REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN

Peace – Work – Fatherland Paix – Travail – Patrie

MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION MINISTERE DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT S

DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

OPTION: NURSING

The University of Excellence

TOPIC

A Research Report Submitted to the Department Biomedical Sciences, Specialty of

Nursing in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of a Higher
National Diploma (HND) In Nursing Sciences

Written and presented by

Student’s name

23NUR

Supervisor
Mr. xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx

APRIL 2024

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PROPOSED GUIDELINES FOR WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND REPORT

FOR

HND MEDICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

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 PREAMBLE

This document is a general guide for undergraduate health students undertaking research,
particularly, for the first time. The guide is created as a tool to enhance research formulation and
development as well as maintain quality supervision. This is only possible if the students and
supervisors work hard and in an enabling environment. It is therefore expected that the provided
structures for the research proposals and reports will be adapted by all departments of the
institution, thereby ensuring uniformity in the process.

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 A. CRITERIA FOR SUPERVISION
 HND level
 Supervisors must be holders of at least a Bachelor’s Degree.
 However, holders of HND or equivalence with a minimum of two years teaching
experience may co-supervise.
 Supervision
 In principle, every student will have a minimum of one supervisor and a maximum of
two supervisors.
 In exceptional cases, a supervisor may be drawn from another department, endorsed by
the student’s head of department (HOD).

B. RESPONSIBILITIES OF SUPERVISORS
 As principal resource persons, supervisors shall:
 Be available for consultation at least once a week.
 Respond to any written materials from their students within at most two days of
submission.
 Guide students to relevant literature and their sources.
 Discuss and critically evaluate the student’s findings and ideas.
 Ensure that students comply with the provided outline and structure of projects.
 Enhance the quality of a student’s work.
 Ensure that students respect deadlines for submission of proposals and projects.
 Guide students on the preparation of slides for oral presentations.
NB:

In the absence of a supervisor for more than two weeks, arrangements must be made by
the HOD to ensure continuity in supervision.
By placing his/her name and signature on the title and certification page of the project,
the supervisor is certifying that the project represents the work of the student that was
carried out under his/her supervisor and is ready for official evaluation.

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 C. CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION OF FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND
RESEARCH PROJECT
 Deadlines should be set and respected by each institution.

A. RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORMAT/STRUCTURE

 Cover Page ( see appendix 1)
 Certification ( see appendix 2)
 Table of Contents: (See Appendix 3A).

TIPS ON WRITING THE PROPOSAL

FORMATTING:

 Use TIMES NEW ROMANS.

 Font size: 16 for each chapter and its title, 14 for subtitles, 12 for subheadings and text.
 Use font size 12 double spacing or font size 14 with 1.5 spacing.
 A research proposal should not exceed 30 pages.
 A research project should not exceed 50 pages.
 Page Numbering:
 From title page to list of abbreviations (Roman figures e.g i ii, etc)
 From chapter one ( Introduction) to appendices (Numbers 1, 2, 3 etc)
TITLE:

 Should be short, informative and complete.

 Should indicate variables, target population, study area.
ABSTRACT:

 Brief summary containing: the Research Problem (I sentence), gap, Purpose of the
study, Methodology (study design, study area, study population, instruments for data
collection, data analysis).
NB:

Results and conclusion to be included in the abstract of the final report).

No paragraphing & no references.

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 Not more than one page & Single line spacing.

CHAPTER ONE -INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND:
 This is a very brief summary of 1 to 2 pages.
 Provides the reader with relevant information on the research problem. i.e. The
magnitude ( how big is the problem- Globally, regionally, locally)
 Who is affected by the problem?
 Contributing factors to the problem?
 Possible solutions from published works, knowledge gaps, etc.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
 Is a statement of the research problem as it affects the target population in the study area?
 It should highlight the magnitude, consequences or impact.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ( SYNONYMS TO RATIONALE OR
JUSTIFICATION)
 Why is the study important? How will the result/findings of your study be of benefit to
the Government/Ministry of Health, community, patients or participants, researchers, etc.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 Are derived from the statement of the problem
 Guide the remainder of the design process
a) Formulating A Qualitative Research Question:
 WHY, WHERE, WHO, HOW, what, questions
 The research question should address the variables, population their relationship, where
applicable.
Examples:
i. Why do some Adults in Nkwen community prefer alternative medicine to Conventional
medicine?
ii. How do elderly people living with Diabetes perceive their situation?

