EVALUATION OF LOCAL MATERIAL FOR HOME DECORATION AMONG HOME MAKERS IN UMUDIKE COMMUNITY, ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study aimed at evaluating the utilization of local material for home decoration among home makers in Umudike community, in Abia state. Specifically the study determined the extent by which the home makers used local materials in home decoration, the perception of the home makers on the utilization of local materials for home decoration, the challenges of  using local material in home decoration and the possible solutions to the challenges of using local materials in home decoration. The study design is survey. Four research questions guided the study. A total of two hundred home makers were randomly selected for the study. Validated structured questionnaire were the instrument used for data collection. The statistical tool used for data analysis was frequencies and percentage. The findings of the study reviewed among others that 70% of the home makers in National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike Quarters use local materials for their home decoration and these among others include wood, bamboo sticks, calabash and wooden frames. 50% of the home makers in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike Quarters use local materials for their home decoration while 40% of the home makers in Umudike village use local materials for their home decoration. The least preferred local materials were hay mattress and lemon grass. Based on these findings, it was recommended that home makers should adopt the utilization of local materials for home decoration because they are cheap and easily accessible. Also recommended was for people to develop a creative mind and make use of their skills in producing good items for home decoration, because going for imported items is not the best. Producers should also adopt new technologies to reduce the challenges on the utilization of local materials for home decoration in order to promote the use of local materials for home decoration. Home makers are also encouraged to produce some of the local materials by themselves. They can even produce more than they need and sell some. This will serve as a source of revenue to the family and form of economic development to the nation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page ﾿ i

Approval ﾿ ii

Certification ﾿ iii

Dedication ﾿ iv

Acknowledgment ﾿ v

Table of content ﾿ vi

Lists of tables ﾿ viii

Abstract ﾿ ix

CHAPTER 1

1.0 ﾿ Introduction ﾿ 1

1.1 ﾿ Statement of the Problem ﾿ 4

1.2 ﾿ Objective of the study ﾿ 5

1.3 ﾿ Research Questions ﾿ 5

1.4 ﾿ Significance of the Study ﾿ 5

1.5 ﾿ Scope of the Study ﾿ 7

CHAPTER 2

2.0 ﾿ Literature Review ﾿ 8

2.1 ﾿ Conceptual framework ﾿ 8

2.1.2 ﾿ Local Materials ﾿ 10

2.1.3 ﾿ Types of local materials ﾿ 10

2.1.4 ﾿ The Benefits of Utilizing local materials for home decoration ﾿ 14

2.1.5 ﾿ Perception of people on the utilization of local materials for 

home decoration ﾿ 14

2.1.6 ﾿ Challenges of using local materials for home decoration ﾿ 15

2.2 ﾿ Review of Empirical studies ﾿ 16

2.3 ﾿ Summary of the Literature review ﾿ 17

CHAPTER 3

3.0 ﾿ Materials and Methods ﾿ 19

3.1 ﾿ Design of the study ﾿ 19

3.2 ﾿ Area of study ﾿ 19

3.3 ﾿ Population for the study ﾿ 20

3.4 ﾿ Sample and Sampling techniques ﾿ 20

3.5 ﾿ Instrument for data collection ﾿ 21

3.6 ﾿ Validation of the instrument ﾿ 21

3.7 ﾿ Reliability of the instrument ﾿ 21

3.8 ﾿ Data collection techniques ﾿ 22

3.9 ﾿ Data analysis techniques ﾿ 22

CHAPTER 4

4.1 ﾿ Results and Discussion ﾿ 23

4.2 ﾿ Discussions of Findings ﾿ 28 ﾿

CHAPTER 5

5.0 ﾿ Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation ﾿ 30

5.1 ﾿ Restatement of Problem ﾿ 30

5.2 ﾿ Principal Findings ﾿ 30

5.3 ﾿ Summary ﾿ 31

5.4 ﾿ Conclusion ﾿ 32

5.5 ﾿ Recommendation ﾿ 32

5.6 ﾿ Suggested area for further study ﾿ 33

References ﾿ 34

Appendix ﾿ 36

﾿ LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Determination of the extent to which Local Materials are 

    Being used among home makers    ﾿ 23

Table 2: The Perception of the Respondents on the Utilization of 

     Local materials for Home decoration. ﾿ 25

Table 3: The challenges of using Local Materials for Home 

    Decoration ﾿     ﾿ 26

Table 4:  Possible solutions to the challenges of using local 

     Materials for home Decoration ﾿ 27 ﾿   ﾿