Guide to THESES WRITING

Guide to THESES WRITING Francis Olawale Abulude & Mary Omofolarin Ogunkoya i Guide to THESES WRITING By Francis Olawale Abulude & Mary Omofolarin Ogunkoya ii First Published 2024 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN: 978-978-61542-3-7 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17264065 Printed by Science and Education Development Institute, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria Email: [email protected] Telephone: +2348034458674 iii DEDICATION This book is dedicated to Almighty God iv PREFACE Project writing is an important aspect of the curriculum tertiary institutions the world over. It involves students in carrying out research and in submitting the results in an acceptable form. Although this aspect of a student’s course of study carries a high-level credit unit, many students always find it difficult to start a project work. Sources of information on how to carry out a project work are not readily available to many students. This book presents an integrated and comprehensive overview of a project process, so that the student can visualize his/her research activity from beginning to the end. It gives adequate introduction to various sections of project work: background guide, structure, abbreviations and nomenclature, statistics, preparing a final copy and appendix. The chapters are adequately referenced and the body of references has comprehensive reading. The book is designed for all tertiary institution (Colleges of Education, Polytechnics/College of Technology, Universities, etc.) students to make them aware of the various stylistic possibilities in project writing. Project work involves learning several new techniques – systematic research, flexible note taking, the organization of material on a large scale, disciplined presentation, etc. Use of the basic guidelines presented here should sharpen the focus of the research, eliminate much wasted time and effort, and facilitate the orderly and efficient completion of project writing. It is noted that no book could attempt to the dogmatic about research of this kind. Instead, what is offered is a guide to basic principles to be used in conjunctions with instructions issued by the lecturer (or his/her department) or by an external examining body. EMMANUEL ADEYEYE Professor of Chemistry Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti Ekiti State. December, 2024. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT All glory and adoration to God Almighty that has been our Alpha and Omega, which has preserved our lives throughout all our difficult times. This work would possibly not have seen the light of the day, if our able mentor in academics had not given it a professional touch. On this account, we deeply express our appreciation to Prof. E.I. Adeyeye a Professor of Food Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria We also acknowledge the support of Mrs. O.J. Abulude, her children and Engr. B.O. Ajayi for the love bestowed on us from the beginning to the end of this work. We pray that God Almighty would preserve their lives. In the course of our travels in connection with this project, we received the assistance of many professional colleagues in the various institutions we visited. Although space will not permit us to mention all by names, we cannot help but acknowledge the support we got from the following families: Late & Mrs. S.O. Akintimehin, Mr. & Mrs. Y.S. Akinjagunla, Mr. & Mrs. R. Alabi, Mr. & Mrs. A. Akintemi, Mrs. C.O. Ojo (Former Principal), Mr. M.A. Akinduro, Pastor & Mrs. S.O. Oluwalana, Pastor & Mrs. S. Oluwamodede, Pastor & Mrs. K. Onifade, Prophet L. Alimi, Rev. & Mrs. J.A. Anjorin and Lady Evangelist V. Ige. Lastly, we would like to thank the Provost of our college, Dr. A.O. Ayodele, Head of Department of General Studies, Mr. L.O. Lawal, and all our colleagues who gave us moral support and financial assistance towards the completion of this book. We pray that God Almighty would crown all contributors to this book with success. E.O. Abulude M.O. Ogunkoya December, 2024. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page Dedication iii Preface iv Acknowledgment v 1. Introduction 1 2. Guidelines for the structure of a project 3 3. Abbreviations and nomenclature 18 4. Statistics in thesis or project writing 30 5. Making the final copy of the thesis 33 References 35 1 1 INTRODUCTION Projects / theses involve collection, analysis and interpretation of data (scientific experiment). The goal of scientific experiment is publication i.e. produced in bound copies and submitted to the institution for grading. From experience, it was found that most students have difficulty in carrying out their projects. Most students do not have the chance to undertake a formal course in project / thesis writing, they tend to copy or imitate previous projects / theses. The purpose of this book is to assist students of the scientific in all discipline to undertake their projects / theses that will make them understood when they are published. This book is also simplified, so that an average student can understand it and apply the techniques. In this book, attention is paid to the following: Illustrations – tables, symbols and legends, photographs and monographs and other illustrations. These are meant to present data in simple and clear manner for readers to understand. Statistics was briefly