1. A STUDENT GUIDE TO
PREPARING A
THESIS/DISSERTATION
MANUSCRIPT
2. CONTENT
• Title Page
• Abstract
• Consent Form (Optional)
• Approval Page
• Acknowledgement
• Biographical Sketch
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
3. CONTENT
Chapter I. Introduction
A. Background of the Study (more or less 10 pages)
- Brief overview of the topic with reference to existing literature
- To what extent has the topic been investigated?
- What particular “gap in understanding” led to the current study?
B. Research Problem and Purpose od the Study (more or less 300 words)
- In what context does filling this particular gap in our understanding become
important?
- How does the study contribute to fill this gap?
4. CONTENT
C. Research Questions/Objectives (3-6 questions/objectives)
- What questions/objectives need to be answered/satisfied convincingly to fill the gap?
D. Research Hypothesis (when appropriate)
- What hypotheses need to be tested to answer/satisfy the research
questions/objectives/
E. Significance of the Study
- What are the theoretical and/or practical applications of the study's outputs?
- How does it responds to the needs of your discipline, global/regional/local research
agenda, policy and/or planning needs of your agency, etc.?
5. CONTENT
F. Scope and Delimitation
- What are your choices of research participants, locale and parameters and how do
they affect the external and/or internal validity of the study?
Chapter II. Review of Related Literature
- What does current literature say about the constructs/concepts included in the
study?
- How would you integrate the various literatures regarding the constructs/concepts
included in the study?
- What is the state of the art with regard to this topic of interest i.e, how would you
summarize the similarities, differences, inadequacies, inconsistencies in the
findings/explanations and methodologies used to address the topic?
6. CONTENT
Chapter III. Framework of the Study
A. Theoretical Framework (when appropriate)
- What theory/theories would best explain the research questions/objectives and/or
hypothesis?
B. Conceptual Framework
- What construct and concepts are included in the study?
- How are these constructs and concepts defined in the context of the study.
- How are these constructs and concepts related to one another?
C. Definition of Term
- What variables are used to measure each of the construct and concepts included in the
study?
- How are these variables defined in the context of the study?
7. CONTENT
Chapter IV. Methodology
A. Research Design
- What type of research design was used in the
study?(e.g,exploratory,descriptive,casual,mixed design)
- What justifies the use of research design?
B. Research Locale and Participants
- Where and from whom the data collected?
- What inclusion/exclusion criteria were used in selecting the target
locale/participants?
- How did you arrive at the number of target locale/participants?
8. CONTENT
C. Data Gathering Procedure
- What data gathering techniques were used in the study? (e.g., survey,FGD,KI..)
D. Research Instruments
- What instruments were used to obtain the data? If research made, how was it
developed?
- What justifies the use of these instruments? (e.g., related literature, results of pre-
test, results of test for internal consistency)
- How would you actually administer these instruments?
- How would you summarize the dataset collected using each of these instruments?
- How would you interpret each of the data set and what would they help explain?
9. CONTENT
E. Ethical Consideration
- What did you do to protect the subjects (i.e., humans, animals, and environment)
involved in the study? (i.g., informed consent,freedom from coercion,humane
treatment of animals,minimize site disturbance, etc.)
F. Data Analysis
- What techniques were used to analyze the data? (e.g., content analysis, descriptive
statistics, inferential statistics)
- What justifies the use of these techniques?
G. Methodological Limitations
- What are the inherent limitations of the methods used in the study?
- How does it affect the internal and/or external validity of the results?
10. CONTENT
Chapter V. Results
- What do the data show in the light of your research questions/objectives and/or
hypotheses?
Chapter VI. Discussion
- What are the results in the light of your theoretical/conceptual framework and
review of related literature?
- How does it compare with a prior expectations and/or the results of similar studies?
If different, what would account for the differences in the results?
11. CONTENT
Chapter VII. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
- How would you summarize the key results of the study in relation to the research
questions/objectives and/or hypotheses?
- What do the results mean in relation to the theoretical/conceptual framework of the study?
- What are the practical implications of your results?
- What would you recommend for further investigation in order to increase specific knowledge on
the topic or to refine similar studies in the future in the light of the methodological limitations of
your study?
References
-Use American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing. Its guidelines are readily
available on the World Wide Web (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/)
