GUIDE TO RESEARCH REFERENCING

Introduction
I once stumbled upon a sentence that greatly inspired me. The saying goes thus: Every writer is a thief! Certainly you'd be quick to dispute that. The thing is, we were born without the knowledge we have now garnered overtime, it is the work of others that we have digested to become this informed.
In research, it is usual that there would  be an in-depth digging of past and similar work. It is required that due credit is given to the author of what-so-ever sentence, experimental work, or excerpt adapted into your work. This is to acknowledge their efforts, sponsor hard-work and discourage theft of any form. This also helps the readers/reviewers of your work  locate the past work and go over.
Plagiarism - claiming someone else's work as yours is a terrible offence and a laugh-off of creativity. This is strongly discouraged in all climes. Hence, the need for this guide.

Referencing styles/methods
There are numerous methods of acknowledging past work in your writing, but there are three major revered styles (citation guide, 2008). The key, however, is consistency in application.

    APA (American Psychological Association)

Print Sources - Book
In the text, it is required that the author and year of publication is used. In parenthesis or only the year of publication in parenthesis, e.g.: (Archibong, 2014) or according to Archibong (2014) ...

At the citation page/list of references/bibliography, it is written out in full:
The author(s) surname is written, then a comma and initials. The year of publication in parenthesis. The title of the work in italics, with edition and particular pages in parenthesis. Then the publisher's details.

E.g.: Archibong, A. (2014). Referencing basics (2nd ed.) (Pg. 66). Lagos State: Research clue publishers.

NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one author, '&' is used.

Print sources - Journal
Same in-text citation, but in the list of references, the article title is not italicized. The journal title is italicized. The journal volume and page number could be added.
E.g.: Archibong, A., & Michael P. (2014). Referencing basics. Journal of research, Vol 2, 400-403.

Print sources - Magazine, newspaper and encyclopaedia
Same in-text citation, but the publication date is in full. The newspaper/magazine/encyclopaedia article title is not italicized, the newspaper/magazine title and volume is italicized. The page is then added.
E.g.: Archibong, A. (2014, December 1). Referencing basics. Research clue magazine, Vol 2, 400-403.

Online sources
For articles in Journals, newspapers, encyclopaedias and magazines, it is referenced as above (exact principles) but the URL and date retrieved online is added.
E.g. for Journal: Archibong, A., & Michael P. (2014). Referencing basics. Journal of research, Vol 2, 400-403. Retrieved November 1, 2014 from http://researchclue.com/referencing

For DVD/CD source
The article title is not italicized but the title of the referenced work. Then the publisher.
E.g.: Archibong, A. (2014). Referencing basics. Research clue compilation (DVD).Lagos: Research clue publishers.
If there is no Author, the article title is used first, then the year of publication in parenthesis. Then the publication title in italics (Journal, magazine, encyclopaedia or online), before the publication source.
E.g. for Journal online source: Referencing basics. (2014). Journal of research, Vol 2. Retrieved November 1, 2014 from http://researchclue.com/referencing

    CHICAGO Manual of Style

Similarly, in the text, it is required that the author and year of publication is used. Page number can be added though. In parenthesis or only the year of publication in parenthesis, e.g.: (Archibong, 2014, 29) or according to Archibong (2014), referencing can be difficult (29) ...

Print Sources - Book
At the citation page/list of references/bibliography, it is written out in full:
The author(s) surname is written, then the first name in full. The year of publication without parenthesis. The title of the work in italics, the edition and with particular pages without parenthesis as well. Then the publication source.

E.g.: Archibong, Austine. 2014. Referencing basics. 2nd ed. Lagos State: Research clue publishers.

NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one Author, 'and' is used.

/>Print sources - Journal
Same in-text citation, but in the list of references, the article title is not italicized. The journal title is italicized. The journal volume and page number could be added.
NB: No parenthesis in the dates and page numbers.
E.g.: Archibong, Austine U., and Michael Peter G. 2014. Referencing basics. Journal of research: 400-403.