touched for easy interpretation of data. It is important to apply statistical techniques in analyzing analytical results (Miller and Miller, 1988). Abbreviations, and nomenclature, units, dates, numbers, symbols, scientific names, etc; were dealt with. This is intended to teach students how to write widely accepted writing styles in research works. Emphases on organization of writing a project / thesis were made. The most common component parts in the basic sciences (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion (IMRAD)) were discussed. Based on many years of experience in supervising students’ projects / theses writing, I have tried to make this book simple and practical for readers’ understanding. It is hoped 2 that it will serve as a guide to final year or postgraduate students of tertiary institutions who are preparing for their projects / theses and lectures. 9 a view of avoiding or correcting them. 6. It gives the student some information about the state of knowledge in the areas he intends to study. 7. It gives the students some ideas of the type of design and statistical procedures that could be used in conducting this research. 8. It provides the student clearly the material (literature relevant to the problem). Materials and Methods / Experimentation The main purpose of this section is to describe the experimental design and then provide enough detail so that a competent worker can repeat the experiments. However, careful writing of this section is critically important because the cornerstone of the scientific method requires that your result to be of scientific merit, must be reproducible, and for the result to be adjusted reproducible, you must try to provide the bases for repetition of the experiments by others. The full details must be given in past tense. This section usually has subheadings that should be written in such a way to match those to be used in result. The details should be precise. The details should give: 1. Date of Collection: 2. Place of Collection: 3. Container used: 4. Storage time, temperature, humidity: 5. Size of sieve used: 6. Type of grinder: 7. Name of instrument used for analysis: 8. How much of sample used (quantity): 9. Statistical methods employed: 10. Methods of drying the sample and time spent. Field Experimentation (The use of questionnaire) In collecting information for project thesis, questionnaire, observation and interview can be used, but in this book, questionnaire would be dealt with Questionnaire must have the following details: 1. The area of study: 2. Target population: 3. Date of collection of questionnaire: 4. Sampling technique and procedure: 5. Instrument and methods of data collection: 6. Data analysis. 10 Questionnaire This is a means of obtaining answers to questions by using a form, which the respondent fills, and returns. There are three forms of questionnaires: 1. The open form:- In this, it allows for free response but the data collected cannot be easily tabulated and analyzed for generalizations. 2. Closed form:- This is a prepared list of specific questions and a choice of possible answers and thus allows for the tabulation of data, analysis and scientific generalizations. 3. The pictorial form:- This is very good for the children and illiterates, pictures, drawings and photographs are used instead of written statements. In the questionnaire, normal and ordinal scales are frequently used (Daleh and Deobold, 1973; Osula, 1993). Other types of scales include: Rating scales, interval scales, graphic rating scales. For example in normal scale, a respondent would be asked to pick the appropriate box e.g. 1. Male 2. Female 3. Age 31 – 40 while in ordinal scale between 5 and 9 point scale are used. Sometimes the tables are ticked or marked. Let us take for example the scales marked thus: i. Strongly agree - 5 ii. Agree - 4 iii. Strongly disagree - 3 iv. Disagree - 2 v. Undecided - 1 Table 1: Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Undecided Agree Disagree I enjoy studying chemistry Rice contains 11 protein The questionnaire is often divided into two parts. The first part normally is a classification section (sex, age, marital status, occupation), while the second part is the question relating to the subject matter of the inquiry. The principal points in designing questionnaires are: (i) Questions should require simple answers. (ii) Questions should be clear and short. (iii) Leading questions should not be used. (iv) Questions should be easy to answer. (v) Offensive questions should be avoided. (vi) The number of questions should be kept at minimum. The characterizations of a good questionnaire are: (i) It must not be too long. (ii) It must be easily understood. (iii) It should not be ambiguous. (iv) It must not contain vague meaning. (v) It must not produce biased answers. (vi) It must not require a calculation to be made. (vii) It must not require a respondent to decide upon classification. (viii) It must cover the exact object of the inquiry. The methods of analysis are generally by the use of frequency and percentage distributions. Let us take the following examples (Tables 2 – 4). 