Civil Service Institute
Thesis writing guideline
Updated on April 2016
Hargeisa, Somaliland
Table of Contents
1. Research Proposal and Thesis .................................................................................................3
2. Preliminary Pages ........................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................8
1.1. Background ..........................................................................................................................8
1.2. Problem Statement ............................................................................................................8
1.3. Research Objectives ..........................................................................................................9
1.4. Significance of the study ....................................................................................................9
1.5. Scope of the study ..............................................................................................................9
1.6. Description of the study area/organization ............................................................... 10
1.7. Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 10
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................................. 11
3.1. Variables definition/Operationalization of Variable ................................................. 11
3.2. Research types ................................................................................................................. 11
3.3. Research Approach ......................................................................................................... 11
3.4. Sample design ................................................................................................................... 12
3.5. Sources of Data ............................................................................................................... 12
3.6. Data Collection Instruments ........................................................................................ 13
3.7. Data Presentation Tools ................................................................................................ 13
3.8. Data Analysis and Interpretation ................................................................................. 13
3.9. Ethical Consideration ..................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................... 14
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ......................................... 14
3. Reference................................................................................................................................... 14
4. Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 15
5. General guidelines ................................................................................................................... 15
1. Research Proposal and Thesis
Research proposal is a written presentation of an intended research specifying the
problem, the purpose, scope, methodology, references etc. It is a formal document
indicating how a study would be executed. It is a statement of intent written in future
tense on how a research will be conducted for the purpose of a bachelor degree. It
demonstrates the researcher’s capacity to undertake the study successfully and
determines the feasibility of the study.
On the other hand, thesis is a complete research report containing extension of the
features of the research proposal. Thesis report may be written in present tense or past
tense where appropriate.
The following table provides composition of the research proposal and thesis
A. Research Proposal
Preliminary pages Body Appendix
Cover Page Chapter One: Introduction Questionnaires
Table of Contents Chapter Two: Literature Review Interview guides
Chapter Three: Research Design Observation guides
References Survey timetable
Other relevant appendices
B. Thesis
Preliminary pages Body Appendix
Cover Page Chapter One: Introduction Questionnaires
Declaration Chapter Two: Literature Review Interview guides
Approvals Chapter Three: Research Design Observation guides
Dedication Chapter Four: Data Presentation Survey timetable
Acknowledgements and Interpretation Other relevant appendices
Table of Contents Chapter Five: Conclusion and
List of Tables Recommendation
List of Figures References
List of Appendices
List of Abbreviations
Abstract
Civil Service Institute
Department of Accounting
PROPOSAL HIRING
Title: The Impact of Somaliland currency devaluation to the Economic
Growth.
By
Mohamed Dahir Abdurrahman
Student ID: 1864
Advisor
Abdullah Mowliid iiman
A Research Proposal/Thesis Submitted to the Department of
Accounting and Finance at Civil Service Institute in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Bachelor
Degree in Accounting
July, 2018
Hargeisa, Somaliland
2. Preliminary Pages
2.1. Title
The title should accurately reflect the scope and content of the study. In addition, it should
be concise, simple and catchy preferably less than 15 words but not exceed 20 words. The
title should be types in UPPER CASE, centered and positioned in the upper half of the
page.
The title should be informative/descriptive yet discrete and contain the key words of the
proposal. Avoid using words that serve no useful purpose in the title such as: "Research
into...", "A Study of...", etc. Avoid using abbreviations in the title.
2.2. Declaration
As it implies, declaration page stands for announcing that the thesis written is the genuine
product of the student and that it represents the work supervised by an advisor. This
page bears the signature of the student making the declaration as well as his/her advisor.
As per CSI thesis writing, declaration page contains two sections whereby the first section
is for the students followed section devoted for the advisor.
Declaration page
I, name of the student, hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that,
to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or
written by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any
other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except
where due acknowledge has been made in the text and reference list.
Name of the student______________________ Signature:___________ Date:_______
This is to certify that this thesis is the bonafide work of (Name of the Student), carried
out under my supervision.
Name of the Advisor______________________ Signature _____________Date:_____
2.2. Approval
Approval page is where involved parties demonstrate their consent regarding thesis
papers written by students. Thesis papers attract signatures of the different parties only
when examined and accepted. This page bears signatures of the advisor, external
examiner, heads of departments and CSI academic director. Typical template of approval
page is given below.