Print sources - Magazine
The article title is not italicized, the title and volume is italicized. The page is then added.
E.g.: Archibong, Austine U. 2014. Referencing basics. Research clue magazine, Vol 2, 400-403.

Print sources - Newspaper and Encyclopaedia
Newspaper articles are not listed as bibliography, it is cited as a running part of the text. It is not in parenthesis.
E.g.: In the Research clue Magazine on December 1, 2014, Archibong put out that ...

Online sources
For articles in Journals and magazines ONLY, it is referenced as above (exact principles) but the URL and date accessed online is added (in parenthesis).
E.g. for Journal: Archibong, Austine. 2014. Referencing basics. Journal of research, Vol 2, 400-403. http://researchclue.com/referencing (accessed November 1, 2014)
For online encyclopaedias and Newspaper, it is not added to the bibliography. Referenced as above.

DVD/CD ROM encyclopaedia source
It is not listed in the bibliography, but as a running part of the text.
E.g.: In the article on Referencing guide by Austine in Research clue [DVD],....

    MLA (Modern Language Association)

In the text, it is required that the author and year of publication is used. In parenthesis, no comma then page number. e.g.: (Archibong Pg 12) or according to (Archibong). NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one Author, 'and' is used.

Print Sources - Book
At the citation page/list of references/bibliography, it is written out in full:
The author(s) surname is written, then the first and middle name in full. The title of the work is underlined with the edition in aparenthesis, then the publisher and year of publication without parenthesis.

E.g.: Archibong, Austine Ubong. Referencing basics (2nd ed.). Lagos State: Research clue publishers, 2014.

NB: For whatever purpose, the rules are sacrosanct. Same principles. For more than one Author, 'and' is used.

Print sources - Journal
Same in-text citation, but in the list of references, the article and journal title are not italicized. The article title is put in quotation mark. The journal volume and page number could be added.
NB: No parenthesis in the dates and page numbers.
E.g.: Archibong, Austine Ubong, and Michael Peter Gabriel. "Referencing basics." Journal of research, Vol 2 (2014): 400-403.

/>Print sources - Magazine, encyclopaedia  and newspaper
The article title is not italicized, it is put in quotation mark. The magazine title is underlined. The page of publication and page numbers are then added.
E.g. for magazine: Archibong, Austine U. "Referencing basics." Research clue magazine, Vol 2, 2014: 400-403.

Online sources
For articles in journals, magazines, encyclopaedias, it is referenced as above (exact principles) but the URL source is added. '<' and '>' is added at the beginning and end of the URL link.
E.g. for Journal: Archibong, Austine. "Referencing basics." Journal of research, Vol 2: 400-403. <http://researchclue.com/referencing>

DVD/CD ROM encyclopaedia source (no author)
E.g.: "Reference guidelines." Research clue [DVD]. Lagos: Research clue publication, 2014.
If there is no Author, it is the article title in quotation. The publication title is underlined. The date of publication, then the source (if internet, '<' and '>' is added).

E.g.: "Referencing basics." Journal of Research. November 1, 2014. <http://researchclue.com/referencing>

Bibliography
Citation guide. (2008). Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation

TIPS TO WRITING A STANDARD ABSTRACT

Due to numerous emails students keep sending to me concerning difficulties they face when trying to write a good and standard abstract, I have decided to pick up my pen once again, do some research and tackle this issue once and for all.

Writing an abstract in an important phase in the research process; hence in-order to make good grades with your research project and impress your readers, one must be familiar with the techniques of writing a good, concise and standard abstract.
Before I discourse on how to write a good abstract, let’s talk a bit about an abstract. Is it a bird or an insect? Absolutely not a bird or an insect, an abstract in simple terms is a summary of a research project, thesis. Dissertation, research journal etc. abstracts are usually seen at the beginning of research paper.
In-order to write good and standard abstract, students must first know how abstracts should be structured and things to avoid when writing one. This article torches on all of these. So enjoy!

