STRUCTURE OF PROJECT PROPOSAL

TITLE PAGE
(i) Title
- A concise statement of the main topic and should identify the variables.

- Should be a reflection of the contents of the document.

- Fully explanatory when standing alone.

- Should not contain redundancies such as ‘a study of…..or ‘an investigation of……

- Abbreviations should not appear in the title.

- Scientific names should be in italics.

- Should contain 12 to 15 words.

(ii) Author’s name and affiliation

- Avoid use of words like ‘By…..’ ‘from…..’

- Preferred order of names- start with your surname, middle name then last name

- Affiliation should be well illustrated i.e.

‘A project submitted to the Department of ………in the School of Computer Science and Information
Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of …….. Dedan
Kimathi University of Technology’

- The year should follow at the bottom of the caption.

DECLARATION
- Should include both the candidate’s and the supervisor’s declaration and duly signed.

- Full names should be used, initials should be avoided. For example:

This proposal is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other University
Name: …………………………………………………………..
……………………….…. …………………
Signature Date
This proposal has been submitted for examination with my approval as University
Supervisor
Name: …………………………………………………………..
……………………… ……………….
Signature Date

ABSTRACT
- This is a brief statement of the problem, objectives of the study, methodology, data processing and
analysis, key findings, general impact of your project and major recommendations.
- Should not exceed 1000 words.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
- The rubric should be in title case and single spaced.

- The chapter titles should be in caps and bold.

- The subheadings should follow each chapter title and should be in title case.

- Subheading of rows should be – Chapters & Pages indicated once at the top of each column
Example:
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction ……………………………1
1.2 Statement of the problem………………2
REFERENCE
APPENDICES

LIST OF TABLES
- List of tables

LIST OF FIGURES
- List of figures

DEFINITION OF TERMS
- Define terms in the text that are not common.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
- Should show the understanding and genesis of the problem.
- Talk about the global perspective followed by the local scenario.
- Talk about the target group in the study.
- Should be approximately 4-6 pages.

1.2 Statement of the problem

- Must indicate exactly what the problem is.
- Indicate why and how it is a problem. Give information to support this e.g. by use of statistics or
evidence. This should be derived from background information to illustrate connectivity. Reference
properly done.
- Length - Maximum 1 page.

1.3 Objectives
General Objective
- One general objective which should be in line with the title.

Specific objectives
- Should be related to the general objective.
- Maximum of 5 objectives and a minimum of 3 objectives
- Should be numbered in romans e.g. (i), (ii), (iii).
- Should start with statements such as: “To investigate…”, “To evaluate…”, “To find out…”
You should AVOID statements such as “To Study…”
- Objectives should be SMART

1.4 Research Questions

- They should be in line with the specific objectives and equal in number.
- Should be questions and not statements
- Should be numbered in romans e.g. (i), (ii), (iii)
1.5 Justification
- Should illustrate why the researcher is conducting the research and whom it shall benefit. Maximum
of one page.

1.6 Scope
- This is a kind of a disclaimer. Should cite the focus of the study geographical area or target group/
population etc. Maximum of one page.

1.7 Limitation
- NOT a must for a proposal.
- MUST to be there in the final project report.
- Indicate the challenges encountered in the study that may have limited the study.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter should be a minimum of 5 pages.
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Case studies

2.2.1 Case study 1: Title

- Compare, contrast, critic, and synthesis of the existing literature relevant to the study
- Indicate what has been done by other researchers including the methodologies used and identify gaps.
- The hypothesized techniques should be subheadings of the literature review. Consistent in citation.

2.2.2 Case study 2: Title

- Compare, contrast, critic, and synthesis of the existing literature relevant to the study
- Indicate what has been done by other researchers including the methodologies used and identify gaps.
- The hypothesized techniques should be subheadings of the literature review. Consistent in citation.

2.2.3 Case study 3: Title

- Compare, contrast, critic, and synthesis of the existing literature relevant to the study
- Indicate what has been done by other researchers including the methodologies used and identify gaps.
- The hypothesized techniques should be subheadings of the literature review. Consistent in citation.
2.2.4 Case study 4: Title
- Compare, contrast, critic, and synthesis of the existing literature relevant to the study
- Indicate what has been done by other researchers including the methodologies used and identify gaps.
- The hypothesized techniques should be subheadings of the literature review. Consistent in citation.

2.3 Summary
- This should tone down the literature review.
- Indicate clearly weakness identified in the literature review.
- Should be a maximum of one page.

2.4 Research Gap

- Indicate the area that has not been explored by other researchers in the literature review.
- One paragraph is enough

2.5 Proposed methodology

- Indicate your proposed idea/ model/ architecture/ algorithm etc. All these must be relevant in the field
of computing.
- Should be a maximum of one paragraph

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Fact finding techniques
3.3 Software design - Software development procedures.
3.3 Preliminary Data Processing and analysis.
Etc.

REFERENCES
Only literature that is available should be cited. Material not available through libraries, such as
personal communications or unpublished data, should be given in text as parenthetical matter.
Make use of APA referencing style.
In general, references in the report text can be cited as follows.
For a single author: either Kirui (2000) or (Kamau, 2000).
For more than two authors: either Kirui et al. (2010) or (Kirui et al., 2010).
Referencing should be as follows.
a) Reference to periodical publications

Williams L A. Use of computer technology by family caregivers of patients undergoing blood or

marrow transplants. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2006.

Brauner N; Schacham M. Identifying and removing sources of impression in polynomial regression.

Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 1998, 48: 75-91.

b) Reference to textbooks
Blanchard B S, Fabrycky W J. Systems engineering and analysis. New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1998.

c) Reference to proceedings
Rigney M P; Kranzler G A. Seedling classification performance of neural network. Paper No. 897523,
St Joseph, MI 49085, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1989.

APPENDICES
- Resources: categorised under hardware and software
- Ghant chart: Project time schedule
- Budget

PROPOSAL FORMATTING
- Structure your report using Heading 1 Style for Chapters Titles, Heading 2 Style for Sub heading and
Heading 3 Style for Sub-sub heading. Your report should have a maximum of three levels.
- Font – Times New Roman 12 should be used. Fancy fonts should be avoided.
- Use normal margin: One inch on Top, Right, Left and Bottom margins.
- Paragraphing should be consistent. Leaves space either after paragraphs or before paragraph.
- Line spacing should be 1.5
- One sentence paragraphs are unacceptable. A paragraph should have a minimum of five sentences.
- BE CAREFULL on grammatical and spelling mistake.
- This project should be your work.
 MODE OF PROPOSAL PRESENTATION
- Quality slides (legible from a distance of 20 feet) giving a summary of the whole proposal should be
presented.
- Slides should not exceed 15.
- Proposal presentations shall be limited to 15 minutes.
- The maximum number of lines on a single slide should be six or less
- Be consistent. Don’t change colour, bullet style, font style, etc. on every screen.
- One idea per slide.
- Don’t let animations dominate the content/information
- Always test your presentation before your official showing

PRESENTATION SKILLS
- Don’t read your slides. Your slides can be used as a reference for you while you present.
- Don’t read your slides word for word.