Office of the Academic Vice President

Wollega University
P.O. Box: 395, Nekemte, Ethiopia.

RESEARCH WRITING MANUAL

First Edition

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia
 Manual Authors

First Edition by:

Dr. Eba Mijena
Dr. Dunkana Negussa
Dr. Hirpa Legesse
Dr. Negash Geleta
Dr. Hasen Yusuf
Dr. Mulisa Jida
Dr. Ayantu Mekonnen
Dr. Diriba Diba
Dr. Demissie Firdissa
Dr. Temesgen Garoma
Dr. Admassu Tesso
Dr. Adugna Bersissa
Dr. Tamiru Olana
Dr. Fekadu Tamiru
Dr. Raghavendra HL

First Edition: May 2016

Published by: School of Graduate Studies, Wollega University

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form by any means, including electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
prior written permission of School of Graduate Studies, Wollega University.

All information is correct at the time of publishing and may be subject to change without
notice. The publisher does not bear any responsibility for any incorrect information or
omission. Every measure has been taken to make these guidelines comprehensive and
accurate.

Copyright © Wollega University, 2016

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 Table of Contents
No. Contents Page No
1 Introduction 1-2
2 Formatting and Style Guide
A Paper Quality 3
B Page Margin 3
C Font Size 3
D Headings and Subheadings 4-5
E Typing, Line Spacing and Paragraphing 5
F Pagination 5
G Tables and Figures 6
H Using Bold and Italics 6
I Other Styles and Formats 7
J Length of Thesis and Dissertation 7-8
3 Research Proposal Writing Guidelines
A Introduction 9
B Contents of the Research Proposal 9-10
1 Cover Page 11
2 Approval Sheet 11
3 Acknowledgements (Optional) 11
4 Abbreviations and Acronyms 11-12
5 Table of Contents 12
6 List of Tables (if any) 12-13
7 List of Figures (if any) 13
8 Abstract 14
9 Introduction 14
10 Literature Review 14-15
11 Materials and Methods/ Research Methodology/ Research Design 15-16
12 Expected Output (if applicable) 16
13 Work Plan 17
14 Budget Breakdown 17
15 References 17
16 Appendices 18
4 Thesis or Dissertation Writing Guidelines
A Options for the Ph.D Dissertation Writing 19-21
B General Structure of the Thesis or Dissertation 21-22
C Preliminary Pages of the Thesis/ Dissertation
1 Cover Page 22
2 Title Page 22
3 Approval Sheet 22-23

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 4 Dedication (optional) 23
5 Statement of the Author 23
6 Biographical Sketch 23
7 Acknowledgements 23
8 Acronyms and Abbreviations 23-24
9 Table of Contents 24
10 Lists of Tables 24
11 List of Figures (if any) 24
12 Abstract 24-25
D Text or Narrative Part of the Thesis or Dissertation
13 Introduction 25
14 Literature Review 25-26
15 Materials and Methods/ Research Methodology/ Research Design 26-28
16 Results and Discussion 28-29
17 Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations 30-31
18 References 31
19 Appendices 31-32
5 Guide for Reference Citation 33-40
6 Sample Pages 41-63
1 Master’s Research Proposal Cover Page 42
2 Ph.D Dissertation Research Proposal Cover Page 43
3 Table of Contents 44-45
4 Master’s Thesis Cover Page 46
5 Master’s Thesis Title Page 47
6 Ph.D Dissertation Cover Page 48
7 Ph.D Dissertation Title Page 49
8 Table of Contents (Monograph Format) 50-51
9 Table of Contents (Integrated Article Format) 52-53
10 Statement of the Author 54
11 Abbreviations and Acronyms 55
12 List of Tables 56
13 List of Figures 57
14 List of Tables in the Appendix 58
15 List of Figures in the Appendix 59
16 Abstract 60
17 References 61
18 Approval Sheet for Research Proposal 62
19 Approval Sheet for Submission of Thesis and Dissertation 63
Authors Check List 64

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 Wollega University
Post Box No: 395, Nekemte, Ethiopia.

Website: http://www.wollegauniversity.edu.et/

Tel: +251 57 6617981

Fax: +521 57 6617980
 Office of the Academic Vice President
WOLLEGA UNIVERSITY
P.O. Box: 395, Nekemte, Ethiopia.

Research Writing Manual

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia.
 1. Introduction
Thesis or dissertation is a written report of a research study undertaken in the fulfillment or
partial fulfillment of a graduate degree such as a doctorate, a master’s degree, a bachelors
(honors’) degree, or a postgraduate diploma. The primary purpose of a thesis or dissertation
is to train a students in the processes of scholarly research and writing under the direction of
members of the Graduate Faculty. It is an undertaking that allows you to explore areas or
problems in detail, and develop and utilize thinking and analytical skills. A thesis or
dissertation should demonstrate a capacity for independent thinking, contribute to existing
scholarship and must meet international standards for such scholarly research. After the
student has graduated and the work is published, it serves as a contribution to human
knowledge, useful to other scholars and perhaps even to a more general audience.

To this effect, Wollega University has established format standards that theses and
dissertations must meet before receiving the final approval as fulfillment of graduate
requirements. This publication sets forth those standards. Some of these requirements are
purely technical; others have been established to ensure that certain vital information is
presented in an orderly, uniform manner.

Remember that this guide might be revised from time to time, and you must meet current
requirements. One should have a fair amount of discretion with regard to style, but must be
consistent in format throughout. The work should be written in clear, and grammatically
correct English, with words spelled and punctuated correctly.

This manual provides essential information how to prepare and submit thesis and
dissertations in a format acceptable to the School of Graduate Studies at Wollega
University. After reading this manual, we hope that you will be carefully documenting the
research, theories, methods, results and conclusion of your efforts; and well-written and
well-formatted work will reflect favorably upon you and Wollega University Graduate
School. When completed, your thesis or dissertation must follow a format and style that are
acceptable, consistent with your field of knowledge.

Advisor’s Responsibility
Advisor serves as a mentor both while the student is doing the thesis work and while the
results of that work are prepared for the thesis. Although the student has primary

1
responsibility for the content, quality, and format of the thesis, the advisor must be
consulted frequently for the consistency and originality of the work. Advisors are
particularly asked to insure that the thesis summarizes clearly and concisely.

Student’s Responsibility
The author bears ultimate responsibility for meeting all of the School of Graduate Studies
requirements and is also responsible for making all arrangements for the preparation and
submission of the thesis as well as any additional copies required by the department.
Besides, the student should consider the following:

1. Refer to the School of Graduate Studies Research and Publication Handbook for
guidelines regarding correct format for thesis presentation,
2. Edit draft for correct sentence structure, grammar, paragraphing, punctuation, and
spelling,
3. Prepare tables in the form in which they are to be printed,
4. Furnish numbering and legends for all tables and illustrative materials,
5. Proofread the final copy and check that corrections are made accurately,
6. Submit a soft as well as a hard copy to the Graduate Council for review, and
7. Submit the final copy getting approved by the Graduate Council

It is extremely important for the author to carefully review and proofread the thesis or
dissertation before the final submission. After the final approval is made by the committee,
no changes are permitted.

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 2. Formatting and Style Guide
Preparation of a thesis is one of the most important parts of research work leading to a
graduate or doctoral degree. This formatting and style guide is meant to help you meet the
required standard of organization, appearance, and format for theses. Research writing
requires consistency in style and format throughout the research work and certain rules are
presented below in order to maintain consistency throughout this manual.

A. Paper Quality
A4 (8.27ʺ (Width) X 11.69ʺ (Height) inch) size white paper should be used for both typing
and printing the final copy. Paper with 75-80 GMS containing at least 25% cotton fiber or
rag content should be used for printing purpose. An acid-free, non-yellowing paper is
recommended but not required. "Corrasable" paper is not acceptable, since it smears easily,
and the ink has a tendency to fade with the passage of time. Hole-punched paper may not
be used, as it creates problems with binding.

B. Page Margins
The same margins should be applied to all pages including those of figures and tables.
These margins must be adhered to at all times. Extra wide margins or too narrow margins
are not acceptable. If a chart, graph, or table or figure runs over the top or bottom margins,
it must be reset to fit or reduced to fit within the space of the margins.
Left side Right side Top side Bottom side
of the paper of the paper of the paper of the paper
Inches 1.25 1 1 1
Centimetres (cm) 3.175 2.54 2.54 2.54
Millimetres (mm) 31.75 25.4 25.4 25.4

C. Font Size
Fonts should be clean and easily readable. The recommended font style is Times New
Roman with minimum font size of 12 points (pts). Minimum font size for captions is 10 pts.
The same font should be used throughout the research proposal, thesis or dissertation. The
cover page of the thesis or dissertation proposal is presented in 14-16 pts font size. The
thesis or dissertation will also have an additional title page where 14-16 point font size shall
be used. The text used in the cover and title page in the thesis and dissertation will be in
bold face font.

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D. Headings and Subheadings
Headings represent the major division and subdivision of the thesis. There are many
different ways of formatting headings and subheadings. Headings should be distinguished
from the surrounding text by a larger point size with title case (the first letter of each major
word of the headings is written in upper case letters), bolding, italics, or a combination of
these. All headings of the same level should use the same style, and headings at lower levels
should be less prominent than those at higher levels. All remaining lower level headings are
written in sentence case, i.e. only the first letter of the heading will be in upper case unless
required by grammatical or nomenclature rules. Each of the titles of the preliminary sections
and the chapters of the narrative should be written in bold upper case letters and centered.

Headings should clearly reflect what the chapter or section is about, and should be
expressed in the form of a concise noun phase (normally less than one line), not a sentence.
Information which is present in a higher level heading need not be repeated in a subordinate
heading.

The chapter headings i.e. main heading of the narrative must be numbered with Arabic
numerals starting from 1 for the Introduction and ending with 7 or 8 or 9 for the Appendix.
The Arabic numerals shall be followed by a period, a space and the title of the chapter
without the word “Chapter”. Note that the titles of the preliminary sections are not
numbered.

