20033GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSAL AND

DISSERTATION PREPARATION
Title Page
The title page should indicate: Name of University with logo, Topic name, name of faculty,
department, Author’s name (s) with Reg. Number, and the reason for which it is being
presented, the month and year in which it is submitted. e.g

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EAST

AFRICA

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

RESEARCH TITLE:
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

BY

NAME OF STUDENT: ………………………………..

REG. NUMBER: ………………………….

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL/DISSERTATION (insert as appropriate)

SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING IN
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF (insert as
appropriate) DEGREE OF INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EAST
AFRICA

Month, Year

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 CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL

CHAPTER ONE: INTROCUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.3.1 Main Objective
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
1.4 Research Questions or Hypotheses (where applicable)
1.5 Research Rationale/Justification
1.6 Significance/Importance/Contribution
1.7 Scope of the Study
1.8 Conceptual framework

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

References
Work plan
Budget
Appendices

1.0 Preliminary Pages (pages numbered in Roman numerals)

Cover Page (not numbered)
i. Certification
ii. Declaration
iii. Acknowledgement
iv. Dedication
v. List of Acronyms
vi. List of Tables
vii. List of Figures
viii. Table of Contents
ix. Abstract/Summary

i) Certification (approval and endorsement)

This page stands for announcing and affirming that the thesis/dissertation 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.

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ii) Declaration
This section confirms the authenticity and originality of the student’s work to rule out
plagiarism. It further declares that the work has not been submitted elsewhere for
similar purpose. (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 of the university or other institute of higher learning, except
where due acknowledgement has been made in the text and reference list)
iii) Acknowledgements
The content of this page are up to the student. The student writing thesis/dissertation
can acknowledge individuals, groups and institutions that assisted in the course of
undertaking his/her thesis or even during his/her study program.
iv) Table of Contents
The proposal/thesis/dissertation must contain a complete table of contents. The table of
contents 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
titles in the table of contents should be normal (i.e. no bold, no italicization).
v) List of Figures and Tables
Students must give the order number of the Tables/Figures used in the proposal/thesis
and indicate their page numbers. Numbering should be done in relation to Chapter
numbers e.g. numbering of Tables in Chapter One should begin as Table 1.1, 1.2 …; in
Chapter Two as Table 2.1, 2.2… and similarly with figures. Table names appear on top
of tables while figure names appear below figures.
vi) List of Abbreviations/Acronyms
List of abbreviations provide extensions of the acronyms used in the proposal/thesis
and should be arranged alphabetically.

2.0 Research proposal and thesis/dissertation

Research proposal 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 achieving a particular research objective (s). It demonstrates the
researcher’s capacity to undertake the study successfully and determines the feasibility
of the study. On the other hand, thesis/dissertation is a complete research report
containing extension of the features of the research proposal.
NB: Please note that the tense used in thesis writing must be different from that one
used in the proposal. In proposal writing, you are expected to use FUTURE tense.
But in thesis writing, you are expected to use PAST tense since you will be reporting

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about the information you gathered in the field. The following table provides
variations between research proposal and thesis in terms of contents
A. Research Proposal
Prefaces Body Appendix
Cover Page Chapter One: Introduction Questionnaires
Table of Contents Chapter Two: Literature Interview guides
Review Observation guides
Chapter Three: Research Work plan/Survey
Methodology (Methods, timetable
materials, Research Design, Budget
instruments, etc.) Other relevant
References appendices
B. Thesis/Dissertation
Prefaces Body Appendix
Cover Page Chapter One: Introduction Questionnaires
Certification/Approvals Chapter Two: Literature Interview guides
Declaration Review Observation guides
Abstract Chapter Three: Research Survey timetable
Acknowledgements Methodology (Methods, Other relevant
Table of Contents materials, Research Design, appendices
List of Tables instruments, etc.)
List of Figures Chapter Four: Analysis,
List of Appendices Discussion and Presentation
List of Abbreviations of Results
Chapter Five: Conclusions
and Recommendations
References

Title or topic of research proposal/Dissertation

This is the most essential representation of a research proposal as it describes accurately the
content of research and in any way it delimits the scope of the study. It should be clear, brief
and precise, preferably less than 15 words. It should be researchable in Civil Engineering,
Urban planning, Water Supply, Roads, Waste Management, Housing and other related
engineering courses.

