COSOMAS Final Year Research Project Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR UNDERTAKING & PRESENTATION OF

FINAL YEAR STUDENT’S RESEARCH PROJECT

Preamble:

Every final year student shall write a research project of about 8,000 words before

graduation. The research project is a 6 credit unit course which runs throughout the

first and second semester final. It therefore constitutes an integral aspect of the final

work. The student shall prepare the research project under the guidance of his or her

supervisor. Every completed research work shall be accompanied by an undertaking

on the originality of research. The completed work shall be defended before a panel

duly constituted by the Dean.

DETAILED CONTENT OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Research proposal is a document showing the direction of the intended study.

Students are expected to present this first to their supervisors who is expected to

discuss its contents with the project student and make corrections. An approved

proposal is a guide to the entire study. Students are not expected to take research step

not in the proposal without the permission of the supervisor. A research proposal

should contain the following (details available in the next section), in this order and in

detail (except where indicated):

(1) Background of the study

(2) Statement of the problem

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(3) Objectives of the study

(4) Research hypotheses

(5) Research questions

(6) Scope of the Study

(7) Limitations of the study

(8) Significance of the study

(9) Theoretical framework

(10) Conceptual framework

(11) Review of literature (this should only be the headings under which

literature will be reviewed)

(12) Research design

(13) Study population

(14) Study samples and sampling techniques

(15) Sources of data

(16) Data collection techniques

(17) Validity of data

(18) Reliability of data

(19) Data analysis techniques

(20) Model description

(21) Model justification

(22) Operational Definition of terms

(23) References (should be 2012 APA referencing and arranged

alphabetically*; references from Wikipedia are NOT acceptable)

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FINAL YEAR RESEARCH PROJECT

Duration of Project writing:

Research project work is expected to commence on 1st of May of the previous year to

1st of May in the current academic session. Thus students are to be assigned to their

supervisors by the Heads of Departments in the second semester of their third year

(year 3, second semester). Details of the duration of project writing are in appendix C.

Submission of completed projects:

The submission date of spiral-bound copy of the project (forr copies – for supervisor,

Head of Department, Chairman of Defence Panel and any other member of the Panel

to be determined) and a soft copy of the project is 1st of May in the academic session.

The spiral-bound copies are to be used by panellists to prepare for the oral defence.

Students are to ensure that they keep a fifth copy for themselves for use at the

defence.

Procedure for submission of completed research project:

Five (5) copies of spiral bound projects are to be submitted provided that:

The supervisor shall sign and submit same with the soft copy personally to the Head

of Department;

(1) The Head of Department shall sign and forward same to the Dean latest May

1st in the academic session.

Defence of final year project:

All students whose projects have been submitted to the Dean are expected to defend

their research works before the project defence panel constituted by the Dean on the

date set for their department. Students whose projects are not signed by their

supervisors and Head of Departments will not be eligible to defend their projects.

Students should come for the defence with evidence of supervision notes/comments

by their supervisors or printed tracked changes by their supervisors to electronic

submissions at various stages of supervision

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Date of defence:

The main defence of research projects takes place once within the session. This will

be immediately after final year examinations. The date shall be fixed for each

department by the Dean between 8 and 12 June 2015. There will however be one

supplementary defence either in the first or semester of the following session at a later

date convenient for the College. Students for the supplementary defence shall pay half

of the session’s tuition in order to be eligible.

Copies of final project:

After the defence, students shall submit 5 copies of corrected projects to their Head

of Department through their supervisors.

Submission period of hard-cover bound projects:

Students shall submit five copies of their hard-cover bound projects to their

supervisors on or before 12 noon on Monday 15 June, 2014 and June 15 in

subsequent years.

Colour of final project:

All completed projects shall be bound in Royal Blue colour. Projects submitted with

a different colour will be rejected.

Signing of final year project:

All submitted hard-cover projects shall be signed by four persons whose names must

be written in full, and in this order:

(1) The supervisor who is expected to sign all the 5 copies and submit same to the

HOD;

(2) The HOD who is expected to sign all 5 copies and submit same to the Dean;

(3) The Dean/Chairman, Projects Defence Panel; and

(4) The External Examiner.

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Project Scoring

The Defence Panel shall assess the students using the criteria in the score sheet below.

The panel’s score will be the candidate’s final score. The supervisor is also a member

of the Defence Panel. Sample score sheet is in Appendix B.