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 iii. How does the attitude of Nurses influence the utilisation rate of health services among
the adult population?
iv. What are the special health challenges that retired persons face in rural settings of
Cameroon?
v. What factors motivate individuals to take part in mass immunisation in the urban settings
of Cameroon?

b) Formulating A Quantitative Research Question And Hypothesis

 The research question and hypothesis should address the variables, population their
relationship, where applicable.
 Research Hypotheses is the hallmark of a quantitative study.
 It is a tentative prediction of the answer to the research question.
 A tentative prediction or explanation of the relationship between two or more variables.
 Considering PICO and FINER criteria for developing a research question :
 Examples:
i. In children with acute otitis media (P), is cefuroxime (I) is effective in reducing the
duration of symptoms (O) as compared to amoxicillin (C)?
ii. H0: cefuroxime is more efficient in reducing symptoms ofacute otitis media than
Amoxicillin.
iii. Does the use of insecticide treated nets reduce the incidence of malaria in children 0 t0 5
years?
iv. H0: The use of insecticide treated nets reduces the incidence of malaria in children 0 t0 5
years?
v. Does treatment with amoxicillin increase the risk of developing resistance in children
suffering from otitis media?
vi. H0: Treatment of otitis media in children with Amoxicillin decreases the risk of
resistance.
vii. Do pregnant women age 18-30 gain more post-partum weight than those above 30 years?
NOTE: Use either research question or hypothesis and never both.

1.5RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

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 The main objective or Aim/ goal of a research project summarize what is to be
achieved by the study in general terms.
 The specific objectives provide an accurate description of the specific actions you will
take in order to reach the aim.
 In writing a good objectiveuse active words that are specific enough to be evaluated: to
determine, to compare, to verify, to calculate, to describe, to establish. to identify, etc.
 Avoid use of vague non-action verbs such as to appreciate  to understand  to
study/to know.

a) Main Objective:
 Single sentence and in simple present tense that includes the central phenomenon (what
will be studied), participants (who: if any), the research site (where).
 Should be closely related to the statement of the problem.
 The main objective may start with, the purpose of this study is to (understand, describe,
develop, discover, explore, etc) the ____ (central phenomenon of the study) for __ (the
participants) at (the site).
b) Specific objectives:
 A clear statement of the specific purposes of the study, which identifies the key study
variables and their possible interrelationships as well as the nature of the population of
interest.
 Must be SMART OBJECTIVES: Measurable  Achievable/attainable  Realistic/time
bound
 Stated in active words depending on the purpose of the study.

Example:
Research question:
 Is the level of knowledge on recommended nutritional practices related to the nutritional
status of pregnant women attending antenatal care in Northern Cameroon?
Main objective:

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  The purpose of the study is to analyze the association between nutritional knowledge and
the nutritional status of pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) in Northern
Cameroon.
Specific objectives: -
i. To assess the knowledge level among ANC attendees on the recommended nutritional
practices during pregnancy.
ii. To assess the nutritional status of pregnant women attending ANC.
iii. To analyse the statistical association between nutritional knowledge level and nutritional
status in pregnant women attending ANC.

NB:Well-defined research objectives will help you

Identify the type of study design.

Focus the study activities.
Organise the study in clearly defined parts or phases.
Facilitate the development of your research methodology.
Help to orient data collection  facilitate data analysis.
Facilitate interpretation and utilisation of result.
Avoid collection of data that are not strictly necessary for understanding/ solving the
problem.

1.6 RESEARCH SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

1.7 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK (OPTIONAL)

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS

 All major /key terms/ variables must be given an operational definition.

CHAPTER TWO-LITERATURE REVIEW

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  This is a critical summary of research topic , generally prepared to put a research
problem in context, identify gaps and weaknesses in prior studies so as to justify a new
investigation
 Be thorough and complete
 Include recent research and primary sources
 Keep the Review Focused on your specific objective.
 Be Critical and Consistent:
 Find a Logical Structured way to link the various sections of a review
NB:

Reviewing the literature is not cutting and pasting text.

DO NOT use abstracts as your source of information, you must consult the full text
of the article before using it as a cited reference.
DO NOTinclude references in your abstract.

