UNIVERSITY OF HARGEISA

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

RESEARCH PROJECT GUIDELINE

2015

1
 Table of Contents

UNIVERSITY OF HARGEISA..................................................................................................................1
Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................2
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................4
Writing Convention.....................................................................................................................................4
Selection of the Research Topic...................................................................................................................4
Contents of Research Proposal/Report.......................................................................................................5
Preliminary Pages....................................................................................................................................5
i. Title Page.....................................................................................................................................5
ii. Declaration..................................................................................................................................5
iii. Dedication....................................................................................................................................5
iv. Acknowledgement.......................................................................................................................5
v. Table of Contents.........................................................................................................................5
iv. Lists of Tables / Figures / Illustrations / Appendices.......................................................................6
vi. Abstract.......................................................................................................................................6
Chapter One: Introduction..........................................................................................................................6
1. Background......................................................................................................................................6
2. Problem statement..........................................................................................................................6
3. Purpose of the Study.......................................................................................................................7
4. Research Questions and Hypothesis................................................................................................7
5. Objectives........................................................................................................................................7
6. Scope...............................................................................................................................................7
7. Significance of the Study..................................................................................................................7
8. Description of the Study Area..........................................................................................................7
9. Limitations.......................................................................................................................................7
Chapter Two: Literature Review.................................................................................................................8
Chapter Three: Research Methodology.......................................................................................................8
3.0 Variable definitions............................................................................................................................8
3.1 Research Design.................................................................................................................................9
3.2 Sampling Procedure...........................................................................................................................9

2
 3.2.1 Population..................................................................................................................................9
3.2.2 Sample Frame.............................................................................................................................9
3.2.3 Sample unit.................................................................................................................................9
3.2.4 Sample size.................................................................................................................................9
3.2.5 Sampling techniques...................................................................................................................9
3.3 Data collection techniques..............................................................................................................10
3.4 Sources of data................................................................................................................................10
3.4.1 Primary data sources................................................................................................................10
3.4.2 Secondary data sources............................................................................................................10
3.5 Data Presentation and Analysis.......................................................................................................10
3.6. Data Analysis and interpretation....................................................................................................11
Chapter Four: Findings and Discussion......................................................................................................11
4.1 Findings of the study.......................................................................................................................11
Chapter Five: Discussion/Interpretation and Conclusion..........................................................................12
5.1 Discussion........................................................................................................................................12
5.2 Conclusion and recommendation....................................................................................................12
6. Appendices............................................................................................................................................12
7. Referencing............................................................................................................................................13
8. General guidelines.................................................................................................................................13
I. Page limit.......................................................................................................................................13
ii. Page Numbering................................................................................................................................13
iii. Language........................................................................................................................................13
iv. Margins..........................................................................................................................................13
v. Font...............................................................................................................................................13
vi. Line spacing...................................................................................................................................14
vii. Tables and Figures.....................................................................................................................14

3
Executive Summary

Under the faculty of Business Administration of the University of Hargeisa, thesis preparation
takes a process that engages all the relevant stakeholders including students, faculty
administration and lecturers who are the ultimate supervisors of the researches. This is because;
it is required to ensure quality and timely submission of the graduate thesis. The process of
writing final year thesis is managed at faculty level although there are common requirements set
by the university management.

This guideline is covering the various responsibilities grounded within the theses writing
process. The student should have completed or in the course of completing his/her mandatory
course units and is ready to execute his/her dissertation. This is one of main requirements in
which the faculty is strictly considering for the final year students.

The supervisor is a selected lecturer from the faculty who has adequate knowledge and practical
skills of all forms of researches. He/she should be able to guide students and at the same time
suggest new ways of student innovation. He is the sole responsible person and should account
quality assurance and modest research process throughout.

Writing Convention
Conventions are the rules you need to follow in writing regarding citations, bibliographies, style
(eg, language free of gender bias), page setup, punctuation, spelling, figures and tables, and the
presentation of graphics.

The faculty of Business Administration and the university at large is adopted with the American
Psychological Association style of writing (APA). The entire research protocol for the proposal
and thesis report should follow the APA format. Students should have relevant understanding of
the adopted style of writing from the selection of the title page up to the referencing. The faculty
administration should ensure that supervisors are providing relevant orientation based on the
format.