1. Question: What do you think are the problems militating against teaching and learning of biology? (Tick) Lack of qualified teacher Lack of laboratory Lack of field trips 12 Lack of visual aids Lack of text books Analysis: Table 2: Frequency and percentage distribution of respondent on with respect to problem encountered. Problems Number of Respondent Percentage Lack of qualified teacher 20 20 Lack of laboratory 15 15 Lack of field trips 63 63 Lack of visual aids - - Lack of text books 19 19 2. Question: In what form does your lecturer teach biology in your institution? Theory………………….. Practical ……………………. Both …………………… Analysis: Table 3: Methods of teaching biology Method of teaching Number of Respondent Percentage Theory 70 70 Practical 10 10 Both 60 60 Analysis: Table 4: Regular Lecture Regular lecture Number of Respondent Percentage Yes 60 60 No 40 40 13 Results and Discussion This is the most important part of the thesis and often the shortest. It should be clearly written and simple because it is the results that constitute the new knowledge that one is contributing to the reader. Representation data should be reported. Statistical data, tables, graph can be used to reduce or represent large values (means, standard deviation, coefficient of variation), these should be related to the subject of the paper as defined in the introduction and reflect in the text by showing the figure (Fig. 1). In writing the results one should try to avoid unnecessary words, figures, graphs. tables, negative data and repetition of data. Discussion explains what the result mean and their implications for future study. (1) In this column one should try to present the principles, relationships, and generalizations shown by the results; (2) one should point out any exceptions or any lack of correlation and define unsettled points. (3) show how results obtained agree (or contrast) with previously published work. The researcher will want to consider the relationship between his results and past research and theory. If the researcher did not obtain the expected results, he would want to discuss possible explanations; (4) discuss the theoretical implications of the work, as well as any possible practical applications; (5) conclusions should be clearly written stating the significance of the results; and (6) recommendation can be given for future research work, need to monitor and to follow up the results (Day, 1988). In this section it should be ensured that (1) stated objectives are dealt with: (2) no repetition of contents already contained in the preceding sections: and (3) the results should be interpreted correctly and suggest their implications and significance. Acknowledgements Here one should acknowledge any significant technical help that was received from any individual or institution, laboratory or elsewhere. Acknowledgement of the source of special equipment, other materials, those who identify field specimen, person who gave advice or read through the write up or grants, contracts, or fellowships. 14 References The reference list must include all works cited in the text and no works not cited. There are different styles of handling references in different theses. It is always advisable in this case to follow the school format. In most theses, the surname and year system (Harvard system) has been very popular for many years. It is convenient because the reference are not numbered, but arranged in alphabetical order (Booth, 1981). For example In the text citations (i.e. introduction, materials and methods, result and discussion). In the reference list: Abulude F.O. 1962. Selenium in Nigeria foods. J. Agric. Tech. 16 (5): 11 – 25. Abulude F.O., Thorn J. and Kunle C. 2005. Arsenic contents in Nigerian soils. J. Environ. Quality. 20 (1): 1001 – 1009. Bolarinwa C. 1996. The research proposal. Monograph University of Columbia M.O. Citations in the text: Use no comma between the author and the year (Seaman, 1920) - 1 author (Seaman and Kunle, 1993) - 2 authors (Abulude et al., 2005) - 3 authors “et al” means “and others”, it should be typed in italics. Citations are supposed to be part of the area of sentence. The references should be placed at that point in the sentence to which it applies, for example: Introduction “Arsenic contamination is of concern due to its effects as a carcinogen (Seaman, 1920). The soil clean up target level for arsenic in Nigeria is lower than in most states in Britain (Seaman and Kunle, 1930). The soils were digested using the methods of Abulude et al., 2005”. :If there are two or more “Seaman, 1920”, then this problem is easily handled by listing the first “Seaman 1920a”, the second Seaman as “Seaman, 1920b”, etc. 15 These should be listed in the reference section as shown in the text. Examples of other variants (Day 1980, 1992; Taylor, 2004) or (Day 1980a, 1980b). The reference section This is the section where all the details given in text will be known. These details are listed as follows: (a) Journal Author (Surname, initials) Date Title of work cited Name of journal (write in full) Volume, number, pages. Example Day J.O. 1980. How to write a scientific paper. Journal of Food Technology. 26 (2): 1 - 50. (b) Book Author (Surname, initials) Date Title of Book City of publication, publisher pages. Example: Day J.O. 1980a. Instrument methods of analysis. Cambridge low price editions. London, England. Pp. 105 - 127. (c) Book of proceedings Author Date Title of chapter or paper Pages 16 Title of book of proceedings City of publication, publisher. Example: Day J.O. 2001. The effect of temperature on shelf life of kunzaki. Proceedings of conference on the post-harvest technology and commodity marketing in West Africa. 