CHAPTER THREE-METHODOLOGY

3.1 STUDY DESIGN:

 The overall plan for obtaining an answer to the research question or for testing the
research hypothesis.
 Select and justify the design that is most suited to your study.
 Will have been chosen based on: Research question/hypothesis, Strengths and
weaknesses of alternative designs, Feasibility, resources, time frame, ethics and ype
of study: Qualitative, quantitative, or mixed
 The designs are:
Exploratory
Descriptive (e.g. cross-sectional surveys, ecological, case report, case series)
Analytic observational (e.g. cohort and case-control: retrospective/Prospective),
Experimental (e.g. RCT (clinical trial, quasi experimental, etc).

3.2 STUDY AREA AND SETTING

 WHERE will the study be carried out?

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  Brief description of the study area
 Geographical location, population
 Rural or urban/ or community or hospital-based?
 Say how this is suitable for your study
 Etc
3.3 STUDY POPULATION
Clear description of study population (who will be studied)
 Specify eligible participants (inclusion/exclusion criteria: demographic characteristics
(age, gender, condition, occupation etc.)
 Specify accessible population: geographic characteristics (rural, urban, hospitalised,
community, etc).
3.4 STUDY DURATION
 Give the time taken to carry out the research project internship.
3.5 SAMPLING (HOW WILL THEY BE SELECTED?)

3.5.1 SAMPLE SIZE CALCULATION

 Make reference to your biostatistics notes and calculate the sample size.

3.5.2 SAMPLING METHOD

 Clear description of sampling methods and how you will select them ( e,g Drawn from a
hat, Random number table, Computer generated etc)
 Sampling methods:
i. Random/probability sampling designs; : each element in the population has an equal,
independent chance of being selected: Simple random sampling, Stratified random
sampling, Cluster sampling, Systematic sampling multi-stage
ii. Non-random/probability sampling designs: purposive/Convenience, Snowball
Judgmental)
iii. Mixed’ sampling designs.

3.6 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES AND SAMPLE ANALYSIS:

Variables:

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  Identify all variables to be measured: Dependent and independent.
NB:
Variables are not inherently independent or dependent.

MEASUREMENT/INSTRUMENTS/TOOLS:

 Anything that becomes a means of collecting information for your study is called a
research tool or an instrument (observation forms, interview schedules, questionnaires,
and interview guides, clinical examination, laboratory tests, screening procedures,
records, etc.).
 To collect primary data, you need to either construct a research instrument or select and
adapt an already constructed one.
 For secondary data (information already collected for other purposes), develop a form to
extract the required data. .
 Field testing (Pilot study) a research tool is an integral part of instrument construction.
 As a rule, the field test should not be carried out on the sample of your study but on a
similar population.
 For quantitative studies data SAMPLE ANALYSIS should be included for example in
pharmaceutical, biochemical, microbiological, etc.

3.7 DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS:

 Detail your planned procedures for:

 Processing: Recording, coding, cleaning, storing and reducing data manually or by a

computer.

 State the descriptive and inferential analysis and identify Statistical test (s) for research
hypothesis

 The way you plan to analyse the information to be collected largely depends upon the
type of information-descriptive, quantitative, qualitative

 in Descriptive studies, you can write your report on the basis of your field notes,
manually analyse the contents of your notes (content analysis ) or use a computer

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  Use Descriptive statistics to summarise important feature of numerical data ( mean,
median, range, proportion), characterise participants and determine distribution of
variables

 USE analytic/inferential statistics: Looking at associations among two or more

variables, estimate pattern and strength of associations among variables and test
hypotheses

 Quantitative analysis:

 Decide upon the type of analysis required (i.e., frequency distribution, cross-tabulations,
regression analysis, factor analysis, analysis of variance) and how it should be presented

 Also identify the variables to be subjected to these statistical procedures. Detail your
planned procedures for:

3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

 Ethical Principles: Respect for persons (autonomy), Non-maleficence (do not

harm),Beneficence (do good) and Justice (exclusion)
 Ethical Considerations:
o Ethical approval by various authorities
o Recruitment – how and by whom are participants recruited?
o Participation – what does participation in the study involve?
o Harms and benefits – what are real potential harms and benefits of participating
in the study?
o Informed consent – have the participants appropriately been asked for their
informed consent?
o Confidentiality: How will this be ensured?

NOTE: Include budget and calendar of activities at the end of chapter three research
of proposal.