Selection of the Research Topic

The student may select the topic of the thesis project from any of the following:

 Outstanding business problem or idea

 An business issue of interest
 Question arising from a relevant study
 A topic that triggers curiosity
 Review or an extension of an existed study
 A prevailing problem in the community that needs extended understanding

4
Contents of Research Proposal/Report
Preliminary Pages
i. Title Page
In the title page of the study that is where the research topic is written and should be short about
15 to 20 words. It should be researchable and should give a clear indication of the variables of
the study. At all levels of research it should not include too many variables.

ii. Declaration

Declaration States that the material presented has not been used for any other award, and that all
sources are acknowledged. The candidate makes a declaration about the research report with the
approval of the supervisor(s). The declaration occupies a single page of its own.

iii. Dedication
This is where a researcher writes the name of the person(s) whom he/she might offer his/her
dissertation/thesis to. This might be someone or persons very close to his/her your heart.

iv. Acknowledgement
This is the page where the researcher mentions the people and institutions that he or she wants to
thank in a special way and those he or she is obliged to thank such as the guarantor of the entire
study, the typists and so on. Avoid sentimentality.

The researcher need to thank anyone whose support has been important for your work. The
supervisor generally receives the first vote of thanks. Don’t forget your participants (Though
remember confidentiality). This section is the least bound by convention. You may speak from
the heart.

v. Table of Contents
The table of contents accurately indicates the key sections of the write up and the exact pages
where those sections start but not where they start and end. Apart from the preliminary pages, the
rest of the contents in the table of contents are written in Arabic numerals starting from page 1.

In the table of contents, list all major divisions and subdivisions marked by numbers and
indicates which page they are on. The titles and subtitles of sections should appear in a style and
size consistent with their position in the hierarchy (See APA style of writing). Numbering
hierarchy: 1, 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.1.1
iv. Lists of Tables / Figures / Illustrations / Appendices

This lists all of these and the pages on which they appear. A separate section is used for each of
these categories (It is often handy to number such items using the chapter number first: e.g., Fig
1.1, Fig. 2.1, Fig.2.2, etc.).

5
 vi. Abstract

It orients the reader / presents the focal points of the thesis. The abstract page summarizes the
thesis, mentioning aims/purposes, focus of literature review, methods of research and analysis,
the findings, and implications.

Chapter One: Introduction

1. Background

Background section of the Research proposal must set the tone of the thesis. At the proposal
stage, the students must state clearly and briefly why the study is being undertaken. Better to
start the prevalence of the problem at the global level, at the regional level and due emphasize on
the context of the local level.

This helps set the stage for our research and should clearly and explicitly outline why the study is
being undertaken. Any citations given should be well acknowledged. Provide the contextual and
theoretical background of the study you hope to embark on. The background can be captured in
about two pages.

2. Problem statement
Clearly explain what it is that you want to investigate. What is troubling you or what is the
problem that you think your research will seek to address? How big is the problem? What is the
magnitude? The research problem needs to be clearly stated.

Problem statement is a clear precise and succinct statement of the question or issue that is to be
investigated with the goal of finding the answer or the solution. Ideally, the problem should be
stated in a general way with a view of both global and local context. Then it should be very
specific and contextualized. It will remain unchanged whether at both the proposal and thesis
stage.

3. Purpose of the Study

What is the general reason for carrying out this research? This should be at the level of the aim
of the study. This section could be concluded with the statement of the research questions or
statement of the hypotheses of the study.

6
 4. Research Questions and Hypothesis
There are questions that are raised that the research will seek to answer so as to address the
research problem and objectives stated. Hypothesis always have to be tested and many of you
will probably have problems with testing hypothesis. It is therefore more advisable to state
research questions rather research hypothesis. This section can be as long as half a page.

5. Objectives
These emanate from your purpose of the study. Remember that your objectives should be
SMART. That is: S= Specific, M= Measurable, A= Achievable, R= Realistic, T= Time
bound

At the same time these objectives should be achievable within a specific time frame and they
should guide the whole study. This section could be a quarter a page.