STRUCTURE OF A STANDARD ABSTRACT
Most well written abstracts by outstanding researchers all over the world are structured as follows:

    Overview of the study/Background
    Methods
    Results or Findings
    Recommendations and Conclusion

Now let us discourse these sections one after the other.

OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
This is usually the first part of an abstract. It depicts the central focus of the study. When writing an abstract, students should know the central idea behind their study. This section is very important as it tells readers whether to continue reading or not. In essence when giving an overview of your study, you should make it concise and interesting enough to encourage readers to read your whole work. Students must ensure readers easily get a clue of what the research objectives are as well as problems motivating the researcher to pick up interest in the study.

METHODOLOGY
Methodology employed by the researcher constitutes the second part of an abstract. With a semi-paragraph or a sentence, state your research methods. This is where you briefly let readers know your data collection methods, research instruments employed, sample size and so on. To some extent depending on your institution’s research project format, you can state how the research instruments were validated and distributed (i.e. was it face-to-face distribution? or through email?).

RESULTS
The third section of an abstract is a brief summary of your key findings or results. Findings or important results recorded in the study must be briefly stated in the abstract.

RECOMMENDATIONS/CONCLUSION
The last section of most abstracts tells readers recommendations or suggestions made by the researcher. This section is the most important section in an abstract as it brings out the essence of research which is solving identified problems, developing better ways of doing things and adding to the body of knowledge.


THINGS TO AVOID WHEN WRITING AN ABSTRACT
In-order to present a good abstract for academic award(s), the following should be observed by the researcher:

    Avoid Ambiguous Words and Complex Grammar

Remember an abstract is like a tip of the iceberg. Complex and ambiguous words/sentences may discourage readers from reading the full content of your research. Using keywords at the end of an abstract may help in letting your readers know the central theme or idea of the study.

    Do not Loose Focus

When writing an abstract, just go straight to the point. Do not beat around the bush. Definition of terms, long stories that are not interesting may make your abstract too lengthy and boring…..leave all definitions and stories for your introduction.

    Avoid Lengthy Abstracts

Abstracts are meant to be brief and concise. Avoid writing numerous pages and calling it ‘Abstract’. An ideal abstract should be on a single page. However, if you wish to write more, seek the advice of your supervisor first.

    Avoid Writing Abstracts When you have not completed your Study

This particular point one is of great interest to me. I see students writing abstracts before completing their research studies, and it gets me wondering a lot. How did they get findings and recommendations before data analysis and interpretation? Or is there any such thing as pre and post abstracts? If there is any, please feel free to share your ideas by commenting below because, this one is killing me. An abstract is meant to be a summary of your entire work; hence it should be after you have conducted your study.
Below is a perfect example of an abstract:

    ABSTRACT
    This study was intended to evaluate the extent to which strategic planning affects organizational performance. The study was guided by the following objectives; to identify the various components and phases of strategic planning used in company ABC, to find out other factors affecting organizational performance other than strategic planning and to find out the relationship between strategic planning and organizational performance.
    The study employed descriptive and explanatory design, questionnaires in addition to library research were applied in order to collect data. Primary and secondary data sources were used and data was analyzed using statistical package which was presented in frequency tables and percentage. The respondents under the study were 30 employees of ABC, DEF branch. The study majorly focused on phases and components of strategic planning and how they affect the organizational performance.
    The study findings revealed that there is lack of information gathering, where strategic planning does not begin with collection of the necessary information, there is strong review of the past performance where by past performance is considered to make the strategic plans. Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.692 significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed), 0.00 indicates the significance of interaction between two variables an indication that the significant is under the range of 0.0 and 0.05.
    Using the above findings, it implied that there is a strong relationship between strategic planning and organization performance. According to the study, strategic planning contributes 69.2% towards performance in banking services and this implied that other factors contribute 30.8%.  Improvements should be made in the information altering systems and information should be gathered first before making the strategic plans.  Company ABC should evolve all the employees in decision making so as to improve on the performance. 


