CIVIL ENGINEERING RESEARCH WRITING MANUAL

PART I. GENERAL GUIDELINES

All undergraduate students of the College of Engineering enrolled in
Undergraduate Thesis/Project/Feasibility Study must follow the following steps:

1. The student shall compose his/her advisory committee using MMSU-COE-UT

Form 1 - Request for Members of the Advisory Committee. The Advisory
Committee shall be composed of the following:

a. The Adviser will act as the chairman of the committee and will guide the
student in developing a problem of interest which is in line with the
Development Thrusts and Agenda of the College of Engineering and the
department* where he/she belongs. The adviser will see to it that the
student conducts the research project in accordance with the approved
outline. He/She is responsible for making sure the student will come-up with
quality output and that the project study manuscript conforms to the
prescribed style and format.

Note: Advisorship and panel membership must be more or less equally divided
among the faculty in the department.

b. Two Members. Their field of specialization should be in line with the

thesis/project/feasibility study. They may not necessarily come from the
department concerned but should possess the necessary expertise and
training in order for them to give worthy comments and suggestions and
recommendations for the improvement of the project study. In case of a
multi-disciplinary study, a Co-Adviser or additional member is allowed.

c. The Research Coordinator. He/She shall be an ex-officio member of the

advisory. He/She must see to it that the project study/thesis/feasibility is
conducted properly based on widely accepted scientific methods.

d. The Statistician. He/She is responsible in checking the appropriateness of

the experimental design, data analysis and interpretation if the project
study/thesis/feasibility study contains research and development activities.
The name of the statistician shall not appear in the Approval Sheet but
he/she may be acknowledged in the acknowledgment.

e. English Critic. He\She will be recommended by the Adviser to check the

grammar of the manuscript or check the technical soundness of the results
and discussion. The name of the English Critic shall not appear in the
Approval Sheet but he/she is acknowledged in the acknowledgment.

2. The student may want to make changes in the composition of his/her Advisory
Committee. This can be done by accomplishing the MMSU-COE-UT Form 2 -
Request for Change of Members of the Advisory Committee.

3. When the student is ready to present his/her thesis outline, he/she must
accomplish the MMSU-COE-UT Form 3 - Application for Presentation for Thesis
Outline. The outline must be given to the members of the Advisory Committee at
least three (3) days before the scheduled presentation of the outline.

4. During the outline presentation, the comments of the Advisory Committee must be
indicated in MMSU-COE-UT Form 4 - Evaluation Form for Undergraduate Thesis
Outline. After the outline presentation, the chairman of the advisory committee will
 consolidate the general comments and recommendations duly signed by the
committee and will be discussed to the student. The student must revise the outline
accordingly from the recommendations of the advisory committee after the
presentation.

5. When the student has finished his/her experiments/study and ready for an oral
defense, he/she must accomplish MMSU-COE-UT Form 5 - Application for Thesis
Final Oral Defense. A copy of the manuscript must be given to the members of the
advisory committee at least three (3) working days before the actual oral
presentation.

6. Before the manuscript is for final copy preparation, MMSU-COE-UT Form 6 -

Actions and Recommendations of the Thesis Advisory Committee must be
accomplished and duly approved by the Dean of the College.

7. The final manuscript must be printed with the APPROVAL SHEET duly signed by
the authorized faculty members. Three mandatory copies of the final manuscript
must be reproduced for the University Library, College Library, and Department
and binding fees must be paid to the cashier. The official receipt of the binding fee
and other requirements must be presented to the adviser before the student(s)
is/are given a passing grade.

8. The thesis manuscript converted in pdf format and the abstract in word format must
be saved in a CD and should be submitted to the College Research Coordinator
together with the accomplished MMSU-COE-UT Form 7 - Undergraduate Thesis
Manuscript Distribution Form, the three mandatory copies of the manuscript, and
photocopy of the binding fee official receipt.

PART II. FORMAT GUIDE

1. Print the manuscript on 8.5” x 11” white paper, at least substance 20 with the
following margins (in inches): left & top – 1.50, right - 1.25, bottom – 1.0.

2. The acceptable fonts and sizes are the following:

a. Times New Roman (TNR), size 12
b. Arial (regular), size 11
The chosen font should be used consistently throughout the manuscript.

3. The text paragraphs should be fully justified and double-spaced except otherwise
specified such as captions and footnotes among others.