The second level headings, i.e. subheadings, are numbered consecutively with Arabic
numerals in an outline numbering system (e.g., 1.1., 1.2., 1.3., 1.4., etc. for subheadings of
Chapter 1; 2.1., 2.2., 2.3., 2.4., etc. for subheadings of Chapter 2; etc.). Likewise, the outline
numbering system will be used for lower level (sub- subheadings) headings (e.g. 1.1.1.,
1.1.2., 1.1.3., 1.1.4., etc. for subheadings under 1.1.; 2.1.1., 2.1.2., 2.1.3., 2.1.4., etc. for
those under 2.1.1.; 1.1.1.1., 1.1.1.2., 1.1.1.3., 1.1.1.4., etc. for subheadings under 1.1.1; and
2.1.1.1., 2.1.1.2, 2.1.1.3., 2.1.1.4., etc. under 2.1.1.; etc.). There shall be at least two
subheadings should discussed under the higher-level heading, in order to have a numbered
subheading.

All headings should be left-aligned, except chapter headings, which may be centred. An
extra line should separate the headings from the narrative. No headings, subheadings or
captions of tables or figures are underlined. A heading at the bottom of the page must have

4
at least two full lines of text below it. Otherwise, the heading should begin on the next page.
Captions related to visual material (graphs, tables, maps) should appear on the same page as
the material itself.

E. Typing, Line Spacing and Paragraphing

Typing and printing must be on one side of the paper only. Line spacing, of all text should
be 1.5 lines spacing except references. For bibliographic references single-spaced with
space of 5 pts after each reference. Abstract, long quotations, headings, and captions should
be single-spaced. Multi-lined subdivision headings, figure, table, and scheme captions,
footnotes, and endnotes should all be single-spaced as well.

All paragraphs should be in block style paragraph format (Meaning: where the left margins
are perfectly aligned or right justified).

F. Pagination
Every page in a dissertation or thesis should be assigned a number, beginning with the title
page and ending with the Appendix. Each component of the preliminary section, each
chapter of the narrative, the References chapter and the Appendix must start on a new page.
As a rule, each component of the preliminary section should be short and not exceed one
page. Exceptions to the latter may be for the Table of Contents, Acronyms and
Abbreviations and the List of Tables and List of Figures. The use of two different types of
page numbering is recommended.

Numbering the Preliminary Pages: Small Roman numerals (ii, iii, iv, etc.) are placed at
the bottom center of the page, starting with the Approval Page as ii. The Title Page is
counted, but is not numbered.

Numbering the Text Pages: Beginning with the first page of the text (Chapter 1 or
Introduction), all pages including the references and appendices, are numbered
consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4 etc.). The first page of actual text is page 1
and page numbers are centered at the bottom of the page (font should be Times New
Roman). Page numbers will not include periods or dashes.

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G. Tables and Figures
Tables are generally used to list tabulated numerical data, while figures are generally used
to present nonverbal material (e.g., graphs or illustrations). Graphic materials may also be
presented with photographic reproductions. Author should decide the most appropriate way
to present his data and should not use tables and figures for the same data discussed in the
text. Tables and figures should be single line spaced. Borders are required above and below
the column headings and below the last row of the table. Tables and figures should be
logically placed in the text of the thesis or dissertation and should be as close as possible to
the results narrative where those tables and figures are first cited.

The Title of the table should be mentioned at the top of the respective table, where as figure
title should mentioned at the bottom of the respective figure. The headings within the Tables
and Figures can be bolded. Tables and figures should be consistent in format throughout the
document. Tables and Figures which are more than one page in length are strongly
discouraged. Also, the author is responsible for checking computational correctness in the
tables and figures. In addition, the numerical values cited in the narrative should match
those in the tables. Significance levels should be indicated by the use of an asterisk.

All tables and figures should have a clear and concise caption. Table notes may be used to
describe the contents of the caption or column headings cross-referenced using super-
scripted numbers. For ease in readability, landscaping of tables and figures is encouraged
as necessary. Empty space between the tables and figures and the narrative should not
exceed two double spaces. Tables and figures should be clearly presented and self-
explanatory. The reader should be able to understand them without reading the narrative of
the results.

H. Using Bold and Italics

Well-crafted text usually does not require typeface variations for emphasis. Avoid
underlining, bolding, or italicizing text purely for emphasis only. However, the use of bold
or italics with a scientific reason is acceptable. Scientific names in any part of the research
proposal, thesis or dissertation should be written in italic font with the genus name starting
with a capital letter. The species epithet will appear in a small letter. Similarly, no English
language terminology such as words, nouns, or pronouns shall be italicized.

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I. Other Style and Formats
 Avoid ending pages with one-line paragraphs or with only the first line of text of a
paragraph continuing on the following page (these are commonly called “orphans”).
Paragraphs ending pages of text must contain at least two lines of text or be moved to
the top of the following page. This rule also applies to “hanging” subdivision headings,
which are without at least two lines of text immediately following the heading on the
same page.
 New pages of text must not begin with the last line of paragraphs carried over from
previous pages (these are commonly called “widows”). Instead, set Microsoft Word’s
Widow/Orphan Control so that the program will automatically take care of this for you.
 APA reference style should be used throughout the document.
 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) and USD (If necessary) shall be used for budget currency
discussions.
 All measurements should be given in metric units.
 Correct grammatical rules should be followed throughout the research writing.
 One should avoid using the personal pronouns such as 'I', 'we', 'me' and 'my'.
 Conversational contractions such as shouldn’t, can’t, and won’t should be avoided.
 Use of technical jargon should be minimized.
 Long, over-complicated, or awkward sentences should be avoided.
 Avoid common colloquial (slang) words and expressions (colloquialisms)
 There should be no misspelled words or grammatical errors throughout the research
writing. Students must proofread the work before submitting and are strongly
encouraged to use the “Spelling and Grammar” check in the Microsoft Word to avoid
language problems.

J. Length of Thesis and Dissertation

One of the skills of completing a thesis or dissertation is writing within the word length.
This is one of the factors that examiners consider as they mark your work.

A PhD thesis should not normally exceed 100,000 words of text (including appendices and
additional materials). However, the School of Graduate Studies, Wollega University
suggests the following limits:

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PhD: 70,000 to 100,000 words (Allowing 250 words per page and should not exceed 360
pages).

Master's by Research: 30,000 to 40,000 words (should not exceed 150 pages).

In all cases, you should consult School of Graduate Studies, if you want to submit a thesis
greater than these limits.

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 3. Research Proposal Writing Guidelines
A. Introduction
There is no one "definitive" way to choose a research topic and to get it accepted. A thesis
proposal can be considered as a ‘road map’ in which one outlines the steps that will be taken
during the execution of one’s research project. The proposal should locate the project within
the major theoretical tradition that informs the work and outlines the major substantive
research findings in the field. The key is to review the assumptions and claim others have
made about the research domain to be investigated and to discuss the strength and weakness
of these assessments as well as the reason underpinning one’s position. The main issue to
bear in mind is that one is trying to ‘locate’ one’s central research question within a broader
intellectual context, and not to reproduce all the work previously done in the area. By
writing M.Sc/M.A thesis or Ph.D dissertation, a student is making the claim that he/she has
something to say, and present some foundation, perspective, and evidence upon which to
advance the understanding of the issue(s) being investigated.

Given that a proposal is the initial statement of one’s research project, it normally begins
with a brief, concise, and clear statement of the central research question. The latter can be
thought of as a ‘puzzle’ or problem one is attempting to resolve. At the proposal stage, one
is not expected to have the answer or solution for the problem to be investigated during the
research. The proposal should address the expected results and, most importantly, the
methodological steps that will be utilized throughout the research process. That said, one
should, however, specify a “working thesis” i.e. tentative answer or line of reasoning. A
well-designed research proposal paves a way for the ultimate success of M.Sc/M.A
Thesis/Ph.D Dissertation. Furthermore, all graduate students of Wollega University should
follow a uniform pattern of preparation of their research proposals and thesis/dissertation in
order to avoid difficulties in evaluation and supervision. To this end, the formats that
Graduate Students of Wollega University should follow in preparing their M.Sc/M.A or
Ph.D dissertation research proposal are briefly described in the following sections.

B. Contents of the Research Proposal

The research proposal which is going to submit by a graduate student for a master’s or Ph.D
degree is expected to have the following standard order of components although there may
be some limited variations based on the academic discipline. Each of these sections should
start on a new page.

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Preliminary Pages of Research Proposal
1. Cover Page
2. Approval Sheet
3. Acknowledgements (optional)
4. Acronyms and Abbreviations
5. Table of Contents
6. List of Tables (if any)
7. List of Figures (if any)
8. List of Appendix Tables (if any)
9. List of Appendix Figures (if any)
10. Abstract (Indicative/Executive summary) (Optional)

Components of Thesis/Dissertation Proposal

11. Introduction
 Background of the Study
 Statement of the problem
 Research questions/hypothesis
 Objectives
 General objective
 Specific objectives
 Delimitations/Scope of the study (if applicable)
 Significance of the study (if applicable)
12. Literature Review
13. Materials and Methods/ Methodology/ Research Design
14. Expected Output (if applicable)
15. Work Plan
16. Budget Breakdown
17. References
18. Appendix

The description of each sections of the research proposal follows:

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1. Cover Page
The cover page should be informative, free from any ambiguity and incompleteness. It
should contain the title of the research proposal, name of the University and the School of
Graduate Studies, the name of the graduate student, faculty or college, the department, the
program of the study, and the major and the co-advisors. The place, month and year are put
as the last items on the cover page. The student must make sure that the cover page is free
from any spelling and grammatical errors. Title case letters are recommended in the style of
writing although the name of the University and the School of Graduate Studies are usually
in bold capital letters.
Title: The title of thesis or dissertation research proposal should be short, clear, specific to
the study and concise. The title should accurately capture and reflect the overall objective of
the proposed study. Scientific and botanical names and phrases may be included in the title.
Specific rules apply to capitalization of non-English words including Latin words such as
genus and species.

Sample cover pages for master’s thesis research proposals and PhD. dissertation are
provided in Sample Page No 42 & 43.

2. Approval Sheet
Each proposal submitted for evaluation should have the approval sheet and the approval
sheet will be the second item of a Master’s thesis/PhD dissertation research proposal.
Students may obtain the format of the APPROVAL SHEET either from their respective
departments or from the office of the Dean of School of Graduate Studies. A sample page
for approval sheet is given in Approval Sheet No 62.