PLAN OF ACTIVITIES:

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  This should be designed in line with the duration to be taken to complete the entire
project. It can be arranged under headings such item, month and year in a tabular form.
BUDGET:

 A concise budget should be provided with focus on quantity, price per unit quantity, total
income and expenditure in a table.
REFERENCES:
 A list of only the workssummarised, paraphrased, or quoted in your work,
 References should be written in 'APA style'
 Arrange in alphabetical order (do not Number references)

a) When citing authors in the text:

 Authors may be cited at the beginning, within or at the end of a sentence.
 State the author(s) before the Year and put the year in bracket.
 Where there are two authors cite both
e.g. Jones and Smith (2013) reported that ....
 Where there are three or more authors, Acknowledge only the first author,
e.g. According to Williams et al., (2004) .....
 For End of text a reference: No coma or full stop between the sentence and the author.
E.g. The prevalence of malaria among school girls in Cameroon is 5% Nji and
Neba,(2006).
b) How To Format Various Reference Sources at the end of the proposal or report

a) Journals: Harrison Kings (2012). Research methods. Aust J Med Sci; 17: 45-47.

b) Author(s) of a book:Murray-Smith S. Right Words: A Guide to Research for Beginners.

2nd ed. London: Oxford books; 2007.

c) Author(s) of a chapter in a book:Bogduk N. Spinal pain: In: Gandevia SC, Burke D,

Anthony M, editors. Science and practice in clinical Medicine. Melbourne: Cambridge
University Press; 2008; 39-57.

d) Internet referencing:

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 Document/Individual Work:

Tyner R. Sink or Swim: Internet search tools and techniques (version 3) [WWW
document]. Okanagan University College, 7 November 2015.
http://oksw01.okanagan.bc.ca/libr/connect96/search.htm [accessed 19 October, 2015 at 8
AM].

Journals
Zorn P, Emanoil M, Marshall L, Panek M. Advanced searching: Tricks of the trade.
Online [WWW]. 2014 May; 9 pages.
http://www.onlineinc.com/onlinemag/MayOL/zorn5.html [accessed 19 November 2015
at 2 PM].

APPENDIXES OR ANNEXES:

Examples of additional information that can be presented in annexes are:

 Informed consent form and data collection instrument/tool e.g questionnaire.

 Map of study area.

B. RESEARCHPROJECT FORMAT/STRUCTURE

1. COVER PAGE: Same as in proposal.

2. CHAPTER 1 and CHAPTER 2: Same as in research proposal.
3. CHAPTER 3 (MATERIALS AND METHODS):

 Same as in proposal BUT change from future tense to past tense.

 Start with materials.

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  Include “LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY” at the end of chapter 3if you have
deviated from the original study design presented in your research proposal AND
explain to what extent you did so and why.

4. CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

 This chapter should present the finding in a logical manner, preferably, following the
sequence of specific objectives
 MAKE USE OF TABLES AND FIGURES (pie charts, bar charts, histograms, maps etc.)
 Titles of tables should come before the table and titles for figures after the figures.
 Labelling of ables& Figures: Applicable to all Chapters.
 E.g Chapter 1: Table.1.1, Table.1.2, etc, Chapter 2: Table 2.1, Table. 2.2, etc
 Chapter 1: Fig. 1.1, 1.2 etc, Chapter 2: Fig 2.1, 2.2 etc, Chapter 3: Fig. 3.1, Fig.3.2,
etc.
NB:

A Legend: An interpretation of table or figure is written in italics below the table or

figure.
THE LEGEND IS NOT A DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS
Where a figure or tablehas been transcribed from published works, the source (reference)
should be indicated below e.g.Source: Nun et al., 2006.

5. CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 DISCUSSION:

 Follow a logical sequence as results in chapter 4.

 Analyse and interpret your findings, showing the differences and similarities with cited
works in the literature review.
5.2 CONCLUSION:

 Should be short and focused firstonALLspecific objectives and then, the MAIN
OBJECTIVE.
5.3RECOMMENDATIONS:

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  This should address each objective then, recommendation for further research.

REFERENCES: Same as in proposal.

APPENDICES OR ANNEXES:

Examples of additional information that can be presented in annexes are:

 Approval/Clearance from the school, Delegation Public Health, DMO, etc.

 Informed consent form and data collection instrument/tool e.g. questionnaire.
 Sample size calculation formula.
 Tables referred to in the text but not included in order to keep the report short.
 Map of study area.
 Any other relevant materials made referenced in the text.