4. The manuscript contains the following items and sub-headings:

Preliminary Pages
 Title page
 Approval sheet
 Biographical sketch
 Acknowledgment
 Table of Contents
 List of table, figures, and appendices
 Abstract

Main Body
 Introduction - Background, Objectives, Significance, Scope and Limitation of
the Study
  Review of Literature - Literature and Studies, Conceptual Framework,
Research Paradigm
 Methodology
- Thesis – Locale of the Study, Research Design, Variables of the Study,
Definition of Terms, Data Gathering Procedure, Data Analysis
- Developmental Studies – Locale of the Study, Design Procedure, Fabrication,
Testing Procedure
 Results and Discussions
 Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations – Summary of Findings,
Conclusions, Recommendation
 Literature Cited
 Appendices

5. Write the title of the preliminary pages and chapters of the main body of the
manuscript in capital letters and boldface.

6. The font style, letter size, and location of the various topics of the manuscript’s
main body should have the following format:
 Title of the Chapter – all capitalized, boldface, centered
 First Level (main heading) – boldfaced, centered and first letter of every major
word is capitalized.
 Second Level (sub-heading) – boldfaced, flushed left, first letter of every major
word is capitalized, and should not be more than 3 lines.
 Third Level (sub-sub-heading) – boldfaced, indented, enumerated paragraph,
and only the first letter is capitalized. The topic is punctuated with a period (.)
and discussion of the topic comes immediately after the period.

7. The distance between the title of the chapter and the subheading or an introductory
paragraph is three single spaces; and the distance between subheading and the
preceding and succeeding paragraphs is three single space and double spaces,
respectively.

8. The chapter title (and therefore the beginning of the chapter) must always start on
a clean page. If there is a space after the last line of the paragraph in the preceding
section, leave it. Go to the next page and start the new chapter there.

9. Number the pages as follows:

a. Preliminary pages
 Use lower case Roman numerals beginning with “i”.
 Except for the title page and approval sheet which are understood to be page
“i” and “ii” respectively.
 Write the number at the center 1 inch from the bottom of the page.
b. Main body
 Use Arabic numerals.
 Write the page numbers 1 inch from the top and 1.25 inches from the right
side of the paper.
 Suppress the page number on the beginning of each chapter.

10. Abbreviate units of measurements without a period. Express measurement in the

metric system. Examples: kg, cm, mm

PART III. PRELIMINARY PAGES

A. Title page
 Contains the heart of the research.
  Reflects the general problem.
 Brief/concise. It is no longer than 14 substantive words.
 Attracts interest.
 The title is written in capital letters and in 2 to 3 lines using the inverted
pyramid format. All text items are centered; double-spaced. The title of the
study and name of the researcher are written in bold letters.

B. Approval sheet

See appendix ____ for approval sheet template.

C. Biographical sketch

The biographical sketch contains a short biography of the thesis student. This part
does not have a prescribed writing style, but it should be written using either first
or third person. Whatever person a student has chosen, he/she should use it
consistently. In addition, the biography should be limited to a maximum of two
pages.
D. Acknowledgment

Acknowledgement recognizes people who had a direct and significant contribution

in the conduct of the research and the writing of the manuscript.

E. Table of Contents

This portion of the preliminary pages lists the various parts of the main body of the
manuscript consisting of up to second level entries/topics only. The first level entry
is a sub-heading under the chapter.

F. List of tables, figures, and appendices

List the tables, figures, and appendix tables separately under the main headings:
list of tables, list of figures, and appendices, respectively.

G. Abstract

1. It should contain a concise summary of the most salient elements of the study:
the title, total number of pages, the researcher’s name, the name of the
thesis/dissertation adviser, the name of the sponsoring institution, keywords
and the synopsis of the research.
2. It should be a summative essay that reflects the organizational structure of
the paper and answers the following questions:
a. What is the article all about? (focus of the study/issue/topic)
b. What does the paper addresses and intends to do? (research problems/
objectives)
c. Who are the participants of the study?
d. What research design (technique, method, approach) was used?
e. What are the most important findings? (central argument/ conclusion/
significance)

3. It should be self-contained (i.e., publishable on its own, together with the title);
should not include details of the method nor should have references to the
literature, tables, or figures.
 4. It should contain a summary of the research problems/objectives,
methodology, and salient findings/conclusions. A major recommendation may
be included.
5. It should use the narrative style with no separate headings; concise;
preferably between 100 to 150 substantive words (not more than 300 total
word count); in one (1) or two (2) paragraph/s; double-spaced.

6. Keywords

a. should include words/phrases which are central to the work but may not
be reflected in the title; not less than six, not more than ten; arranged
alphabetically; separated by commas; double-spaced;
b. should include the field/s where the study may be situated (e.g., civil
engineering, industrial engineering, systems design development, teacher
education, religious studies, student achievement, indigenous knowledge,
corporate management, public governance, hotel and restaurant
management, tourism management, office administration, criminology and
legal education, political science, dynamic psychology, etc.) and the
research method used.

PART IV. MAIN BODY

A. Introduction

1. Background of the Study

a. Present the problem by considering global, national, and local scenario.