Referencing:

The required referencing style for all projects is the 2012 APA referencing style.

Samples are shown in this document. Also see the attached APA document for

details. References from Wikipedia are not acceptable.

DETAILED CONTENT OF RESEARCH PROJECT: Duly completed final year projects of the College of Social and Management Sciences

shall contain the five chapters with detailed contents as stated below. Contents of

sections in each chapter will vary from department to the department.

1. Preliminary pages:

i. Cover page

ii. Approval page

iii. Declaration

iv. Acknowledgement

v. Table of contents

vi. List of tables

vii. Abstract

2. CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION (should be upper case and in bold

letters)

1.0 Background of the study (should be background of the study itself and not the

study samples)

1.1 Statement of the problem (should be a clear description of the problem

the study intends to solve)

1.2 Objectives of the study (objectives should be listed)

1.3 Research questions (questions should be listed)

1.4 Research hypotheses (for each hypothesis, both the null and alternate

hypotheses should be stated; it is the null that should be tested).

Candidates using research questions do not need to also use hypotheses.

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1.5 Scope of study

1.6 Significance of the study (should be the likely benefits of the research

results and to whom)

1.7 Limitations of the study

1.8 Definition of terms (should be the meaning of concepts or variables,

within its broad definition, as used in the study)

1.9 References (should be 2012 APA referencing and arranged

alphabetically* and references from Wikipedia are not acceptable)

CHAPTER 2-REVIEW OF LITERATURE (should be upper case and in bold

letters. Students are expected to discuss theories underlying the study, empirical

evidences supporting and against the thrust of the study etc. Students are expected

to review previous studies. This will eliminate repetition of earlier studies using the

same samples within the same study period .These cannot be accomplished in less

than 20 pages. Therefore, this chapter should be at least 20 pages.)

2.0 Introduction (this is introduction to the chapter)

2.1 Theoretical framework (should be the theory on which the study stands)

2.2 Conceptual framework

2.3 …………………………………(sub topic under which related literature is

reviewed)


reviewed)


reviewed)


reviewed)

References (should be 2012 APA referencing and arranged alphabetically*; and

references from Wikipedia are not acceptable)

CHAPTER 3-RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (should be upper case and in

bold letters). Methodology stated here is the broad methodology. Departments are

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expected to use methodologies peculiar to their programmes, taking cognizance of

the broad methods stated below.


3.1 Restatement of research questions (as stated in chapter one)

3.2 Restatement of research hypotheses (as stated in chapter one)

3.3 Research design (may be survey, experimental or ex post facto)

3.4 Population of the study

3.5 Study samples and sampling techniques (samples should be drawn from

the population; and techniques may be cluster, simple random,

purposive, strata etc).

3.6 Sources of data (secondary or primary)

3.7 Data collection techniques (questionnaire, interview, observation for

primary data). Where the data collection instrument is questionnaire, the

samples size should be between 350-400.

3.8 Validity of data (may be content validity, criterion-related validity or

construct validity)

3.9 Reliability of data (methods include test re-test, split half, multiple form

and the Cronbach’s alpha test)

3.10 Data analysis techniques (students are expected to use appropriate

analytical techniques which they can defend).

3.11 Model description and justification

References (should be 2012 APA referencing and arranged alphabetically*;

and references from Wikipedia are not acceptable)

CHAPTER 4-DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF

FINDINGS (should be upper case and in bold letters)


4.1 Data presentation

4.2 Data analysis (This will include answers to research questions and testing

of research hypotheses)

4.3 Discussion of findings (should be a clear and detailed discussion of the

research results)

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References (should be 2012 APA referencing and arranged alphabetically*;

and references from Wikipedia are not acceptable)

CHAPTER 5-SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

(should be upper case and in bold letters).


5.1 Summary (this should summary of the entire work and not summary of

each chapter)

5.2 Conclusions (this preferably should be itemized)

5.3 Recommendations (should be based on the findings of the study)

5.4 Areas for further (should be suggested areas for further study based on

the research findings)

BIBLIOGRAPHY (should be divided into the following and arranged

alphabetically; and references from Wikipedia are not acceptable)

¶ Textbooks

Bernstein, T. M. (1965). The careful writer: A modern guide to English usage. New York, NY: Atheneum.

Journals

Hammill, D. D. (1990). On defining learning disabilities: An emerging

consensus. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23(2), 74-84.

