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Baccalaureate Research Writing Manual PDF
Baccalaureate Research Writing Manual PDF
a. The Adviser will act as the chairman of the committee and will guide the
student in developing a problem of interest which is in line with the
Development Thrusts and Agenda of the College of Engineering and the
department* where he/she belongs. The adviser will see to it that the
student conducts the research project in accordance with the approved
outline. He/She is responsible for making sure the student will come-up with
quality output and that the project study manuscript conforms to the
prescribed style and format.
Note: Advisorship and panel membership must be more or less equally divided
among the faculty in the department.
2. The student may want to make changes in the composition of his/her Advisory
Committee. This can be done by accomplishing the MMSU-COE-UT Form 2 -
Request for Change of Members of the Advisory Committee.
3. When the student is ready to present his/her thesis outline, he/she must
accomplish the MMSU-COE-UT Form 3 - Application for Presentation for Thesis
Outline. The outline must be given to the members of the Advisory Committee at
least three (3) days before the scheduled presentation of the outline.
4. During the outline presentation, the comments of the Advisory Committee must be
indicated in MMSU-COE-UT Form 4 - Evaluation Form for Undergraduate Thesis
Outline. After the outline presentation, the chairman of the advisory committee will
consolidate the general comments and recommendations duly signed by the
committee and will be discussed to the student. The student must revise the outline
accordingly from the recommendations of the advisory committee after the
presentation.
5. When the student has finished his/her experiments/study and ready for an oral
defense, he/she must accomplish MMSU-COE-UT Form 5 - Application for Thesis
Final Oral Defense. A copy of the manuscript must be given to the members of the
advisory committee at least three (3) working days before the actual oral
presentation.
7. The final manuscript must be printed with the APPROVAL SHEET duly signed by
the authorized faculty members. Three mandatory copies of the final manuscript
must be reproduced for the University Library, College Library, and Department
and binding fees must be paid to the cashier. The official receipt of the binding fee
and other requirements must be presented to the adviser before the student(s)
is/are given a passing grade.
8. The thesis manuscript converted in pdf format and the abstract in word format must
be saved in a CD and should be submitted to the College Research Coordinator
together with the accomplished MMSU-COE-UT Form 7 - Undergraduate Thesis
Manuscript Distribution Form, the three mandatory copies of the manuscript, and
photocopy of the binding fee official receipt.
1. Print the manuscript on 8.5” x 11” white paper, at least substance 20 with the
following margins (in inches): left & top – 1.50, right - 1.25, bottom – 1.0.
3. The text paragraphs should be fully justified and double-spaced except otherwise
specified such as captions and footnotes among others.
Preliminary Pages
Title page
Approval sheet
Biographical sketch
Acknowledgment
Table of Contents
List of table, figures, and appendices
Abstract
Main Body
Introduction - Background, Objectives, Significance, Scope and Limitation of
the Study
Review of Literature - Literature and Studies, Conceptual Framework,
Research Paradigm
Methodology
- Thesis – Locale of the Study, Research Design, Variables of the Study,
Definition of Terms, Data Gathering Procedure, Data Analysis
- Developmental Studies – Locale of the Study, Design Procedure, Fabrication,
Testing Procedure
Results and Discussions
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations – Summary of Findings,
Conclusions, Recommendation
Literature Cited
Appendices
5. Write the title of the preliminary pages and chapters of the main body of the
manuscript in capital letters and boldface.
6. The font style, letter size, and location of the various topics of the manuscript’s
main body should have the following format:
Title of the Chapter – all capitalized, boldface, centered
First Level (main heading) – boldfaced, centered and first letter of every major
word is capitalized.
Second Level (sub-heading) – boldfaced, flushed left, first letter of every major
word is capitalized, and should not be more than 3 lines.
Third Level (sub-sub-heading) – boldfaced, indented, enumerated paragraph,
and only the first letter is capitalized. The topic is punctuated with a period (.)
and discussion of the topic comes immediately after the period.
7. The distance between the title of the chapter and the subheading or an introductory
paragraph is three single spaces; and the distance between subheading and the
preceding and succeeding paragraphs is three single space and double spaces,
respectively.
8. The chapter title (and therefore the beginning of the chapter) must always start on
a clean page. If there is a space after the last line of the paragraph in the preceding
section, leave it. Go to the next page and start the new chapter there.
a. Preliminary pages
Use lower case Roman numerals beginning with “i”.
Except for the title page and approval sheet which are understood to be page
“i” and “ii” respectively.
Write the number at the center 1 inch from the bottom of the page.
b. Main body
Use Arabic numerals.
Write the page numbers 1 inch from the top and 1.25 inches from the right
side of the paper.
Suppress the page number on the beginning of each chapter.
A. Title page
Contains the heart of the research.
Reflects the general problem.
Brief/concise. It is no longer than 14 substantive words.
Attracts interest.
The title is written in capital letters and in 2 to 3 lines using the inverted
pyramid format. All text items are centered; double-spaced. The title of the
study and name of the researcher are written in bold letters.
