MASENO UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

THESIS/PROJECT FORMAT FOR PROPOSAL AND REPORTS

I. PRELIMINARY PAGES
a) Title Page
i) Title of the Thesis/Project
ii) Name of the Candidate with the registration number
iii) ‘ This thesis/project is submitted in partial fulfillment for the
requirement for the award of degree of ……of Maseno
University
iv) Affiliation (Department/School)
v) Year

b) Declaration Page
i) The student declaration
‘ This Thesis/ project has not been submitted for examination
in any other institution for award of a degree. Where other
references have been used, it has been acknowledged where
necessary’.
Name, Signature and Date.

ii) ‘This thesis/project has been submitted with our approval as

University Supervisors’
Name, affiliation, date and signatures of the respective
supervisors.

c) Dedication (Final Report)

d) Acknowledgements (Final Report)

e) Abstract
 i) This is the snapshot of your thesis/project it summarizes
the content of five chapters of your thesis/ project.
ii) It should encompass the following – background, statement of
the problem, knowledge gap, objectives (both main and
specific), theoretical framework/ conceptual framework,
research design, target population and sampling design,
iii) data collection (type of data, instruments, reliability and validity
tests), data analysis methods, significance of the study.
f) Table of Contents
g) List of Tables
h) List of Figures
i) Abbreviations and Acronyms
j) Operational Definition of Terms

II. INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
1.2 Statement of the problem
1.3 Objectives
1.4 Hypotheses/ Research questions
1.5 Significance/Relevance/Justification of the Study
1.6 Scope of the Study
1.7 Conceptual Framework/Theoretical Framework

III. LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Theoretical Review of Literature
2.2 Concepts
2.3 Empirical Review of Literature
2.4 Summary of Literature Review

IV. METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Philosophy of the study
3.2 Research Design
 3.3 Area of Study
3.4 Target Population and Sampling Design
a) Inclusion and Exclusion criteria for the respondents
b) Sampling formula
3.5 Data Collection
a) Data collection procedure
b) Instrument testing
i) Reliability
ii) Validity
3.6 Data Analysis
a) Estimation models
b) Definition of variables and their apriori signs.
c) Estimation method
d) Diagnostic tests for the model
3.7 Ethical considerations

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
1. Present results accordingly in regard to your method of analysis.
2. Present the result per your specific objective following the procedure
below:
i) Tabulate your results where necessary if it is quantitative data.
If qualitative write your narratives.
ii) Interpret and discuss your results
iii) Compare and contrast with other existing literature whether the
result are conforming or against the hypotheses stated.

VI. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary of findings
- done as per objectives, no repeat of statistics here but
narratives.
5.2 Conclusions
- done as per objectives
5.3 Recommendations
- done as per objectives.
5.4 Limitations of the study
5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies