Research proposal template UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

This is a template for a research proposal.

Guidelines for using the template:

1.         Switch on the paragraph markers by clicking the  icon on the Standard toolbar in MS Word.

2.         Do not delete any of the section breaks that appear in this document. These breaks have been inserted to ensure proper page numbering.

3.         Delete the text in blue once you have read the instructions. The text in black should be retained and may be changed.

4.         Remember to update the Table of Contents, List of Figures and List of Tables before you print the final version of your proposal.

5.         Also see the section on technical care and the Technical Care Check List on p. 14 of this template.

6.         Contact Theuns Kotzé on tel. (012) 420-4844 if you have any questions on the functioning of this template or send an e-mail to theuns.kotze@up.ac.za.

- RESEARCH PROPOSAL -

PROPOSED TITLE

(Type the proposed title in capital letters. The title should positioned in the middle of the page)

by

Name & Surname

Student Number

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

M Com / M Phil in Marketing / Communication Management

in the

FACULTY OF ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

at the

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

Study leader:

(Title, initials and surname of study leader)

Date of submission

(Date of submission should be on last line of page)

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING AND
COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

 

Declaration Regarding Plagiarism

            The Department of Marketing and Communication Management emphasises integrity and ethical behaviour with regard to the preparation of all written assignments.

            Although the lecturer will provide you with information regarding reference techniques, as well as ways to avoid plagiarism, you also have a responsibility to fulfil in this regard. Should you at any time feel unsure about the requirements, you must consult the lecturer concerned before submitting an assignment.

            You are guilty of plagiarism when you extract information from a book, article, web page or any other information source without acknowledging the source and pretend that it is your own work. This doesn’t only apply to cases where you quote verbatim, but also when you present someone else’s work in a somewhat amended (paraphrased) format or when you use someone else’s arguments or ideas without the necessary acknowledgement. You are also guilty of plagiarism if you copy and paste information directly from an electronic source (e.g., a web site, e-mail message, electronic journal article, or CD ROM), even if you acknowledge the source.

You are not allowed to submit another student’s previous work as your own. You are furthermore not allowed to let anyone copy or use your work with the intention of presenting it as his/her own.

            Students who are guilty of plagiarism will forfeit all credits for the work concerned. In addition, the matter will be referred to the Committee for Discipline (Students) for a ruling. Plagiarism is considered a serious violation of the University’s regulations and may lead to your suspension from the University. The University’s policy regarding plagiarism is available on the Internet at http://upetd.up.ac.za/authors/create/plagiarism/students.htm.

            For the period that you are a student at the Department of Marketing and Communication Management, the following declaration must accompany all written work that is submitted for evaluation. No written work will be accepted unless the declaration has been completed and is included in the particular assignment.

I (full names & surname):
Student number:

Declare the following:

1.         I understand what plagiarism entails and am aware of the University’s policy in this regard.

2.         I declare that this assignment is my own, original work. Where someone else’s work was used (whether from a printed source, the Internet or any other source) due acknowledgement was given and reference was made according to departmental requirements.

3.         I did not copy and paste any information directly from an electronic source (e.g., a web page, electronic journal article or CD ROM) into this document.

4.         I did not make use of another student’s previous work and submitted it as my own.

5.         I did not allow and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of presenting it as his/her own work.

Signature		Date

Your research proposal should have the following basic format:

Paper size	A4
Font (body text)	Arial, 12pt
Line spacing (body text)	1½ spacing
Language setting	Use the English (UK) or English (South African) settings in MS Word. DO NOT use the English (US) setting.
Tense	A research proposal is always future-directed. It is an “architect’s plan” which explains what the researcher intends doing. A proposal is, therefore, mostly written in the future tense (e.g., A non-probability convenience sampling approach will be used). There is one important exception to this rule! The literature review section, which reports on existing knowledge relevant to the proposed study, is written in the present tense (e.g., Davies (2003:12) argues that …).
Margins
Left & right	2 cm
Top & bottom	2.54 cm
Heading numbering and format	As shown in document
Paragraph formatting	Paragraphs should be justified (i.e., the text should be aligned evenly along both the left and right margins to form a square box).
Page numbers
Front page	None
Executive summary, Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of tables	Roman numerals, small caps (e.g., i, ii, iii)
Body of proposal, List of References, Appendices	Arabic numerals starting at 1 (e.g., 1, 2, 3)
Binding	Ring bind with back and front plastic covers. Stapled documents will not be accepted.
See p. 14 for additional information on “Technical Requirements”.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1      INTRODUCTION.. 1

