Thesis Full Title

By
Student Full Name

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of
Master in Business Administration
at Research Centre in Iqra University
North Nazimabad, Karachi

Iqra University
Month, Year

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgements are optional to mention in the thesis document. Here all those
who have supported you in this research work are acknowledged.

ii

ABSTRACT
The Abstract is a short summary of your research. It should cover the problem
statement, hypotheses, research methods, results and conclusion. The Abstract writing
should range from 150-250 words, in a single paragraph. It is best to write the
Abstract at the completion of all the chapters and compilation of the research results
with the conclusion.

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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
1.1

Background of the Study ................................................................................. 1

1.2

Statement of the Problem ................................................................................ 1

1.3

Research Objectives and/or Questions ............................................................ 1

1.4

Structure of the Study...................................................................................... 1

1.5

Definition of Terms (If required) .................................................................... 1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 3

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOD.......................................................................... 6
3.1

Theoretical Framework ................................................................................... 6

3.2

Hypotheses ...................................................................................................... 6

3.3

Research Design .............................................................................................. 6

3.3.1

Type and Nature of Study ........................................................................ 6

3.3.2

Sampling Design ...................................................................................... 6

3.3.3

Instrument ................................................................................................ 6

3.3.4

Procedure of Data Collection ................................................................... 6

3.3.5

Statistical Technique ................................................................................ 6

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS ............................................................................................... 8

4.1

Descriptive Profile of the data ......................................................................... 8

4.2

Hypotheses Testing ......................................................................................... 8

4.3

Hypotheses Assessment Summary .................................................................. 8

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 9

5.1

Conclusion....................................................................................................... 9

5.2

Discussions ...................................................................................................... 9

5.3

Limitations ...................................................................................................... 9

5.4

Future Research Recommendations ................................................................ 9

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 10
APPENDIX .................................................................................................................. 12

iv

LIST OF TABLES
S.No.
1.

TABLE
Table 4.1: Title of the Tables

Page
Number
4

LIST OF FIGURES
S.No.
1.

Figure
Figure 4.1: Title of the Figure

vi

Page
Number
5

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Thesis submitted by the graduate students must conform to established format

and style. The approved style thesis writing is the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (6th edition), referred as APA. The APA style guidelines
presented here are a subset of the full guidelines. For full guidelines see: Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010, 6th ed.). Washington, D.C.:
American Psychological Association. Additional information concerning APA style can
be found at http://www.apastyle.org/.
Though Iqra University Northnazimabad Campus Research Centre-IUNCRC
follows most of these guidelines, some exceptions are noted in this document. Pointers
stated below frequently pose difficulties for final acceptance of thesis. This chapter
should comprise on at least 4 pages.
The Introduction chapter focuses on the introduction of the research title chosen.
It should cover the problem statement and the research questions designed for the
research. Chapter 1: Introduction should include the following components:
1.1

Background of the Study

1.2

Statement of the Problem

1.3

Research Objectives and/or Questions

1.4

Structure of the Study

1.5

Definition of Terms (If required)

IUNCRC prefers capitalized chapter headings at the beginning of chapters. New

chapters should start on new pages with the first line of the paragraph indented. After
the sub-headings, the first line of the paragraph is also indented.

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

Margins
Set margins to 1 inches at the left side and 1 inch at the top, bottom, and right
side. Do not justify the right margins.
Spacing
Double-space everything including subsections. Tables, figures, and appendixes
may be the exceptions when necessary for clarity or visual effectiveness.
Acceptable Fonts for Printing Thesis
The only font recommended when printing a thesis is Times New Roman. The
font size must be 12-point all along the document. Typefaces that are either compressed
or sans serif are highly discouraged and should not be used.
Headings
Headings within a manuscript identify different sections and subsections. In an
APA-style manuscript, you can have anywhere from one to five levels of headings.
When setting up your paper, if there is no room at the end of a page to include text
under a heading, put the new heading on the next page. The structure for these five
levels is as follows (APA, 2010, p. 62):
Heading (Level 1)
Heading (Level 2)
Heading (Level 3)
Heading (Level 4)
Heading (Level 5)

Centered, boldface, upper and lowercase

Flush left, boldface, upper and lowercase
Indented, boldface lowercase paragraph heading ending
with a period.
Indented, boldface italicized, lowercase ending with a
period.
Indented, italicized, lowercase ending with a period.