APPENDICES (SUMMARY OF FORMATS FOR WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSAL

AND RESEARCH PROJECT)

APPENDIX I:COVER PAGE SAMPLE FOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND RESEARCH

PROJECT

1. Name of the country

Motto of the country
Ministry of Higher Education
Ministry of Public Health
NB: It should appear on both sides on the paper in both English and French.
2. Name of institution
Logo of institution
Department
3. Title of project: The title of the project should be capitalised.
4. The title is followed by: A research project or proposal submitted to the department of
………… in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of higher national diploma
(HND) in ………………….

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5. Name of student and HND registration number.
6. Name and qualification of supervisor.
7. Month and year of publication.

=====================================================

APPENDIX II: CERTIFICATION SAMPLE FOR RESEARCH PROJECT ONLY

This is to certify that the work titled “-----------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------“is the original work of ------------------------------------------a student of ----
-----------------------------------

Name and signature of supervisor(s)

Appendix III:TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND REPORT

Appendix IIIA: TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL

PRELIMINARY PAGES

Abstract…………………………………………….……………………………………………iv

Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………..v

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List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..vi

List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………...vii

List of Abbreviations………………………………….………………………………….viii

Appendix IIIB: TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR RESEARCH PROJECT

PRELIMINARY PAGES

Certification…………………………………………………………………………………....i

Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………….ii

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………..iii

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………iv

Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………..v

List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………..vi

List of Tables………………………………………………………………………………...vii

List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………….viii

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

(SAME FOR BOTH RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND RESEARCH PROJECT)

1.1 Background…………………………………………………………………………………1
1.2 Statement of the problem………………………………………………………page number
1.3 Significance of the study…………………………………………………….....page number

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1.4 Research questions or hypothesis……………………………………………...page number
1.5 Research objectives…………………………………….……………………..page number
1.5.1 Main objective……………………………………………………………....page number
1.5.2 Specific objectives…………………………………………………………….page number

1.6 Research scope and delimitation……………………………………………….page number

1.7 Conceptual framework (optional)……………………………………………….page number
1.8 Definition of terms and concepts…………………………………………….....page number

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

(SAME FOR BOTH RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND RESEARCH PROJECT)

2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..page number

2.2 ................................................................................................................................page number

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY (RESEARCH PROPOSAL ONLY)

3.1 Study Design……………………………………………………………….page number

3.2 Study area and setting…………………………………………................page number
3.3 Study population…………………………………………………………page number
3.4 Study duration…………………………………………………………...page number
3.5 Sampling…………………………………………………………………page number
3.5.1 Sample size calculation……………………………………………page number
3.5.2 Sampling method……………………………………………….page number
3.6 Data collection procedures and sample analysis…………………………...page number
3.7 Data management and analysis………………………………………….page number
3.7.1 Data management………………………………………………page number
3.7.2 Data analysis……………………………………………………page number
3.8 Ethical considerations…………………………………………………....page number
BUDGET………………………………………………………………………...page number

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PLAN OF ACTIVITIES……………………………………………………..page number

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………page number

APPENDICES (NO PAGE NUMBERING)

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS (RESEARCH PROJECT ONLY)

3.1 Materials………………………………………………………………page number

3.2 Methods……………………………………………………………….page number
3.2.1 Study Design……………………………………………………page number
3.2.2 Study area and setting…………………………………………..page number
3.2.3 Study population………………………………………………..page number
3.2.4 Study duration…………………………………………………..page number
3.2.5 Sampling………………………………………………………..page number
3.2.5.1 Sample size calculation……………………………………page number
3.2.5.2 Sampling method…………………………………………..page number
3.2.6 Data collection procedures and sample analysis………………..page number
3.2.7 Data management and analysis…………………………………page number
3.2.8 Data management……………………………………………….page number
3.2.9 Data analysis……………………………………………………page number
3.2.10 Ethical considerations……………………………………………..page number

CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS (RESEARCH PROJECT ONLY)

4.1………………………………………………………………………...page number
4.2………………………………………………………………………...page number

CHAPTER FIVE:
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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 (RESEARCH PROJECT ONLY)

5.1. Discussion……………………………………………………………...page number

5.2. Conclusion.................................................................................................page number
5.3. Recommendation……………………………………………………...page number
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………..page number

APPENDICES (NO PAGE NUMBERING)

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