Discussions should be from macro to micro (general to specific).
b. Substantiate the existence of the problem situation by citing causal
analysis, facts, figures, and authoritative sources which will add
substance to the discussion. Present also the historical background of
the problem if necessary.
c. Make a clinching statement/paragraph that relates/emphasizes the
situational analysis to the proposed study.

2. Statement of Objectives (Statement of the Problem)

a. There should be a general statement of the whole objective (problem)

followed by the specific objectives (questions/problems) into which the
general objective (problem) is broken up.
b. Write the main problem or main objective of the study in declarative
form. It must reflect the title as well as the anticipated output/result of the
study.
c. The specific objectives (specific problems for descriptive research) are
written in declarative form (question form for descriptive research). They
could be a combination of descriptive and inferential questions.
d. Descriptive questions tend to elicit responses that are generally treated
through means, frequencies, ranks, standard deviations and other
descriptive statistical tools. Generally data are gathered directly or
indirectly through interviews, questionnaire, test, observation, and other
appropriate methods.
e. Specific problems should be arranged in logical order, from factual to
analytical (descriptive to inferential).
f. They must cover mutually exclusive dimensions (no overlapping), not
answerable by simple yes or no, not indicative of when and where; but
 rather, should reflect relationships between and among variables as
indicated in the conceptual framework/research paradigm.
g. They should imply the possibility of empirical testing.
h. This section should be written in the present tense.

3. Significance of the Study

a. State the rationale, timeliness, and/or relevance of the study.

b. Describe the specific application of knowledge obtained and the
potential importance of these applications.
c. Describe the contributions of the study to the discipline as new
knowledge.
d. Cite the usefulness of the study to specific groups.
e. The group is stated as part of a sentence describing how each would
benefit from the study.

4. Scope and Limitations of the Study

a. This section identifies the boundaries of the research. In other words, it

discusses the weaknesses of the study in terms of methodology and
generizability of the results. For example, the research could have been
limited by the size of the sample, locale and other factors.
b. Should include the following:
 A brief statement of the general purpose of the study.
 The subject matter and topics studied and discussed.
 The locale of the study, where the data were gathered or the
entity to which the data belong.
 The population or universe from which the respondents were
selected. This must be large enough to make generalizations
significant.
 The period of the study. This is the time, either months or years,
during which the data were gathered.

B. Review of Literature

1. Literature and Studies

a. It should be emphasized that only the major findings, ideas,

generalizations, principles, or conclusions in related materials relevant
to the problem under investigation should be discussed in this chapter.
Generally, such findings, ideas, generalizations, principles, or
conclusions are summarized, paraphrased, or synthesized.
b. Start with an introductory paragraph on the general nature of the
literature (which include monographs, readings, and studies) as well
as their importance in the study.
c. Divisions of topics must be according to the variables of the study and
presented in their corresponding sequence (thematic approach) as
reflected in the Research Paradigm/Statement of the
Problem/Objectives.
d. Provide a synopsis of current literature on the topic in terms of content
and methodologies used.
e. Include reviews for the past 10 years for books/monographs and 5
years for studies, except theories and landmark studies.
 f. Rule of thumb: The volume of literature (number of references)
reviewed reflects the scholarliness of the study and of the researcher.
While no specific numbers are prescribed, the amount of literature
review should provide a comprehensive discussion of the topics both
in content and methodologies, including those that provide varied,
even opposing, concepts and results
g. Start with global and then local studies; foreign authors followed by
local authors; readings and/or monographs are usually followed by
studies.
h. Point out gaps in the literature regarding content and methodologies
and explain how the study will fill the gap.
i. Use past tense to describe the literature and studies.
j. Document your study throughout the text by citing the author(s) and
date of the works you used. This style of citation briefly identifies the
source for readers and enables them to locate the source in the
Bibliography. Proper documentation through in-text references should
be done using the APA format; page number(s) should be included for
direct quotations.

Ex. APA style: (Garcia & Reganit, 2010) ; (Garcia & Reganit, 2010, p. 31);
Garcia and Reganit (2010)

variations: (Garcia & Reganit 2010) ; (Garcia & Reganit, 2010 : 31)

A material downloaded from the internet must be documented in-text by

indicating the protocol, host name, and path to document.

2. Theoretical Framework

a. Present an integrated set of propositions (theory); 3 to 4 theories,

arranged according to their relative relevance to the study.
b. Discuss the theories and their relevance to the study.
c. Include main proponent(s) and cite the reference(s) used.