29th November 1st - December. Ghana. Pp. 172 - 178. (d) Published reports Nigerian Ministry of Finance, 1972. Saving for rain day. Abuja: Ajao Research station. (e) Unpublished reports Bukola J.F. 1925. Intercropping in agriculture: an overview. IITA Working Paper 25. Ibadan: IITA. Pp. 69 - 84. Ajao K.O. 1974. Determination of as in foods. National Diploma Thesis. Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Nigeria. Pp. 1 - 54. Unpublished. (f) Personal communications This is listed in the text as personal communication: (Abulude, pers. Comm.). This can be listed under reference column as Abulude F.O. 1920. Personal communications. It may not be listed at all under the reference column. (g) Internet This is information obtained from the internet Author Date Title Name of journal Internet address Pages Abulude F.O. 2005. Protein digestibility. Electr. J. Polish Agric. Uni. http://www. workmediapl/volume/issue/art-34.html. Note In writing the reference section for journals one can either write it in full or in abbreviation; whatever the choice, it should cut across the reference section. 17 Example Full: American Journal of Sports Medicine. 21: 381 - 384. Abbreviation: Am. J. Sports Med. 21: 381 - 384. It should be noted that the first letter for each word begins with a capital letter. Journal abbreviations have been standardized; it is advisable for the writer to be sure or familiarized with the widespread adoption of the standards. Conclusion This is drawn directly from the reported findings, for this reason, the writer must carefully have presented in detail the procedures so that the reader can see that the findings are logical and that, in turn, the conclusions are logically derived from the problem. Conclusions are not the same as findings and should not therefore be a restatement of findings. This is not to say that findings are not mentioned in the conclusion section. Conclusion should be supported by the findings, but a separate conclusion need not be drawn for each finding, it is the sum of the evidence that leads to the conclusions. Recommendation The purpose of this section is to discuss the meaning of the findings and the conclusions may be used by the reader. The writer can make recommendations for the future in the area of his study, but the recommendations should have as a base the findings of the study. However, the conclusions and the recommendations should not be confused. Most research studies seem to raise more questions than they answer and these questions lead to recommendations for further study. This section allows the writer some freedom in his writing, allow him to speculate a bit and allow him to use his creative ability in pinpointing the possible uses of the findings and in raising further questions for investigation. Appendix These are materials used for the project, but which would make the body of the text bulky. They could be statistical tests, questionnaires, letters and other items used for the study. 18 3 ABBREVIATIONS AND NOMENCLATURE There are many styles in writing abbreviations, nomenclature, units, dates, numbers, scientific names, symbols, etc. in theses or projects. Here are typical examples: Dates When writing out a date in text, punctuation is needed if you write that-month-year, e.g. the seeds were harvested on 5 January, 2005, or if month-day-year is needed, you must use a comma both before and after the year, e.g. the seeds were harvested on January 5, 2005 or if you use just month and year, you do not need a comma between them: June 1906, not June, 1906. It is better writing dates in words e.g. 18 April 2001 or 18 Nov. 2001 or 18 Nov. 01. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) recommends “all-numeric date method of expression. 1916-06-07 or 1916 06 07 or 19160607. Abbreviations (Acronyms) These are short forms of expressing words or terms. The aim of this is to save space; time and this makes reading and comprehension easy. The uses of abbreviations are not usually done in the titles and abstracts. The best way of writing is to first write the whole word or term and follow it with the abbreviation in bracket. This is just for the layman outside the field of study or countries to comprehend or understand what massages are passed across. It is advisable to use SI units or internationally accepted units/abbreviations (Stapleton et al., 1995). Examples: World Health Organization (WHO) Molarity (M) United State of America (USA) Phytate - Phosphorus (P) (Phytate - P) Doctor (Dr): Pound sterling (£), Naira (N), Dollar ($) 25 Fig. 3: Line Graph Fig. 4: Bar Chart Pie charts compare sizes of a system 26 Fig.5: Pie Chart Fig. 6: Scatter Chart 27 Fig. 7: Area Chart Fig. 8: Doughnut 28 Fig. 9: Radar These have advantages of presenting information in a form which would have needed many words. They should be: (1) Simple and clear; (2) contain relevant legends; (3) must present data; (4) not crowed; and (5) titled. Thus the reader can quickly grasp the significance of the data. The techniques of producing good illustrations vary. However, the principles of producing good ones, whether hand-drawn or computer-drawn do not vary. It is important that the size of the letters and symbols must be carefully chosen so that the final printed illustrations in the project /thesis is clear and readable. Maps are used for presentation of experimental layout or a geographic location sites, etc. 29 Fig. 9: Map showing the study area Fig. 10: Flow chart of ‘kunuzaki’ beverage production 30 4 STATISTICS IN THESIS OR PROJECT WRITING Scientific investigation involve collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Research works need careful standard of analyses and the results obtained can now be compared to established standards e.g. FEC, FEPA, WHO, FAO, etc. It is always ideal to subject the results into statistical analysis either with the computer versions such as the SAS/STAT, SPSS for window 10 or through calculators. Mean This is the sum of all the measured properties of all the members of the sample divided by the total number (n). 