A dissertation is a lengthy piece of writing that may be anywhere from ten thousand to twenty thousand words long and is often written on a subject that is either assigned by the student’s academic department or selected by the student themselves. It’s structured like a report, with chapters, headers, and subheadings.
Dissertations show the results of an experiment or a study of the literature that is done to answer a specific research question. An important component of a dissertation is the method used. When you demonstrate that you have gained a better understanding of research methods and can analyse them to understand why your results were not as good as you might have hoped, then you will still get a distinction in your dissertation even if you do not generate any useful results.
An outline of a dissertation
Dissertations are large pieces of academic writing that present the results of the author’s own study. Submitting a dissertation is a standard requirement for advanced degrees like a PhD or MA, and even at the baccalaureate level. Here is the outline of a dissertation:
Title
You should know that this is more important than you may imagine. A dissertation with a vague title probably won’t talk about any important issues or offer any new ideas. You may have a two-part title, with the first half serving as the primary title and being very brief and broad in scope, and the second part serving to hone in on a specific facet of the first.
Make the primary title mysterious, obtuse, or seemingly conflicting, and then provide some context in the subheading. The reader’s interest will be piqued.
The abstract
This is a brief synopsis of the dissertation’s main arguments and findings; it should be no more than 300 words long. By putting an abstract of your work in a database, potential readers can find out right away. If it fits their research needs.
Even if it is placed at the beginning of your dissertation, writing the abstract last can help you save time and reduce stress because it allows you to verify that it accurately summarises your entire dissertation.
The introduction
Include the following in your list:
- The study’s goals
- Study setting
- The definitions of any unfamiliar words
- An admission of any restrictions or exceptions should be included if required.
- Describe the overall format of the dissertation.
The literature review
Your dissertation will be better understood by the reader after the literature review has been completed because it will contextualise the research topic.
The methodology
This section should detail the steps you will use to find information relevant to the research issue. If you need to, you should cite other research to back up the choices you make and the methods you describe for gathering and analysing data.
A discussion of the findings
If you have conducted an experiment or survey that yielded original data, you will likely split your report into two parts, the first of which will focus on the study’s findings. When researchers look at the existing literature and use secondary sources, they often end up with a group of articles.
The findings section of your paper should include an explanation of the data and analysis you conducted. They ought to make sense and be straightforward. The discussion of dissertation guidance should be the focus. It is not the place to provide any new information or data, but rather to analyse what your results really indicate. Issues encountered, as well as your reasoning for their occurrence, and any solutions or precautions for future studies should be discussed.
Conclusions
When answering the question, how well do you think your research went? Conclude the main points you may make concerning your dissertation’s working title. Give some ideas for where the study may continue from here.
Citations/bibliographies
In contrast, they are entirely different. Your dissertation must include a reference list that includes all of the sources that you cited or otherwise made use of. The bibliography should include all sources that were used in the dissertation’s research and writing, whether they were cited directly or not. Talk to your instructor about whether or not you are allowed to do both. Have faith in the quality of our referencing pages if you are concerned about the accuracy of your citations.
Annexes
Anything the grader would want to view that isn’t already in the main body of the text. Blank surveys, cover letters, letters of consent, and original statistical analyses (tables) are common examples of this kind of material.