Thesis Writing Guidelines

Research Recommendations

• Recommendations should be logical, relevant and feasible.
• Recommendations should stem from the conclusions.
• Recommendations should be identified with the objectives and limitations in the introduction.
• Recommendations should be practical, and workable.

Writing Recommendations

• Ensure they are brief and concise.
• Avoid unnecessary and unrelated suggestions.
• State them clearly, describing how they could be implemented.
• Base them on the conclusions.

Thesis and Dissertation Formatting

• The title page includes the title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition.
• The cover page has the same information as the title page, but replaces the date of submission with the year of graduation.
• The approval sheet requires the signature of the research adviser to indicate acceptance.
• An abstract is a short summary of the research, around 150-300 words, with aims, outcomes, and methodology.
• It is crucial to check specific abstract word limits.
• Place the abstract after the title page, acknowledgements, before the table of contents.
• Write the abstract last, after completing the rest of the text.
• Include information on the research problem, objectives, methodology, key results or arguments, and conclusion.

Social Evolution

• Social evolution is a natural process of biological changes occurring in a population across successive generations.
• There are three types of societal evolution: biological, technological, and biocultural.
• Biological evolution refers to genetic and physical changes leading to biological diversity.
• Technological evolution involves the development of tools for daily tasks.
• Biocultural evolution recognizes that biology enables culture, and culture influences biological evolution.

Stages of Development

• Anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan proposed three stages of development: savagery, barbarism, and civilization.
• The savage stage was characterized by nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles.
• The barbaric stage involved agricultural development and animal domestication.
• The civilized stage marked the development of writing.

Social Institutions

• Social institutions are organized sets of elements, such as beliefs, rules, practices, and relationships that maintain social order.
• They are fundamental components of a society’s culture, like family, economy, education, health, and religion.
• They differ from political institutions under the state.

Family

• The family is a vital institution that nurtures offspring.
• It is a group of people related by blood, marriage, or shared residence.
• Types of families include nuclear, extended, and reconstituted families.

Kinship

• Kinship is a social structure defined by relations through blood or marriage ties.
• Descent can be traced matrilineally, patrilineally, or bilineally.
• Marriage can be monogamous or polygamous, with polygyny referring to multiple wives and polyandry referring to multiple husbands.

Economy

• The economy addresses limited resource issues.
• Liberal economists believe the market is a self-regulating mechanism.
• Socialists argue that the bourgeoisie controls the market.
• John Maynard Keynes believed government intervention is necessary to prevent market failures.

Education

• Educational institutions promote literacy and transmit culture.
• They teach beliefs, norms, values, and practices,

Health Institutions

• Health institutions ensure public health and provide universal health services.
• Western health systems are science-based, and standardized.
• Alternative health systems exist alongside Western systems, with some illnesses being culture-specific.

Religion

• Religion is an institution based on faith in a divine entity and its related practices.
• It influences the behavior of its members.
• Religious groups include churches and sects.
• Monotheism believes in one god, while polytheism believes in many gods.
• Animism is a belief system acknowledging spiritual essences in animate and inanimate objects.
• Karl Marx believed religion reinforces social control and is the "opiate of the masses," used by capitalists to oppress the working class.
• Max Weber believed religion is a factor in economic development.

This quiz covers essential guidelines for writing thesis recommendations, ensuring that they are logical, relevant, and aligned with research conclusions. Additionally, it outlines formatting requirements for thesis and dissertation components, including title pages, approval sheets, and abstracts.