3. Acknowledgements (Optional)
Acknowledgments are a statement of appreciation for financial support, institution, mentors,
advisors, colleagues, friends and family, for their support during your research work.
Recognition of colleagues’ or mentors’ direct contributions to the work and of awards or
funding sources that provided support for the work will appear in a subsequent section.

4. Abbreviations and Acronyms

The use of author coined and not common abbreviations are to be avoided or minimized.
For author coined abbreviations, use first letter of key words in upper case. List them in
alphabetical order of the terms written in full form. No abbreviations must be used in title or

11
at the beginning of a sentence. Each abbreviation should be defined in full when it is first
used in the proposal followed by its abbreviation in brackets. Standard International (S.I.)
units of measurement should be used in the proposal. In the narrative, each abbreviation
other than S.I. units and each acronym should be defined in full when it is first used and
then followed by its abbreviation or acronym in parentheses. Standard units and
internationally known abbreviations do not need to be listed. Abbreviations and symbols
such as i.e., e.g., etc. should be italicized. A sample list of Abbreviations or Acronyms and
Abbreviations is shown in Sample Page No 55.

5. Table of Contents
All of the headings and entries in the Table of Contents should correspond exactly in
wording, font and case with the headings or entries as they appear in the text of the
proposal. The table of contents should capture the main titles and subtitles (Up to three
levels) in the text (proposal/thesis). In the “table of contents”, all major parts, divisions and
subdivisions should be listed. The word “title” and “page” in the content page is to be
avoided and so also dotted lines (Tab leaders) connecting headings and respective page
numbers. Notation for subdivisions of the subheadings should not exceed four decimals.
Also, there should be no dotted lines connecting headings and respective pages. A table of
contents exceeding a page shall continue on the next pages by rewriting the title on the top-
center on each additional table of contents page as “TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)”.
A Table of Contents is shown in the sample pages that illustrate the capitalization,
indentation, line spacing between the headings and the numbering of sections. A sample
Table of Content pages is shown in Sample Page No 44 and 45.

6. List of Tables (if any)

The “List of Tables” is constituted of the captions of the tables included in the proposal. In
the research proposal writing, the requirement for the List of Tables is not as important as
its requirement in the final thesis/ dissertation. However, there may be few tables especially
in the materials and methods section, which contain the work plan, budget breakdown and
so on. In such case, the need for having the “List of Tables” comes into picture. In any case,
the “List of Tables” comes next to the Table of Contents. The following points should be
taken into account while preparing the “List of Tables”:

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  In the text, all Tables are numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals starting with
“Table 1” for the table that appeared first in the proposal/thesis/ dissertation, and the
captions apart from being short and descriptive, must appear on the top of each table.
 In the list of tables, the number of tables, the caption (or title) with all entries
corresponding exactly in wording (including fonts and cases) with that in the text and
the page number of the proposal on which table occurs are entered.
 Only the initial letters of the first word and of proper nouns are capitalized both in the
text and in the List of Tables.
 No terminal punctuation is used for the headings or after any title listed therein.
The words “Table” and “Pages” with their initial letters in capitals head their respective
columns, flush with the margin. Refer Sample Page No 56.

7. List of Figures (if any)

This section is constituted of the captions of the Figures and/or Illustrations included in the
proposal. Similar to that of “List of Tables”, the requirement for the “List of Figures” in the
M.Sc/M.A/Ph.D thesis/dissertation research proposal is minimal unless the proposal has a
reasonable number of figures or illustrations. When the “List of Figures” or Illustrations is
found to be necessary, it comes next to the List of Tables. The major points to be observed
in preparing the list of Figures/Illustrations include:
 In the text, all Figures and Illustrations are numbered consecutively (with Arabic
numerals) starting with “Figure 1”, for the Figure or Illustration which appeared first in
the proposal. Captions, apart from being short and descriptive, must appear on the
bottom of each Figure.
 In the list of Figures or Illustrations, the Figure number, the caption or title with all the
entries corresponding exactly in wording (including fonts and cases) with that in the
text and the page number of manuscript on which each figure occurs are entered.
 Only the initial letters of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized both in the text
and in the list of Figures.
 No terminal punctuation is used for the headings or after any listed therein.

The words “Figure” and “Page” with their initial letters in capitals head their respective
columns, flush from the margin. A sample List of Figures is shown in Sample Page. If
there isn’t any List of Tables, it comes immediately after the ‘Table of Contents’ page.
Refer Sample Page No 57.

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8. Abstract (Indicative/Executive summary) (Optional)
The abstract should present a brief summary of the research proposal indicating the
problem, objectives and methodology and data analysis methods. Abstract should not
exceed one page and should be single-spaced and not paragraphed. It should give an
overview of the proposal. Refer Sample Page No 60.

9. Introduction
The introduction of the research proposal provides pertinent background information on the
research project and should be as brief as possible. Ideally, it should not exceed four pages
in length. Using the future tense as appropriate, the introduction includes:

i) Background (should explain the background or context in which the research is set,
and to lay out its significance for the field)
ii) Statement of the Problem (clearly identified problem or knowledge gap that his
project is responding to)
iii) Significance of the Study (benefits and the beneficiaries of the findings of the study)
iv) Objectives of the Study (General Objective and Specific Objectives), hypotheses and
research questions

10. Literature Review

The literature review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work
that the researcher is carrying out. Obviously, at this point the researcher is not likely to
have read everything related to his/her research questions, but he/she should still be able to
identify the key texts with which he/she will be in conversation as he/she writes the selected
thesis/dissertation. Literature reviews often include both the theoretical approaches to the
topic and research (empirical or analytical) on your topic. In this section of Literature
Review, student should demonstrate evidence of understanding of current research on the
subject under investigation and show clear gaps in knowledge that will be discussed. It
should be a critical analysis of the relevant existing knowledge on the proposed research
topic. It includes the strengths, the limitations and gaps of previous studies. The literature
review should be relevant with recent citations on the topic. Citations within the past five
years are ideal and generally considered current. Citations of ten years and above should be
used sparingly and only when necessary. Unpublished documents and lay sources like
encyclopedias are discouraged. Serious care must be given to avoid any possible

14
consideration of plagiarism. This is done by the student carefully tracking and referencing
each and every document used in the research.

11. Materials and Methods/ Methodology/ Research Design

This Chapter highlights methodological details appropriate to the study. It describes
precisely what will be done and how it will be done, what data will be recorded, the
proposed tools or instruments to be used in data collection and the methods of analyzing the
data. In this section, the student should give clear, specific, appropriate and credible
procedures that will be followed to attain the proposed objectives of the study. The research
design planned for use should be clearly stated. The research methods should be appropriate
to the problem area, i.e., the statement of the problem, the objectives and the hypotheses. In
selecting appropriate research methods and techniques, the student should be able to answer
the question: "Precisely how will I conduct the proposed research.”

The main purpose of this section is to provide enough details for a competent worker to
repeat a certain study and reproduce the results. The scientific method requires that results
be reproducible, and you must provide a basis for repetition of the study by others. The
student should consider affordability, time issues, feasibility of the study and availability of
equipment and supplies. All should address the methods of data collection, data quality
control and methods of data analysis.

Methodological details appropriate to the study include,

1. Definition of Terms (optional)
2. Definition and Measurement of Variables (optional)
3. Study Area or Experimental Site
4. Study Period
5. Study Design (Experimental Design/Research Design)
6. Description of Study Population- inclusive and exclusive criteria, the source
population, the study population and sample population (optional)
7. Sampling Techniques- sample size calculation and sampling methods (optional)
8. Validity and Reliability of the Data
9. Data Collection- questionnaires, use of observation, focus group discussions, in-depth
interviews, laboratory analysis and similar methods. The description should outline the
data to be collected in the study, the methods of measurement and the units of
measurement.

15
10. Data Analysis - how the data generated will be analyzed. Descriptions of the data
analytical methods, techniques, tools and statistical tests that will be used in analyzing
the data should be provided. Software planned for use in statistical analysis may also be
mentioned.
11. Data Quality Control -Where required, discuss how to check the data collection
instruments, the plans for ensuring confidentiality of data when appropriate, and
describe the reliability and validity of instruments used in the research.

Ethics in Conducting Research

Ethical considerations are critical to the completion of any type of research and should
ensure the privacy, safety, health, social sensitivities and welfare of either animal or human
participants. Examples of ethical issues include:

1. The benefits and risks for participant’s involvement in the study

2. Clear and exact description of the information to be delivered to the subjects of the
study
3. Discussion of the procedures for informed consent by the study participants where
applicable
4. Indication of how the data will be kept secure and confidential and
5. List of drugs, vaccines, diagnoses, clinical procedures and instruments to be used and
their description
In recognizing the critical nature of ethics, the formal approval of the planned research
study by a university or national ethics review committee must be conducted and must be
stated in the research proposal. When studying human and animal subjects, ethical
principles include respect for the subjects, beneficence, justice. It is necessary to refer the
National Health Research Ethics Review Guidelines dated 2005, 4th Edition (Revised)
prepared by the Ethiopian Science and Technology Council for more information.

12. Expected Output (if applicable)

The “expected output” section has to contain some anticipated results in a very broad sense.
It emanates from the objective(s) of the proposal deemed to be addressed or hypothesis to
be tested and proved. In this section, it is hardly possible to illustrate the specific outcomes
of the research work. However, it is possible to estimate or anticipate the general outcomes
of the proposed work.

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13. Work Plan
The act of submitting the work plan in the research proposal systematizes the study and
minimizes the natural tendency to procrastinate. A detailed work plan showing jobs to be
done in the main phases of the study and the time sequence (the operating schedule),
conveniently presented in the form of table, is essential, if the project is to be carried out
smoothly and efficiently.

Many proposals also include a schedule with anticipated completion dates for specific parts
of the thesis/dissertation. This timeline helps your committee determine if your project is
realistic given available methods and institutional requirements (such as deadlines for
submission, etc.). Setting a schedule can also help you manage your time more effectively
by setting specific goals for yourself.

14. Budget Breakdown

The “Budget Breakdown” section is part of the research proposal where financial and
material requirements for the implementation of the proposed work are indicated. In this
section, the student has to clearly indicate the required budget for personnel, travel, per-
diem, equipments, materials and associated services and expendable supplies. Realistic
estimate has to be made during allocating budget for each requirement. The maximum limit
per student’s research proposal may be set by the graduate program and/or sponsoring
organization. It would be wise to include contingency allowance of 5% to offset inflation
rate that may occur in between proposed date and actual implementation of the research
work. It is usually prepared in tabular form and summarized at the end in one Table.

