Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY POSTGRADUATE
1. COVER PAGE
• The cover page should contain only the following information suitably spaced and centred:
a. Title of study
e. Date
• The cover page should not have a UNZA logo or any other information
2. TITLE
• The title should:
3. INTRODUCTION
• A good introduction should therefore, provide:
a. Clearly state the problem by indicating unanswered question(s), gap(s) or area(s) that
has not been understood, determined or tested
b. Be supported by sources
c. Use simple and objective language (not poetic, comical or emotional language use)
d. Be stated in form of a simple declarative statement such as, ‘We do not know………’ or in
a question form
5. Aim
The Aim or Main Purpose of study should:
c. Be a single sentence
6. Objectives
Objectives can be general and specific
The General Objective should specify the kind of the knowledge the study is expected to obtain
It should clearly state what is to be described, determined, identified, compared and in case of
hypothesis, confirmed (Note that a general objective is optional because it serves similar
purpose with the aim or purpose of the study.
7. Specific Objectives
In order to remain focused on the problem, objectives should be only three (3) in number for
the MEng research proposal
Focussed on the statement of the problem
Specific, measurable, attainable and realistic
Indicate specific activities that researcher shall carry out for example, to identify, determine,
establish, examine …………
8. Research Questions
Each question should be link to a specific study objective
Try as much as possible to split each research objective into 2 research questions
9. Research hypothesis
This is a statement created by researcher to speculate upon the outcome of the research or
experiment
When a proposed study includes hypothesis, the following sequence may be followed: research
questions, hypothesis and objectives
o Include a statement on how the proposed study will contribute to the knowledge base
of the area of study.
o Include as many journal articles and books published within the past ten (10) years
1. Research Design
i. This shows a description of a plan used in collecting the relevant evidence in order to achieve the
objectives. For instance, case study, correlation, descriptive survey, experimental, correlation and cross-
cultural research designs.
2. Study Population
• Provides an explanation about how the data will be collected, its nature and estimated time
required to collect the data
• Limitations are conditions beyond the control of the researcher that may place
restrictions on the conclusions of the study and generalisation of its results. Examples
include:
• When limitations are likely to adversely affect the generalisation of the results, inform
readers that, due to these limitations, the results may not be generalised or should be
generalised with caution
• State the tools and procedures that used in analysing data and their justification
14. REFERENCES
All the Schools in the University of Zambia should use the word references and not bibliography
Different formats of citation and referencing are available and the exact format is not critical, but
consistency and completeness is necessary
15. APPENDICES
Appendices use either Roman numerals, such as Appendix I, appendix II and so on, or letter formatting
Appendix A and Appendix B
Appendix to include instruments for data collection (such as Questionnaire, Observation checklist,
Interview guide and Focus group discussion guide) and not ethical/security letters, published papers,
budget, etc
References
1. Banda D. E. (2018), Lecture 6: Research Dissertation Writing(Week 4), [PowerPoint slides].
2. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/globalcontent/general/project/dissertation/structure/
3. https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/dissertation-thesis-preparation/structure-theses-
dissertations