                                                                                 Excerpt from Chidi Rafael's Articles

HOW TO MANAGE TIME WHEN CARRYING OUT A RESEARCH

Research work could take the most unexpected twist and turn. It is a nerve-racking experience. Usually, if approached in a haphazard manner, valuable time could be lost.
In big research corporations, each researcher has a set of responsibilities and area of focus, this might help and aid timely completion of research work. However, in personal or unstructured research work, these tips on time management is life-saving. Without any bias to any form of research, these tips are generally applicable.

1. Read up! This is the first thing to do to ensure completion of research in the quickest possible timeframe. There is no end to the amount of underground pre-knowledge on any research work to be embarked upon. This will help guide in decision-making during the research.

2. Quite naturally, the first is to make a plan or strategy from the onset. This has been rehashed numerous times. But the key to the plan or strategy working out eventually is doing the right research project that you have the capacity, innate or available, to complete the research, on time! List all possible requirements; equipments and expertise, risks involved, financial commitment, raw materials, ambience et al and have them in place or at least in consideration.

3. Define the scope. This cannot be over-emphasized; researches could expand beyond the ends of the world. Before going further, a possible scope should be in mind. This should be after the underground work. The key is sticking to your guns, except in experimental research where the results could decide the next action.

4. Break actions into smaller units and understand in details each division. Place value on each division. Placing value would have to be in consonance with your supervisor's interest and guidance.

5. Prioritise the activities based on their value and happenings in the course of the research. Off all divisions, some would have a higher value, so prioritize on that.

6. Have a life cycle for each of the value. Let the tasks be accomplishable in bits. Each having a time bound. Specifically seek to accomplish them within specific milestones with reminders of the task schedule.
For example, instead of saying: 'Monday to Wednesday, project chapter one,' you could divide it in tad bits. Firstly, getting the underground data or theory; then dividing the chapter into sections; writing the first draft without editing - uninterrupted, straight from memory; then editing after writing, paragraph by paragraph; then using plagiarism checker, grammatical errors checker, spell checker et al before submitting to your supervisor for possible corrections. If there are, then finish up as required.
The break into phases like this helps you achieve specifics. If time is used up like this, it is more effective than having a larger task spread over a certain period; it might take a longer period, then messing up the initial plan or if shorter, the extra time could be spent less effectively than achieving the scheduled bit of work.

7. Put in place a support system. It could be a higher personality you report to or discuss with. This helps your psyche, as you'd have to meet expectations and/or impress, helping you tap into the deepest part of your creativity. If you attach huge importance to this, you'd likely want to sit up more to your responsibilities.

8. Being online for theory could waste time, get what you think you might need, shut yourself out and just work. When you are deficient on some part after everything, go back and fill it up. It could be very distracting to get the required while online at the same time. Social media is another leech.
It is advisable you have a working period and flexible time. On your working period, ruthlessly protect your personal time. Don't easily give in to non-relevant activities. These could distract work and extend the time to complete any phase of your research work.

9. Plan base on happenings, consider power and all other infrastructures you might require for your work. For example, as a student using the laboratory of your school, there would be times when power would be more stable or when the laboratory would be less in use, plan in that regard to avoid been stranded or waiting in turn. Optimize available time basically, depending on the situation at any point in time.

10. Seeking perfection is one of the biggest thief of time. Editing and fine-tuning on end. After a certain point, its best you declare victory and move on, especially when you exceed the time bound and  you close in on the picture in mind. 