15. References
References should be single-spaced with 9 pts space after each reference and listed
alphabetically in the reference list. For citations within the text, the format of author and
year of publication is recommended. Use the latest American Psychology Association. The
references chapter must include all works cited in the research proposal. In-text citations
and references should carefully follow the style shown in Part 5 of this manual which
provides many samples and Refer Sample Page No 61.

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16. Appendices (if any)
It includes, for example, information such as drafts of questionnaires in English and other
languages, participant informed consent forms, observation check lists, pictures and
specifications of the equipment used in the research, mathematical formulae or derivations,
a map of the study area, a detailed description of the sample selection procedures and
dummy tables.

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 4. Thesis and Dissertation Writing Guidelines

A. Options for Writing Dissertation

A Thesis or dissertation has a special function in the academic community. This written
piece of text, functions as a kind of scholarly qualifying piece of work, through which the
author is admitted into the society of academics seen as sharing some sort of common
ground in terms of expert knowledge, skills, critical thinking, rigour, and scientific values.
Student has two options to write his or her thesis or dissertation for the Master’s or Doctor
of Philosophy degree. One option is the traditional and more common format known as the
“monograph” format. The other dissertation format is “Integrated Article” format.

Monograph Format: The monograph, which can be seen as the more traditional type, is
written as a coherent and synoptic text. The monograph format shares a similar format with
the traditional thesis. The thesis should be in the order of:

Structure of Monograph Format

Preliminary Pages
 Cover Page
 Title page
 Dedication (optional)
 Preface (optional)
 Acknowledgements
 Table of Contents (listing chapter heads and subheads, bibliographies, and appendices)
 List of Illustrations/Photographs/Maps (if any)
 List of Tables and Figures (if any)
 List of Symbols, Nomenclature, or Abbreviations (if any)
 Abstract (shouldn’t exceed one page; not more than 300 words for master’s and 400 for
doctoral thesis or dissertation)

Text Pages
 Body of Text (Introduction, Review of Literature, Materials and Methods, Results and
Discussion (may be presented separate), Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations)
 Footnotes/Endnotes (as applicable to your discipline)
 References

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  Appendices (if any)

Integrated Article Format: The manuscript option is considered an equivalent to the

traditional dissertation document format. The manuscript format, however, is different in
both appearance and format. It, first, includes a summary of the dissertation of perhaps
twenty to thirty pages in length. In preparing the dissertation summary, the student will be
cautious to minimize redundancy in making references to the respective manuscripts which
follow in the dissertation while presenting the methods and presenting the results and
discussion. This dissertation summary will then be followed by a collection of both
published and unpublished articles on the subject matter that he or she and members of the
advisory committee have written together. These articles will be either reprints of
publications with prior permission from the journal editor or drafts in manuscript format.
So, the manuscript format will have a summary of the dissertation which is followed by a
collection of published and unpublished articles originating from the dissertation research.
In order of appearance:

Preliminary Pages
 Cover Page
 Title Page
 Examining Committee Signature Page
 Dedication (optional)
 Preface (optional)
 Acknowledgements (optional); should appear in the prefatory pages only and not in
each paper
 Table of Contents (listing chapter heads and subheads, bibliographies, and appendices)
 List of Tables (if any)
 List of Figures or Illustrations (if any)
 List of Symbols, Nomenclature, or Abbreviations (if any)
 Abstract (not more than 300 words for master’s and 400 words for doctoral; shouldn’t
exceed one page)

Body of the Text

 Introductory chapter (Introduction) to the entire thesis with its own bibliography

20
  Each subsequent chapter, consisting of an “article” with an abstract, but with its own
bibliography
 Final chapter (General Discussion and Conclusions), to relate the separate studies to
each other and to a relevant discipline or field of study. This section has its own
bibliography.

These two options are now offered to the doctoral students to provide some varieties in the
preparation of their dissertations. The two options also provide an opportunity for students
who have published extensively to highlight their writing and publishing activities while
working on their dissertations. Decisions about the choice of format can be made during the
preparation of the dissertation with academic advisors. The School of Graduate Studies for
best owing the Ph.D degree will accept both formats.

The discussion below focuses on the more common monograph format. This format will be
the only accepted format for master’s degree thesis preparation although it will be one of the
two options for Ph.D dissertations.

B. General Structure of Thesis or Dissertation

Preliminary Sections of the Thesis or Dissertation are,
1. Cover Page
2. Title Page
3. Approval Sheet
4. Dedication (optional)
5. Statement of the Author
6. Biographical Sketch
7. Acknowledgements
8. Acronyms and Abbreviations
9. Table of Contents
10. List of Tables
11. List of Figures (if any)
12. Abstract

The Text Part of the Thesis or Dissertation

13. Introduction
14. Literature Review

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 15. Materials and Methods/ Research Methodology/ Research Design
16. Results and Discussion (results and discussion may be written in two separate
chapters)
17. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
18. References
19. Appendix

C. Preliminary Pages of the Thesis/ Dissertation

1. Cover Page
The final copy of the thesis/dissertation must be hardbound in black or brown with gold
letterings. The cover page is the first page of a thesis or dissertation. The logo and name of
the University should be centered in the top of the cover page. The thesis title should be
centered in the middle of the cover page, and describe the content of the thesis accurately
and precisely. Information regarding name of the author, degree, subject, and department
should be centered in the lower third of the page. The month, year and place should be
centered at the bottom of the page. This is the only page of a thesis or dissertation for which
a page number is not assigned. It is preferably printed on hard paper. Please refer to the
sample pages for the thesis and dissertation. Refer the sample page No 46 and 48.

2. Title Page
The title page is the second page of a thesis or dissertation and the first page for which a
page number is assigned although it does not have a number typed on it. It includes the title
of the thesis or dissertation, the name of the college or school, University, the degree for
which the thesis or dissertation is presented, the name of the candidate and the month, year
and place of submission. The names of the members of the advisory committee of the Ph.D
candidate are given. Likewise, the advisor and co-advisor of the master’s thesis are provided
in this title page. Refer the sample page No 47 and 49.

3. Approval Sheet
Approval sheet is a separate page containing the name of author, title and the signatures of
the committee members with their designations. Only persons who have been assigned by
the Examination Committee to confirm the corrections to be made to the thesis shall sign
this approval page. The approval sheet will be available from the School of Graduate
Studies. The final approval page will be incorporated into the student’s thesis or dissertation

22
after being signed by the board of examiners and members of the advisory committee or
advisors. The signing of the document will occur after a successful open defense and all
required revisions to the document arising from the defense. Refer the sample page No 63.

4. Dedication (Optional)
Dedication page is optional and may be included by author interest. The dedication should
be short and concise and ideally no more than one sentence long.

5. Statement of the Author

The researcher must declare that the thesis is his/her own work and that all contributions
from any other persons or sources are properly and duly cited. The researcher further
declares that it does not constitute any previous work whether published or otherwise. A
template of the Statement of the Author is shown in the Sample Page No 54.

6. Biographical Sketch
The biographical sketch of the author should be brief. It should include only the student’s
date and place of birth, schools attended and professional work experience along with any
awards (if any).

7. Acknowledgements
Usually contains written expressions of appreciation for guidance and assistance from
individuals or/and institutions. The acknowledgements should not exceed 400 words (or a
page). The Acknowledgements page recognizes the persons and/or institutions the student is
indebted to for guidance and assistance received, and those to whom he or she is thankful
for special aid or support. Any reference to religious deities in a research proposal, thesis or
dissertation should be avoided.

8. Acronyms and Abbreviations

The use of author coined and not common abbreviations are to be avoided or minimized.
For author coined abbreviations use first letter of key words in upper case. List them in
alphabetical order of the terms written in full form. No abbreviations must be used in title or
at the beginning of a sentence. Each abbreviation should be defined in full when it is first
used in the proposal followed by its abbreviation in brackets. Standard International (S.I.)
units of measurement should be used in the proposal. In the narrative, each abbreviation
other than S.I. units and each acronym should be defined in full when it is first used and

23
then followed by its abbreviation or acronym in parentheses. Standard units and
internationally known abbreviations do not need to be listed. Abbreviations and symbols
such as i.e., e.g., etc. should be italicized. A sample list of Abbreviations or Acronyms and
Abbreviations is shown in Sample Page No 55.

9. Table of Contents
The table of contents should capture the main titles and subtitles (Up to three levels) in the
text (proposal/thesis). In the “table of contents”, all major parts, divisions and subdivisions
should be listed. Here, the convenience of the reader should be the guiding consideration. In
so doing, all the headings or entries in the content page should correspond exactly in
wordings, fonts and cases with the headings as they appear in the text. The word “title” and
“page” in the content page is to be avoided and so also dotted lines (Tab leaders) connecting
headings and respective page numbers. Notation for subdivisions of the subheadings should
not exceed four decimals. A table of content exceeding a page shall continue on next pages
by rewriting the title on the top-center on each additional table of contents page as “TABLE
OF CONTENTS (Continued)”. A sample Table of Content page is shown in Sample Page
No 50-53.

10. List of Tables

A List of Tables is included in a sample page No 56.

11. List of Figures

A List of Figures is included in a sample page No 57.

List of Tables in the Appendix

A List of Tables in the Appendix is included in a sample page No 58.

List of Figures in the Appendix

A List of Figures in the Appendix is included in a sample page No 59.

12. Abstract
The abstract should state the research problem in brief, describe the methods and procedures
used in gathering data or studying, the problem, and provide a condensed summary of the
findings of the study. The abstract should summarize the background of the study, the

24
methods used, data analysis methods, results obtained and conclusions. A sample abstract is
shown in Sample Page No 60.

D. Text or Narrative Part of the Thesis or Dissertation

Text or Narrative Part of the Thesis or Dissertation is divided into chapters. These chapters
include the Introduction, Literature Review, Materials and Methods, Results and
Discussion, summary, Conclusions and Recommendations, References and Appendix. The
results and discussion may be placed in two separate chapters.