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
This section sets the context for your proposed research and must capture the reader’s
interest. You should explain the background of the study starting from a broad picture:
better to start prevalence of the problem in a global context, at regional level and later
emphasize on the local context-narrowing in on your research questions, citing the
relevant references, as appropriate. Students must state clearly and explicitly 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.

However the rationale of the study should provide the evidence concerning conditions
of existing situations that project the research to be urgent. It should, therefore, bring
out the need for the research to be carried out in order to solve the problem or to provide
part of the solutions to the problem. This section provides evidence and conditions of
the existing situations highlighting the gap(s) to make the reader feel the urgency of the
problem, the need to study it in order to solve the problem or contribute to its solution.
This task demands students to review related literature. Literature review at this stage
assists students conceptualize problem and grasp its evolution (600-800 words- less
than two pages). It should provide an overview of the sections that will appear in your
proposal.
1.2 Problem Statement
Against the said background in Section 1.1, the researcher isolates the problem that
he/she finds crucial and needs to be investigated. 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. Thus, students must clearly explain what it is that they
want to investigate. How big is the problem? Stating the research problem could be said
to involve stating “how things are” (reality) and “how they should be” (ideal) OR
Simply, “the situation is like this or that and yet it ought to be like that”.

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

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required to present concrete evidence testifying prevalence of a given problem. Problem
statement remains unchanged at both proposal stage and thesis stage.
Statement of the Problem:
i. 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?
ii. Problem is an existing negative state not absence of a solution;
iii. Refers to what has been detected and needs a solution in the practical or
theoretical world;
iv. Should clearly state the nature of the problem and its known or estimated
magnitude / extent;
v. Link the problem to the National Development Priorities/framework (NDP), the
regional (e.g. AU) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
vi. Should be concise and brief (not more than 1 page).
This section therefore emphatically states and gives evidence of the difficulty that
needs to be resolved.

1.3 Research Objectives

1.3.1 General or Main Objective

What is the main reason for carrying out this research? It expounds the wider intention
of the researcher and what he anticipates to accomplish. It is written in future tense at
proposal stage, but at thesis stage the same objective is put in past tense.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

These emanate from the general objectives. Specific objectives must be SMART
(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound). Specific objectives
should be written in future tense at proposal stage and past tense at thesis stage.

1.4 Significance/Importance of the Study

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. This section expresses 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. This section could be not more than half page.

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1.5 Study/Project Scope

In this section, the writer indicates how far he /she intends to carry out the terms of
reference (specific objectives or context). The scope provides for the boundary or limits
of the research in terms of depth of investigation, content, sample size, geographical,
time frame and theoretical coverage as well as financial limits.

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 have 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 students to 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 the details to be given in the thesis. Due to this effect, related literature is
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
viz conceptual literature and empirical literature. As far as conceptual 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 voices need to be heard. On
the other hand, empirical literature offers snapshots of the works 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.

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 CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

In this section, the researcher precisely explains the steps he/she intends to follow to
accomplish the research. The description of one’s methodology should not be so generic
as to apply to any research; it should be so fairly specific, showing particularly how a
researcher is going to handle each stage and area. Methodology comprises of the
following components:

3.2 Research design

This describes the nature and pattern the research is to follow. There are numerous types
of researches. Types of researches include: historical, descriptive survey, analytical,
exploratory and experimental researches. Thus, students writing thesis should decide
which research type to conduct and justification of doing so.

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 Description of the population from which samples will be collected and the
sample size that is intended to be used in the study.

3.5 Sampling strategies by which the researcher will select representative

elements/subjects from the population

3.6 Description of study area

3.7 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

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to note is that identifying which method to collect data is not enough, but their rationale
and relevance is also imperative.

3.6 Sources of data

3.6.1 Primary data sources

As far as primary data is concerned, students must identify the sources from which they
shall obtain their primary data. Mostly, sampling unit is the source of primary data.

3.6.2 Secondary data sources

Regarding secondary data, students identifies possible sources where they can get
secondary data/already prepared data.

3.7 Data analysis

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 findings reflect
with view of their objectives.

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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 is to be done, and how should it be done.
APPENDICES
i) Budget
This is the financial plan for implementation of the research. It should be clear, realistic
and reasonable (affordable)
It should be itemised according to the following:
- Equipment
- Stationery
- Materials e.g. nails, wood, chemicals etc.
- Travel

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- Subsistence
- Research Assistance
- Services (Secretarial, Photocopying, Printing, Binding)
- Dissemination (Publishing, Conferences etc.)

ii)Time Framework/Work Plan

This is the schedule / time-table of activities covering the period over which the research
is to be implemented with due regard to budgetary consideration as well. It could be
presented in tabular form or in a Gantt chart. It is a valuable guide for evaluation of a
research progress.