                                                                                                By Austine Archibong

COMMON PROJECT DEFENSE QUESTIONS OFTEN ASKED

When I wrote ‘Making Awesome Presentations: Useful Tips for Project Defense’, I never knew it was going to be a great success story. So many success stories and commendations from over 50,000 readers were just enough to make my year and give me more grace to write more.
Well, enough of the hyping! That great piece was still lacking some smaller pieces to make it totally awesome as some ‘Oliver Twist-Like’ fans still needed more to it. Questions like, what should we expect on the D-Day? What type of Questions do they committee members ask? Can you suggest possible questions and answers that will be asked on the Defense day? These questions fill my mail box by the day and since I adore my readers, I have decided to write a sequel to ‘Making Awesome Presentations’. This time around, with the help of some senior lecturers, friends and my own experience, I have compiled some common questions you may face on your defense day and suggested answers/approach to these questions. So as usual, Enjoy!

Top 25 Likely Project Defense Questions and Answers
Below are likely questions you may face in a defense room. Take note of these questions and suggested answers, do good by researching more and not limiting yourself to just these questions.

Question 1: In few sentences, can you tell us what your study is all about?
The question is simple right? Many professors will tell you that most students get choked on a question like this. Anyways the question is simple, but a bit technical. To answer this question, you need to know every detail of your research project from chapters one to the end. The question needs an answer in form of a summary of the entire study, therefore, to ace this particular question you need to know every detail in your abstract. If you wrote a good abstract, this question will be a cross over for you. 

Question 2: What is your motivation for this study?
Now you must be careful here. This question can be very tricky and it goes a long way in convincing your panel members that your study is worth their time.
To answer this question, you may decide to elaborate on the problem investigated in the study. Your zeal to solve this problem becomes your motivation. Do not state financial reasons or the need to graduate as a motivation as you may easily go off point.

Question 3: How will this study contribute to the body of knowledge?
At some point the need for justification will arise and that is when you will be asked to mention how your study will add to the body of knowledge if approved.
Here you will need to use your methods, case study or any unique model or conceptual framework used in the study to defend it.

Question 4: What is the significance of the study?
Just like stating how your study will contribute to the body of knowledge, you will need to state the importance of your study. To answer this question, you will need to highlight how your study will aid the government in policy development and implementation, how it will help other students who may wish to conduct research studies on the subject matter and how organizations and the society will benefit from your study.

Question 5: Did you bridge any gap from your study?
Every research study must have a problem. Your ability to solve this problem and explore into areas not yet researched on gives you the full marks allocated for answering this question. You must be able to convince the committee members that your approach is unique and it has covered areas where much have not been done by other researchers.

Question 6: What limitations did you encounter?
This is another simple but tricky question. Most times the question is not asked to sympathize with you, rather to get loopholes to criticize your work. To answer this question, you must be careful with words as you may implicate yourself. Be careful enough not to sell out yourself. Do not discourse limitations in your methods or data analysis techniques as this may imply that your study may be biased or not well researched. Use simple limitations like difficulties encountered in combining lectures and project instead of limiting your study.

Question 7: What are your findings?
At this point it is expected of you to present your results or findings from the study in a clear and concise manner. Always link your findings to your research objectives/questions. This will make your panel members to easily be carried along.

Question 8: What Methods or Sampling Technique did you employ?
To answer this question, you must be familiar with your research methodology. Your chapter three (in Most Projects) must be at your fingertips. Your ability to justify your sample size and technique will be highly rewarded here. For more tips Click Here

Question 9: Why choose this method?
As discoursed above, you should not only state a particular method for the study. You must also be ready and able to justify why you chose the method in a convincing manner. At this point you are free to quote sources or similar studies where such methods were adopted.

Question 10: Based on your findings what are your recommendations?
Recommendations are very vital in every research study and should not be joked with. In essence you should know your recommendations off hand.

Question 11: Based on your findings what areas will you suggest for future research?
Questions like this are just there to test your reasoning and authority in your research area. Based on your findings in a manageable scope, you should be able to suggest future research areas in line with your study. For example, if I researched on the challenges of personal income tax collection in Nigeria, a good area for further study will be in other forms of taxation such as VAT, Company tax etc.