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter entails essence of research studies confined from various

research resources. It is compulsory to state the in-text citations here and its
complete reference (in the chapter of references) of the extracted research studies
here to avoid plagiarism. It is important to maintain at least 20 different references
for the thesis study. The chapter should be comprised of at least 8-10 pages.
What is a Literature Review?
A literature review is a critical evaluation of published research on a particular
topic. Information from the research literature is organized, integrated, and evaluated to
show progress in scientific understanding of the topic. A literature review should
contain the following:
Definition and clarification of the problem
Summary of previous investigations to show the state of current knowledge
Identification of relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the
literature
Selecting Your Sources
Source articles should be chosen so that they all relate to a focused topic. First
read the abstract of a potential source; if it appears to be relevant, go on to read the
entire article. Evaluate articles on the following:
Are they scholarly sources, with references cited in the text and also listed at the
end of the article?
Are they primary sources, i.e., first-hand reports of research studies conducted
by the author(s) of the article? Look for sections of the article labeled Method,
Results, and Discussion. (Note: Secondary sources are sometimes allowed in

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

addition to primary sources; check with your supervisor.)

Do they complement each other in terms of topic?
Do any of the articles suggest competing theories?
Citing Sources in Body of Paper
It is extremely important that you credit the authors of ideas that are not your
own.
Citation should appear in the very first sentence in which you present another
persons ideas; not at the end of the paragraph! If you continue to describe the
ideas of the same author in the same paragraph, do not keep repeating the
citation in that paragraph. If you refer to that author's work later in the paper,
you should repeat the citation.
Citation includes authors last names and year of publication. The title of the
source is NOT given as part of the citation. Authors and year may either be
incorporated into the first sentence or given in parentheses at the end of that
sentence:
o Smith and Jones (1976) have argued that learning is essential to
survival.
o Research has shown that learning is essential to survival (Smith &
Jones, 1976).
o Use and when citing multiple authors as part of a sentence; use &
when authors names are given in parentheses, as shown above.
If source has three or more authors, give names of all authors the first time you
cite the source; after that, use "et al." (Doe et al., 1985).
If source has more than six authors, use et al. each time you cite the source,
including the first time.

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

If citing two or more sources together, place in alphabetical order by first

authors last name. The multiple sources are separated by semicolons. For
example: (Smith, 2009; Smith & Jones, 2006).
Avoid Using Quoted Material
Direct quotations are rarely used in scientific writing; instead paraphrase the
idea using your own words, and make sure you give the author credit in a
citation.
In the very rare event that you use a quotation, enclose the quoted material
with quotation marks, followed by the author, year, and page number in
parentheses.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is when you present the ideas of another author as if it were your
own work, without giving proper credit to the author. Each time you paraphrase
another author, you must credit the author in your text. Quotation marks are used
when you are quoting the exact words of another author within the limit of 40 words.
If quoted material is more than 40 words, indent the whole paragraph followed by the
author, year, and page number in parentheses. Plagiarism is unethical and
unacceptable. IUNCRC expects you to maintain zero percent plagiarism in the content
of the document.

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOD

Type Research Method (note, here and below, do NOT enclose headings in
the quotation marks) as a level 1 heading immediately after the literature review
chapter on a new page. This chapter is called Research Method and NOT Research
Methods. This chapter should be at least 4 pages. This chapter include the following
components:
3.1

Theoretical Framework

3.2

Hypotheses

3.3

Research Design

3.3.1

Type and Nature of Study

3.3.2

Sampling Design

3.3.3

Instrument

Validity and Reliability Test

3.3.4

Procedure of Data Collection

3.3.5

Statistical Technique

For the Research Design subsection type Research Design as a level 2

heading immediately after the Hypotheses heading. In this section describe the type
(qualitative, quantative or mix-methods) and nature (descriptive, correlational, causal
etc.) of study, sampling design, instrument, procedure and statistical technique. In the
description of sampling design, define population, sample size and sampling
technique. In particular, pronounce all relevant characteristics of your sample (e.g.,
number of participants, mean age, gender breakdown, etc.). Do NOT provide
information that might identify the participants, such as the name of their university of
place of work, should not be given. Rather, give information about the participants
only in general terms, such as "students at regional public university in Karachi."