13. Introduction
Introductions may precede the first chapter or major divisions of theses. In these cases, the
heading INTRODUCTION, in capital letters, is centered without punctuation or
underlining. The page number will appear as Arabic numeral 1 on the first page of the text.
This chapter includes the background information on the subject, a statement of the
problem, significance of the study, the need for the study and objectives of the study. The
introduction should not be divided into subchapters or divisions. Rather, all the contents of
the chapter must be presented in a logical order and well organized to maintain a flow of
ideas.
The chapter should be brief. Ideally, the chapter is no more than four pages for a master’s
thesis and six to eight pages for a PhD. dissertation using 1.5 line spacing.

14. Literature Review

The literature review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work
that you are carrying out. Obviously, at this point you are not likely to have read everything
related to your research questions, but you should still be able to identify the key texts with
which you will be in conversation as you write your thesis/dissertation. Literature reviews
often include both the theoretical approaches to your topic and research (empirical or
analytical) on your topic.
 Writing the literature review allows you to understand:
 How other scholars have written about your topic (in addition to what they have
written).
 The range of theories scholars use to analyze their primary materials or data
 How other scholars connect their specific research topics to larger issues, questions,
or practices within the field.

25
  The best methodologies and research techniques for your particular topic.

 The literature review has four major functions or rhetorical goals that you should keep
in mind as you write:
1. It situates the current study within a wider disciplinary conversation.
2. It illustrates the uniqueness, importance of and need for your particular project by
explaining how your research questions and approach are different from those of
other scholars.
3. It justifies methodological choices.
4. It demonstrates your familiarity with the topic and appropriate approaches to
studying it.

 The Literature Review should start with an introduction which specifies the subtitles
of content covered.
 In this section of Literature Review, student should demonstrate evidence of
understanding of current research on the subject under investigation and show clear
gaps in knowledge that will be discussed.
 Appropriate themes for this chapter can be developed using the specific Objectives
of the study. Thus, relevant themes to the study and those derived from related
literature including the theoretical framework guiding the study should be discussed
here.
 The literature review should be consistent with the requirements of the title (internal
consistency) and aspects of the introduction e.g. background to the study.
 The literature review should be properly cited, paraphrased and critiqued.
 The literature review should have a summary of identified gaps in the reviewed
literature.
 Unless for archival studies, 80% of the references used should be less than ten years
old.
 Endeavour to use current refereed journals and periodicals as much as possible.

15. Materials and Methods/ Research Methodology/ Research Design

The main purpose of this section is to provide enough details for a competent worker to
repeat your study and reproduce the results. The scientific method requires that your results

26
be reproducible, and you must provide a basis for repetition of the study by others. This
section should be written in past tense.

Description of the Study Area

Often in field-based studies, there is a need to describe the study area in greater detail than
is possible in the “Introduction” section. Usually, authors describe the study region in
general terms in the Introduction section and then describe the study site and climate in
detail in the Materials and Methods section. In laboratory or green house based studies, this
section could be optional.

Materials Used, Treatments and Design Used (Optional for Social Science students)
This might include the field site description, description of the instruments you will use, and
particularly of the data that you anticipate collecting. Equipment and materials available off
the shelf should be described exactly and sources of materials should be given if there is
variation in quality among supplies. Modifications to equipment or equipment constructed
specifically for the study should be carefully described in detail. The following materials,
but not limited to, could be included in the list of materials used.

Data Collection
This section describes in detail how the data will be/were (proposal/final thesis/dissertation)
obtained and the timelines involved in collecting the data. Information commonly provided
in this section includes what materials will be/were distributed (e.g. survey instrument,
cover letter, instruction sheets, self addressed stamped envelope, etc.), how they will
be/were distributed (e.g. mailed to each participant, mailed to someone who distributed
them to each participant, etc.), and when they will be/were distributed. Beginning and
ending dates for data collection are often included in this section.

Data Analysis
This section describes in detail treatment and analysis of the collected data. Methods of data
analysis are primarily determined by the hypotheses to be tested or research questions to be
answered (which also determine the format of the instrument and how the data are gathered)
and the level of data being gathered (nominal, ordinal, and/or interval). When several
hypotheses/research questions are being addressed, it is helpful to describe the data analysis
that will be used for each hypothesis/research question. It will include the statistical
techniques and the tools that will be used in processing (analyzing) the data. Description of

27
the analytical method(s), technique(s), tool(s) and statistical tests that will be used in
analyzing the data to discover the truth should be given. The data analysis procedure(s)
should be appropriate to the problem on the basis of existing theory, past research and
resources (time, money, and facilities) available.

Tips on drafting methodology section:

 Break down your methodology into easily digestible subsections.
 In the physical sciences, these sections may include subjects, design, apparatus,
instrumentation, process, analysis, etc.
 In the social sciences, these sections may include selection of participants, interview
process, profiles, interpretive and analytic framework, methods of qualitative analysis,
etc.
 In the humanities, these sections may include scholarly research, archival research,
theoretical orientation, etc.
 Remember that your methods section may also require supporting literature.
 Anticipate and pre-empt the audience’s methodological concerns.
 If the audience might have a problem with a facet of the methodology, admit this
difficulty and justify your approach.
 If your methodology may lead to problems you can anticipate (including timeframe
problems), state this openly and show why pursuing the methodology outweighs the
risk of these problems cropping up.

16. Results and Discussion

This is the fourth chapter of the thesis or dissertation. This part of the narrative presents the
results and analyses and interprets them. Students may also choose to present the results and
discussion in separate chapters, as Chapters 4 and 5, respectively. This section should be
written in past tense.

Results: With the results, students present their findings without interpretation in narrative
and in the form of tables and figures. Presenting the same data both in tables and in figures
should be avoided. However, when data are presented in the form of a figure, the raw data
may be shown in the appendix.

28
The narrative for each table and figure should focus on observations that are most relevant.
Students should write the results narrative in a way that is not highly redundant with the
information in the tables and figures. Whether students write their results and discussion
separately or not, the results part should be an objective report of their findings. The
students’ interpretation of the results should then be made in the discussion section or
chapter.

The chapter is divided into subheadings sequenced similar to the major subheadings of the
materials and methods chapter. However, subheadings of the materials and methods chapter
should not be copied verbatim as subheadings for the results but should be modified to
reflect the findings of the study. Each subheading may then be further divided into various
levels of subheadings. In summary, the students clearly present their results and focus on
answering the research questions described in the Introduction chapter.

Discussion: In the discussion, the students interpret their results. The discussion is used to
highlight the importance of the study and describe the limitations of the study and
implications for future research. If students choose to write the results and discussion as one
chapter, they should follow the description of major findings with appropriate interpretation
and discussion. However, when writing the discussion as a separate chapter, students
synthesize the discussion to flow with the results chapter.

Results and discussion are conceptually different. In the discussion, interpreting and
synthesizing the research results should be conducted. Restating the results should be
avoided. A common mistake in the discussion section is to present a superficial
interpretation that merely restates the results.

If the results differ from earlier published reports, explain why that may have happened. If
the results agree with the student’s expectations, then describe the reports and
interpretations to support them. It is not adequate to simply state that the data agreed with
earlier reports. In addition, students should not attempt to discuss each and every finding.
The discussion should focus on the major findings which call for interpretation. Besides
these, the discussion should not include any findings that have not been described in the
results.

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19. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
This chapter provides a brief account of the objectives, materials and methods, and the
major findings of the study. It presents the more important findings of the research. It draws
conclusions and then gives recommendations on such issues as organizational development,
procedural issues, educational matters, clinical issues, policy implications and other relevant
concerns based on the results obtained from the research.

Summary: The whole research study is summarized – the synopsis of the research
objectives, hypothesis, research methodology, sampling designs should be considered.
There should be no explanations made. This part of the study states in concise form the
findings based on the analysis and interpretation of the data gathered out of the research
instruments used and presented.

Guidelines in Writing the Summary of Findings:

1. A brief statement about the main purpose of the study should be stated.
2. The findings may be lumped up all together but clarify demands specific questions
under the statement of problem must be written first to be followed by the findings
that would answer it.
3. The findings should be textual generalizations, that is, a summary of the important
data consisting of text and numbers. Every statement of fact should consist of words,
numbers, or statistical measures woven into a meaningful statement. No deductions,
nor inference, nor interpretation should be made otherwise it will only be duplicated in
the conclusion.
4. Only the important findings, the highlights of the data, should be included in the
summary, especially those upon which the conclusions should be based.
5. Findings are not explained nor elaborated upon anymore. They should be stated as
concisely as possible.

Conclusions: The final part of the study are joined together harmoniously with the findings.
The results should be arranged in a logical order based on the statement of the problem.

Guidelines in Writing the Conclusion:

1. Conclusions should not contain numerals.

30
 2. Conclusions should appropriately answer the specific questions raised at the
beginning of the investigation.
3. Conclusions should be explicit and definite, leaving merely implied giving the
researcher a bit of doubt. The use of qualifiers such as, probably, perhaps, maybe
should be avoided.
4. Conclusions should not be repetitions of any statements anywhere in the research,
thesis or dissertation.

Recommendations: are based on the conclusions of the study. Give a detailed description
of the suggestion for future action based on the significance of the findings. It includes
implications for future use of findings and recommendation for future

Guidelines in Writing the Recommendations

1. It should have the aim and effort to solve problems in the study
2. It should ensure a continuous benefit being accorded to the universe – mankind
involved.

20. References
It is important that citations be consistent in style, though the system chosen will depend on
your subject field and departmental requirements. The preferred reference style is APA. The
references chapter includes all works cited in the thesis or dissertation. All references
appearing in the references chapter of the thesis or dissertation must have been cited in the
text. This chapter should include a complete list of on-line searches, journal articles, books,
book chapters, governmental reports, non-governmental reports and any other reference
materials cited in the narrative. As mentioned previously, references should be relevant and
recent. The majority of the citations should be articles published from peer-reviewed
journals or recognized official reports from national and international agencies. Ideally,
these publications have been published within the last five years and no more than ten years
old. Also, any dependence on unpublished materials as references is strongly discouraged.
Sample page No 61.

21. Appendix
This is an optional section for any additional material that does not fit conveniently or
appropriately in the body of the text. It is a good idea to include any confidential
information required for the thesis into appendices where possible. Each appendix should be

31
labeled in sequence, either with capital letters or with numerals. The Appendix is the last
separate chapter of the thesis or dissertation. It will include, for example, the questionnaires
used in the research, focus group discussion guidelines, maps, observation check-lists,
mathematical formulae, supplementary illustrative material and any other relevant materials
related to conducting and completing the research.