Question 12: How can your research study be put into practice?
Easy for the computer scientist and engineering students, but a bit tough for management and social sciences since most management/social science projects are more of abstract in nature. However, you should try your best to be realistic here. Relate your study to current trends in your environment, office, economy, government, schools, church etc. Use of relevant examples and illustrations will score you good point here.

Question 13: How would you summarize your study to a practitioner in a few sentence?
Your ability to convey technical information from the study will score you good points here.

Question 14: What would you change if you were to conduct the study again?
Hmmm. Be careful! Do not be too jovial. There is a loophole here! Just like your limitations, this question can be asked to identify your week points.

Question 15: What is your measurement Instrument?
In simple terms, what data collection method did you employ for the study? Here you state if questionnaires were distributed or data was gotten from secondary sources. 

Question 16: What are your research variables?
Here you will need to convince your panel members that you know what you are talking about. You need to explain your independent and dependent variable(s) to convince them that you are on point. Your variables are present in your project topic. You need to identify these variables and know their definitions as well to ace your defense.

Question 17: What are your research questions?
Very simple question. It should take about 0.015 seconds to answer this question if you are fully prepared.

Question 18: What do you plan to do with your research project after Graduation?
Here you are at liberty to say your mind. If you intend to publish it, this is the best opportunity to discourse and interact with the committee members-maybe a professor there can help.

Question 19: What source of data was employed for the study?
At this point you have to state the source(s) you got data from. In general you have to state whether data was gotten from primary or secondary source or both. You can further convince the committee members by discoursing on literature reviewed for the study-both theoretical and empirical.

Question 20: What theories or theoretical framework is your study based on?
This is a very technical question but interesting. Before you step into the defense room, you should know at least two relevant theories that relate to your study. For example, the “impact of motivation on employee productivity” will be based on Maslow’s Theory and other theories of motivation. If you cannot find relevant theories to back up your study, consult your supervisor for help.

Question 21: How would you relate your findings to existing theories on the study?
To ace this question, one will have to read extensively. You should know existing theories on the subject matter as well as empirical studies too. Your ability to link your findings to previous research studies (Whether they agree or not) will go a long way in validating your study. You will score good points here trust me.

Question 22: What recommendations do you have for future research?
Your problem solving skill is put to test here. You should be able to identify areas that will need more research.

Question 23: What is the scope of the study?
This one is a cheap or should I say bonus question? Here you quickly state the delimitation of the study in brief.

Question 24: What question(s) do you have for the committee?
Not a likely question in our Nigerian context, but I have defended a seminar project where this question was asked and I was shocked to my marrows. This is an opportunity to interact with your committee members and ask some constructive questions. Do not ask silly or too difficult questions as the goal should be to make the committee members feel as the “boss”. It will also go a long way in showing that you are a brilliant individual.

Question 25: Do you have any closing comments?
This is praising time! Use this opportunity to thank your committee members for their time and questions. Tell them how much you have learnt from them and how you intend to correct errors (if any) identified in your work. This can go a long way in impressing your internal and external supervisors. All the best!

BONUS TIPS

• When confronted with a difficult question, adopt a strategy to make them rephrase or repeat the question. This will give you more time to think.
• Before your defense day. Practice with your supervisor or your friends. Make them to drill you with likely questions.
• Talk calmly with confidence. Do not talk too fast as this may pave way for tension and stage freight.
• Read your project thoroughly. Know basic definitions and terms used in the study.
• Expand the likely questions to 50. Feel free to add yours in the comment box below. Thanks and God bless you.