2      LITERATURE REVIEW... 1

2.1       SUB-HEADING.. 1

2.1.1       Sub-subheading. 2

2.1.2       Sub-subheading. 2

2.2       SUB-HEADING.. 2

2.2.1       Sub-subheading. 2

2.2.2       Sub-subheading. 2

2.3       SUB-HEADING.. 2

2.3.1       Sub-subheading. 2

2.3.2       Sub-subheading. 2

3      HYPOTHESES.. 2

4      IMPORTANCE / BENEFITS OF THE STUDY.. 4

5      METHODOLOGY.. 4

5.1       RESEARCH DESIGN.. 4

5.2       SAMPLING.. 4

5.2.1       Target population.. 4

5.2.2       Sampling method. 4

5.2.3       Sample size. 5

5.3       DATA COLLECTION.. 5

5.3.1       Survey method. 5

5.4       DATA ANALYSIS.. 5

6      NATURE AND FORM OF RESULTS.. 6

7      BUDGET & PROJECT TIMELINE.. 6

7.1       PROJECT TIMELINE.. 6

7.2       PROJECT BUDGET. 7

8      REFERENCES.. 8

APPENDICES

             APPENDIX A: TOPIC........................................................................................................ 5

             APPENDIX B: TOPIC........................................................................................................ 7

Note: You will have to type in the topics of the appendices by hand.

To update the table of contents:

1.         Highlight the body of the table of contents (exclude the heading and appendices).

2.            Click right on your mouse.

3.            Choose “Update field” from the pop-up menu.

4.            The dialogue box shown below will appear. Choose the applicable option. Use “Update page numbers only” to update the page numbers and “Update entire table” to add new entries to the Table of Contents. Click “OK”.

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1:   Figure heading. 2

The list of tables and figures should be placed on a separate page after the table of contents. If the list of tables and the list of figures are short, they may be placed together on one page.

To update the list of figures / list of tables:

1.         Highlight the body of the list (exclude the heading).

2.            Click right on your mouse.

3.            Choose “Update field” from the pop-up menu.

4.            The dialogue box shown below will appear. Choose the applicable option. Use “Update page numbers only” to update the page numbers and “Update entire table” to add new entries to the table. Click “OK”.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1:     Table heading. 5

Table 2:     Table heading. 6

PROPOSED TITLE

The wording of your proposed title must comply with the requirements outlined in section 3 (pp. 3-4) of the document entitled “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”.

ABSTRACT

Write an abstract for your research proposal based on the requirements outlined in section 4 (pp. 4-6) of the document “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”. The abstract should include elements 1-4 listed on p. 4 of the abovementioned document.

Keywords: List the keywords of your study here. These keywords must comply with the requirements discussed in section 5 (p. 6) of the document “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”.

1         INTRODUCTION

The introduction to your final research proposal must comply with all the requirements outlined in section 6 (pp. 6-16) of the document “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”. You should include all six the elements of an introduction here.

Also see:

Schindler, D.R. & Cooper, P.S. 2001. Business Research Methods. Seventh Edition. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill. GV 658.0072 COOPER, p. 95.

or
Schindler, D.R. & Cooper, P.S. 2003. Business Research Methods. Eighth Edition. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill. GV 658.0072 COOPER, p. 101.

2         LITERATURE REVIEW

Your literature review must comply with all the requirements outlined in section 7 (pp. 16-35) of the document entitled “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”.

The literature review section of a proposal should focus on the most recent literature relevant to your topic and should, at least, cover the relevant literature from the last ±5 years.

Consider structuring the literature review section into “chapters” along the lines of the chapters that you envisage for your final thesis or dissertation.

