UNIVERSITY OF LUSAKA

D400 RESEARCH PROJECT GUIDELINES

JANUARY 2015

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Introduction

Students are expected to demonstrate the generic abilities to write in a clear and accessible language, to adhere to institutional academic practice, and to sustain a coherent line of argument that is directed towards a topic of interest to their field of discipline.

Important deadlines

Submission of Final Research Projects 25th May 2015.

Role of Supervisor

The following shall in brief constitute the responsibilities of the supervisor:

The supervisor and the student shall agree on meeting dates and discuss any other issues that may be pertinent to the process.

Give guidance about the nature of research and the standard expected, about the planning of the research, the relevant literature and sources and about requisite techniques (including arranging for instruction where necessary) and about the problem of plagiarism.

Advise the student on the choice of a suitable topic in the relevant discipline of study.

Arrange regular meetings with the student and set aside adequate time to discuss progress of future work.

Be accessible to the student and give advice at regular intervals.

Discuss work accomplished with the student and to revise the research objectives as the work proceeds in the light of progress made and other external factors (such as unexpected discoveries and newly published findings of other researchers).

Arrange, in consultation with the HOD and the student, for a replacement supervisor in the event that the primary supervisor is unable to continue his/her role for a period longer than one month

Give adequate advice on the necessary completion dates of successive stages of the work in order to ensure that the project is submitted within the indicated deadline

Request from the student written work as appropriate and return such work with constructive comments in a reasonable time.

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Advise the Head of Department if and when there is significant likelihood that a student will not meet the standard required for the degree for which he/she is registered.

Complete the School’s consultation/progress report forms in a timely manner

Note and act as appropriate to the decisions and recommendations of the School’s Research and Publications committee.

Mark the project as the internal examiner and forward the same to the external examiner/moderator through the Dean of School. A student shall be deemed to have passed the Research Project with an average pass mark of 50% or above.

Citation by Students

It is important that you show the reader where you have used someone else’s ideas or words.  Havard system of citation and referencing will be used.

Plagiarism

Failure to properly reference using the Harvard system may make the reader think that you are cheating by claiming someone else’s work as your own.  In the academic environment, we call this plagiarism and it is seen as a very serious offence.  Please remember that plagiarism is not just when you directly copy words from another student’s or expert’s work.  Plagiarism also occurs when you re-word someone else’s ideas in your own work and you do not give credit to the original source.   

Submission Deadline

The research project must be handed in in person to the Head of Research and Consultancy Unit on the dates stipulated above.

Length of the Research Project

The permissible length of the report is 40- 50 typed A4 pages and 10,000-15,000 words including figures, photographs, graphs, diagrams, charts and tables but excluding the reference list. Neither page nor word length maxima may be exceeded. It should be one and half or double spaced, on one side only and page-numbered throughout.

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Use Arial (or Helvetica)11 point or Times New Roman 12 point font. The number of figures should be sufficient to illustrate your points adequately, but remember that it is necessary to be concise and that selection of representative material is an important part of the exercise (in scientific papers it is often as unhelpful to have too many figures as it is to have too few). It is unlikely that more than 30 figures could ever be required.

The student should discuss the results of the reading and the structure of the report with your supervisor before compiling it. The discussion of sections should represent his/ her own interpretation of the results.

Suggested Timetable of Meetings with Supervisor (subject to individual arrangements)

Meeting 1: Discuss research area and topic and initial background reading

Meeting 2: Discuss introductory chapter, a specific research question and advise upon

more focussed reading

Meeting 3-4: Discuss literature review and check progress

Meeting 5: Discuss research methodology

Meeting 6: Discuss findings and interpretation of data

Meeting 7*: Discuss draft report, particularly the strength of the Conclusions

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APPENDIX 1: SUPERVISORY MEETING FORM

Student’s Name------------------------------------------- Supervisor---------------------------------------------