 
 
                                                                                 ----Excerpt from Chidi Rafael's Articles

PROJECT TOPIC PRESENTATION: HOW TO DEFEND A PROJECT

Just imagine a project defence room where you are presenting your research work in such a fabulous way, and your panel members just can’t stop nodding, gazing at you with their mouths wide open and clapping non-stop for you…It is just an imagination, so wake up! Put more work to it by reading this article, apply it and pray your panel members do not turn your project defence to project attack!
Project defence has come to stay, and the only way to graduate in Nigerian universities is to at least defend what you have written (or copied and paste) in a convincing manner. Gone are the days when you could just copy and paste an article from the internet and dump for your school. Our Nigerian school system is changing from dumping grounds to speech oriented institutions, which means that you must be good at presentations in order to scale through. At times students confuse themselves with content of their work. The truth is that it is better to be more confident with a poor content, than to be un-able to defend an excellent research work.
In this article, I am going to give out some useful tips and tricks on how you can have an awesome project defence and presentation. In order to make reading this article more pleasurable, I am going to give tips on how what to do before the defence day, on the defence day, and inside the defence room. So enjoy!

TIPS TO APPLY BEFORE YOUR DEFENCE DAY
First before your project defence, you must ensure you have a romantic relationship with your project topic and the whole content. When I say ‘romantic relationship’, I mean your research topic or research thesis must be of great interest to you. If your topic is too difficult or it was imposed on you by your project supervisor, you better start loving the topic or better still; look for a way to get it changed for you. In my little experience, I have discovered that students who hate their topics usually have problems flowing in the defence room, and it can mean bad for you. One trick to choose a nice research topic is by looking for subjects that you love talking about. If you’re a car freak, you should be considering topics like ‘the impact of official cars on employee productivity’. You would be amazed how this simple trick will go a long way in helping you.

Second, do adequate research on your topic. Before defending or presenting your project, you should source for similar materials on your topic. Focus on how the problem was identified and addressed. Do not dream of having an awesome presentation if you do not know common terminologies associated with your topic. Identify your keywords, variables, background of the study, history of the study and all the variables before your defence date. If you writing on ‘employee motivation and its impact on productivity, you should be able to know your two variables-‘employee motivation’ and ‘productivity’.

Third, know your motivation for the study or research. Most final year students in Nigeria defending their projects do not perform well because, they fail to identify their motives for the study. The motivation for your study is probably the first answer to numerous questions you may be asked in the defence room. Before a research is undertaken, there is usually a problem to solve. The desire to solve that problem becomes your motivation for the study. Please do not use money, or the need to graduate as motivations for your study. Motivation for the study is best applied in questions like ‘why undertake this study’? ‘Tell us about your work’?

Fourth, know your strength as well as your weaknesses. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses will help you prepare a backup plan in case the direction of the defence changed in an unfavourable way.
Fifth, discuss with professionals in your research field and do group discussions with friends. Make your friends your panel members, and defend in front of them. Tell them to criticize and ask numerous questions. With this little training you will be tuning your mind set for what a defence room will look like. You can also seek professional help.

ON THE DAY OF DEFENCE
On the day of defence, a lot of students panic and some may even forget their project topics. Just apply the following tricks and tips and you will be just fine!
First, rehearse with friends again. Look for people to discuss your project with all over again. This will help you remember your key points.
Second, develop good self esteem and confidence. Before you enter the defence room, make use of some good self esteem! Think well about your self, and have in mind that these professors and senior lecturers you are going to face are human beings that do not know every thing. So be in control. See yourself as someone going to lecture a bunch of people that do not know much. Remember 90% of your fears cannot be seen at first, unless you start showing it.

IN THE DEFENCE ROOM

•          Knock first before you enter.
•         Greet the panel members with lots of smile
•         Wait for your first question
•        Answer with great confidence. While answering your questions look straight into the eyes of your panel members, and never be rude. All is well!

                                                        Excerpt from Chidi Rafael's Articles

How To Write Project/Research.

Many students in the school of higher learning such as final year undergraduates or post graduates find it very difficult in starting their project/Research.
This has made us to write out this basic steps that will help anyone
planning to engage in any type of research or project.

