Assessment of safety and cost of living of Makerere University students: case study Livingstone Hall

Abstract

The study investigated assessment of safety and cost of living of Makerere university students, a case study of Livingstone hall, Makerere University. The main objective of the study was to assess the effect of safety on the cost of living of students in Livingstone hall, and specifically, to determine the relationship between cost of living and physical safety in Livingstone hall and to establish the relationship between health safety and cost of living of students at Livingstone hall, Makerere University. This study adopted a case study research design and comprised of 74 respondents who were sampled using simple random method. The instruments and tools used for data collection during this study were self-administered, close-ended questionnaires. The study further analyzed the data collected from the field using STATA software and Excel. The investigation found out that majority of the respondents represented in this study were between the age of 25-34 years, followed by those above 18-24 years and then 35 years and above, there is a negative significant relationship between physical safety measures and cost of living for students at Livingstone hall. Pearson’s correlation coefficient with physical safety and cost of living revealed a negative relationship shown by r= -0.104, probability (p = 0.036) less than α = 0.01 (1%) level of significance and also found out that there is a negative significant relationship between health safety measures and cost of living for students at Livingstone hall. Pearson’s correlation coefficient for Health safety and cost of living r= - 0.139 with probability value of 0.017. The study recommends that physical safety measures should be strengthened and put in place to minimize the loss of physical equipment from Livingstone hall of residence, outsiders should not be allowed to enter Livingstone hall of residence without authorisation. This will minimize loss of property and guarantee safety of the resident students, proper sanitation be maintained in the hall of residence and regular health inspection in halls of residence to rectify hygiene and sanitation related issues which could result into infections