Writing-the-preliminary-pages-of-a-good-research-Project.ppt

research project

1. WRITING THE
PRELIMINARY PAGES
OF A GOOD RESEARCH
PROJECT IN
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH
Olupona Akin
UNICEF WASH Consultant, Isoko South LGA,
Delta State

2. Introduction
For a research to be termed acceptable
(to research coordinator or project
supervisor), the preliminary pages of
the work must be all encompassing and
concise enough to make great meaning.
This paper will attempt to discuss the
preliminary pages in a research project.
Preliminary pages are those write ups
that come before the chapter one of
every project or research work
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3. Introduction
Standard preliminary pages has the
following features in these chronological
order:
Cover page
Declaration
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of contents
Abstract
3

4. Cover Page of the Research Work
The cover page of a research page is the first
page of the work which contains:
The full topic of the project work.
The case study of the project/research work.
The researchers/student’s name, starting with
the surname and registration number.
The institution of study.
The year and month the project work was
completed.
The above specifications must be done with
block letters.
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5. Sample of Cover Page
APPRAISING THE ROLES OF AN ACCOUNTANT IN LOANS AND CREDIT
CONTROLS MANAGEMENT
(A CASE STUDY OF THE UNITED BANK OF AFRICA PLC, LAGOS BRANCH
(2009-2011)
A RESEARCH PROJECT
BY
OKORO MOHAMMED BOLA
10/PG/CE/BSC/DBA/100
SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
ENUGU STATE.
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A
POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
 
NOVEMBER, 2015.
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6. Declaration of the research work
Every research work must be deemed original
and void of plagiarism.
To this effect the declaration is more of an
affidavit stating in clear terms that the work is
an original work and was not copied from any
source.
 
In declaring that the work of a researcher is
original, it has to be done with his full names
and the full names of the researcher observer
or project supervisor who guided him through
the research work and the date the research
was concluded. 6

7. Sample: Declaration of the research work
DECLARATION
I declare that this project on “appraising the
roles of an accountant in loans and credit
controls and management” is an original work
done by me under the supervision of Dr. A.A.
Akai, faculty of business administration,
university of Nigeria, Nsuka.
OKORO, MOHAMMED BOLA.
                    
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8. Certification of the research work
As the name depicts, certification of a research
work is just a confirmation that the work or
research was actually embarked upon by a
researcher.
In drafting certification of the research work, it
must be with full names of researcher
beginning with surname followed by other
names, the registration number, space for the
name date and signature of project supervisor
and finally a space for the name, signature and
date of the external supervisor where
necessary.
        
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9. Sample: Certification of the research work
CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that this research work on “appraising the roles of
accountants in loan and credit controls and management was
carried out by OKORO, MOHAMMED BOLA; with the registration
Number: 10/PG/CE/BSC/DBA/100.
We examined and found it acceptable for the award of
postgraduate diploma in Business Administration, University of
Nigeria, Nsuka.
Dr. A.A. Akai: ……………………………………………………………….
Signature ………………………
   Date……………………………………
Supervisor/head of accounting department
 
Dr. W.S. Ugwu: ……………………………………………………………….
Signature ………………………
   Date……………………………………
Coordinator, post graduate diploma
Business administration
9

10. Dedication of the research work
Dedication is one of the preliminary pages
of a research work.
It has to do with dedicating the complete
work to loved ones or people the researcher
hold in high regard
10

11. Sample: Dedication of the research work
DEDICATION
This research project is dedicated first to
“THE ALMIGHTY GOD” for his enabling
strength he bestowed on me in completing
this work.
Secondly to my wonderful wife Mrs. Okoro
Mohammed Bola
11

12. Acknowledgement of the research work
This is where the researcher appreciates
people who contributed directly or indirectly in
the actualization of the project work.
Acknowledgement in a research work takes
into cognizance, the project or research
supervisor for availing his time to making your
work a success, the relations or loved ones for
morally and financially supporting the
researcher through this work and other people
he/she may have in mind for what they did
towards their direct or indirect contribution to
the success of the work
12