Approval
This is to certify that thesis entitled “…………………………………………….…….”
Submitted by Mr/Ms………………..…..to Civil Service Institute towards partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the bachelor degree of arts in ……………
……………
Name of the Advisor:________________________ Signature_____________________
Name of the External Examiner:_______________ Signature_____________________
2.3. Abstract
The thesis must contain an abstract. In this page, students give very concise description
of the thesis in an ordered manner. It encompasses statement of the problem, methods
used for data collections as well as for data analysis, major results and recommendations
provided. The abstract should not exceed one-page.
2.4. Acknowledgements
The content of this page are up to the student. The student writing thesis paper can
acknowledge individuals, groups and institutions that assisted in the course of undertaking
his/her thesis or even during his/her study program.
2.5. Table of Contents
The thesis must contain a complete table of contents. The Table of Content should be
automatic or manual standard with a line space 1.5 throughout it. For clarity, chapter titles
should be UPPER CASED and BOLDED whereas the rest of the sub-titles in the Table of
Content should be normal (i.e no bold, no italicization).
2.6. List of Figures and Tables
Students must give the order number of the Tables/Figures used in the thesis paper and
indicate their page numbers.
2.7. List of Appendices
In this page, students must give the list of all elements attached to the thesis. Appendices
contain all pages following the reference list. All appendices must have their corresponding
page numbers.
2.8. List of Abbreviations
List of abbreviations provide extensions of the acronyms used in the thesis.
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
Background section of the research proposal sets the tone of thesis. This section provides
evidence and conditions of the existing situations highlighting the gap(s) to make the
reader feel the urgency of the problem.
Students must state clear and explicit the reason why the study is being undertaken. At
proposal stage, students are required to provide background of the study in a brief manner
leaving the details for the thesis.
Better to start prevalence of the problem in a global context, at regional level and due
emphasize on the local context. This task demands students to review related literature.
Literature review at this stage assists students conceptualize problem and grasp its
evolution. At thesis stage, students extend what have been written on the research
proposal. Background of the study often requires maximum two pages.
1.2. Problem Statement
Problem statement is a clear, precise, and succinct statement of the question or issue that
is to be investigated with the goal of finding an answer or solution. The problem statement
presents the reason behind the proposal i.e. what will change when this research is done or what
would happen if the research is not done. It contains an existing negative state not absence of a
solution. Should clearly state the nature of the problem and its known or estimated magnitude /
extent by bringing empirical evidences, facts and figure.
Ideally, problem should be stated in a general way with view of both global and local
context. After this, problem should be made very specific and contextualized to create a
room for your research. Students should keep in mind that problem statement is required
to present concrete evidence testifying prevalence of a given problem. Problem statement
remains unchanged at both proposal stage and thesis stage. It has to be concise and brief
(not more than 1 page).
1.3. Research Objectives
1.3.1. General Objectives
General objective refers to the general intention of the research. It should spell out what
the research is supposed to accomplish. It is written with future tense at proposal stage,
but at thesis stage the same objective is put in present tense.
1.3.2. Specific Objectives
These are specific aims / objectives arising directly from the general objective / purpose /
aim of the study. For each specific objective you must have a method to attempt to achieve
it. Specific objective must be SMART, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time
bound. Specific objectives should be written in future tense at proposal stage and present
tense at thesis stage.
1.4. Significance of the study
Significance of the study is also called justification or importance of the study. This refers
to the relevance of study in terms of academic contributions and practical use that might
be made of the findings. It should reflect on knowledge creation, technological or socio-
economic value to the community.
In this section, students will state why they feel the study is important. This is usually
stated in terms of identifying people or institution that will benefit from it and how they
will benefit. Notice that it is here where students convince scholars that their research is
worth undertaking or studying. At proposal stage, beneficiaries and associated benefits
are put in future tense and the same is put in present tense. This section could be as long
as one – and –a-half pages.
1.5. Scope of the study
This section specifies the boundaries of their research. These should include the
geographical scope, which defines the location of the study; theoretical scope, which
defines the issues to be covered; and the content scope, which defines the factors and
variables to be considered. All the dimensions of the scope are stated in future tense
when writing research proposal, but this should be changed to past tense. The scope of
the study shall not exceed half a page.