The Appendix chapter begins with a new page containing the single capitalized word
“APPENDIX” in the center of the page. It has a page number. Each appendix should be
labeled by a capital letter such as Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, etc.. Each
Appendix should start on a new page and have a clear, precise and appropriate title all in
capital letters.

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 5. Guide for Reference Citation
Reference citations based on the editorial styles of the American Psychological Association
(APA). The following section provides examples for citing a wide variety of sources in the
APA style, a commonly used style similar to the bibliographic styles used in many
disciplines.

General Reference Rules:

Format – single space typed and hanging indentation (first line of each reference flush with
left margin, following lines indented five spaces).

Reference Order - list references in alphabetical order by author’s last name OR, if no
author name is given, the article title should be the first element of the reference,
alphabetize on first important word of title.

Author Names - invert all authors’ names; last name first, initial of first and middle names
for up to and including six authors. For works with seven or more authors, use “et al.” after
the sixth author. Use an ampersand (&), not the word “and,” between the last and second to
last author names.

No author – use title as first element of the reference

Title Capitalization Rules – for all titles EXCEPT PERIODICAL TITLES – capitalize
 only the first word
 proper names
 when a colon is in the title, capitalize the initial after the colon
 PERIODICAL TITLES (professional journals, magazines, newspapers) – capitalize all
important words

Title Formats – italicize book and periodical titles

No Publication Date- use (n.d.) in place of the date

Punctuation – strictly follow punctuation between reference elements

In general, a reference should contain four elements: the author’s name (“who”), date of
publication (“when”), title of the work (“what”), and source of data (“where”). The

33
four elements always appear in the same order:
Author, A. A. (year). Title. Source.

This is the basic principle behind all APA Style references.

For traditional materials, these components are straightforward. However, for some web-
based materials, it can be difficult to identify one of more of these elements.

APA recommends an author/date style of in-text citations. These citations refer readers to a
list of references at the end of the paper. APA in-text citations provide at least the author’s
last name and the date of publication. For direct quotations, a page number is given as well.
In APA style, the alphabetical list of works cited is entitled References.

A. In-text Citations
For in-text citations, the author-date method is used. There are two possible ways of in-text
citation, namely, the subject-centered and author-centered citation. In the subject-centered
citation, the author’s last name followed by a comma, a space, and the year of publication
are written in parenthesis usually at the end of the sentence. In the author-centered citation,
only the year of publication is placed in parenthesis.

 When the author is mentioned in the running text, place the year of publication in
parentheses (Author-centered citation)
Eba Mijena (2012) found the more time students had spent on social network, the less
happy they felt over time.

 When the author is not mentioned in the running text, include the author’s name in
the parenthetical citation - along with the year. Separate author and year by a
comma (Subject-centered citation).
The more time students had spent on social media, the less happy they felt over time (Eba
Mijena, 2012).

 When the author and the year are both mentioned in the running text, do not add
parenthetical information (this method is less customary).
In a follow-up study from 2014, Wainwright focused on how social media use influenced
subjective well-being and academic success among university students.

34
Single Author
Subject-centered citation: (Eba Mijena, 2014)
Author-centered citation: Eba Mijena (2009)

Two Authors
Subject- centered citation: (Hallur & Mudagal, 2010)
Author- centered citation: Hallur and Mudagal (2010)
Three or more Authors
Subject-centered citation: (Rashid et al., 2008)
Author-centered citation: Rashid et al. (2008)

Citation of Two or More Works:

When citing two or more works, order them chronologically by the year of publication and
separate them by a semi-colon.
Subject-centered citation: (Ahmed, 2012; Drucker, 2014; Williams, 2015)
Authors-centered citation: Ahmed (2012), Drucker (2014), and Williams (2015)

Same Last Name Authors

When citing authors with the same last name, use the first initials with the last names again
separated by a semi-colon.
Subject-centered citation: (G. Ellman, 2010; G. Ellman, 2011)
Author-centered citation: G. Ellman (2010) and G. Ellman (2011)

Same Author and Same Year Published Works

When citing two or more works by the same author published in the same year, use lower
case letters (a, b, c) to distinguish the different works.
Subject-centered citation: (Ramkumar, 2014a), (Tesdeke Wolde, 2012a)
Author-centered citation: Ramkumar (2014a), Tesdeke Wolde (2012a)

Organizational Author
When citing the work of an organization as author, use the full name of the organization the
first time when citing the source. When citing the work in subsequent citations, use the
acronym.
Subject-centered citation: (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development,
2005) followed by (OECD, 2005)

35
Author-centered citation: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(2005) followed by OECD (2005)

Unknown Authors
When the work has no named author, cite it as “Anonymous” as below.
Subject-centered citation: (Anonymous, 2014)
Author-centered citation: Anonymous (2014)

Undated Works
When the works are not dated, cite the year of publication as “n.d.”
Subject-centered citation: (Anonymous, n.d.)
Author-center citation: Anonymous (n.d.)
B. References List in References Chapter

Electronic Source Citations for Publications Identified on the Internet

The internet is a powerful tool in conducting literature reviews and identifying and selecting
the most current citations and references. Students should give attention to assure that
internet citations are both complete and correct.

The author should make every effort to provide the required information to allow the reader
to visit the web site cited should he or she wish to read the primary source of the
information. URL addresses are always in parenthesis. The date that the student accessed
the publication should be stated. Included below are the major types of on-line citations.

Journal Article with DOI (with or without volume number):

Xu, H. (2010). Inhibition kinetics of flavonoids on yeast α-glucosidase merged with
docking simulations. Protein & Peptide Letters, 17(10), 1270-1279. Doi:
10.2174/092986610792231492. Accessed on June 06, 2006.

Yang, Y.S., Su, Y.F., Yang, H.W., Lee, Y.H., Chou, J.I. & Ueng, K.C. (2014). Lipid-
lowering effects of curcumin in patients with metabolic syndrome: a randomized, double-
blind, placebo-controlled trial. Phytotherapy Research, 28(12), 1770-1777. Doi:
10.1002/ptr.5197. Accessed on June 06, 2006.

36
Journal Article without DOI:
If no DOI has been assigned to the article, provide the homepage URL.

Podsakoff, N. P., Whiting, S. W., Podsakoff, P. M., & Mishra, P. (2011). Effects of
organizational citizenship behaviors on selection decisions in employment interviews.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(5), 310-326.

Zhong, J., Rao, X. & Rajagopalan, S. (2013). An emerging role of dipeptidyl peptidase 4
(DPP4) beyond glucose control: Potential implications in cardiovascular disease.
Atherosclerosis, 226(2), 305-314.

Non- Periodical Web Document:

WHO. (2016). Guidelines for the screening, care and treatment of persons with chronic
hepatitis C infection. (http://www.who.int/hepatitis/publications/hepatitis-c-guidelines-
2016/en/) Accessed on June 06, 2006.

Web Document with No Author’s Name or Date of Publication:

Anonymous (n.d.) Census data revisited. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2016, from Harvard,
Psychology of Population website, http://harvard.edu/data/index.php

Electronic Book:
Biersteker, P.J., Spiro, P.J., Sprira, M., & Raffo, V. (2007). International law and
international relations. (http://www.4shared.com/gate/OKYHLz/Interationallawandinternat
.html) Accessed on June 06, 2016.

Hard Copy Source Citations

Journal Articles
Single Author:
Shah, I. (2005). Aplastic Anemia in an HIV-infected child: a case report. Indian Journal of
Pediatrics, 72(3), 359-361.

Mehta, G.S. (2011). Characteristics and implications of migration. Journal of Rural

Development, 5(6), 731-744.

37
Two or More Authors:
Strauss, H.M., Hughes, J. & Schmieder, P. (2005). Heteronuclear solution-stata NMR
studies of the chromophore in cyanobacterial phytochrome Cph1. Biochemistry, 44, 8244-
8250.
Animut Asrat & Tadesse Gebre-Michael (2008). Assessment of distribution, knowledge and
utilization of insecticide-treated nets in selected malaria prone areas of Ethiopia. Ethiopian
Journal of Health Development, 22(3), 268-274.

Books
Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The guide to everything and then some more stuff.
New York, NY: Macmillan.

Robertson, J. (2008). Coaching Educational Leadership: Building Leadership Capacity

through Partnership. London, England: Sage Publications.

Gregory, G., & Parry, T. (2006). Designing brain-compatible learning (3rd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Thrusfield, M.V. (2007). Veterinary Epidemiology 3rd Edition. Oxford, England: Blackwell
Science, Ltd.

Chapter in Edited Book

Godfrey, K. (2006). The ‘developmental origins’ hypothesis: Epidemiology. In P.
Gluckman & M. Hanson (Eds.), Developmental origins of health and disease (pp. 6-32).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511544699.003

Abu-Elteen, K. H. & Hamad, M. (2007). Determination of the virulence factors of Candida

albicans and related yeast species. In: K. Kavanagh (Ed.) Medical Mycology: Cellular and
Molecular Techniques pp. 69-91. Chichester, West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd.

Book Chapter in a Volume in a Series

Strong, E. K., Jr., & Uhrbrock, R. S. (1923). Bibliography on job analysis. In L. Outhwaite
(Series Ed.), Personnel Research Series: Vol. 1. Job analysis and the curriculum (pp. 140–
146). http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/10762-000

38
Paper in Conference Proceedings
Abera Deressa (2014). Keynote Address. Proceedings proceedings of the National
Symposium on “Science, Technology and Innovation for National Development (STIND)”.
March 21-22, 2010 (pp.3-4) Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia. ISBN (13 digits): 978-
99944-889-2-6

Theses and Dissertations

Published:
Hirpa Legesse (2013). Growth, Yield and Seed Quality of Common Bean (Phaseolus
vulgaris L.) Genotypes as Influenced by Soil Acidity, In Western Ethiopia. (Published
doctoral dissertation) Doctoral thesis no. 2013:145. Haramaya University, Ethiopia. URI:
http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2198

Unpublished:
Tifsehit Solomon (2014). Studies on Ecological Aspects and Management of Cereal Stem
Borers of Maize (Zea Mays L.) in Eastern and Western Wollega, Ethiopia. (Unpublished
Ph.D thesis), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Yemane Belay (2007). Reproductive health needs and service utilization of Addis Ababa
University students. (Unpublished MPH thesis), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.