2.1      SUB-HEADING

Please use sub-headings and sub-subheadings to structure your literature review (see pp. 29-31 of the document “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”). You can copy and change the wording of the current headings in the template (see p. 14 of the template for more information on working with headings and other technical requirements that apply to the body text of a proposal).

2.1.1        Sub-subheading

Figure 1:     Figure caption

If you include figures or tables in your literature review, each figure/table must have a descriptive caption. You can copy and change the wording of the figure and table captions in the template (see p. 14 of the template for more information on working with figure/table captions).

2.1.2        Sub-subheading

2.2      SUB-HEADING

2.2.1        Sub-subheading

2.2.2        Sub-subheading

2.3      SUB-HEADING

2.3.1        Sub-subheading

2.3.2        Sub-subheading

3         HYPOTHESES

[You may delete this section if it does not apply to your study.
Contact Theuns Kotzé for additional information on the formulation of hypotheses.]

The alternative hypotheses that you intend to test must be included inside your literature review (see pp. 33-35 of the document “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”). In this section, you have to take the hypotheses that you have stated in the literature review and “dissect” each of them separately based on the questions listed in the table below. Please construct a separate table for each of the hypotheses that you have stated in your literature review.

Hypothesis 1
Aspect	Detailed questions
Wording	Formulate the wording of the null hypothesis
	Formulate the wording of the alternative hypothesis
Type of hypothesis	What type of hypothesis is this according to Diamantopoulos and Schlegelmilch’s (2000:134-135) classification scheme?
	Check the following: §   Did you state a composite hypothesis (i.e., a hypothesis combining more than one relationship or group difference in one)? If YES, break it down into a set of simpler hypotheses. §   Did you state a single variable hypothesis? If YES, which value will you use to compare your sample based statistics against? Why this specific value? §   Did you state a causal hypothesis? If YES, will you be using an experimental design in your study? If NO to previous question, change the hypothesis to a correlational hypothesis.
	Did you state a directional (one-tailed) or non-directional (two-tailed / exploratory) hypothesis?
Key constructs		Source of scales
List all the constructs, concepts and/or grouping variables[1] that have to be measured in order to test this hypothesis separately here, one after the other.		How can these constructs, concepts and grouping variables be measured? Include a cross-reference to the relevant section in your literature review where you have discussed possible measurement approaches.

4         METHODOLOGY

[You will have to adapt the Methodology section based on your chosen research approach and methods. See Mouton (2001:Chapter 10) for an overview of different research designs.]

4.1      RESEARCH DESIGN

Use all the appropriate descriptors mentioned by Cooper and Schindler (2001:134-139 or 2003:146-151 and Exhibit 6-1) to briefly describe the broad research design you intend to follow in the proposed study.

4.2      SAMPLING

Describe and motivate the sampling approach you intend to use in terms of the following:

4.2.1        Target population

Clearly define and delineate the target population and context of the proposed study.

4.2.2        Sampling method

·                Describe and motivate the specific sampling method to be used in detail. If you intend to use a non-probability sampling approach, discuss the implications (consequences) of this choice for your study.

·                Describe the sampling frame to be used (if applicable)

4.2.3        Sample size

·                Discuss the method to be used for determining the target sample size of your study.

·                Indicate the target sample size that you wish to achieve.

Please do not repeat unnecessary theory in your discussion. Focus your discussion on describing and motivating your specific choices and decisions in detail.

It is not sufficient to just describe what you intend to do in terms of sampling. You also have to motivate your choices and show that these choices are scientifically sound (i.e., appropriate) and justifiable. It is also important to acknowledge the advantages and disadvantages of your choices.

4.3      DATA COLLECTION

Explain the qualitative and/or quantitative methods that you will use to gather data for your study in detail. These methods may include focus groups, depth interviews, observation, a survey questionnaire, an experimental study, etc. Remember to comprehensively motivate your choice of data collection methods.

Students conducting survey research should refer to the requirements outlined in section 8.2 (pp. 40-41) of the document “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article”.

4.3.1        Survey method

[You may replace this section if you will not be using survey research.]