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

For the Instrument subsection type Instrument as a level 3 heading

immediately after the participants section. In this section describe all of the materials
you used in your study (e.g., questionnaires, rating scales, etc.). Give enough detail so
that someone could replicate your study.
For the Procedure subsection type Procedure as a level 3 heading
immediately after the Materials section. In this section provide a description of
exactly how you ran your participants in your study. Again, you should provide
enough detail so that someone could replicate your study.

Note: Discuss statistical technique(s) in context of previous studies

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS

Start your Results chapter immediately after the end of your Method chapter on a
new page. Type the heading Results as a level 1 heading. In your results section
provide a verbal description of what you found supported by reports of all relevant
descriptive statistics (e.g., Means and standard deviations and correlations) and
inferential statistics (e.g., t-test, Analyses of variance).
The results are identified in this chapter along with its interpretations and
findings in relevance to the hypotheses tested. This chapter should also include the
Hypotheses Assessment Summary (Table form). This chapter should be at least 4
pages. Chapter 4: Results should include the following components:
4.1

Descriptive Profile of the data

4.2

Hypotheses Testing

4.3

Hypotheses Assessment Summary

When reporting inferential statistics report the following information: The

observed value of the statistic, the degrees of freedom, p-value and any effect size
statistics. The general format to follow is: F(2, 39) = 9.67, p = .014, l)2 = .06. When
reporting descriptive statistics, report group means, standard deviations, and
confidence intervals. You should report 95% or 99% confidence intervals. For
example: (M = 5.31, SD = 1.18, 95% CI [5.08, 5.54]). For more complex analyses,
you may report the results in tables.

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

Start the Conclusion chapter immediately after the end of the results section on a
new page. Type the heading Conclusion as a level 1 heading. The structure of your
discussion should be from specific to general. Start off with a restatement of your
hypotheses and indicate whether the hypotheses were supported. Provide links
between your results and previous research and theory (with citations) that you
reviewed in your introduction. End your conclusion chapter with an assessment of
limitations in your research. Draw overall conclusions about the current state of
knowledge given your findings and previous findings. State why it is important to
continue to pursue this line of research and include ideas for future research. This
chapter should be at least 2-3 pages.
Chapter 5: Conclusion should include the following components:
5.1

Conclusion

5.2

Discussions

5.3

Limitations

5.4

Future Research Recommendations

Note: Do NOT give personal reactions such as, I was shocked/surprised/disappointed

to find...

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

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REFERENCES

At least 20 references to be listed here in context to the in-text citations used

in the chapter of literature review. Bullets and any form of numbering should not be
used. The references should be in alphabetical order as per the APA format with
hanging indent.

Book
Example: Newell, A. (1972). Human problem solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall. (for one author)
Example: Newell, A., & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human problem solving. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. (for two authors)

Journal article
Example: Carlson, J. G. (1985). Recent assessments of the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 356-365.

Magazine article
Example: Adams, M. T. (1998, January 17). Seeing the elderly mind deteriorate.
Omni, 68, 62-74.

Newspaper article
Example: Cancer therapy brings new hope. (1996, August 17). The Salt Lake Tribune,
p. A6.

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

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Article or chapter in an edited book

Example: Mendelowitz, E., & Schneider, K. (1989). Existential psychotherapy. In R.
J. Corsini & D. Wedding (Eds.), Current psychotherapies (8th ed., pp. 295927). Belmont, CA: Brooks Cole.

Web Site/Page - Informally Published or Self-archived Work

When discussing an entire web site (as opposed to a specific page on the web site), an
entry does not appear in the reference list, but is cited within text as shown in the
following sample sentence:
The International Council of Museums web site provides many links to museums,
codes of ethics, and the museum profession (http://www.icom.org/).
Landis, B. (1996). Carlisle Indian Industrial School history. Retrieved September 10,
2009, from http://home.epix.net/~landis/histry.html

Iqra University North Nazimabad Research Centre

APPENDIX

This chapter should include the supplementary material for the research carried
out, as follows:
-

Cover Letter

Questionnaires (one unfilled)

Elaborative SPSS outputs other than the immediate findings.

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