Records Availability and Information Use as Determinants of Decision Making Pattern of Polytechnic Administrators in Edo and Delta States, Nigeria

This study investigate record availability, information use and decision making pattern of administrators in Polytechnics in Edo and Delta States. Correlational research design was used for the study. The population of the study was 279 administrators comprises four public polytechnics in Edo and Delta States. Total enumeration sampling techniques was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage and statistical mean. Three hypothesis were formulated; 1 and 2 were tested using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Cooefficient (PPMCC) at 0.05 level of significance, while hypotheses 3 was tested using multiple regression. The study founf that the records available in the Polytechnics includes minutes of meetings, admission list, policies and procedures; the extent of use of information from records by Polytechnics administrators was high; the decision making pattern of the administrators includes organization and storage of information, and review of previous decision outcomes; the extent of contribution of records availability and information use to the administrators’ decision making is high; there is significant relationship between records, information use and administrators’ decision making pattern; and there is significant relationship between information, use and administrators’ decision making pattern. From the findings, it was recommended that Polytechnic Administrators should ensure that every decision made in the polytechnic is premised upon the series of records available in the Polytechnic. Therefore, the study has considered amongst other issues the concept of decision making pattern of Administrators in the Polytechnic system, based on the use of available records.