Describe and motivate the survey method (e.g., e-mail survey, Internet survey, door-to-door personal interview, etc.) that you will be using in detail. Your study leader needs to know exactly how you intend to gather data for your proposed study. Also acknowledge the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen survey method(s).

It is not enough to merely state that you will be using a questionnaire to gather data!

4.3.2        Measurement

Describe the measurement scales that you intend to use in your survey questionnaire or data collection instrument (e.g., observation sheet) to measure the main constructs/concepts of your study. This description should be based on the requirements outlined in section 8.3 (pp. 41-43) of the document “Guidelines on writing a first academic article”. You should include all the elements listed on p. 42 of the “Guidelines” document here. Where possible, provide an indication of the scale’s internal consistency reliability (i.e., its Cronbach alpha value) based on previous published research.

4.3.3        Pre-testing

Explain in detail how you will pre-test your survey questionnaire or data collection instrument (see Cooper & Schindler, 2003:388-391).

4.4      DATA ANALYSIS

Describe how you will analyse the data gathered in your study in detail.

Where appropriate, students conducting quantitative research should address the following issues in this section:

·                Briefly indicate how you would validate, edit, code and clean your data in preparation for statistical and / or qualitative analysis.

·                Indicate the specific descriptive statistics – measures of location, spread & shape, as well as graphical descriptive methods – that you will use to describe each of the variables in your dataset.

·                Describe the hypothesis tests and multivariate statistical techniques that you will be using in your study (You should at least identify the appropriate parametric and non-parametric tests that you could use to test your specific hypotheses).

·                Indicate how you will test for the underlying assumptions of any parametric hypothesis tests.

·                Mention the software programmes that you will use to code and analyse you data.

5         NATURE AND FORM OF RESULTS

See Cooper and Schindler (2003:103).

This section should address the following issues:

·                Briefly describe the form in which your final research findings will be published (e.g., a management report, research script/thesis, research article, and/or oral presentation).

·                Mention the “audience” to which you final research findings will be communicated.

·                Describe the structure of the final document or presentation containing your findings (e.g., a chapter plan for a research dissertation or the proposed main sections of a research script/article).

·                If appropriate, discuss any restrictions that will apply in the publication of your findings (e.g., not revealing the identity of a corporate sponsor).

Include a detailed chapter plan here if your findings will be reported in the form of a thesis or dissertation.

6         BUDGET & PROJECT TIMELINE

6.1      PROJECT TIMELINE

See Cooper and Schindler (2003:104-107). Include a project timeline in this section in which you provide a detailed timeframe for project completion. The project timeline must contain specific target dates for each of the major phases of your research project, commencing from the day on which the second semester starts. You may use a table, Gantt chart or critical path diagram to present the project timeline.

6.2      PROJECT BUDGET

Include a realistic project budget in this section in which you outline the major expenses you expect to incur during your research project. Your project budget could include the following possible cost items:

·                The cost of reproducing questionnaires or other documentation required for your study

·                Fieldworker remuneration and other expenses related to data collection

·                Transportation and telephone costs

·                The cost of incentives (if you are going to provide respondents with an incentive to participate in your study)

·                The cost of coding and capturing responses in an electronic format (if you are going to pay someone to help you code and capture responses in an electronic format)

·                Any costs associated with the statistical analysis of your data (e.g., the fees of statistical consultants or data analysts)

·                Equipment and facility costs (e.g., cost of specialised software or focus group facilities)

·                Costs involved in preparing your final research report (e.g., typing, printing and binding costs)

7         REFERENCES

Referencing refers to the references you use in the body (i.e., text) of your proposal, as well as to the list of references supplied at the end of the document.

All references must comply with the requirements explained in the Department’s booklet entitled: “Referencing in Academic Documents: Official guidelines of the Department of Marketing and Communication Management”. A copy of the booklet is included on the NME 703 course CD. It can also be downloaded from the departmental web site at: http://www.marcom.up.ac.za/policies.htm.

The list of references at the end of your proposal should include all the books, journal articles, e-mail messages, web pages and other information sources that you have physically consulted and that have been cited in the text. Please check that all in-text references are included in the “List of References” at the end of the document and vice versa.