For articles obtained from the internet:

Hammill, D. D. (1990). On defining learning disabilities: An emerging

consensus. Retrieved from www.inderscience/journals/ajaaf on 13/3/14.

Inderscience is the main site, followed by journals, the journal title and the

date it was retrieved from the internet.

Newspapers

Johnstone, B. F. (1992, May 28). Treaty claim upheld. The Daily Telegraph, p.

2.

http://www.inderscience/journals/ajaaf

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Appendix A

N/B: (1) Please note that tables in each chapter should be numbered serially

with the first number identifying the chapter, followed by the title of the

table e.g. Table 2.3: GDP values from 1990-2014, Table 3.5: Value-added-

tax revenues from 1993-2014.

(2) Sub-headings should in sentence case and in bold letters

(3) 95% of cited references should articles published in the last fifteen years.

(4) *Samples of APA referencing style:

i. In-text citing of references: a. John (2012) or (John, 2012) ii End of chapter referencing: Textbooks- one author: Bernstein, T. M. (1965). The careful writer: A modern guide to English usage. New York, NY: Atheneum.

-two authors:

Strunk, W., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan.

-three authos:

Morreale, S. P., Spitzberg, B. H., & Barge, J. K. (2007). Human communication: Motivation, knowledge and skills (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Edited books:

Ed. or Eds. is given in parentheses following the last editor’s name. Emerson, L., & McPherson, J. (Eds.). (1997). Writing guidelines for education students. Palmerston North, New Zealand:

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Dunmore Press.

Edited books:

Invert the chapter authors’ names as noted above, but do not invert the book editors’ names. O’Neill, A. (1990). Gender and education: Structural inequality for women. In J. Codd, D. Harker, & R. Nash (Eds.), Political issues in New Zealand education (2nd ed., pp. 74-97). Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press.

Journal articles:

Include the issue number only if each issue of the journal begins on page 1. Hammill, D. D. (1990). On defining learning disabilities: An emerging consensus. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23(2), 74-84.

Magazine articles:

For a monthly magazine, include the month in the date; for a weekly, include the day also. Walker, R. (1990, April 16). Cultural continuities. Listener, 126, 24-26.

Newspaper articles:

Johnstone, B. F. (1992, May 28). Treaty claim upheld. The Daily Telegraph, p. 2.

Appendix B

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RESEARCH PROJECT SCORE SHEET

Name: --------------------------------------------------------------Matric No: ----------------------------------------- Project Title:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dept: ------------------------------------------------------------Session: ----------------------------------------------

S/No PARAMETERS MAX SCORE SUPERVISOR’S SCORE

PANEL SCORE

1 Originality 5%

2 Relevance of background to Study 5%

3 Articulation of Research Purpose and Problem

5%

4 Measurability of Research Questions

5%

5 Testability of Research hypotheses 5%

6 Lucidity of Literature 15%

7 Appropriateness of Method 5%

8 Quality of Data Presentation and Analysis

10%

9 Clarity of Findings 5%

10 Logic of Recommendation 5%

11 Evidence of Supervision 5%

12 Evidence of Materials Used 5%

13 Research Language 5%

14 Oral Defence 20%

TOTAL 100%

Supervisor: Name/Sign/Date----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head of Department: Name/Sign/Date---------------------------------------------------------------- Panel Chairman: Name/Sign/Date---------------------------------------------------------------------- External Examiner: Name/Sign/Date-------------------------------------------------------------------

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Appendix C

Final Year Research Project

Suggested Time-line/Defence Panel Assessment

Parameters Time-line

1. Start to Finalization of Project Topic with supervisor, submission and approval of Research

Proposal and intensive consultation with supervisor: May 1 – May 1

2. Research for Chapters 1-3: July 1 - September 30

3. Submission/Finalisation of Chapters 1 - 3: November 30

4. Questionnaire/Content Analysis Instrument Design/Finalization: December 15

5. Field Work: December 16 - January 31

6. Data Analysis: February 1 - February 28

7. Chapters 4-5/Bibliography: March 1-April 15

8. Typing/Binding: April 16-30

9. Spiral-bound Supervisor-Endorsed Project submission to the Department: May 1

10. Oral Defence Department/College Immediately after final year second semester

examination between 8 June and 12 June 2015.

11. External Examination Input Week after Defence

12. Submission of 5 Bound Copies of Corrected Project: Monday 15 June 2015 or June 15 in

subsequent years.

Documents

COSOMAS Final Year Research Project Guidelines