Stages of Writing a Dissertation

At the end of the university years, students are told to write a dissertation which is mainly a research project that summarises their entire knowledge that they have gained during their university years. In this research project, the student has to choose a particular topic related to his course and then prepare a complete dissertation on it. The purpose of carrying out this task is for the university management to see if the student has learned something and is fit to be passed out with the degree.

A dissertation is an extended piece of writing that students have to undertake during the last year of their university. Not all students have an idea about writing a dissertation by including every aspect. Some tend to go the easy way and buy dissertation online to prevent any headache from writing it. Others prefer to do their work themselves, for them, the focus of this article would provide a short guide on what should be part of a dissertation and where it should be placed.

The first thing to note is that all not dissertation structures are the same. In some dissertations, some parts are omitted as per the instructions were given to the students from his professor. However, a usual dissertation usually comprises of the following structure.

1. Title Page

The title page is the first page of the document that comprises the title of the dissertation, the name of the student, the name of the institution, and the submission date. Any other details are only included if specifically mentioned by the professor.

2. Acknowledgement

In this section, the student would focus on thanking all those people who helped him in writing the dissertation. This can include family members, friends, supervisors, and so on.

3. Abstract

The abstract is mainly a summary of the entire dissertation and is about 150-200 words long. Within this summary, the dissertation writers must ensure that he is including the main topic and aim of the research, methods that are used, main results are summarised, and the conclusion is clearly stated.

4. Table of Contents

The table of content is about listing all the chapters, headings, subheadings, and appendix and page number. This table of content helps in navigating throughout the dissertation easily.

5. List of Figures and Tables, Abbreviations, and Glossary

The next in line is a list of figures, tables, abbreviations and glossary. The list of figures and tables are about citing all the images and tables used in the dissertation. The abbreviations list would comprise of having all the short forms of words that are used in the dissertation. The glossary is used for highly specialised terms that might be difficult for a reader to understand.

6. Introduction

This chapter is about focusing on the topic, purpose and relevance of the dissertation. The basic foundation of the topic is set in this chapter by the student. He would also lay out the research objectives and research questions of the dissertation.

7. Literature Review

In this chapter, the student would dig into writing about the research objectives that have been defined in the first chapter. The student should not only be focusing on summarising the existing studies but also have a clear argument or justification for the work he is carrying out. There is a use for the theoretical framework as well in some cases.

8. Methodology

This chapter focuses on how the research will be carried out, with the research assessing the validity as well. The type of research approach (qualitative, quantitative, experimental) would be detailed out. The method of collecting data, along with the method of analysing the data and the tools used would be discussed here. The evaluation or justification of the methods would have to be stated as well.

9. Results

This chapter is about reporting the results of the research that the student has carried out as part of his dissertation. The results should be relevant to the objectives and research questions.

10. Discussion

This chapter focuses on relating the results with the research questions. In this area, the student must ensure that he links the results with the literature review to ensure that the work is relevant done previously.

Conclusion

This chapter will summarise the entire dissertation by highlighting the main points. The central argument should be focused upon to make it easier for the reader. Recommendations are made for further research. The dissertation would end with a reference list and appendix. All the above points are an important part of a dissertation structure which the student should follow to create the finest dissertation that he can submit as his final year project. Final proofreading would save the student from any loss of marks during the final check by the professor.