𝑥 =  × n x = mean, n = total number,  x sum of measured properties. Median These are set of data; that value which divides the set into two equal parts such that the number of observations greater than or equal to the medium is the same as the number of observations less than or equal to the median Median =    Mode This is the score of the variable with the highest frequency associated with it. Deviation This is the difference between any result and the mean of that result. Standard Deviation (±SD) This is the root mean square deviation of values from this average. The amount of variation about the average value can be conveniently expressed in a quantitative means by manner of the above statistical concept. 𝑆 = √Ʃ(𝑥 − 𝒙) 𝑛 − 1 31 𝒙 - mean Variances (S2) This is the square of the standard deviation. The formula for the calculation is thus: 𝑠= √Ʃ(𝑥 − 𝒙) 𝑛 − 1 𝒙 - mean Range This is the difference in magnitude between the highest and lowest values of a series. Standard error of the mean (SEM) sm This gives an indication of the difference between the sample means and the true population mean. It provides information about the precision and, thus the random error association with the mean. 𝑆𝑚 =  √ Coefficient of variation This is the fractional error, as a parameter or statistic expressed as a percentage. 𝐶𝑉 = 𝑆 × 100% 𝑥 S – Standard deviation, 𝒙 - mean Plastic container P 37.86 3.00 1.15 R 35.01 1.69 2.65 Metal container P 20.48 2.18 8.40 R 18.40 3.79 2.65 Polythene P 85.34 8.88 2.97 R 87.57 6.11 2.88 Earthenware pot P 38.11 8.27 1.39 R 28.69 8.53 3.13 CC (rpR) 0.99 0.84 -0.49 Regression (rpR) 1.12 0.71 -0.03 CC (correlation coefficient), P (pal wine), R (Red wine). P/R (Palm wine/Red wine). Question: Calculate the correlation coefficients 32 Table 10: Mineral composition (mg 100g-1) of “bush animal” analyzed (DM) Parameter Squirrel Grass cutter Giant rat T-test Significance B1 S B S B S B S Zn 18.59 21.56 26.17 14.42 4.82 48.00 247.27 19.67 10.66 s Fe 48.38 44.04 41.75 38.81 13.96 37.92 15.05 24.32 2.53 s Na 65.68 627.93 495.47 559.25 789.82 956.54 1676.31 1241.54 2.42 ns Ni 6.44 5.73 6.01 7.51 11.02 1.39 7.05 0.12 4.38 s Co 0.12 0.19 0.23 .013 ND ND 0.31 1.91 0.85 ns Cu 52.64 112.84 77.60 61.86 218.54 95.66 21.15 3.27 4.13 s SSignificance at R = 0.05, SSmall, Bbig, nsnot significant. 33 5 MAKING THE FINAL COPY OF THE THESIS This section is designed to guide the student before submission of the bound copies. If the final copy is not presented as expected (format) by the school, college, or university authorities it may lead to reduction in marks to be awarded or total rejection. The following guidelines or suggestions should be ensured. (a) All theses must have (i) Title page: (ii) dedication page (iii) approval page (iv) certification page; (v) abstract pages; (vi) acknowledgement page; (vii) table of contents; (viii) list of tables. The followed by chapter one (introduction), chapter two (literature review), chapter three (materials and methods), chapter four (results and discussion) or chapter four (results) / chapter five (discussion), chapter five (conclusion and recommendation) and references page. Note: Writing of the title page defers from instruction to the other. The required format should be followed. Check the institution’s library or departmental library for the correct format. (b) Proof reading of the final draft (i) It is advisable for the student to reread the final draft copy of the written copies before delivering to the typist. It is advisable to use a computer for this because it is neat, reproducible, can be saved and so on. It has got many advantages over typewriters. After the typist has finished his/her own part, the student is again responsible for a final, extremely careful proofreading. Ask one of your colleagues to read the final draft. You might ask a scientist to read the draft and to point out words and phrases he or she doesn’t understand. In addition, ask someone whose knowledge of English is reasonably expert to read the draft. Note: Use grammar – checkers in the computer to correct grammar. This is needed to reduce unedited errors to the bearest minimum (Flower, 1965). 34 (ii) During and at the end of writing, it is always advisable to take note of the followings: footnotes, margins, pagination, spacing, definition of terms, identification, references, and tables. All these must be properly placed where they are expected (Strunk and White, 1991). (c) Copies and size of thesis Most institutions require the student to submit at least four copies of the bound copies typed on a quality of bound paper (quarto size or A4 size). The color for the bound copies would depend on the institution’s requirement.