1.6. Description of the study area/organization
Depending on the sampling unit of the study, students must give brief description of the
study area or study organizations. This section provides information about the
characteristics of the study areas as population, location, climate, socioeconomic activities
etc. In case students are studying about institutions, information concerning target
institutions is inevitable. Such information may include organizational structure, mandates
of respective institutions, establishment laws etc. Completely description of the study
area/organization is stated using present tense.
1.7. Limitations
This section explains the limitations that may invalidate the study or make it less than
accurate. At proposal stage, students forecast possible limitation of the research, but
students have to devise how the limitation will be handled. At thesis stage, students must
give limitation affecting results of the thesis that are faced in the course of conducting the
research. Students have to bear in mind that certain limitations like cost and time cannot
be presented as limitation to the fact that the research can manage these issues.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
The review of literature is the gradual process that calls students to search, read, digest
and critically evaluate previous works of scholars that are related to their researches.
In the review of literature, students are to get a full knowledge of the area of their interest.
It requires students to familiarize with what other scholars had done in their proposed
topic or study. It is after studying other scholars work that students will know the gap to
be filled.
Review of literature helps studentsto find and use materials relevant to their studies.
These materials may be found in articles, journals, previous studies, dissertation works of
scholars, newspaper comments, letters written and kept in the archives and magazines.
At proposal stage, students give a miniature literature pertinent to the research topic and
promise that the details will be given in the thesis. Due to this effect, related literatures
are put under the general heading of literature at proposal stage.
At thesis stage, students must elaborate this section and incorporate further information
to demonstrate sense of scholarship. Literature review contains two sorts of literature
viztheoretical literature and empirical literature. As far as theoretical literature is
concerned, students provide definitions, concepts and theories relevant to their research
topics.
Depending solely on certain definition is not enough instead students should compare and
contrast this information. Not only this, but also their voice need to be heard. On the
other hand, empirical literature offers snapshots of the works/researches of other people
that are related to the topics under study. The two sorts of literature are given different
headings, each with sub-headings under it. Apart from the above, presenting literature
review must follow some consistent pattern.
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN
This is a detailed description of selected methods and should be presented in unambiguous
terms. Throughout this chapter, students must use future tense during proposal stage.
The same information is changed into past tense when writing thesis.
3.1. Variables definition/Operationalization of Variable
In this section, students define and clarify variables that are used in the study in a non-
traditional manner or in only one of many interpretations.
3.2. Research types
There are numerous types of researches. Types of researches include descriptive,
analytical, exploratory and formulized researches. Thus, students should decide which
research type to conduct and justification of doing so. This means, students need not to
say only “The type of research is descriptive”, but it is important to justify why you choose
“Descriptive”.
3.3. Research Approach
Research approaches include qualitative and quantitative. As to the qualitative research
approach, students may focus solely on qualitative phenomenon as relating to quality or
kind. Qualitative research approaches often strive to expose motives or desired related
to issues under consideration. Contrary to this, research approach may be quantitative,
meaning focusing on numerical variables. It could be quantity or amount.
It is up to the students to decide which approach of research to select.
3.4. Sample design
3.4.1. Population
Population refers to all items in any field of study. It may not be necessary human
population rather it is an aggregation of study elements. Be that as it may, population
represents complete group of specific population elements relevant to the research
project.
3.4.2. Sample Size
Sample size means number of people researcher should contact in the course of collecting
primary data. The size of the sample is determined using Slovene’s formula or Rule of
Thumb.
3.4.3. Sampling Techniques
Sampling techniques may either be probability sampling or non-probability sampling. In
probability sampling, students may choose sample from the population on a random basis
using techniques as simple random sample, systematic, stratified or cluster methods. On
the other hand, selecting samples by considering certain characteristics necessitates the
use of non-probability sampling. In the latter, students may use purposive, convenience,
snowball, quota etc.
3.5. Sources of Data
3.5.1. Primary Data Sources
As far as primary data is concerned, students must identify the sources from which they
shall obtain their primary data. Mostly, respondents/interviewees are the sources of
primary data.
3.5.2. Secondary Data Sources
Regarding secondary data, students identifies possible sources where they can get
secondary data/already prepared data.