3. Conceptual Framework

Conceptual framework provides an illuminating, comprehensive, and compact

presentation of the theories and concepts from which the research problem was
evolved. Its narrative text could be supported by a schematic diagram that
graphically portrays the variables of the study.

a. Present the essential concepts involved in the study in terms of the

main dimensions or variables of the study based on the theories and
the presumed relationships among them.
b. Include authoritative references which can further substantiate the
discussion.
c. Include a brief manifestation on the anticipated output as an appropriate
measure designed to help address the problem situation.
d. Present the conceptual framework in diagram form (i.e., the research
paradigm and/or the research simulacrum).
Examples
Title: Bamboo Leaf Ash as Partial Replacement of Cement in Concrete
Title: Salt-Water Intrusion in the City of San Fernando, La Union
Title: Kapok as Fiber Reinforcement to Concrete

4. Hypotheses of the Study

A conceptual framework provides the basis of the hypotheses. Hypotheses

tentatively answer the objectives of the study. They are derived from an
existing theory or a newly formulated study framework.

a. A hypothesis is a statement that negates or affirms the existence of a

relationship or difference between variables. It must be measurable and
testable.
b. The hypotheses must be based on the inferential problems of the study
and expressed in the null form.
Examples

 There is no significant difference in the workability of freshly mixed concrete

between concrete with varying percentages of bamboo leaf ash as partial
replacement of cement.

 There is no significant difference between the past and present total dissolved
solids and salinity level of coastal aquifers.

C. Methodology

 Introduce with a brief statement enumerating the main topics that are covered in
this chapter.
 Use future tense for the proposal and past tense for the research report.

a. Locale of the Study

 Describe the place where the study will be conducted and the reason behind
the choice.
 Describe the human participants in the study (respondents) and the
sampling design to be used. Convenience sampling is not allowed.
 To warrant the use of statistical tests, randomization should be employed
either simple or in combination with other sampling procedures such as
stratified sampling or systematic sampling.
 The size of the sampling group should be systematically determined
through accepted procedures such as by using Slovin’s formula. The margin
of error should be presented and the reason for its choice discussed.
 Discuss the technique to be used/ used in selecting and identifying the
actual participants; such techniques should ensure equal opportunity for all
members of the study population to participate in the study.
 Discuss the time frame involved in the conduct of the study.

b. Research Design

 State and explain the research method used and why it was chosen. Be
specific about the research method, whether it is descriptive, experimental
or historical. Mention also the approach/es used in the study. For instance,
if the descriptive method is used, state whether the study adopted survey,
correlational, case study, evaluative, comparative, content analysis, or
normative – survey. The narrative description should mention what the
research method is all about and how the variables are reflected using such
research method.
 Explain why this particular research design/procedure was chosen and how
it fits with research objectives/problems.
 Indicate the reference(s) used to justify the use of the research design.
 Include the limitations of the research design and/or of the materials used,
if any.
c. Data Gathering Tool

 Present a narrative description of the data gathering instrument. The

description is focused on the kind of items in the instrument, how items are
answered, and how it was constructed.

 Be very clear on the basis/bases of the items of the instrument, be it a

questionnaire, observation guide, or interview schedule.

 The validation process has to be explained thoroughly, whenever

applicable. It is worth mentioning the instrument’s reliability and validity
coefficients and the type of validity and reliability used.

 In case the data gathering instrument was not constructed, but is a ready-
made tool, like a rating scale or a psychological test, it is still necessary to
mention its reliability and validity levels and the processes undertaken by
the author. Proper citation about the author is expected.

 Append a copy of the instrument in the appendix portion.

d. Definition of Terms
 Include only key terms found in the title and the research problems/
paradigm; except statistical terms.
 The terms must be written in bold letters, indented, arranged alphabetically,
and defined operationally using complete sentences, and for which
references may be indicated.
 Cluster definitions, if any, must be arranged in the same order as they
appear in the research problems or objectives, and should be double-
indented.
 The operational definitions may include measures or indices used in
measuring each variable.
 Operational definitions must be specific and unambiguous.
 Conceptual or “dictionary” definitions must be documented as to reference.
 A definition may start with the conceptual and followed by the operational
dimensions of the term.

e. Data Gathering Procedure

 Give a narrative description on the steps undertaken in data gathering. The

discussion should include the specifics of the procedures of the entire
research process.

f. Data Analysis
 For quantitative research, all statistical tools have to be presented including
how these were used and their formulae. Hand-in-hand with the statistical
tools are the corresponding null hypotheses, if these were the bases in the
analysis of the findings.

 There is no need to put the formula of the statistical tools provided these
are the common ones.
  All scales of measure of research variables have to be placed under this
part of the manuscript.

D. Results and Discussions

E. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
Summary of Findings
Conclusions
Recommendation
F. Literature Cited
G. Appendices
PART V. OTHER GUIDELINES

PART VI. GUIDE TO STATISTICS