Are you writing a dissertation? If so, you’re in for a long but rewarding journey. A dissertation is a long piece of academic writing based on original research. It is usually submitted as part of a Ph.D. or master’s degree, and sometimes as part of a bachelor’s degree.
Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you’ve ever done, so it can be intimidating to know where to start. Here’s a guide to help you work out what you should include and where to include it.
Choose your research topic carefully
You’ll be spending a lot of time on your dissertation, so make sure you choose a topic that you’re passionate about. It should also be something that you’re knowledgeable about and can do extensive research on.
Create an outline
Once you’ve chosen your topic, it’s time to create an outline. This will help you organize your thoughts and ensure that your dissertation is well-structured.
Include a literature review
Your literature review should include an overview of all the existing research on your topic, as well as your own thoughts and conclusions. It’s important to be critical and analytical in your writing and to back up your arguments with evidence from scholarly sources.
Include methodology
Your dissertation should include a detailed methodology section, in which you explain how you conducted your research. This should include information on your research design, participants, data collection methods, and data analysis procedures.
Write the results and discussion
The results and discussion sections are where you present your findings and discuss their implications. Again, it’s important to be critical and analytical in your writing and to back up your arguments with evidence from scholarly sources.
Conclude your dissertation
In the conclusion, you should summarize your findings and discuss their implications for theory and practice. You should also reflect on what you have learned from doing your research.
Proofread and edit
Once you’ve written the final draft of your dissertation, it’s important to proofread and edit it carefully. This will help ensure that your dissertation is free of errors and is well-written.
Dissertation structure
Your dissertation should have the following structure:
Introduction:-
- state the problem you are investigating and explain why it is important
- set out your research objectives and questions
- state your hypotheses (if any)
- overview of the dissertation structure
Literature review:-
- discuss existing literature on your topic
- critically evaluate different theories and approaches
- identify gaps in the literature and propose ways to fill them.
Methodology:-
- describe the research design and methods you used
- explain how you collected and analyzed your data
Results and discussion
- present your results and discuss their implications
Conclusion:-
- summarise your findings and discuss their implications for theory and practice
- reflect on what you have learned from doing your research.
References or bibliography:-
- list all the sources you used in your dissertation.
Dissertation template
If you’re using our dissertation template, your table of contents will look like this.
- Introduction:- An overview of the problem and why it is important
- Background to the problem:- The history of the problem and what has been done so far
- Statement of the problem:- What exactly is the problem that you are investigating?
- Purpose of the study:- Why are you doing this research?
- Research questions:- What specific questions will your research address?
- Scope of the study:- What are the boundaries of your research?
- Definition of terms:- What terms do you need to define?
- Assumptions and limitations of the study:- What are the assumptions and limitations of your research?
- Organization of the study:- How is your dissertation organized? Review of the literature:- A critical review of the literature on your topic
- Theoretical perspective:- The theoretical framework for your research
- Empirical evidence:- The empirical evidence that you have collected
- Synthesis of the literature:- A synthesis of the literature on your topic
- Implications for practice:- The implications of your research for practice
- Conclusion:- A summary of your findings and their implications
- References:- A list of all the sources you used in your dissertation
- Appendices:- Any additional material that is relevant to your research but does not fit into the main body of your dissertation. This could include, for example, questionnaires or surveys, data sets, maps, etc.
As you can see, there’s a lot to include in a dissertation. But don’t worry – if you take it one step at a time, you’ll be able to produce a well-written and well-researched dissertation that will impress your committee. Moreover, we have professional experts who provide Dissertation Help to students at the most reasonable prices.