16/10/2015
It's been quite a while we shared issues such as this with you, but today, it has been strongly laid in the hearts of the admins of this page to do this. We want to do what we do best, which is to TEACH. Yes, we want you to learn some tricks or strategies (however you deem appropriate) that would be of use to you in your thesis, dissertation and even project writing. Remember our faculty rubric is available at the dean's office (guidelines for thesis writing). Read carefully, digest and act accordingly, if you don't already know this.
1. ABSTRACT: This is a true test of your summary and comprehension skills! It does not mean you should copy and paste the entire project/thesis into it. No! Don't start your abstract with recommendations or repeating the title verbatim. Start with what the study is about as your first sentence, not necessarily that you carried it out in a specific area (there is chapter 3 for that!). Next, you tell us how many research questions and/or hypotheses guided the study, plus your scope (e.g. SS1 students of xyz high school). Next, you tell us your population size, then your sample size and which sampling method you used to arrive at it. DO NOT DESCRIBE THE SAMPLING PROCEDURE AND HOW YOU DID A LUCKY DIP!!. After this, tell us the instrument you used and if it was expert validated, then the reliability coefficient (do not describe how you arrived at the internal consistency or give its formula in your abstract. Also don't tell us how you used research assistants). Tell us which statistic you used in answering your research questions and which you used in testing your hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. After this, you tell us your findings and whether or not you rejected or did not reject your hypothesis. You must indicate your decision rule based on the inferential statistic you utilized in analysis (t-test, anova, ancova, chi square, etc). Finally, your recommendations (give at least one, but not all). You may or not tell us that you made suggestions for further studies, but don't bother stating them. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
2. Chapter One: This contains your background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, research questions and/or hypotheses. DO NOT INCLUDE LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY OR DEFINITION OF TERMS!
--Background: Start the discussion with either the dependent or independent variable. For example, if your topic is "School environmental conditions as correlates to the academic achievement of secondary school students", start your background with a discourse either about academic achievement or environment. In your first paragraph, it is advised to say what you know about that variable and its importance, then in paragraph two, you begin to cite definitions of that variable (not more than two) but not a full discussion on it. in three paragraphs, you should have dealt with that variable, so you can move to the next one by linking it with the first variable you discussed. How? In your last sentence about the first discussed variable, mention the other variable (dependent or independent), e.g., school environment has been found in studies to be correlated to student achievement (Soterio, 2013). So if you began the discussion with school environment, you will coyly introduce achievement in the next paragraph. Your background should be 7-10 pages. having cited a few studies to back up your claims, you can now state your reason for embarking on the study in the last page of your background.
--Statement of the Problem: This should be at most one and a half pages. Since you have made a case for your study in the background, you may not necessarily cite works here, but state the problem you have noticed (the gap). It can end with a question, though it is not a mandamus for correctness.
--Purpose of the study: State what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it (specific purposes) one after the other.
--Significance of the study: tell us who shall benefit from the study first, then explain how they shall benefit from it, using a paragraph for each beneficiary. People make the mistake of lumping it together, making the write up nebulous.
--Scope of the study: tell us which group of subjects you shall concentrate on, the specific areas in ur topic that you will touch in the course of the study. if it is school environment, are you studying the physical, biological or social environment of the school as it correlates to achievement. This is the specifics of your study, so be careful.
--Research questions: usually these are drawn from the purpose of the study. They must not be drawn eclectically, but from your purpose, please. if your purpose did not categorically indicate that you will investigate gender as a moderator variable in your study, why bring it into your research questions (RQ)?
Hypotheses: Same basic principles in the RQ applies here, just that you will demonstrate your neutrality, not as if you have already decided the results of your research.
***Note: Chapter One to Three is written in futuristic language because it is a thesis proposal (is = will be/will. After the proposal defence, you should ensure to revert to finished work format in your language. TO BE CONTINUED
COMMENT WITH YOUR QUESTIONS......