possible solution to the research problem, and as such is

expected to be verified or
falsified (accepted or not accepted) by the evidence gathered
by the study (Sarantakos,
1998). For studies containing a quantitative approach and
intending to test a link between
variables, hypotheses shall be included for the general or
overall question and for the
specific questions.
The inclusion of hypotheses in the proposal is influenced by the
nature of the study. For
example, as a guide, if the study is qualitative or exploratory i.e
seeking to answer
questions of “why” and “how”, hypotheses shall not be
required as data collected shall
not be analyzed statistically. However, for quantitative studies,
the hypotheses must be
presented in addition to the research questions. For all studies
that have a quantitative
orientation; depending on how the objectives are stated, the
questions to be answered
(what, why, how) and the design of the study, among others,
the candidate shall present
testable hypotheses. It is recommended that alternative
directional or non-directional
hypotheses are formulated as opposed to hypotheses in a null
form. The hypotheses shall
either be the same number as the research questions
(recommended), or shall be more or
less. Candidates must understand the philosophy behind this
reasoning. As a guide, the
hypotheses should be presented immediately after the research
questions, unlike in
journal articles where hypotheses may be placed within or after
the literature review.
1.6 Justification of the study
This gives the rationale of the study. It can be theoretical,
methodological, contextual,
etc. The justification should reflect an existing gap in knowledge
from a theoretical,
methodological or contextual perspective. The existing
knowledge on the issue under
investigation should be clearly demonstrated and the gap
indicated.
1.7 Significance of the study
This refers to the relevance of the study in terms of academic
contributions and practical
use that might be made of the findings to the
organization/sector in which the researcher
is based and to the public at large. The researcher must inform
the reader the reasons why
12
and how s/he thinks the findings might change policies, theory
or practice. In short, s/he
should indicate who will benefit from the findings of the study
and how.
1.8 Scope of the study
The scope should include geographical, time and content scope.
It provides for the
boundary or limits of the research in terms of content (i.e.
independent and dependent
variables to be investigated), geographical area and time span
of the research. Scientific
justification should be provided for limiting the study to the
defined scope
13
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
A literature review is an account of what has been published on
a topic by accredited
scholars and researchers. It presents a survey and discussion of
the literature in a given
area of study. It is a concise overview of what has been studied,
argued and established
about a topic, and it is usually organized either chronologically
or thematically. The
literature should be 10 years or newer except for theoretical
review and historical
background. In writing the literature review, candidates are
expected to convey to the
readers what knowledge and ideas have been established on a
topic, and what their
strengths and weaknesses are. This section should enable
candidates demonstrate skills in
two areas namely (1) information seeking: the ability to scan
the literature efficiently,
using manual or computerized methods, to identify a set of
useful articles and books and
(2) critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analyses
and value judgement to
identify unbiased and valid studies on a problem under
investigation, and be able to
detect and present the research gaps in a scholarly way. A
literature review must:
1. be organized around objectives, themes or concepts related
to the study.
2. synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not
known.
3. identify areas of controversy and gaps in the literature.
4. formulate questions that need further research.
A literature review should be a piece of discursive prose, not a
list describing or
summarizing one piece of literature after another. Instead, the
literature review should be
organized into sections that present themes or identify trends,
including relevant theory.
Asking questions such as the following will help you sift through
your sources and
organize your literature review. Remember, the literature
review organizes the previous
research in the light of what you are planning to do in your own
project. The following
key questions are a guide to reviewing the literature:
 What has been done in this topic area to date? What are the
significant discoveries, key
concepts, arguments, and/or theories that scholars have put
forward? Which are the
important works?
14
 On which particular areas of the topic has previous research
concentrated? Have there
been developments over time? What theories, principles or
models have been advanced in
the previous studies? What methodologies have been used?
 Are there any gaps in the research? Are there areas that have
not been looked at closely
yet, but which should be? Are there new ways/trends of looking
at the topic?
 Are there improved methodologies for researching this
subject?
 What future directions should research in this subject take?
 How will your research either build on or depart from current
and previous research on
the topic? What contribution will your research make to the
field?
The length of a literature review varies depending on its
purpose and audience. In a
proposal or dissertation, the review is usually a full chapter (at
least 8 pages), but for an
assignment it may only be a few pages. As a guide, candidates
shall organize this chapter
as follows:
1.1 Introduction
The introduction should tell the reader how the chapter is
arranged and how the review is to be
organised. The rationale of the study, the sources of literature
and the procedure and purpose of
literature review should be stated and briefly discussed by the
candidate in this introduction.
2.2 Theoretical review
This section shall present a review of literature on the theory or
theories, which the candidate
will have identified as being the guiding principle of the study in
chapter one under the theoretical
background. How the theory (ies) has been used by other
researchers and how it will be used in
the current study has to be highlighted and analytically
evaluated. By definition, a theory is a set
of concepts, and therefore some of the concepts in the
conceptual framework may be identified
from these theories. As matter of critical review, the theoretical
review should identify the theory,
the author, assumptions, contribution to the study,
limitations/weaknesses
Theory Authority Assumptions Contribution to
the study
Limitations/weaknesses
of the theory
15
2.3 Conceptual review/Conceptual framework
This section will depend on how chapter one is done. If the
candidate takes the funnel
approach, then he will be expected to have this section and the
conceptual framework
here in chapter two. However, if the candidate choose to do it
by separating the
Historical, theoretical conceptual and contextual perspectives,
then this section is not
needed for it is redundant.