Date of Meeting

Issues Discussed and Actions Agreed Supervisor Signature

Student Signature

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APPENDIX 2: PROJECT EVALUATION FORM

EVALUATION SHEET FOR RESEARCH PROJECT

STUDENT NAME----------------------------------------------------STUDENT NUMBR-------------------------

NAME OF THE SUPERVISOR-----------------------------------------------------------

NAME OF THE MODERATOR-------------------------------------------------------------

Criteria Supervisor Moderator

% %Background to & Statement of the problem 15%

Presentation

Problem clearly identified and stated

Significance of the study

Research objectives and Questions 10%Statement of objectives

Research question(s)

Literature Review 15% Relevance

Theoretical framework

Research methodology 15% Data collection methods and strategies

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Tools and appropriateness of data analysis

Findings, Discussions and Analysis of Data 30% Clarity of discussion and presentation

Relevant recommendations/policy implications

Overall presentation 15% Structure of the dissertation

Adherence to house style and use of language.

Total 100%

REMARKS-SUPERVISOR

Signature: Date

REMARKS-MODERATOR

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Signature: Date

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APPENDIX 3 THE FORMAT OF THE RESEARCH REPORT(in past and or present tense)

Cover Page

Title Page: This includes the details of the name of the researcher, course being studied, computer number, title of the research etc

Preliminaries

These include:

Copyright Notice: This is where a researcher gives some kind of warning and prohibition that actually the information contained in the report is not so open for duplication, redistribution etc otherwise one will have to acquire some permission from the one who undertook the research work.

Abstract: This is basically a summary of all that has been studied Dedication: this is a part one would opt to mention special individuals to whom the

work is dedicated to. Acknowledgements: This is where one shows some courtesy to all those they felt

contributed in one way or the way to the success of the research work. Table of Contents: List of tables and figures

Chapter One

1.1Introduction: General description of the study area in order to wet the appetite of the reader about the topic.

1.2Problem analysis/statement: State the problem carefully to show how it is a problem, and link it to given fact if possible to show the implications of the problem and relating such to its symptoms.

1.3Purpose of the study/Objective (s): Why the research, i.e. objectives, what would be covered in the research work.

1.4Research questions (research/sub-problems): They serve as a guide to you in your quest to provide answers to the decision (main) problems to be investigated. They are more specific and drawn from the main problem at hand. After being

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further broken down into more specific questions they can serve as questions to be asked in the questionnaire/interview

1.5 Statement of research hypothesis: It is a tentative statement of relationship between variables. It must be simple, clear and related to the research questions. Not compulsory for all types of research.

1.6 Definition of (unfamiliar) terms: This serves as a dictionary of the report in a form of an operating definition of concepts, constructs, words, group of words and acronyms that the researcher would be using in the research work.

1.7 Delimitation and scope of study: This is for the circumscribing of the work within a manageable limit. What is not part of the purpose/objectives or what would not be covered in the research work. While the purposes are those things that would be covered in the research, the delimitation and scope spells out those things that will not be covered in the research for proper management purposes of the research work. It is different from the limitation as would later be discussed in chapter three.

1.8 Significance of the Research: It is the justification or importance of the work to stakeholders. It also deals with the research contribution or addition to knowledge and or knowledge development.

Chapter Two: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework

2.0 Overview (A short NOTE)

A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing or your argumentative research project). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.

Besides enlarging your knowledge about the topic, writing a literature review lets you gain and demonstrate skills in two areas:

1. Information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using manual or computerized methods, to identify a set of useful articles and books

2. Critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid studies.

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Thus a literature review must do the following things:

a) organized around and related directly to the research project or research question you are developing;

b) synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known; c) identify areas of controversy in the literature; and d) formulate questions that need further research.

2.1Literature Review

This chapter gives you an opportunity to launch yourself into the class/club of experts in the field of your research. You are expected to start with an introduction and then review the views of other expert, to show that you are very conversant with various views on the problem at hand. You trace the historical trend of the thought, review the models and theories that relate to the problem, as well as construct any model for the variables.