Sources listed in the template:

Diamantopoulos, A. & Schlegelmilch, B.B. 1997/2000. Taking the fear out of data analysis: A step-by-step approach. London: Business Press/Thomson Learning.

Mouton, J. 2001. How to succeed in your Master’s and Doctoral studies: A South African guide and resource book. Pretoria: Van Schaik.

Schindler, D.R. & Cooper, P.S. 2001/2003. Business Research Methods. Seventh/Eight Edition. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill.

APPENDIX A (See Cooper and Schindler (2003:109) for a list of other possible appendices. Always include clear cross-references in the text to material contained in an appendix. Delete this appendix if it is not necessary. All pages of an appendix must be numbered.)

APPENDIX B (See Cooper and Schindler (2003:109) for a list of other possible appendices. Always include clear cross-references in the text to material contained in an appendix. Delete this appendix if it is not necessary. All pages of an appendix must be numbered.)

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

1       WORKING WITH HEADINGS

1.1       TO COPY A HEADING, SUB-HEADING OR SUB-SUBHEADING

1.            Click in the margin directly to the left of the heading you wish to copy. The heading will be highlighted in black.

2.            Click the right hand mouse button.

3.            Choose “Copy” from the pop-up menu.

4.            Move the cursor to where you want to paste the heading.

5.            Click on the right mouse button. Choose “Paste” from the pop-up menu.

6.            The heading will be pasted and the heading number should update automatically. The heading will also automatically be included in the table of contents once it is updated.

7.            Change the heading text.

8.            Note that the different types of headings must have the format shown in this document.

1.2       GENERAL “RULES” WHEN USING HEADINGS

Consider the following “rules” when using headings:

§  Do not use more than 3 levels of headings. If you have to add further subsections in your assignment, rather use bullets (—).

§  Avoid using a single sub-heading under a heading. The following heading structure is, for example, incorrect because only one sub-subheading is included under subheading 2.9:

2.9         EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

2.9.1   Quasi-experimental designs

2.10    OBSERVATION RESEARCH

§  Use normal sentence case in third level headings (see heading 2.9.1. above).

§  All your headings should be numbered as is shown in this template.

§  See pp. 29-30 of the document “Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article” for guidance on the wording of headings.

§  There are no full stops at the end of headings.

§  Never place a heading on its own (i.e., without text following after the heading) at the bottom of a page.

§  If you decide to use bullets to list points, choose one type of bullet and use it consistently throughout your assignment.

2       PARAGRAPH ALIGNMENT

Note that all your paragraphs should be justified on both the right and left side as this one is. To justify a paragraph:

1.            Highlight the paragraph.

2.            Choose “Format”, “Paragraph” from the top menu bar.

3.            The “Paragraph” dialogue box will appear. Click the “Indents and Spacing” tab. Make sure that the option in the “Alignment” drop-down list is set to “Justified”. Press the “OK” button.

3       TONE OF LANGUAGE

Academic documents must be written in a formal, impersonal tone. Avoid personal ways of expressing yourself, such as “I think …”,  “… in our opinion …” or “ … we ...”. Rather use non-personal expressions such as:

§  It can therefore be concluded that …

§  One may argue that …

§  “Data will be collected through telephonic interviews”, instead of, “We will use telephonic interviews to collect data”.

4       ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS

No abbreviations or contractions are allowed in the text! Contractions refer to words such as don’t, can’t, couldn’t, weren’t and didn’t. The words et cetera or the abbreviation etc. may never be used in an academic document.

The only exceptions are:

§  Long names – The long name of a company, organisation, programme or campaign must be written out in full the first time it is used with an appropriate and recognised abbreviation in brackets. The abbreviation may then be used in all subsequent cases. Be careful not to confuse the reader with such abbreviations. Example: Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).

§  Abbreviations in tables and figures – Recognised abbreviations may be used in tables and figures to save space.

§  Recognised abbreviations (such as e.g. and i.e.) may be used in brackets, but may not be used in normal text. For example: “Reichert and Ramirez (2000:267) defines nudity (i.e., one of the sexual appeals) as the amount and style of clothing worn by models in advertisements. Nudity is operationalised as models in progressive stages of undress (e.g., suggestive, partially revealing or nude).” When used in brackets, the abbreviations e.g. and i.e. are normally followed by a comma.