6. Scope
This specifies the boundaries of your research. These should include the geographical scope,
which defines the issues to be covered; theoretical scope, which defines the issues to be covered;
and the content page, which defines the factors and variables to be considered. The scope of the
study could be captured in a quarter a page.

7. Significance of the Study

This provides the justification of the study. It spells out WHO the beneficiaries of the findings of
the study might be and HOW they might benefit. This section could be as long as one-and-a-half
pages.

This is usually stated in terms of identify people, or institutions that will benefit and how they
benefit from it. Future tense is used at the proposal stage and present tense is used in thesis stage.

8. Description of the Study Area

This section provides information about the characteristics of the study areas such as population
location climate, socioeconomic activities. Completely description of the study area
/organization is stated in present tense.

9. Limitations
This section explains the limitation that may invalidate the study or limit its accuracy.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

The review of the literature is the gradual process that calls students to search, read, digest and
radically evaluate previous works of the scholars that are related to their researches. This meant
to help clarify your problem and indicate what has already been studied and/or written on the
7
subject of the study by other scholars. A literature review is much more than a collection of
different extracts; it must be well organized preferably according to the different themes, sections
or variables of the study that either address the research questions or the objectives of the study.

The literature review should be presented in a reflective manner indicating that the student has
given thought to what has already been written on the subject derived from primary sources.
Primary sources are the articles that are published in refereed journals in your area of study. The
literature review should critique what other researchers have done indicating strengths and
weaknesses of approaches used, the analysis conducted and the findings reported. A review of
related literature section will depend on the research questions and objectives, but should be a
minimum of four pages long.

Review of the literature helps students to find and use materials relevant to their studies which
may be found in articles, journal, previous studies, dissertation works of scholars, News paper
contents, letters kept in archives and magazines.

Literature revises two sorts of literature: conceptual literature, and empirical literature. In
conceptual literature, the student provides definitions; concepts and theories related to their
research topic; while in empirical literature, the students give snapshots of the work of other
people that are related to the tops under study.

Chapter Three: Research Methodology

This chapter addresses the question, how did you conduct the research. It helps your
readers/audience to understand the various steps of your research.

Throughout this chapter, the student will use future tense during proposal stage. The same
information is turned into past tense when writing into past tense.

3.0 Variable definitions

In this section the student defines and clarifies variables that are used in the study. Both the
independent and dependent variables and whether there are extraneous variables.

3.1 Research Design

A research design is a plan that shows how all the major parts of the research project come
together. This should specify a suitable design that the study will follow such as a survey design,
experimental design, case studies, correlation research, ex post facto research, action research
and so on. This can be captured in quarter a page

Research approaches include qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative research approaches often
strive to expose motives, desires related to the issue under consideration. Quantitative approach
means focusing on numerical variables.
8
3.2 Sampling Procedure
This section explains how the sample will be arrived at from the population such as through
random sampling, purposive sampling and so on for each category of the sample. How will you
arrive at the sample you will use in the study? The sampling procedure can be covered in half a
page.

3.2.1 Population
Population refers to all items in any field of study. It is an aggregation of study elements.

3.2.2 Sample Frame

a sampling frame is an objective list of the population from which the researcher can make his or
her selections.

3.2.3 Sample unit

Sampling unit is the specific unit to be studied.. Sampling unit could be geographical unit as
state, construction unit as a house, flat etc, social unit as family, club, school, individual etc

3.2.4 Sample size

Sample size means number of people researcher should contact in the course of collection of
primary date. This should clearly specify who your subjects or participants will be, the schools
or sites you will use, their number and characteristics. Whom do you expect to participate in your
study as respondents and why have you selected this/these groups(s). How many of them will be
involved and how will they be selected? Talk about the size of the sample and the characteristics
of the sample. For example, for teachers, we might report on their sex, academic qualifications,
teaching experience, perhaps age, marital status, and so on. This section can be about one-and-
half pages depending on the items in the sample.

3.2.5 Sampling techniques

Sampling techniques may either be probability sampling or non-sampling. In probability
sampling, students may choose sample from the population on random basis. 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 quote etc.

3.3 Data collection techniques

There are a variety of research instruments or tools that can be used to collect data and you must
be clear which ones you intend to use and why you think those are the best options to use in your
study. Describe the purpose of each instrument; the structure of the instruments, such as how
many sections and items, etc. and the response format of the instruments such yes/no responses
or Likert type responses or open-ended responses. The interview could be face-to-face and
audio taped, and so on. This section can be about two pages long.