Doctoral dissertation, from an institutional database

Adams, R. J. (1973). Building a foundation for evaluation of instruction in higher education
and continuing education (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from
http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/

Doctoral dissertation, from the web

Bruckman, A. (1997). MOOSE Crossing: Construction, community, and learning in
anetworked virtual world for kids (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology). Retrieved from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/thesis/

Technical Reports
HIV/AIDS Prevention & Control Office (HAPCO). (2007). Accelerated access to
HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in Ethiopia: a road map for 2007-2008. Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia: Ministry of Health.

39
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). (2011). Technical Report on Food
Insecurity in US Households with Children: Prevalence, Severity and Household
Characteristics. Washington, DC: USDA.

Magazine Articles:
Allen, L. (2004, August). Will Tuvalu disappear beneath the sea? Global warming threatens
to swamp a small island nation. Smithsonian, 35(5), 44-52.

Begley, S., & Murr, A. (2007, July 2). Which of these is not causing global warming? A.
Sport utility vehicles; B. Rice fields; C. Increased solar output. Newsweek, 150(2), 48-50.

Newspaper Articles (unsigned and signed):

College officials agree to cut greenhouse gases. (2007, June 13). Albany Times Union, p.
A4.

Landler, M. (2007, June 2). Bush’s Greenhouse Gas Plan Throws Europe Off Guard. New
York Times, p. A7.

Website:
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2007, May 4). Climate Change. Retrieved
From the Environmental Protection Agency website: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange
Accessed on 17th July, 2015

Gelspan, R. (2007). The Heat Is Online. Lake Oswego, OR: Green House Network.
Retrieved from The Heat Is Online website: http://www.heatisonline.org Accessed on 17th
July, 2015

40
 6. Sample Pages

The sample pages contain elements and formatting of selected pages with page numbers,
which are useful in writing of the research proposals, theses and dissertations. The samples
pages are reproduced from actual research proposals and theses and dissertations although
the originals were modified in accordance with these guidelines. The content, fonts,
spacing, and margins in the sample pages are to be followed.

41
 Logo size should be
1.5ʺ X 1.5ʺ (W x H)
University and SGS and centered
name font size should
be 16 pts and capital
Letter

WOLLEGA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Title font Size should be 16 Pts

Text should be capital letter
and centered

EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, DEPRESSION, AND MENTAL

HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN SURVIVORS OF
CRITICAL ILLNESS

MPH Research Proposal

Name of the student

All other should be 14
pts font size and Title
\
case

Program:
School/Department:
College:

Major Advisor:
Co-Advisor:

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia

42
 WOLLEGAUNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Studies on Ecological Aspects and Management of Cereal Stem

Borers on Maize (Zea Mays L.) in Eastern and Western Wollega,
Ethiopia

PhD. Dissertation Research Proposal

Name of the Student

College:
School/Department:
Program:

Advisory Committee:

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia

43
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF THE AUTHOR iii

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS iv
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES x
LIST OF TABLES IN THE APPENDIX xi
LIST OF FIGURE IN THE APPENDIX xii
ABSTRACT xiii
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4
2.1. Common Leaf Rust of Maize and its Distribution 4
2.2. Economic Importance 4
2.3. Manifestation of Disease 5
2.4. Epidemiology 6
2.5. Host Plant Resistance 7
2.6. Disease Management 9
3. MATERIALS AND METHODS 11
3.1. Experimental Site 11
3.2. Fungicidal Trial 11
3.2.1. Treatments and experimental design 11
3.2.2. Disease assessment 12
3.2.3. Yield data 15
3.2.4. Statistical analysis 15
3.3. Varietal Trial 16
3.3.1. Maize varieties and experimental design 16
3.3.2. Disease assessment 17
3.3.3. Yield data 18
3.3.4. Statistical analysis 18
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 19
4.1. Effect of Fungicides on Common Leaf Rust of Maize 19
4.1.1. Disease onset and level of incidence 19
4.1.2. Disease development 22
4.1.2.1. Disease severity 22
4.1.2.2. Area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) 25
4.1.2.3. Common rust progress rate 26
4.1.3. Grain yield and thousand-grain weight 28
4.1.3.1. Grain yield 28

44
 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
4.1.3.2. Thousand-grain weight 29
4.1.3.3. Yield loss due to the disease 30
4.1.3.4. Relationship between disease parameters and crop yields 32
4.2. Reaction of Maize Genotypes to Common Leaf Rust 35
4.2.1. Disease incidence 35
4.2.2. Disease development on maize varieties 38
4.2.2.1. Disease severity 38
4.2.2.2. Area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) 42
4.2.2.3. Common leaf rust progress rate on the maize genotypes tested 42
4.2.2.4. Time required for severity to reach 10% (T10) 42
4.2.3. Relative yields of maize varieties 45
4.2.3.1. Grain yield 45
4.2.3.2. Thousand-grain weight 47
5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 48
5.1. Summary 48
5.2. Conclusions and Recommendations 50
6. REFERENCES 52
7. APPENDICES 57
7.1. Appendix Table 58
7.1. Appendix Table 61

45
 WOLLEGAUNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, DEPRESSION, AND MENTAL

HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN SURVIVORS OF
CRITICAL ILLNESS

MPH Thesis

Name of the Student

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia

46
 WOLLEGAUNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, DEPRESSION, AND MENTAL

HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN SURVIVORS OF
CRITICAL ILLNESS

A Thesis Submitted to the College of ----------------------------------------------

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of ----
-------------------------------------

Name of the Student

Major Advisor:
Co-Advisor:

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia

47
47
 WOLLEGAUNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Studies on Ecological Aspects and Management of

Cereal Stem Borers on Maize (Zea Mays L.) in
Eastern and Western Wollega, Ethiopia

PhD. Dissertation

Name of the Student

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia

48
48
 WOLLEGA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Studies on Ecological Aspects and Management of

Cereal Stem Borers on Maize (Zea Mays L.) in
Eastern and Western Wollega, Ethiopia

A Dissertation Submitted to School of Graduate Studies in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in ____________

Name of the Student

Advisors:

May 2016
Nekemte, Ethiopia

49
49
 Table of Content
for Monograph
TABLE OF CONTENTS Format

STATEMENT OF THE AUTHOR iii

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS iv
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES x
LIST OF TABLES IN THE APPENDIX xi
LIST OF FIGURE IN THE APPENDIX xii
ABSTRACT xiii
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4
2.1. Common Leaf Rust of Maize and its Distribution 4
2.2. Economic Importance 4
2.3. Manifestation of Disease 5
2.4. Epidemiology 6
2.5. Host Plant Resistance 7
2.6. Disease Management 9
3. MATERIALS AND METHODS 11
3.1. Experimental Site 11
3.2. Fungicidal Trial 11
3.2.1. Treatments and experimental design 11
3.2.2. Disease assessment 12
3.2.3. Yield data 15
3.2.4. Statistical analysis 15
3.3. Varietal Trial 16
3.3.1. Maize varieties and experimental design 16
3.3.2. Disease assessment 17
3.3.3. Yield data 18
3.3.4. Statistical analysis 18
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 19
4.1. Effect of Fungicides on Common Leaf Rust of Maize 19
4.1.1. Disease onset and level of incidence 19
4.1.2. Disease development 22
4.1.2.1. Disease severity 22
4.1.2.2. Area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) 25
4.1.2.3. Common rust progress rate 26
4.1.3. Grain yield and thousand-grain weight 28

50
 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
4.1.3.2. Thousand-grain weight 29
4.1.3.3. Yield loss due to the disease 30
4.1.3.4. Relationship between disease parameters and crop yields 32
4.2. Reaction of Maize Genotypes to Common Leaf Rust 35
4.2.1. Disease incidence 35
4.2.2. Disease development on maize varieties 38
4.2.2.1. Disease severity 38
4.2.2.2. Area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) 42
4.2.3. Relative yields of maize varieties 45
4.2.3.1. Grain yield 45
4.2.3.2. Thousand-grain weight 47
5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 48
5.1. Summary 48
5.2. Conclusions and Recommendations 50
6. REFERENCES 52
7. APPENDICES 57
7.1. Appendix Table 58
7.2. Appendix Figure 61

51
 Table of Content
for Integrated
Article Format
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of the Author……………………………………………………………….. ii
Abbreviations and Acronyms…………………………………………………………. iii
Biographical Sketch……………………………………………………………………. Iv
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................v
Dedication..........................................................................................................................vi
List of Tables....................................................................................................................vii
List of Figures ...................................................................................................................ix
List of Appendix Table.....................................................................................................xi
List of Appendix Figure ..................................................................................................xii
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter 1 General Introduction ......................................................................................1
1.1 Objective........................................................................................................................2
1.1.1 General objective....................................................................................................2
1.1.2 Specific objectives..................................................................................................3
Chapter 2 Literature Review............................................................................................4
2.1 Origin and some Facts about Maize ..............................................................................4
2.2 Maize Production in Africa and Ethiopia ......................................................................4
2.3 Maize Production Constraints in Africa ........................................................................5
2.4 Distribution and Species Composition of Cereal Stem Borers .....................................7
2.5 Biology and Ecology of Cereal Stem Borers ................................................................8
2.6 Life Table of Cereal Stem Borers................................................................................13
2.7 Management of Cereal Stem Borers............................................................................14
2.7.1 Cultural Control..................................................................................................14
2.7.1.1 Intercropping ..........................................................................................14
2.7.1.2 Push-Pull Strategy ..................................................................................16
2.7.1.3 Crop Residues (Stalk/Stubble) Management..........................................16
2.7.1.4 Planting Date ..........................................................................................18
2.7.1.5 Application of Fertilizer .........................................................................19
2.7.2 Host Plant Resistance .........................................................................................20
2.7.3 Biological Control ..............................................................................................21
2.7.4 Botanical Control................................................................................................23
2.7.5 Chemical Control................................................................................................25
2.7.6 Integrated Pest Management (IPM)....................................................................26
Chapter 3 Distribution and Species Composition of Cereal Stem Borer on Maize under
Rain Fed and Irrigated Agriculture in West Ethiopia.................................................27
3.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................27