13. Sample: Acknowledgement of the research
work
ACKNOWLEDEGEMNT
I am most grateful to God Almighty, the sole
provider of knowledge, wisdom, love, mercy and
grace for his protections throughout the period of
the programme. I sincerely appreciate my
supervisor, Dr. A.A. Akai who offered timely
criticism and corrections that led me through the
various stages of this project.
I appreciate my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Afika Akara,
my siblings and friends for their unquantifiable
love and financial assistance during this period.
May God bless you all in Jesus name, Amen
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14. How to Write an Abstract?
Writing an abstract is an important phase in the
research process; hence in-order to make good
grades with in research project and impress
readers, one must be familiar with the techniques
of writing a good, concise and standard abstract.
An abstract in simple terms is a summary of a
research project, thesis, dissertation, research
journal etc.
Abstracts are usually seen at the beginning of
research paper.
In-order to write good and standard abstract,
students must first know how abstracts should be
structured and things to avoid when writing one.
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15. Structure of a Standard Abstract
Most well written abstracts by outstanding
researchers all over the world are
structured as follows:
Overview of the study/Background
Methods
Results or Findings
Recommendations and Conclusion
In details, see them one after the other
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16. Overview of the Study
This is usually the first part of an abstract.
It depicts the central focus of the study.
When writing an abstract, students should know the
central idea behind their study.
This section is very important as it tells readers
whether to continue reading or not.
In essence when giving an overview of the study, the
researcher should make it concise and interesting
enough to encourage readers to read your whole
work.
Researcher must ensure readers easily get a clue of
what the research objectives are as well as problems
motivating the researcher to pick up interest in the
study.
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17. Methodology
Methodology employed by the researcher
constitutes the second part of an abstract.
With a semi-paragraph or a sentence, the
researcher state research methods.
This is where the researcher briefly let readers
know the data collection methods, research
instruments employed, sample size and so on.
To some extent depending on the institution’s
research project format, the researcher can
state how the research instruments were
validated and distributed (i.e. was it face-to-
face distribution? or through email?).
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18. Results
The third section of an abstract is a
brief summary of the key findings or
results.
Findings or important results recorded
in the study must be briefly stated in
the abstract
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19. Recommedations/Conclusions
The last section of most abstracts tells
readers recommendations or suggestions
made by the researcher.
This section is the most important section in
an abstract as it brings out the essence of
research which is solving identified
problems, developing better ways of doing
things and adding to the body of knowledge
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20. Things to avoid when writing abstract
In-order to present a good abstract for academic
award(s), the following should be observed by
the researcher:
Avoid Ambiguous Words and Complex Grammar
Remember an abstract is like a tip of the iceberg.
Complex and ambiguous words/sentences may
discourage readers from reading the full content
of research.
Using keywords at the end of an abstract may
help in letting the readers know the central
theme or idea of the study.
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21. Things to avoid when writing abstract
Do not Lose Focus: when writing an abstract, the
researcher should go straight to the point.
He should not beat about the bush.
Definition of terms, long stories that are not
interesting may make abstract too lengthy and boring
(it is better to leave all definitions and stories for
introduction).
Avoid Lengthy Abstracts: abstracts are meant to be
brief and concise.
 The researcher should avoid writing numerous pages
and calling it ‘Abstract’.
An ideal abstract should be on a single page.
However, if the researcher wish to write more, he
should seek the advice of his/her supervisor first.
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22. Things to avoid when writing abstract
Avoid Writing Abstracts before completion of
Study: this particular point one is of great
interest. It has been found out that students
write abstracts before completing their
research studies, this calls for questioning.
How did they get findings and
recommendations before data analysis and
interpretation?
An abstract is meant to be a summary of the
entire work; hence it should be after the work
has been conducted.
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23. Sample of an abstract
ABSTRACT
 
This study was intended to evaluate the extent to
which strategic planning affects organizational
performance.
The study was guided by the following objectives; to
identify the various components and phases of
strategic planning used in company ABC, to find out
other factors affecting organizational performance
other than strategic planning and to find out the
relationship between strategic planning and
organizational performance.
  
The study employed descriptive and explanatory
design; questionnaires in addition to library research
were applied in order to collect data.
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24. Sample of an abstract: contd.
Primary and secondary data sources were used and
data was analyzed using statistical package which
was presented in frequency tables and percentage.
The respondents under the study were 30 employees
of ABC, DEF branch. The study majorly focused on
phases and components of strategic planning and how
they affect the organizational performance.
  
The study findings revealed that there is lack of
information gathering, where strategic planning does
not begin with collection of the necessary information,
there is strong review of the past performance where
by past performance is considered to make the
strategic plans.
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25. Sample of an abstract: contd.
Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.692 significant at
0.01 level (2-tailed), 0.00 indicates the significance of
interaction between two variables an indication that
the significant is under the range of 0.0 and 0.05.
  
Using the above findings, it implied that there is a
strong relationship between strategic planning and
organization performance. According to the study,
strategic planning contributes 69.2% towards
performance in banking services and this implied that
other factors contribute 30.8%.
  Improvements should
be made in the information altering systems and
information should be gathered first before making
the strategic plans.
  Company ABC should involve all
the employees in decision making so as to improve on
the performance.
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26. Thank you