same group of Sulu State College employees who perceived the Efficiency, Responsiveness, Responsibility, Integrity and Equity as “Agree” or “High Extent”.

Meanwhile, it is safe to say that, generally the level of Administrative Transparency, Efficiency, Responsiveness, Responsibility, Integrity and Equity are highly correlated.

Therefore, the hypothesis which states that, “There is no significant correlation between the levels of Administrative Accountability Practices among Sulu State College employees” is rejected.

Conclusion

This study concludes that:

  • In this study, Sulu State College employees are sufficiently represented in terms of gender, age, civil status, length of service, and educational attainment.
  • Generally, public administrative accountability is practiced to a high extent by Sulu State College employees.
  • Except for variable educational attainment, all other variables such as gender, age, civil status and length of service do not significantly intervene in ways how Sulu State College employees perceive towards the extent of administrative accountability practices.
  • With high extent of administrative accountability practices and the high positive correlation among the levels of this variable, this particularly study tends to support the model introduced Abu Hasanein’s (2017) Administrative Accountability Model derived from Bovens (2007) which stresses that accountability often covers other distinct concepts such as transparency, efficiency, responsiveness, responsibility, integrity and equity (Bovens, 2007 in Abu Hasanein, 2017).

This study further supports the notions that: Transparency implies openness, communication and accountability; Efficiency is associated with the optimal use of resources, which are based on clear, objective, and fair goals; Responsiveness is the ability to react purposefully, and within an appropriate timescale, to significant events, opportunities or threats in order to achieve or maintain competitive advantage; Responsibility is consisted of a duty to discharge not only the functional obligations of role, but also the moral obligations; Integrity is virtue which is defined simply as a discrete component of good character and as a person's behavior is consistent with espoused values also that the person is honest and trustworthy; and Equity is how well public organizations are able to tailor service provision to meet the needs of the diverse groups of citizens that they serve.

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Received: 30-Dec-2021, Manuscript No. JMIDS-21-9469; Editor assigned: 01-Jan-2021, PreQC No. JMIDS-21-9469 (PQ); Reviewed: 13- Jan -2021, QC No. JMIDS-21-9469; Revised: 17-Jan-2021, Manuscript No. JMIDS-21-9469 (R); Published: 25-Jan-2022.

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