XYZ-Intellectuals

Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement, to me, are technically the same. These two documents are expected to be prepared and submitted alongside other credentials by a prospective candidate seeking admission into an institution of higher learning.

These two documents are mostly required from candidates seeking to gain admission into postgraduate degree programmes both locally and internationally.

Candidates are expected to profile themselves in writing, showing their educational background, career/work experience, previous work achievements or challenges surmounted, career goals or motivation, and how all these qualify them as fit to be selected or considered for admission into the programme.

Hence, these documents are prepared to support prospective candidates in their application for admission into higher degree programmes. They are not just to show the admissions panel/committee the profile and antecedents of the candidate, but also meant to show the writing capability of the prospective candidate seeking to be admitted into their department and institution.

It has been observed that so many candidates find it difficult to prepare these documents, no thanks to so many articles found online and generated through AI that are focused on distinguishing between these two documents.

There are various articles online that enumerate the differences between these two vital documents, itemizing factors such as style, tone, major focus, content, purpose, etc. Concentrating on these differences sometimes makes it even more difficult for candidates to effectively prepare and submit a well-thought-out and well-presented document adequately covering all areas that need to be covered.

The differences between the names are just a matter of nomenclature from one institution to another. There is no real difference as both are meant to profile the candidates for consideration for admission into higher degrees, and to show the admissions committee whether a candidate who is about to be admitted into its prestigious department is capable of putting his or her expression into writing.

Abimbola Wilson Awotedu
Senior Research Fellow
XYZ-Intellectuals

S.A.M.P.L.E, S.A.M.P.L.E. S.I.Z.E, & S.A.M.P.L.I.N.G

This section of the research report is often featured in chapter three.

Scholars and research students must bear in mind that there are three distinct but interdependent elements in this section.

The sample is the first and it refers to the element or subject of the study. The researcher is expected to identify this element. Is it a plant or an animal? If it is a plant, what species of plant is it? If it is an animal, what kind of animal is it? If the element of the study is human, what kind of human is the study interested in? The researcher must be able to correctly identify the sample of his or her study.

The sample size is the second aspect of this section and it refers to the number of elements of the study that will be extracted from the target population to supposedly represent the target population of the study. Computing to generate the sample size is a function of establishing four things. These include the confidence level, the margin of error, population proportion, and population size. This could be computed online using the online sample calculator available at: https://www.calculator.net/sample-size-calculator.html
It should be noted that the sample size obtained is the lower limit or least number of samples that could be used for a study to gather data to generate valid and generalizable results.

The third element in this section is the identification of the most suitable sampling technique to be used to select the samples for the study. The sampling technique can be categorized into two forms. These include probabilistic sampling techniques and non-probabilistic sampling techniques. Any sampling technique that adopts the use of randomization in its process of selecting a sample is categorized as probabilistic sampling while any sampling technique that does not use randomization in its process of selecting a sample is categorized as a non-probabilistic sampling technique.

Abimbola Wilson Awotedu
Senior Research Fellow
XYZ-Intellectuals

Are you an undergraduate, a postgraduate student, or a graduate who is interested in learning academic writing, project writing, research proposal, or statement of purpose/motivation, or do you want to become an expert in research reporting/writing?

If the answer to the above question is yes, kindly plug into this rare opportunity.

The XYZ-Intellectuals is conducting a training on academic writing and research reporting from Friday 7th - Sunday 30th June 2024. Training is expected to take place thrice (Friday - Sunday) a week between 4 - 6 pm.

Participants will also be hinted at how to do academic writing business to earn a living or to supplement their regular income.

Training costs just 50,000 Nigerian Naira. Early birds 30,000 Naira. Interested participants can contact +2348036892041 (WhatsApp message only) for further inquiries. Alternatively, you can register your interest to participate through the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGmmA340craA9H-DT597J8eOFvLrZ8IghZ76BZ8UEu6iu9Jw/viewform?usp=pp_url