The Report/Proposal and Presentation Lay out

In setting up the report, the candidate should consider the sectioning, page set up,
numbering / bulleting system and the referencing system. The final report should be set
up using at least four (4) sections namely: Cover/ Title page, preliminary sections, main
Sections and appendices.

The research report/Dissertation shall comprise of:

1. Cover / Title page (pages numbered in Roman numerals) to consist of:-
2. Preliminary Sections
Declaration (approval and Endorsement)
Copyright statement
Dedication
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Table of contents
List of tables
List of figures

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 Acronyms and abbreviations
List of symbols
3. Main Sections
 Introduction
 Literature Review and/or Theoretical Analysis
 Methodology/Materials and Methods
 Presentation and Discussion of Results/Findings
 Reflections (related works, challenges & lessons learnt)
 Conclusions & Recommendations
 References (or works cited) – Minimum of Ten (10) references for proposal and
minimum of 15 for final report/dissertation.
Bibliography- Refer to this site for examples/illustration.
(http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/authors/guides/write/harvard.htm?part= 2)
i) How to cite a book in Harvard style

“Author(s); Year of publication; Title of publication; edition; Publisher; Place of

Publication”
Examples:
 Perry, P.J. (1968). Report writing: British association for Commercial and
Industrial Education (10th ed.). BACIE Publishers. London, Regent’s Park,
England
 Babbie, E. (1989), The Practice of Social Research, 8th ed, Wadsworth
Publishing Company. Belmont, CA.

ii) How to cite a Journal

Author Surname, Author Initial. (Year Published). Title. Publication Title,Volume
number (Issue number), p.Pages Used. Available at: http://Website URL [Accessed
Date Accessed].

Examples:
 Al-Khalil, M. I. and Al-Ghafly, M. A. (1999), Important causes of delay in
public utility projects in Saudi Arabia, Journal of Construction Engineering and
Economics, Vol.17(3), pp. 647-655.
 Bossink, B. A. G. and Brouwers, H. J. H. (1996), “Construction Waste:
Quantification and Source Evaluation”, Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, Vol. 122 (1), pp. 55-60.

In text: (Author, year published). E.g (Muhwezi, 2012)

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2.0 General Guidelines
2.1 Length of Proposals/thesis/Dissertation and submission
A proposal for Bachelors degree research should not exceed 15 pages excluding
appendices, typed in 12 font, Times New Roman and have 1.5 spaced lines while the
final report/Dissertation shall have a minimum of 60 pages (±10%) in same typing
format as proposal. Upon the completion of the research work, students must submit to
the department Two (2) copies of their thesis fully signed by their supervisor (s) who
shall distribute to the concerned parties prior to the defense.
2.2 Pagination
Each page must have a number designation, though numbers may be left off the title
page. All 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
begin with first page of Chapter One, at the bottom centre of the page.
2.3 Language
English is the only acceptable language for writing proposal/thesis.
2.4 Paper size and Margins
On A4 size pages, 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. (left margin 1.5", right margin 1", top and bottom
margins 1").
2.5 Font and spacing
For the main body of the text, the font size should be 12-points of Times New Roman
type of font. Font type of the titles, sub-titles and sections should be consistent
throughout the thesis. The line spacing should be 1.5 throughout the thesis except for
sections as, quotations, equations, footnotes that may demand more or less than this
spacing.
2.6 Tables and Figures
All tables and figures used inside the thesis should have numbers, followed by titles.
Numbering for tables should be on top of table while numbering for figures should be
at bottom of figure. Under each table or figure, there must be proper citation.
For example

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 Table 5.1: Proposed Research work plan
Period/months August September October November

Description of Works W4 W1 W2 W3 W4 W1 W2 W3 W4 W1 W2 W3
Review of literature
Research title submission

Proposal development
Experiment and observation
Proposal submission

Questionnaire development

Data collection

Analyzing and Interpreting

the output
Draft report writing
Final report submission
Presentation

2.7 Introduction section

Each Chapter shall have an introduction section that briefly explains the contents of
that chapter and how it connects to the next chapter.

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