A dissertation is a detailed piece of writing that students have to do, in order to receive a degree at the university level. The whole aim of writing a dissertation is to bring to use, years of study and research conducted by students. A dissertation is very different, from an essay, thesis, or a research paper. There is a set format to write a dissertation. Are you stressed about writing a dissertation, because you do not know the steps to go about with it? If yes, then follow the steps below and get yourself a dissertation written in no time.
Before writing a dissertation students have to write a research proposal or a dissertation proposal. A dissertation proposal is primarily a proposal, for your research study. The pitch has to be unique and original. The proposal sets a stage, for your research and helps you conduct the study in an organized manner. The format of a dissertation proposal is as follows:
Dissertation Proposal
The format of writing your dissertation
1. Introduction
This can be titled as your first chapter. An introduction will include the background of your problem and thesis. You have to talk about the reason, for writing this dissertation. The readers must know the point of the study. You must mention thesis statement and the purpose of your study. This section can go on for a couple of pages as you need to provide, a concise picture to the reader about the topic. You also need to talk about the assumptions in the study. Make sure that you do not repeat the information of introduction, in the main content part. Since this is the first section that is read by the audience, ensure to keep it simple and to the point. Do not include unnecessary details in the introduction. You can include quotes, statements, rhetorical questions, etc to make your introduction attention-grabbing.
2. Literature Review
It is the second chapter of your dissertation. Under this section, you are required to present, the list and description of the sources that have been referred for the study. You have to mention the author’s point of view, and the gaps that you found in the literature. The main aim of writing a literature review is to assess, the work done by other authors in the same field of study, and what are the loopholes that you are trying to cover in your study. You must arrange the sources thematically and talk about them separately. In this section, you also need to mention the relevance of a particular source to your study. The more number of sources in literature review section, the more validation you will get from your audience.
3. Methodology
Every research is done by following a method. This is the third chapter of your dissertation. You need to talk about the method that you have followed in order to conduct your study. “Have you used the qualitative or quantitative method?” Or “is your research work inductive or deductive in nature?” It is important to know what kind of method you are using, to conduct your study. The evaluation would vary with the type of methodology used. Most students conduct the study and are not aware of the method they have used; this way the study remains incomplete. Thus, before getting down to write the main content you must know, what method you are going to use and the way to go about with it.
4. Findings
This is the fourth chapter of your dissertation. You need to start off by giving an overview of this section. As the name suggests, you have to talk about the findings of your study. You have to elaborately mention your findings during the study. You need to work on the question such as, "whether you were able to justify your hypothesis?" You need to extensively talk about your findings of the study, as it shows how you have gone about with conducting the study. Make sure that you closely observe your work in order to point out the discovery.
5. Discussion
The discussion will be the fifth chapter of your research study. You must elaborate on the hypothesis of your study. Hypothesis primarily is your proposed explanation that you make, with the sources that you have in hand. This opens up a path for further investigation. You have to mention the hypothesis and the results of the application of a method.
6. Conclusion
This is the last chapter of your dissertation, wherein you have to summarize the entire thesis in a few pages. You need not repeat the whole content that has been written in the main content; rather mention the highlights of your content. You must time and again refer your literature review to enhance your content quality. In this section, you have to make suggestions that can help in future research in the same field of study. Further, you need to point out the limitations of your study. There might have been some problems and limitations that you faced during the study. So you need to mention those here. You can end your work with appealing sentences.
7. Appendices
This section can be included if you want. If there is any kind of raw information derived from the credible sources such as government reports, documents, etc, you need to mention them as they are.
8. Bibliography
This comprises of the list of primary and secondary sources that you referred during the study. Make sure that you include all your sources.
By following above-mentioned steps you can easily write a high-quality dissertation.
Before writing a dissertation students have to write a research proposal or a dissertation proposal. A dissertation proposal is primarily a proposal, for your research study. The pitch has to be unique and original. The proposal sets a stage, for your research and helps you conduct the study in an organized manner. The format of a dissertation proposal is as follows:
Dissertation Proposal
- Dissertation Title
- Objective- You must mention up to three objectives of your study.
- Literature- The sources that you have referred to conduct your study. It will include the school of thoughts, theories, concepts that have been used in the study.
- Research- This will include the outline of your area of research. Mention the area in which you have conducted your study.
- Methodology- Under this mention the type of method that you have used to do your study. For example, have you used the empirical method or non- empirical method? You have to also cite the method of collecting data.
- Potential outcomes- You have to talk about the expected outcomes of your study.
- List of references- For this, you need to consult your professor/ guide if you have to mention it or not?
The format of writing your dissertation
1. Introduction
This can be titled as your first chapter. An introduction will include the background of your problem and thesis. You have to talk about the reason, for writing this dissertation. The readers must know the point of the study. You must mention thesis statement and the purpose of your study. This section can go on for a couple of pages as you need to provide, a concise picture to the reader about the topic. You also need to talk about the assumptions in the study. Make sure that you do not repeat the information of introduction, in the main content part. Since this is the first section that is read by the audience, ensure to keep it simple and to the point. Do not include unnecessary details in the introduction. You can include quotes, statements, rhetorical questions, etc to make your introduction attention-grabbing.
2. Literature Review
It is the second chapter of your dissertation. Under this section, you are required to present, the list and description of the sources that have been referred for the study. You have to mention the author’s point of view, and the gaps that you found in the literature. The main aim of writing a literature review is to assess, the work done by other authors in the same field of study, and what are the loopholes that you are trying to cover in your study. You must arrange the sources thematically and talk about them separately. In this section, you also need to mention the relevance of a particular source to your study. The more number of sources in literature review section, the more validation you will get from your audience.
3. Methodology
Every research is done by following a method. This is the third chapter of your dissertation. You need to talk about the method that you have followed in order to conduct your study. “Have you used the qualitative or quantitative method?” Or “is your research work inductive or deductive in nature?” It is important to know what kind of method you are using, to conduct your study. The evaluation would vary with the type of methodology used. Most students conduct the study and are not aware of the method they have used; this way the study remains incomplete. Thus, before getting down to write the main content you must know, what method you are going to use and the way to go about with it.
4. Findings
This is the fourth chapter of your dissertation. You need to start off by giving an overview of this section. As the name suggests, you have to talk about the findings of your study. You have to elaborately mention your findings during the study. You need to work on the question such as, "whether you were able to justify your hypothesis?" You need to extensively talk about your findings of the study, as it shows how you have gone about with conducting the study. Make sure that you closely observe your work in order to point out the discovery.
5. Discussion
The discussion will be the fifth chapter of your research study. You must elaborate on the hypothesis of your study. Hypothesis primarily is your proposed explanation that you make, with the sources that you have in hand. This opens up a path for further investigation. You have to mention the hypothesis and the results of the application of a method.
6. Conclusion
This is the last chapter of your dissertation, wherein you have to summarize the entire thesis in a few pages. You need not repeat the whole content that has been written in the main content; rather mention the highlights of your content. You must time and again refer your literature review to enhance your content quality. In this section, you have to make suggestions that can help in future research in the same field of study. Further, you need to point out the limitations of your study. There might have been some problems and limitations that you faced during the study. So you need to mention those here. You can end your work with appealing sentences.
7. Appendices
This section can be included if you want. If there is any kind of raw information derived from the credible sources such as government reports, documents, etc, you need to mention them as they are.
8. Bibliography
This comprises of the list of primary and secondary sources that you referred during the study. Make sure that you include all your sources.
By following above-mentioned steps you can easily write a high-quality dissertation.