You should review current literature on the issue from journals articles (most ideal because they are more current), books, Internet, news papers, etc.

2.2 Theoretical framework/models building

This part deals with issues relating to the development of theoretical frames and models related to the topical issue and helps to further re-enforce the relationship between variables in the problem concern.

NOTE:

Rhetorical moves in the Background of the Literature Review Chapter

MOVE 1: Point out the most significant and relevant sources of information to date. Important Issues to ponder on: Read everything, but only include in your literature review those sources that teach you something significant about the causes, constraints and potential resources for addressing the problem.

MOVE 2: Identify consistent patterns and points of agreement about these causes, constraints and resources across these texts. Important Issues to ponder on: Develop a grip of common points about these causes, constraints and resource. Organize your source notes based on these points. Use these points as heading or topic sentences in your report. The review should not be a list of articles summaries, but a discussion of key points about the problem, supported by sources.

Move 3: Identify inconsistencies and unresolved issues across these texts, to establishwhat it is known. Important Issues to ponder on: Name these gaps and unresolved questions as the focus of your research. Revise your introduction to emphasize your unique contribution.

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Chapter Three: Research Methodology: Research Design/Frame (this is ideally written in the past tense)

3.1 Restatement of research questions and hypotheses. You might need to restate your research questions and or hypotheses now that you’ve read more and know more about the topic. If nothing has changed then you leave them as they were in chapter one.

3.2 Research design: This is simply the framework or plan for a study used as a guide in collecting and analysing data (blueprint) relating to the purpose/objective of the research. It must be in line with the stated objective(s) in Chapter One.

i) Exploratory Research Design:

To break broad and vague problem statements into smaller, more precise sub-problems/statements. It helps to formulate problems more precisely, develop hypotheses, establish priorities for research, eliminate impractical ideas, and clarify concepts. E.g. our sales are down because our price is too high; our advert is weak.

Types: literature search, experience/key informants survey, focus groups, analysis of selected cases.

ii) Descriptive Research: (This deals with questions such as what, where, who, when,why and how)

Describe the characteristics of certain groups, estimate proportion of people in a population who behave in a certain way, and make specific predictions. (For instance, what is the admission entrance level for the next five years so as to plan for the hiring and training new lecturers)

3.3 Characteristics of the study population: The population of the study is a census of all items or subjects that possess the characteristics or that have knowledge of the phenomenon, being studied. Use only the “working population” rather than the universal population.

3.4 Sample design and procedure: Are you adopting a random or non-random sampling method, and why the choice? Your size of the sample must tally with what you propose to do.

3.5 Data collection instrument: This is the device for collecting data or measuring the variable, which is used for answering research questions and or testing hypotheses. The data collection schedule (i.e. schedule of instruments) is a questionnaire that is designed to measure several variables.

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3.6 Pilot studies: These are conducted to pre-test the study schedule, to validate the study schedule, especially for newly developed studies. The research instruments must be tested for validity and reliability (operational definition of variables).

3.7 Administration of data collection schedule: This area deals with how the questions going to be asked. Is it telephonic, by mail/email, personal interviews, group interviews, recording, direct observation, or combination of two or more methods.

3.8 Data Analysis/processing procedure: The researcher needs to state, beforehand, how he plans to process the data generated, based on the characteristics of the data/scale used to get the data. This must also relate to the purpose as well.

3.9 Limitations of the methodology: Stating the imperfections that might have cropped up at this stage e.g. failure of respondents to return the questionnaires, failure to meet up with some respondents, etc. It is different from the Delimitations in Chapter 1.

Chapter Four: Presentation and analysis of data:

4.0 A brief introduction of what the reader is likely to read in the chapter.

4.1 Respondents’ characteristics and classifications of collected data. Coding/sorting out of data/putting data into tables.