3.6. Data Collection Instruments
Under this section, students must identify and justify instruments to be used for collecting
primary data. Of course, there are numerous instruments to capture primary data among
other things include observations, interviews, questionnaires etc. Deserving to note is
that identifying which method to collect data is not enough, but their rationale and
relevance is also imperative. Furthermore, students have to indicate the specific details of
the tools selected. For example, which type of interview – structured, unstructured or
semi-structured or which type of observation – participant or non-participant
observations etc.
3.7. Data Presentation Tools
In this section, students must select and justify tools chosen to present data. Following
table provide information pertinent to the data presentation tools
To Show Use Data needed
Frequency of Bar chart Tallies by category (data can be
occurrence: Simple Pie chart attribute data or variable data divided
percentages or comparisons Pareto chart into categories)
of magnitude
Trends over time Line graph Measurements taken in chronological
Run chart order (attribute or variable data can
be used)
Distribution: Variation not Histograms Forty or more measurements (not
related to time (distributions) necessarily in chronological order,
variable data)
Association: Looking for a Scatter diagram Forty or more paired measurements
correlation between two (measures of both things of interest,
things variable data)
3.8. Data Analysis and Interpretation
At proposal stage, students should decide which method to use for analyzing data.
Principally, data analysis could be descriptive analysis or inferential analysis. However, at
undergraduate level, students may choose descriptive analysis. Descriptive analysis may
be split into three categories namely uni-dimensional, bivariate and multi-variate analysis.
Thus, students should take prior decision concerning data analysis based on the type of
research. In short, this section ought to present results from the research works and
interpret in consistent with the research objectives
3.9. Ethical Consideration
Ethics of the research refers to the morals of the investigation or intervention as regards
the minimal abuse, disregard, and safety, social and psychological wellbeing of the person,
community and / or animals i.e. how the principles of consent, beneficence and justice are
handled in the study.
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this section, students provide findings of their thesis. The findings are presented in an
orderly manner, mostly based on objectives and variables under each objective. Where
Tables, figures or other data presentation tools are used, students must give brief
narrative description prior to the discussion. Afterwards, students must interpret and
discuss findings in detail. In other words, students must state what their findingsreflect
with view of their objectives.
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
This chapter contains two sections namely conclusion and recommendation. Conclusion
provides major findings of the thesis in a concise manner. While providing conclusion,
students must consider the pattern of the research objectives and give succinct answer
to each objective. Following conclusion, students must propose logic, contextualized and
workable suggestion for each objective. Ideal way to give recommendation is to mention
what to be done, how to be done and how should be done.
3. Reference
As per CSI thesis guideline, students should use APA referencing style for both in-text
citation and reference list. No other referencing style shall be accepted.
4. Appendices
4.1. Time frame
Students must develop research plan containing activities with their corresponding
time-bound. The research plan shall be set in consultation with the respective advisors,
but the agreed plan should comply with CSI plan for thesis writing.
Survey timetable
Date (s) Activities
5. General guidelines
A. Page Limit
Students writing theses at undergraduate level are required to prepare thesis report not
less than 35 pages excluding prefaces and appendix. Upon the completion of the research
work, students must submit two copies of their thesis to their advisors who shall present
to the Academic Office before the defense.
B. Pagination
Each page must have a number designation, though numbers may be left off the title
[Link] pages must be numbered consecutively as follows:
Lower-case Roman numerals (i.e., i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, etc.) are used for preliminary
pages or prefaces. These numerals appear centered at the bottom of the page.
Arabic numerals (i.e., l, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.) are used for the body of the thesis and
Arabic numerals are put at the lowerright of the page.
C. Language
English is the only acceptable language for writing thesis. It is worthy to note is that
students may use languages other than English only when making quotations.
D. Margins
Left-hand margins should be 1.5 inch, to have enough space for binding. All other margins
should be well defined at approximately 1 inch. All contents of the thesis should be
justified.
E. Font
For the main body of the text, the font size should be 12-pointsof Times New Roman
type of font. Font type of the titles, sub-titles and sections should be consistent throughout
the thesis.
F. Line Spacing
The line spacing should be 1.5throughout the thesis exception sections as, quotations,
equations, footnotes that may demand more or less than this spacing.
G. Tables and Figures
All tables and figures used inside the thesis should have numbers, followed by titles.
Under each table or figure, there must be proper citation.