§  Units of measure – Abbreviations may be used when referring to recognised units of measure (e.g., kg., m., and cm.).

§  Homemade abbreviations such as “comm.” (for communication) or ads (for advertisements) may not be used.

§  The ampersand (&) sign may not be used as an abbreviation for “and”. It may only be used in the case of in-text references stated in brackets and in the list of references (see p. 8 of the departmental guidelines on referencing).

5       FOREIGN WORDS

Foreign words should only be used when absolutely necessary and should be put in italics. Example: “The proposal inter alia stated the following …” Other examples of foreign words include et al., bona fide, vice versa, and ex post facto.

6       WORKING WITH TABLES

• Tables are used to present information in a concise, easy-to-view manner.
• Tables should be integrated with the rest of the text. Always include a paragraph before a table to introduce and explain what the table is all about. Remember to include a specific reference to the relevant table in this paragraph (e.g., “The factors that may influence consumers’ risk perceptions are summarised in Table 1”). Where appropriate, also include a paragraph after the table in which you interpret the information contained in the table. The reader should never be left guessing about the content and meaning / interpretation of a table.
• A table should always have a concise, but descriptive caption that is placed above the table. To insert a table caption, choose “Insert”, “Caption” from the top menu bar in MS Word. The “Caption” dialogue box will appear.

 

§  Change the option in the “Label” drop-down list to “Table”. Click the “OK” button.

§  A table caption similar to the one below will be inserted:

Table 5

§  You can now add text to the right of the caption by typing the required text after the caption number. For example:

Table 5: Midyear population estimates per province for 2002

§  To update the caption number, highlight the number and then press “F9”.

• To copy a table caption, highlight the caption, click the right mouse button and choose “Copy” from the pop-up menu. Move the cursor to where you want to paste the caption. Click the right mouse button and choose “Paste”. You can also use the “Copy” and “Paste” icons from the Standard toolbar in MS Word.
• A table should always have descriptive, but concise, row and column headings.
• If you include a table containing information from another source or reproduce a table from another source, you have to place an in-text reference below the table (see the example below). This in-text reference should also include relevant page numbers. The full reference to the source should be included in the list of references.
• If you use percentages in a table you have to explain how these were calculated. In other words, are the percentages based on row totals, column totals or on the grand total?
• Tables should preferably be formatted as follows:

§  Place the cursor in any cell of a table.

§  Choose “Table”, “Select”, “Table” from the top menu bar in MS Word. The table will be highlighted in black.

§  Choose “Format”, “Paragraph” from the top menu bar in MS Word. The “Paragraph” dialogue box will appear. Change the settings on this dialogue box to those shown below and then click the OK button.

§  With the table still highlighted, choose “Table”, “Table properties” from the top menu bar in MS Word. The “Table Properties” dialogue box will appear. Click on the “Row” tag. Untick the tick box to the left of the words “Allow row to break across pages”. Click the “OK” button.

§  Place the cursor in the first cell of the first row. Choose “Table”, “Select”, “Row” from the top menu bar in MS Word. The first row of the table will be highlighted in black.

§  Click the right-hand mouse button and choose “Cell alignment”, “Center align” from the pop-up menu as is shown below:

§  With the first row still selected, choose “Table”, “Table Properties” from the top menu bar in MS Word. The “Table Properties” dialogue box will appear. Click on the “Row” tag. Tick the tick box to the left of the words “Repeat as header row at the top of each page”. Click the “OK” button.

§  The table should now look more or less like Table 6 below. The first row will appear at the top of each page if the table breaks across pages. The rows will not break across pages; in other words, the contents of a row will always stay together on the same page.