 1. Select a general topic that interests you in some way.

2. List key words to help you look up information about the topic.

3. Go to an encyclopedia, or other reference source, to get an overview of the topic.

4. Make source cards for whatever sources you will use for information.

5. Using the general overview, begin to focus the topic into something you can cover well.

6. Write a statement of purpose about the focused topic.

7. Brainstorm questions about the focused topic.

8. Group questions under similar headings.

9. Add any new questions you can think of under those headings.

10. Repeat step 2, listing more key words from your newly focused topic and questions.

11. Make a list of possible sources that can answer your questions. Identify the best sources to use.

12. Find the sources in the library, on the computer, etc. Make a source card for each one you use.

13. Begin making notecards. Use your brain stormed questions to guide your note taking.

14. Change your statement of purpose into a draft thesis statement.

15. Make an outline of your headings. If you are ready to print your outline, click Want to try this? It will help you create your outline and print it. here

16. Refocus your thesis statement if necessary.

17. Write the body of your paper from your notes.

18. Cite any necessary information with parenthetical citations.

19. Write your introduction and conclusion.

20. Write your Works Cited (it is similar to a bibliography).

21. Create a title page.

22. Evaluate your work.

23. Turn in your paper on time.

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Computer Science/Engineering

1. GLUCO METER 2. MOBILE COMPTING 3. WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS 4. NANO TECHNOLOGY 5. DYNAMIC SOURCE ROUTING PROTOCOL 6. RSVP 7. BLUE RAY DISKS 8. MIMO TECHNOLOGY 9. BRAIN FINGER 10. CRYONICS 11. DRUG DISCOVERY 12. HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY 13. RED TACTON 14. ELECTRONIC CARDIO GRAM 15. NANO TECHONOLGY 16. BIO METRICS 17. Form Wizard 18. Cryptography 19. Memory 20. Data Pre Processing 21. Interupts 22. Servelts 23. Servelts 24. Web Technology 25. Multimedia 26. Hacking 27. Web Spam 28. Blogs & their Creation 29. Google or Yahoo Case Study 30. Blogs & their Creation 31. Google or Yahoo Case Study 32. Working of E-Mail 33. Using Regular Expressions In java 34. Earning Online Money 35. Archiever Analyzer 36. Task Management 37. Form Wizard 38. Franchise Mgnt System 39. Leave Mgnt System 40. Blogs & their Creation 41. Google or Yahoo Case Study 42. Working of E-Mail 43. Using Regular Expressions In java 44. Earning Online Money 45. Archiever Analyzer 46. Task Management 47. Form Wizard 48. Franchise Mgnt System 49. Leave Mgnt System 50. Earning Online Money 51. Archiever Analyzer 52. Task Management 53. Form Wizard 54. Franchise Mgnt System 55. MAGIC SQUARES 56. BANKING 57. ELLICA 58. SPYWARE 59. GLUCO METER 60. MOBILE COMPTING 61. WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS 62. NANO TECHNOLOGY 63. DYNAMIC SOURCE ROUTING PROTOCOL 64. RSVP 65. Interupts 66. Servelts 67. Servelts 68. Web Technology 69. Multimedia 70. Interupts 71. RSVP 72. CASP 73. WIRELESS MESH NEWORK 74. NETWORK SECURT 75. VIRTUAL REALITY 76. WI-MAX 77. WIRELESS COMMUNICATION 78. MESH NETWORKING 79. SPYWARE 80. HACKERS 81. QOS 82. WATERFALL MODEL 83. WIRELESS SECURITY 84. HIGH SPEED LANS 85. INTERFACES 86. FIBER CHANNELS 87. LAN PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE 88. TESTING METHODS 89. OOPS CONCEPTS 90. WIRELESS SECURITY 91. HIGH SPEED LANS 92. INTERFACES 93. FIBER CHANNELS 94. LAN PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE 95. TESTING METHODS 96. OOPS CONCEPTS 97. SERVELTS 98. ARRAS AND SENSORS 99. COMPLIERS 100. CRPTOGRAPHY AND N/W SECURITY 101. LAN PROTOCOL 102. BEANS