4.2 Presentation and analysis of data according to research questions/hypotheses, using relevant statistical analysis/computer-aided (software SPSS) programme to answer these questions one by one, and test for hypotheses accordingly. Making sure that all the research questions are answered and the relevant hypotheses [if there is the need based on the type of research design and your earlier stated research objectives/purposes] are tested correctly. It is reported without adding conclusions or implications. These are meant for chapter five.

CHAPTER FIVE: Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations :This is the main body of the research work.

5.1 Summary of Findings: This must be an objective report based on the analyses of all the work-based on only important findings. You don’t have to repeat findings earlier mentioned in previous chapter(s).

5.2 Conclusions: These are deduced and or induced from the findings in chapters four, two and one based on your own interpretations of the meanings of the findings [the

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relationship between the analyses, the literature, the problem(s) and the solution(s) proffered.

5.3 Recommendations: This is based on the conclusions alone (no subjective viewis allowed). Also include only the most important recommendations.

5.4 Recommendations for further studies: Here you met the appetite of potential researchers. It is based on some aspect of your study or result of your study that may interest other researchers.

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REFERENCES:

Harvard Referencing Quick GuideWhat is referencing?Referencing is a system used in the academic community to indicate where ideas, theories, quotes, facts and any other evidence and information used to undertake an assignment, can be found.Why do I need to reference my work?

To avoid plagiarism, a form of academic theft. Referencing your work correctly ensures that you give appropriate credit to the sources and authors that you have

used to complete your assignment. Referencing the sources that you have used for your assignment demonstrates that you have undertaken wide-

ranging research in order to create your work. Referencing your work enables the reader to consult for themselves the same materials that you used.

What do I need to reference?All the information that you have used in your assignment will need to be acknowledged. It is essential to make a note of all the details of the sources that you use for your assignment as you go along. Harvard examples in this guide are based on guidance in:Harvard is known as the Author & Date system:

1. Citations in the text of your assignment should be made following the in-text guidelines given in the examples on the following pages.

2. A complete list of all the citations used in your text will need to be provided at the end of your assignment. This is called your reference list or bibliography and needs to be presented in alphabetical author/originator order.

Capitals:Harvard is not prescriptive about capitalization of authors’ names in your reference list. If you do wish to use capitals, then the family/surname of authors are only capitalized in this reference list and not in the body of your work. If you prefer not to use capitals in this list, that is fine, but you must be consistent in the style you decide to use.Italics & underlining:

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Only the title of the source of information is italicized or underlined, but you should choose only one method throughout your assignment and stick to it! Do not use both italics and underlining.

How to reference sourcesType of resource

Format Bibliography Example In text example

Book (1 Author) FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Publicationyear in brackets) Book title – italicized or underlined. Series title and volume if applicable. Edition – if not the first.Place of publication: publisher.

NEVILLE, C. (2010) The Complete Guide toReferencing and Avoiding Plagiarism. 2nd Ed.Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Neville (2010) argues that...“Quotation” (Neville,2010, p.76)

Book(2 to 3 authors)

FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials.,FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. andFAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Publicationyear in brackets) Book title - italicizedor underlined. Series title and volume if applicable. Edition – if not the first.Place of publication: Publisher

BRADBURY, I., BOYLE, J. and MORSE, A. (2002) Scientific Principles for Physical Geographers.Harlow: Prentice Hall.Note: Use either “and” or “&” between authors’ names as dictated by the book’s own presentation.

Bradbury, Boyle andMorse (2002)...As noted by Bradbury,Boyle and Morse (2002)“Quotation” Bradbury,Boyle and Morse, 2002,p.51)

Chapter in an editedbook

FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials of the author writing the chapter. (Publication

MARSHALL, W. A. (1975) The Child as a Mirrorof his Brain’s Development. In SANTS, J. &BUTCHER, H. J. (eds.). Development

As noted by Marshall(1975)....

