To present ideas, arguments, and research as simply and easily as possible when writing a dissertation, relatively inexperienced authors must adhere to tried and true formats and approaches. The example structure we’ve provided below should work for the majority of dissertation writing services and thesis types that students will be required to write, even though other subjects may use a slightly different number of sections, arrange these seven sections in a slightly different order, or demand a slightly different weighting for each section.
Title page
It is important to give your dissertation’s title some thought because it will be the marker’s initial introduction to your work. What, though, makes a good title? A good title should be three things:
- Succinct (not unduly lengthy or verbose) (not overly lengthy or verbose)
- Specific (not vague or confusing) (not vague or ambiguous)
- Typical of the research you’re conducting (clearly linked to your research questions)
A good title often includes the following information:
- The research’s greater scope (i.e. the overarching topic)
- The precise subject matter of your study (i.e. your specific context)
- a description of the research plan (e.g. quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods).
Acknowledgements
You have the chance to express your gratitude to people who supported you during your research on this page.
So, to whom do you give thanks? There are no set requirements, although it’s customary to mention the following individuals:
- your committee or dissertation supervisor.
- Any professors, lecturers, or academics who were helpful in explaining the subject or research methods.
- any advisers, mentors, or tutors.
- Your spouse, family, and friends in particular (for adult learners studying part-time).
No need for a protracted ramble. Be sincere and simply explain who and what you are grateful for (for example, “Thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness”).
An executive summary or abstract
The purpose of the dissertation abstract is to give the first-time reader (as well as the marker or moderator, for various degrees) a broad overview of your research endeavour. It must be able to stand alone so that readers may comprehend the most important research-related insights and conclusions without having to read the remainder of the report.
- Your abstract should, at the very least, address the following crucial topics for it to stand alone:
- What main topics did your research seek to answer? What are your research goals and objectives?
- Your approach to researching the subject and obtaining the answers to your research question(s) is referred to as your methodology.
- Your investigation led you to what conclusions? What did you learn?
Table of content
This portion is easy to understand. The table of contents (TOC) is normally presented first, then the two lists of figures and tables. You should create your TOC using the automatic table of contents generator in Microsoft Word.
Introduction
Following the abstract, the introduction’s goal is typically to describe the dissertation’s main point by going into the topic’s history and surrounding circumstances. Along with a description of the investigation’s scope and the dissertation’s overall and argumentative structure, an introduction can also point out research gaps and explain how the author plans to close them.
The literature review
The literature review, which often takes up the most space in a dissertation, strives to give a thorough discussion of the existing research that is most pertinent to the topic. A critical analysis of both research and non-research literature is typically presented in this section, along with any theoretical stances that are necessary to grasp in order to support and contextualise the study. An explanation of how all of the aforementioned aspects have generally informed the dissertation is also often provided, along with the identification and justification of the research gap being filled in this dissertation.
methodology
The dissertation’s primary (and original) research typically starts with the technique. This section’s goal is to explain to the reader the methods, procedures, and designs utilised to gather the data, including whether qualitative or quantitative approaches were used and whether questionnaires, interviews, or recordings were used to get the raw data. The research design, justification of the methods utilised, a discussion of the validity and reliability of those methods, and a description of the steps involved in data collecting and analysis may all be included in this part.
The Findings
The results are often the subject of the dissertation’s fifth section, which is occasionally merged with the sixth portion. This chapter’s main goal is to clearly convey the findings from the study’s primary research and show how they relate to the topics raised in the dissertation. In the results section, the author will typically give the pertinent study findings, explore their implications, provide evidence to back up those conclusions, refer back to the methodology and introductory background information, and possibly also refer ahead to the discussion of results.