52
 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
3.2 Material and Methods............................................................................................28
3.3 Results ...................................................................................................................33
3.4 Discussion..............................................................................................................42
3.5 Conclusion.............................................................................................................44
Chapter 4 Life table of cereal stem borers Busseola fusca Fuller (Lepidoptera:
Noctuidae) on maize under field condition ...................................................................45
4.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................45
4.2 Material and Methods............................................................................................46
4.3 Results ...................................................................................................................49
4.4 Discussion..............................................................................................................59
4.5 Conclusion.............................................................................................................60
Chapter 5 Field screening of potential resistant maize (Zea mays L.) varieties against
cereal stem borers............................................................................................................61
5.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................61
5.2 Material and Methods............................................................................................62
5.3 Results ...................................................................................................................65
5.4 Discussion..............................................................................................................72
5.5 Conclusion.............................................................................................................73
Chapter 6 Effect of Intercropping of Maize (Zea mays L.) with pulses and oil crop on
Cereal Stem Borers..........................................................................................................74
6.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................74
6.2 Material and Methods............................................................................................75
6.3 Results ...................................................................................................................78
6.4 Discussion..............................................................................................................85
6.5 Conclusion.............................................................................................................86
Chapter 7 Efficacy of Push-Pull Strategies in Managing Cereal Stem Borers on Maize
(Zea mays L.) ...................................................................................................................87
7.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................87
7.2 Material and Methods............................................................................................88
7.3 Results ...................................................................................................................91
7.4 Discussion..............................................................................................................95
7.5 Conclusion.............................................................................................................96
Chapter 8 General Conclusion and Recommendations ...............................................97
References ........................................................................................................................99
Appendix ........................................................................................................................128

53
 STATEMENT OF THE AUTHOR

I Mr/Miss/Mrs. ________________________________ hereby declare and affirm that the

thesis entitled“_____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________”
is my own work conducted under the supervision of _______________________. I have
followed all the ethical principles of scholarship in the preparation, data collection, data
analysis and completion of this thesis. All scholarly matter that is included in the thesis has
been given recognition through citation. I have adequately cited and referenced all the
original sources. I also declare that I have adhered to all principles of academic honesty and
integrity and I have not misrepresented, fabricated, or falsified any idea / data / fact / source
in my submission. This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for a
degree from the Post Graduate Studies at Wollega University. I further declare that this
thesis has not been submitted to any other institution anywhere for the award of any
academic degree, diploma or certificate.

I understand that any violation of the above will be cause for disciplinary action by the
University and can also evoke penal action from the sources which have thus not been
properly cited or from whom proper permission has not been taken when needed.

Name: Signature: _________________

Date:
School/Department:
College:

54
 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ABTS : 2, 2-Azobis-3-ethyl benzthiazoline-6-Sulphonic acid

ADA : American Diabetes Association
AGEs : Advanced Glycated Endproducets
ALP : Alkaline Phosphatase
ANOVA : Analysis of Variance
BUN : Blood Urea Nitrogen
CAT : Catalase
CDNB : 1-chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzine
CRP : C-Reactive Protein
DPPH : DiPhenyl Picryl Hydrazine
DPP IV : Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV
DTNB : 5,5-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid)
ELISA : Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay
G6PDH : Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase
GGT : Gamma Glutamyl Transferase
GLUT : Glucose Transporter Protein
GPT : Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase
GOT : Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase
GPx : Glutathione Peroxidase
GSH : Glutathione Reduced
GSSG : Glutathione Oxidised
GST : Glutahione-S-Transferase
GTT : Glucose Tolerance Test
HbA1c : Glycosylated Hemoglobin
HDL : High Density Lipoprotein
IC50 : 50% Inhibiting Concentratioa
IL-6 : Interleukin-6
LD50 : Lethal Dose 50%
LDL : Low Density Lipoprotein
LPO : Lipid Peroxidation
MDA : Malondialdehyde

55
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Sequence and results of limit dose test of PCC

71
Mortality and % of mortality observation during 72 hours after PCC
Table 2.
administration 72
Table 2.
Acute toxicity of rats were administered with PCC orally
73
Table 4. Body weight of male and female rats orally administered with PCC for
90 days 74
Table 5. Blood Glucose (mg/dl) levels of male and female rats orally administered
the PCC for 90 days 74
Table 6. Haematological results of male rats orally administered the PCC for 90
days 76
Table 7. Haematological results of female rats orally administered the PCC for 90
days 77
Table 8. Effect of chronic oral administration of PCC (90 days) on the
biochemical parameters of Wister male rats 79
Table 9. Effect of chronic oral administration of PCC (90 days) on the
biochemical parameters of Wister female rats 80
Table 10. Organ weights of male and female rats orally administered the PCC for
90 days 81

56
 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Determinants of redox balance 15
Figure 2. Signaling pathways of the insulin receptors 9
Figure 3. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained male rat liver
sections over a time course after PCC administration 82
Figure 4. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained female rat liver
sections over a time course after PCC administration 83
Figure 4. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained male rat kidney
sections over a time course after PCC administration 85
Figure 5. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained female rat kidney
sections over a time course after PCC administration 86
Figure 6. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained male rat heart
sections over a time course after PCC administration 88
Figure 7. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained female rat heart
sections over a time course after PCC administration 89
Figure 8. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained male rat brain
sections over a time course after PCC administration 91
Figure 9. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained female rat brain
sections over a time course after PCC administration 92
Figure 10. Representative photomicrographs of H and E stained male rat small
intestine sections over a time course after PCC administration 94
Figure 11. Representative photomicrographs of H & E stained female rat small
intestine sections over a time course after PCC administration 95

57
 LIST OF TABLES IN THE APPENDIX

Appendix Table
1. Statistics of food insecurity in Ethiopia 223
2. Components of the food security strategy 224
3. EU social rehabilitation programme: programme overview 225
4. USAID’ strategic framework for food for work projects 226
5. CARE’s rehabilitation projects in Eastern Hararghe - project review 227

58
 LIST OF FIGURES IN THE APPENDIX

Appendix Figure
1. BH540 showing cob damage 128
2. BH542 showing damaged cob 228
3. BH545 showing cob damage 229
4. BH 660 showing cob damage 229
5. BH661 showing cob damage 230
6. AMH 760 Q showing cob damage 230
7. Local variety showing cob damage 231

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 Antidiabetic Activity of Phytochemical Combination on Alloxan
Induced Diabetes Mellitus
ABSTRACT
Chronic hyperglycemia in diabetes determines the overproduction of free radicals, and
evidence is increasing that these contribute to the development of diabetic complications.
Aim of the present study was to evaluate the antidiabetic and antioxidant activity of
phytochemical combination (Curcumin (30%), Forskolin (1%), Total gymnemic acids
(49%) and Quercetin (20%) per 100 mg of total weight of the combination) of two different
doses in alloxan induced diabetic rat model. Phytochemical combination at doses of 150 and
300 mg/kg given orally for 21 days showed 44.87 and 58.34% significant (p<0.001)
hypoglycemic activity and significantly (p<0.001) reduces the urine sugar by 89.91 and
93.16%, respectively and antihyperlipidemic and antiatherogenic activities as evidenced by
significant decrease in total cholesterol, triglycerides levels coupled together with elevation
of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level and diminution of atherogenic index
in diabetic rats. Reduced levels of total bilirubin, AST, ALT and ALP and significantly
(p<0.001) decreased levels of creatinine and urea was observed in diabetic rats treated with
PCC. However, PCC treatment significantly (p<0.001) increases the insulin level and
glycogen level. Furthermore, PCC significantly increases the activities and levels of
superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) and decrease in lipid
peroxidation (MDA) and nitric oxide levels in both doses showed the antioxidant activity of
the combination. Islet cell degeneration and weak insulin immunohistochemical staining
was observed in rats with alloxan induced diabetes. Increased intensity of staining for
insulin, and preservation of β-cell numbers were apparent in the PCC treated diabetic rats.
Significant increase in the insulin immunopositive cells by 80.30 (p<0.01) and 112.52
(p<0.001) % can be observed with 150, and 300 mg/kg PCC, respectively as compared with
diabetic control. Results of the present study suggests that different doses of PCC can
control blood glucose and modulate the metabolism of glucose and blood lipid, leading to
decreased outputs of lipid peroxidation and scavenge the free radicals in rats with diabetes
mellitus. Furthermore, PCC will preserve the pancreatic β-cell integrity and consequently,
PCC may be clinically useful for protecting β-cells against oxidative stress.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus; Lipid Peroxidation; Glycogen; Nitric Oxide; β-cells

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 Reference Style: APA
Font size: 12
Line Spacing: Single
Space after Each Reference: 9 Pts
Arrangement: Alphabetical
References Indentation by 5 pts

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turmeric (Curcuma longa) in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Molecular and
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Czinner, E., Hagymasi, K., Blazovics, A., Kery, A., Szoke, E., & Lemberkovics, E. (2000).
In vitro antioxidant properties of Helichrysum arenarium Moench. Journal of
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Dunn, W.L. (1974). Hand book of histopathological and histochemical techniques. Third
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Quercetin reduces blood pressure in hypertensive subjects. Journal of Nutrition, 137(1),
2405–2411.
Fushiki, T., Kojima, A., Imoto, T., Inoue, K., Sugimoto, E. (1992). Extract of Gymnema
sylvestre leaves and purified Gymnemic acid inhibits glucose - stimulated Gastric
Inhibitory Peptide secretion in rats. Journal of Nutrition, 122, 2367-2373.
Gabriely, I., Yang, X.M., Cases, J.A., Ma, X.H., Rossetti, L., Barzilai, N. (2002).
Hyperglycemia induces PAI-1 gene expression in adipose tissue by activation of the
hexosamine biosynthetic pathway. Atherosclerosis, 160, 115-122.
Jafri, M.A., Aslam, M., Javed, K., & Singh, S. (2000). Effect of Punica granatum Linn.
(flowers) on blood glucose level in normal & alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Journal of
Ethnopharmacology, 70(3), 309-314.
Pushpa Narayanan., Laddha, K. S., & Akamanchi, K. G. (2002) Histochemical localization
of forskolin and other terpenoids in Coleus forskohlii. Current Science, 83(8), 945-946.

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 WOLLEGAUNIVERSITY
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62
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