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year in brackets) Title of chapter. In:FAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. of author or editor of book (ed.) or (eds.). Book title- Italicized or underlined. Series title and volume if applicable. Edition – if not the first. Place of publication: Publisher.

Psychology. Aylesbury, Bucks: Hazell Watson &Viney Ltd.

“Quotation” (Marshall,1975, p.76)

Journal article(electronic/online)

If you are referencing a journal from an online database service which is password accessible only i.e. EBSCO you can shorten the URL to the home page of the database service. If you are accessing a journal article directly and for free from the internet, you will need the entire URL.Author(s) of article’sFAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Publication year in brackets) Title of article. Title of journal - italicized or underlined.[Online in square brackets] Name ofDatabase the article is from if appropriate. Volume

WILSON, J. (1995) Enter the Cyberpunk librarian: future directions in cyberspace.Library Review. [Online] Emerald Database 44(8). p.63-72. Available from:http://www.emeraldinsight.com. [Accessed:30th January 2012].

Wilson (1995) argues that.....“Quotation” (Wilson,1995, p.66)

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number (Part number/month in brackets). p. followed by the page numbers of the article. Available from: URL. [Accessed: followed by the date viewed in square brackets].

Journal article(printed)

Author(s) of article’sFAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Publication year in brackets) Title of article. Title of journal - italicized or underlined. Volume number (Part number/month in brackets). p. followed by the page numbers of the article.

TREFTS, K. & BLACKSEE, S. (2000) Did you hear the one about Boolean Operators? Incorporating comedy into the library induction.Reference Services Review. 28 (4). p.369-378.

Trefts and Blacksee(2000) argue that....“Quotation” (Trefts andBlacksee, 2000, p.376)

Newspaper (online)

Author(s) of article’sFAMILY/SURNAME, Initials. (Publication year in brackets) Title of article. Title of Newspaper - italicized or underlined.[Online in square brackets] Name of Database article is from if appropriate. Day and month of the article. Page number of the article if applicable.Available from: URL. [Accessed: followed by the date viewed in square

RANDERSON, J. (2008) Researchers find fish that can count up to four. The Guardian.[Online] 26th February. p.14. Available from:http://theguardian.co.uk. [Accessed: 22nd May2012].

Randerson (2008) argues that.....“Quotation” Randerson,2008, p.14

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brackets]. Website Author of website

FAMILY/SURNAME,Initials or WEBSITE name if no author is available. (Year - in brackets) Title of website in italics or underlined. Any numbers if necessary or available if website is part of a series. [Online in square brackets] Available from: URL.[Accessed: followed by date in square brackets].

BBC NEWS. (2008) Factory gloom worst since1980. [Online] Available from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7681569.stm.[Accessed: 19th June 2012].

…as reported by the BBC(2008)“Quotation” (BBC, 2008)

APPENDICES:

At the very end of the document e.g. your approved research proposal, sample of theQuestionnaire(s) distributed to the respondents, Maps, detailed data, cover letters etc. are attached to your project.

About publishing the dissertation

1. The first page shall contain the university logo, title of the study, names of the student, ID number and year of completion.

2. The second page must contain a declaration with provision for student and supervisor to sign.3. Dedication if any.4. Acknowledgement5. Table of contents6. List of tables and figures.

Below is a graphical example of an academic publication.

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FRONT COVER OF THE RESEARCH

THE UNIVERSITY OF LUSAKA

WRITE TOPIC HERE---------------

A RESEARCH REPORT

Presented to the Faculty of

The School of Business and Economics

In partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements

For the Degree of

Bachelor of (Banking and Finance, Science in e.t.c)

Write your name here

Write date here

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About publishing the dissertation

1. The first page shall contain the university logo, title of the study, names of the student, ID number and year of completion.

2. The second page must contain a declaration with provision for student and supervisor to sign.

3. Dedication if any.4. Acknowledgements5. Table of contents6. List of tables and figures if any.

Below is a graphical example of the cover page of an academic publication.

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