Table 5: Total midyear population estimates per province for 2002

Geographic area / province	Population estimate taking into account additional deaths due to HIV/AIDS	Population estimate without taking into account additional deaths due to HIV/AIDS	Implied additional deaths due to HIV AIDS
Western Cape	4 313 959	4 321 844	7 885
Eastern Cape	7 132 141	7 158 843	26 702
Northern Cape	888 390	890 864	2 474
Free State	2 859 081	2 878 993	19 913
KwaZulu-Natal	9 212 123	9 308 565	96 442
North West	3 659 902	3 686 053	26 151
Gauteng	8 106 190	8 170 386	64 196
Mpumalanga	3 156 272	3 181 041	24 769
Limpopo	5 843 851	5 857 622	13 772

Source:    Statistics South Africa (2002:23).

§  This template contains an MS Word macro that you can use to automate the formatting of tables. To use the macro:

• Choose “View”, “Toolbars” from the top menu bar in MS Word and click the “Table Format” option. The “Table Format” toolbar will appear.
• Place the cursor inside the first cell of the first row of the table and click the “Format Table” button on the toolbar.
• The table will be formatted automatically.

7       WORKING WITH FIGURES

• Graphs, charts, maps, illustrations and other figures are used to visually present data or information. While it is true that “a picture says a thousand words”, figures should be used sparingly and should be well designed.
• Figures that are copied directly from journal articles often have a very poor resolution when printed. Rather redraw the figure in MS PowerPoint and then insert a PowerPoint slide into your document.
• Figures should also be integrated with the rest of the text. Always include a paragraph before a figure to introduce and explain what a particular figure is all about. Remember to include a specific reference to the relevant table in this paragraph (e.g., “Figure 1 illustrates the antecedents and consequences of customer co-production is a service context”). The reader should never be left guessing about the meaning / interpretation of a figure.
• A figure should always have a concise, but descriptive caption that is placed above the figure. To insert a figure caption, choose “Insert”, “Caption” from the top menu bar. The “Caption” dialogue box will appear.

 

§  Change the option in the “Label” drop-down list to “Figure”. Click the “OK” button.

§  A table caption similar to the one below will be inserted:

Figure 2

§  You can add text to the caption by typing the required text after the caption number. For example:

Figure 2: Deaths related to HIV/AIDS – 1996-2000

§  To update the caption number, highlight the number and then press “F9”.

• To copy a figure caption, highlight the caption, click the right mouse button and choose “Copy” from the pop-up menu. Move the cursor to where you want to paste the caption. Click the right mouse button and choose “Paste”. You can also use the “Copy” and “Paste” icons from the Standard toolbar in MS Word.
• If you include a figure based on information from another source or reproduce a figure from another source, you have to place an in-text reference below the figure (see the example below). This in-text reference should also include relevant page numbers. The full reference to the source should be included in the list of references.
• If you want to use a graph to display data graphically, remember to include:

§  a legend describing the series included in the graph,

§  x- and y-axis labels, and

§  data values (where appropriate).

Figure 2: Estimated additional deaths due to HIV/AIDS during 2002

Source:    Adapted from Statistics South Africa (2002:34).

• To copy a figure caption, highlight the caption, click the right mouse button and choose “Copy” from the pop-up menu. Move the cursor to where you want to paste the caption. Click the right mouse button and choose “Paste”. You can also use the “Copy” and “Paste” icons from the Standard toolbar in MS Word.
• When you insert a picture or graph into MS Word, the picture/graph sometimes “floats over” the text (i.e., it is positioned in front of the document text). To fix this:
• Click on the picture/graph and then click the right-hand mouse button.
• Choose “Format Picture” from the pop-up menu. The “Format Picture” dialogue box will appear.
• Click on the white area just above the words “In line with text” (if available). Click the “OK” button.

8       THE USE OF NUMBERS IN THE TEXT

When referring to a number, use words for:

• the numbers from zero to nine, and
• any number at the beginning of a sentence, e.g., “Twenty-two students departed on a trip to …” (Try not to start a sentence with a number).

Use numerals (Afr. = “syfers”) for:

• the number 10 and larger
• any number denoting the following:

•       a unit of time or measure (60 seconds, 22 kg, 16 m)

•       age (14 years old)

•       time and dates (16:45 or 2001-10-27)

•       percentages (75%)

•       currency ($10)

•       numbers indicating sample sizes, even if it is smaller than 10

•       percentiles and quartiles (33^rd percentile)

•       mathematical calculations

•       ratios (1:10)

•       fractions or decimal figures (2.5)

•       a series of four or more numbers (1 597; 1 693; 98 768; 101 234)

•       numbers that are grouped together for the sake of comparison (464 against only 4).