Under this section, the students must identify and justify instrument used to collect primary data.
Techniques include, among other things observation, interviews, questionnaire etc.

9
3.4 Sources of data
3.4.1 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.

3.4.2 Secondary data sources

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

3.5 Data Presentation and Analysis

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 occurrence: Bar chart Tallies by category (data can

simple percentages of Pie chart be attribute data or variable
comparisons of magnitude Pareto chart data divided into categories )
Trends over time Line graph Measurements taken in
Run chart chronological order (attribute
or variable data can be used )
Distribution: variation not Histograms Forty or more measurements
related to time (not necessarily in
(distributions) chronological order, variable
data )
Association: looking for a Scatter diagram Forty or more paired
correlation between two measurements ( measures of
things both things of interest,
variable data )

3.6. 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 and multi-variety analysis. Thus,
students should take prior decision concerning data analysis based on the type of research.

This section suggests suitable data analysis techniques that will be appropriate to answer the
research questions or to test the hypotheses posed for the study. These could be statistical
techniques for quantitative data such as t-test, chi-square, correlation coefficients or thematic
analysis for qualitative data that provide answers to your research questions or test hypotheses
you posed. The analysis techniques can be captured in half a page.

10
Chapter Four: Findings and Discussion
4.1 Findings of the study
The findings/results of the study should:

 Presents the data and findings, ordered/analysed in ways justified earlier (methodology).
 Past tense is a feature here (usually).
 Data in tables should be carefully set out, checked and discussed.

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. Here tables, figures or
other data presentation tools are used; students must give brief narrative description prior to the
discussion.

Chapter Five: Discussion/Interpretation and Conclusion

5.1 Discussion

This section:

 Discusses findings, drawing out main achievements and explaining results.

 Makes links between aims, and findings (and the literature).
 May make recommendations – these could appear in the Conclusion chapter

Based on the objectives of the study, the researcher interprets some of the major findings of the
study to show relevance.

5.2 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. Leal way to give recommendation is to mention what to be done, how to be done
and ho should be done.

Conclusion:

11
  Draws all arguments and findings together.
 Leaves the reader with a strong sense that the work you set out to do has been
 Completed, and that it was worthwhile.
 Summarizes major findings.
 Presents limitations.
 Presents implications.
 Suggests directions for future research.
 Ends on a strong note.

6. Appendices

 Provides a place for important information which, if placed in the main text, would
 Distract the reader from the flow of the argument.
 Includes time frame, budget, data collection tool, raw data examples and reorganized data
(e.g, a table of interview quotes organized around themes).
 Appendices may be named, lettered or numbered (decide early).

7. Referencing
In reference to the research guideline set by the university, APA style of referencing is exercised
based on the APA style of writing. No other referencing style shall be accepted.

8. General guidelines
I. 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,
student must submit three copies of their thesis to their advisors who shall distribute to the
concerned parties. Every student should remain one signed copy for his/her records.

ii. Page Numbering

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 of preface. These numerals appear centered at the bottom of the page.
 Arabic numerals are put at the lower right of the page.

12
 iii. Language
English is the only acceptable language when writing thesis. Other language may be used only
when making quotes.

iv. Margins
Left-hand margins should be 1.5 inch, to have enough space for binding. All other margins
should be well defended at approximately 1 inch. All contents of the thesis should be justified.

v. Font
For the main body of the text, the font size should be 12-points and “Areal” type of font. Font
type and size of the titles, subtitles and sections should remain consistent throughout the thesis.

vi. Line spacing

The line spacing should be 1.5 throughout the thesis exception sections as, quotations, equations,
footnotes that may demand more or less than this spacing.

vii. 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.

9. Reporting

Students are required to report to their respective supervisors within the time frame allocated for
the thesis writing. Supervisors have the responsibility to ensure quality products and timely
submission of the graduate thesis. Both students and supervisors should follow the schedule
designed for the end year theses preparations.

Students who are reluctant in fulfilling the requirements of the thesis process will be disqualified
and the supervisor should immediately report to the faculty administration.

13