B. Approval sheet
C. Biographical sketch
The biographical sketch contains a short biography of the thesis student. This part
does not have a prescribed writing style, but it should be written using either first
or third person. Whatever person a student has chosen, he/she should use it
consistently. In addition, the biography should be limited to a maximum of two
pages.
D. Acknowledgment
E. Table of Contents
This portion of the preliminary pages lists the various parts of the main body of the
manuscript consisting of up to second level entries/topics only. The first level entry
is a sub-heading under the chapter.
List the tables, figures, and appendix tables separately under the main headings:
list of tables, list of figures, and appendices, respectively.
G. Abstract
1. It should contain a concise summary of the most salient elements of the study:
the title, total number of pages, the researcher’s name, the name of the
thesis/dissertation adviser, the name of the sponsoring institution, keywords
and the synopsis of the research.
2. It should be a summative essay that reflects the organizational structure of
the paper and answers the following questions:
a. What is the article all about? (focus of the study/issue/topic)
b. What does the paper addresses and intends to do? (research problems/
objectives)
c. Who are the participants of the study?
d. What research design (technique, method, approach) was used?
e. What are the most important findings? (central argument/ conclusion/
significance)
3. It should be self-contained (i.e., publishable on its own, together with the title);
should not include details of the method nor should have references to the
literature, tables, or figures.
4. It should contain a summary of the research problems/objectives,
methodology, and salient findings/conclusions. A major recommendation may
be included.
5. It should use the narrative style with no separate headings; concise;
preferably between 100 to 150 substantive words (not more than 300 total
word count); in one (1) or two (2) paragraph/s; double-spaced.
6. Keywords
a. should include words/phrases which are central to the work but may not
be reflected in the title; not less than six, not more than ten; arranged
alphabetically; separated by commas; double-spaced;
b. should include the field/s where the study may be situated (e.g., civil
engineering, industrial engineering, systems design development, teacher
education, religious studies, student achievement, indigenous knowledge,
corporate management, public governance, hotel and restaurant
management, tourism management, office administration, criminology and
legal education, political science, dynamic psychology, etc.) and the
research method used.
B. Review of Literature
Ex. APA style: (Garcia & Reganit, 2010) ; (Garcia & Reganit, 2010, p. 31);
Garcia and Reganit (2010)
variations: (Garcia & Reganit 2010) ; (Garcia & Reganit, 2010 : 31)
2. Theoretical Framework
3. Conceptual Framework
There is no significant difference between the past and present total dissolved
solids and salinity level of coastal aquifers.
C. Methodology
Introduce with a brief statement enumerating the main topics that are covered in
this chapter.
Use future tense for the proposal and past tense for the research report.
Describe the place where the study will be conducted and the reason behind
the choice.
Describe the human participants in the study (respondents) and the
sampling design to be used. Convenience sampling is not allowed.
To warrant the use of statistical tests, randomization should be employed
either simple or in combination with other sampling procedures such as
stratified sampling or systematic sampling.
The size of the sampling group should be systematically determined
through accepted procedures such as by using Slovin’s formula. The margin
of error should be presented and the reason for its choice discussed.
Discuss the technique to be used/ used in selecting and identifying the
actual participants; such techniques should ensure equal opportunity for all
members of the study population to participate in the study.
Discuss the time frame involved in the conduct of the study.
b. Research Design
State and explain the research method used and why it was chosen. Be
specific about the research method, whether it is descriptive, experimental
or historical. Mention also the approach/es used in the study. For instance,
if the descriptive method is used, state whether the study adopted survey,
correlational, case study, evaluative, comparative, content analysis, or
normative – survey. The narrative description should mention what the
research method is all about and how the variables are reflected using such
research method.
Explain why this particular research design/procedure was chosen and how
it fits with research objectives/problems.
Indicate the reference(s) used to justify the use of the research design.
Include the limitations of the research design and/or of the materials used,
if any.
c. Data Gathering Tool
In case the data gathering instrument was not constructed, but is a ready-
made tool, like a rating scale or a psychological test, it is still necessary to
mention its reliability and validity levels and the processes undertaken by
the author. Proper citation about the author is expected.
d. Definition of Terms
Include only key terms found in the title and the research problems/
paradigm; except statistical terms.
The terms must be written in bold letters, indented, arranged alphabetically,
and defined operationally using complete sentences, and for which
references may be indicated.
Cluster definitions, if any, must be arranged in the same order as they
appear in the research problems or objectives, and should be double-
indented.
The operational definitions may include measures or indices used in
measuring each variable.
Operational definitions must be specific and unambiguous.
Conceptual or “dictionary” definitions must be documented as to reference.
A definition may start with the conceptual and followed by the operational
dimensions of the term.
f. Data Analysis
For quantitative research, all statistical tools have to be presented including
how these were used and their formulae. Hand-in-hand with the statistical
tools are the corresponding null hypotheses, if these were the bases in the
analysis of the findings.
There is no need to put the formula of the statistical tools provided these
are the common ones.
All scales of measure of research variables have to be placed under this
part of the manuscript.