DMC COLLEGE FOUNDATION,INC.

Sta. Filomena, Dipolog City

INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH OFFICE

THESIS WRITING FORMAT

Guidelines

1. Printed on a short bond paper.

2. Font: Arial, size 11; double spacing except abstract
3. Margin: 1.5” left; 1.0 top, bottom and right
4. Pagination on the upper right-hand corner of the page; hidden for the
title and chapter pages.
5. Please prepare 5 copies during the defense and fasten each copy in
a short folder. Submit the copy to the panelist at least 1 week before the defense date.
6. Approval sheet should be completely signed by the panelists before the final binding
(hard-bound). This means that all corrections or suggestions should be accomplished
before the final binding.
7. Submit 4 (Department, Research Office, Library, Personal file) hard bound copies of
approved thesis. Submit also a USB containing a soft copy of the manuscript.
8. Prepare a research synthesis for publication.
9. Submit a copy of published article/paper to the Department Dean and Research
Office as final output of the course.

FORMAT

1. Title Page
- should include independent/dependent variables
- OUTPUT can be included; separated with a colon mark
- bold letters and capitalized
- written like an inverted pyramid
- include the articles (a, an, the)
- reflects the name of the researcher/researchers and the month and year of oral
 defense
2. Approval sheet
- duly signed by the Panel of Examiners, Program Coordinator, Research Office
Director and College Dean
3. Table of Contents
- list down subtitles and page in Arabic numbers
- page numbers of the preliminary pages are written in Roman numerals.
- separate sheet for the List of tables and Figures
4. Abstract contains the following:
- Introduction
- The Problem (General and Specific Questions)
- Methodology
- Findings
- Conclusion
- Should be stated in simple past tense and third person
5. Chapter 1 - Introduction
-Rationale mentions the following:
• a striking statement or a general knowledge about the topic
• what has been done before and how the study differs
• statistics or prevailing situation
• researcher’s competency
• no lifting of statements from references except for the first paragraph
Theoretical Background / Framework
Theoretical background states the following:
• main theory to which the study is anchored
• supporting theories used
• literature on the variables of the study
• local, national, and international studies
• proper parenthetical citations
• no one-sentence paragraph
• may show the original theoretical model
 Conceptual Framework
• explains the relationship between variables
• clarify whether it is based on deductive or inductive reasoning and how this
aligns
• with the research methodology
• visual representation/roadmap of the study
Statement of the Problem (for quantitative studies)
Objectives of the Study (for experimental studies and qualitative studies)
• state the main and specific problems
• state the possibility for a significant difference and/or significant relationship
• among variables
Statement of the Null and Alternative Hypothesis
• congruent with the specific problems
• variables are identified
• hypothesis for each SOP
Significance of the study
• explains who the beneficiaries of the study will be and how they will benefit/gain
from it
Operational definition of terms
• alphabetically presented.
• operationally defined (how it is used in the study)
• taken from the title, main problem, and specific problem
6. Chapter 2 - Review of Related Literature and Studies
• to include international, national, regional and local literature and studies
related to the research topic
7. Chapter 3 - Methodology
Research Design which explains the type of design used in relation to the main
problem
Research Environment describes the setting of the study
Research Subjects/Respondents/Informants
 • describes the total population, sampling method used, sampling size
determination, and characteristics of the sample.
• use the term “research subjects” – experimental
• use the term “research respondents” – answering a tool
• use the term “research informants” – interviewed
• use the term “participants” – respondents
Research instrument describes the tool/questionnaire/interview
guide utilized in the study; proper citation for adopted instruments
Ethical consideration – secure ERC certification from review committee
Data Gathering Procedures
• discuss the step-by-step process on how data were gathered starting from
the approval of the study by the institution until the retrieval of the
instruments from the respondents
• for qualitative study, describe how the interview was conducted, and the
tools used during the process
• provide proper documentation (recordings, videos, photos,etc) for
qualitative data
Treatment of Data
• enumerate and describe the statistical tools used and do not show
• the formula
• state if data was manually computed or has used statistical software
• for qualitative data, describe what data analysis was used and how sub-
themes were collapsed into a main theme
8. Chapter 4 - Results and Discussion
Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of the Study contain:
• detailed findings consistent with the specific problems
• findings should have implications lifted from the theoretical background
• include the parenthetical citation
• table should precede the description of the table
• do not cut tables
• sequence of tables is congruent to the sequence of specific problems
9. Chapter 5 – Summary, Findings, Conclusion and Recommendations
• for the summary, copy the main and specific problems. Explain the
methodology in 1-2 paragraphs
• findings show the most dominant information per sub-problem
• conclusion answers the main problem
• recommendations are made by the researcher based on findings of the
study
10. Output of the Study
• Placed one page after the recommendations
• Can be an action plan or developmental plans those that can be immediately
implanted such as seminars, brochures, manuals, infographics,etc.
11. References (not bibliography)
• list down alphabetically
• use recent or references with
• copyright from _____ to present.
• at least 15 sources from books, journals, theses, dissertations and
• other sources.
• Use the APA (American Psychological Association) format, 7th edition
12. Appendices will include:
• A Transmittal letters (to persons and institutions).
• B Tool/Interview guide.
• C Map of research environment.
• D Others (e.g. MOA)
• Sample answered questionnaire with respondent’s name blurred out
• Product names should be blurred out
13. Curriculum Vitae