A conceptual framework is used in research to either outline
possible courses of action or
to present a preferred approach to an idea or thought.
Conceptual frameworks (sometimes
called theoretical frameworks by some authors) are a type of
intermediate theory that
attempt to connect to all aspects of inquiry (e.g. problem
definition, purpose, literature
review, methodology, data collection and analysis). Conceptual
frameworks can act like
maps that give coherence to empirical inquiry. Because
conceptual frameworks are
potentially so close to empirical inquiry, they take different
forms depending upon the
research question or problem. Proponents claim that when the
study purpose and
framework are aligned, other aspects of empirical research such
as methodological
choices and statistical techniques become simpler to identify.
A conceptual framework is the researcher‟s own position on
the problem and gives
direction to the study. It may be an adaptation of a model used
in a previous study, with
modifications to suit the inquiry. Aside from showing the
direction of the study, through
the conceptual framework, the researcher can be able to show
the relationships of the
different constructs that s/he wants to investigate. Once the
conceptual framework has
been determined, the next task for the researcher is to
determine what research methods
to employ to best answer the research questions through the
proposed framework.
The candidate should end up summarising the
conceptualisation in a matrix; like this one
Concept/
variable
Construct/dimension Classical
definition/s
Operationalization Source
from
literature
16
A diagrammatic model or representation of the relationship
between variables and how
they are operationalized for the purpose of research should
then be provided. It should
indicate the independent and dependent variables (cause/
effect relationship) or vice
versa; and moderating and intervening variables (where
applicable). The source of the
variables/framework and an explanation of the diagrammatic
representation shall be
required.
It is not mandatory that every study must have a moderator or
intervening variable, as this
depends on the facts in the real world and logic as well as the
candidate‟s own
conceptualisation. Inclusion of such variables (moderator or
intervening variables)
demands that the candidates must test their effects in the
study. It is also not mandatory
that every study should have a conceptual framework. For
qualitative or exploratory
studies where variables are not predictable but rather could
emerge from the study, a
conceptual framework is not necessary.
2.4 Review according to objectives (please do not include this
subheading in this
chapter but rather state the actual theme of the literature
review).
A literature review highlights specific arguments and ideas in a
field of study. By
highlighting these arguments, the researcher attempts to show
what has been studied in
the field, and also where the weaknesses, gaps, or areas
needing further study are. The
review should therefore also demonstrate to the reader why
the research is useful,
necessary, important, and valid. There are several ways to
organize and structure a
literature review. The most commonly used are the
chronological and thematic structures.
Chronological:
In a chronological review, you will group and discuss your
sources in order of their
appearance (usually publication), highlighting the changes in
research in the field and
your specific topic over time. This method is useful for papers
focusing on research
methodology, historiographical papers, and other writing where
time becomes an
important element. For example, a literature review on theories
of public administration,
or corporate governance might present how the understanding
of the discipline of public
17
administration or corporate governance has evolved through
the centuries, by giving a
series of examples of key developments and concluding with
current theories and the
direction your research will take.
Thematic:
In a thematic review, you will group and discuss your sources in
terms of the themes or
topics they cover. This method is often organizationally stronger
than the
aforementioned, and it can help you resist the urge to
summarize your sources. By
grouping themes or topics of research together, you will be able
to demonstrate the types
of topics that are important to your research. This may involve
formulating themes out of
the study objectives and reviewing literature objective by
objective. This is the approach
which is recommended at UMI.
These guidelines recommend that the literature review should
be done objective-by-
objective. Each objective should be given a theme that should
reflect both variables of the
study and appropriate literature reviewed. The candidate will
decide on sub-headings in
accordance with the research objectives. The literature review
should focus on the themes
of the study and should inform the objectives and methodology
of the study. Citations
should be included in the text, indicating author and year of
publication in accordance
with the approved format e.g. (Mukasa, 2000 pg). Quotations
should include the page (s)
where the quotations appear to be direct e.g. (Nuwagaba, 2000
pg). All other details of
the citations are included in the reference section. UMI
currently follows the APA
STYLE. The review should be critical and use of current journal
articles rather than
textbooks is recommended. The themes should also correspond
to the research questions
and or objectives. At the end of each review, the candidate is
expected to hypothesize,
identify gaps or derive assumptions that guide the study. For a
given idea, first discuss
common strands in the literature, then departures.
2.5 Summary of the literature review
The candidate should identify the key lessons learnt from the
literature review. The major
trends, and most importantly the gaps that have been identified
in the literature which the
18
study intends to address have to be highlighted in the summary
section. The candidate
also has to summarise the key ideas that may inform his/her
study