•       Rephrase a sentence if numbers consist of a combination of words and figures.

•       Place a zero before the decimal comma if the number is smaller than one (e.g., 0.29 in stead of .29).

•       Commas are not used to divide large numbers into groups of three. The groups are divided by a space to the right and to the left of the decimal (e.g.,
56 876 408.00).

TECHNICAL CARE CHECKLIST

Please check that your assignment complies with the specific requirements outlined below. Students often lose unnecessary marks because of sloppy technical care. Ask yourself the following questions:

TECHNICAL CARE	ü or û
1.        PRELIMINARIES (Before the main body text starts on page 1)
Is the layout of and information supplied on the title page correct?
Is the Table of Contents complete and correct?
Is the List of Figures complete and correct?
Is the List of Tables complete and correct?
Do the wording of headings correspond a 100% with the wording in the Table of Contents?
Do the heading numbers in the text correspond a 100% with the numbers in the Table of Contents?
Do the figure / table captions listed in the List of Tables and List of Figures correspond a 100% with the captions used in the text?
Have all tables and figures been supplied with correct captions (situated above the table or figure)?
Have all tables and figures been supplied with correct source references where appropriate (situated below the table or figure)?
Have all tables and figures been numbered correctly? (Figures and tables are numbered independently starting from 1. Do not include section/chapter numbers in the numbering of tables / figures)
Are the preliminary pages (i.e., Table of Contents, List of Figures and List of Tables) numbered in Roman numerals: (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)?

2.        TEXT
Are all pages in the body of the text numbered correctly with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.)?
Have you used only one method of emphasising (italics, or bold or underlining) throughout the assignment?
Is there a line open between all paragraphs?
Are the paragraphs in your assignment not perhaps too long? Can you perhaps split long paragraphs to improve readability?
Have you made any "sweeping” or unsubstantiated statements, such as "there is no literature available on this topic" or "this research will contribute to the body of knowledge"?
Have you used an impersonal, objective writing style (One symptom of a subjective writing style is that the researcher refers to him-/herself directly. References to "I", "we" and even “the researcher” should be avoided.)
3.        REFERENCING TECHNIQUES
Are all information sources (books, journals, e-mail messages, web pages) that have been cited in the text, included in the List of References at the end of the assignment and vice versa?
Is the list of references ordered alphabetically? (Entries in the list of references should not be numbered or bulleted)
Have you used the correct referencing method in the text, as well as in the list of references?
Have you correctly indicated the sources of all tables / figures taken or adapted from the literature? (Such references are provided below the table or figure)
4.        APPENDICES
Do all the appendices have appropriate descriptive titles?
Are the pages of all the appendices numbered up to the last page?
Have all the appendices been tagged / "flagged" for easy cross-referencing?
Are all the appendices included in the Table of Contents with their correct page numbers?
Have you included appropriate cross-references in the body text (e.g., see Appendix A) to the material included in the appendices?
5.        GENERAL TECHNICAL CARE
Have you checked your assignment for spelling and grammatical errors?
Have you used capital letters and abbreviations correctly?
Have you consistently rounded off all numeric values in the assignment to two (2) decimals?
Have you consistently “justified” the body text of the assignment (i.e., aligned the text evenly along both the left and right margins to form a square box)?
Are all headings numbered correctly?
First and second order headings should not be underlined.
There should be no full stops at the end of headings.
Have you used an A4 paper setting?
Have you consistently used 1½ line spacing in the body of the text? (You may use single line spacing in tables)
Is the font size of the body text correct set at 12 pt?
Have you consistently used the same font type (i.e., Arial) and font size (12 pt) for the body text?
Are the left and right margins set to 2 cm?
Have all pages printed correctly?

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[1] A grouping variable refers to any variable that is used to sub-divide a sample into sub-groups. Demographic variables, such as gender, home language, income and year of study, are often used as grouping variables. The groups created in this way are then compared on some other aspect measured in the study.