Comparative Analysis of Households Solid Waste Management in Rural and Urban Ghana
Table 2
Operationalization and coding of study variables.
(a)
Variables
Operational definition
Category
Code
Sex (dichotomous)
Being male or female.
Male Female
1 2
Age (ranked)
Number of years of respondents at the time of study.
≤20 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 ≥60
1 2 3 4 5 6
Marital status (dichotomous)
Being single or married. Widow/widower/divorced were deemed single while cohabitation was deemed married.
Single Married
1 2
Level of education (nominal)
Completed grade of schooling.
Not attending school Basic education Secondary education Tertiary education
1 2 3 4
Religion (nominal)
Religious affiliation of the respondents. Religions other than Christianity and Islam were classified as others.
Christianity Islam Others
1 2 3
Household size (ranked)
Number of people within household.
≤3 3–5 ≥5
1 2 3
Income level (ranked)
Income of household per month consisting of both cash and kind from all sources within the month.
≤300 301–500 501–800 801–1000 1001–1500 ≥1501
1 2 3 4 5 6
Source: authors’ own construct, 2015.
(b)
Variables
Operational definition
Category
Code
Waste situation in Ghana (ranked)
Perception of respondents on the poor state of solid waste in specific areas (principal streets, market centers/commercial centers, lorry parks/terminals, dumping sites or landfill sites, and homes).
Poor Satisfactory Good Very good
1 2 3 4
Sources of solid waste (nominal)
It is defined as most common sources of solid waste being generated in the communities.
Institutional Industrial Commercial Domestic
1 2 3 4
Composition of solid waste (nominal)
Defined as what commonly makes up solid waste generated in the communities.
Putrescible Paper Plastic Metal Inert waste Textile and leather
1 2 3 4 5 6
Means of solid waste storage (nominal)
How solid waste is stored before disposal in the communities.
Open container Closed container Polythene bags or sacks
1 2 3 4
Waste collection arrangement (nominal)
Means through which solid waste is disposed.
Open dump Central container Home collection Roadside collection Others
