structure organisationnelle dissertation

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Reviewed By: David Phair (PhD) | July 2019

So, you’ve got a decent understanding of what a dissertation is , you’ve chosen your topic and hopefully you’ve received approval for your research proposal . Awesome! Now its time to start the actual dissertation or thesis writing journey.

To craft a high-quality document, the very first thing you need to understand is dissertation structure . In this post, we’ll walk you through the generic dissertation structure and layout, step by step. We’ll start with the big picture, and then zoom into each chapter to briefly discuss the core contents. If you’re just starting out on your research journey, you should start with this post, which covers the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis .

Dissertation structure and layout - the basics

The Caveat

In this post, we’ll be discussing a traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout, which is generally used for social science research across universities, whether in the US, UK, Europe or Australia. However, some universities may have small variations on this structure (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

So, always check with your university if they have a prescribed structure or layout that they expect you to work with. If not, it’s safe to assume the structure we’ll discuss here is suitable. And even if they do have a prescribed structure, you’ll still get value from this post as we’ll explain the core contents of each section.

Overview: S tructuring a dissertation or thesis

Acknowledgements page
Abstract (or executive summary)
Table of contents , list of figures and tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature review
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter 4: Results
Chapter 5: Discussion
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Reference list

As I mentioned, some universities will have slight variations on this structure. For example, they want an additional “personal reflection chapter”, or they might prefer the results and discussion chapter to be merged into one. Regardless, the overarching flow will always be the same, as this flow reflects the research process , which we discussed here – i.e.:

The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims .
The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question.
The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question.
The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question .

In other words, the dissertation structure and layout reflect the research process of asking a well-defined question(s), investigating, and then answering the question – see below.

A dissertation's structure reflect the research process

To restate that – the structure and layout of a dissertation reflect the flow of the overall research process . This is essential to understand, as each chapter will make a lot more sense if you “get” this concept. If you’re not familiar with the research process, read this post before going further.

Right. Now that we’ve covered the big picture, let’s dive a little deeper into the details of each section and chapter. Oh and by the way, you can also grab our free dissertation/thesis template here to help speed things up.

The title page of your dissertation is the very first impression the marker will get of your work, so it pays to invest some time thinking about your title. But what makes for a good title? A strong title needs to be 3 things:

Succinct (not overly lengthy or verbose)
Specific (not vague or ambiguous)
Representative of the research you’re undertaking (clearly linked to your research questions)

Typically, a good title includes mention of the following:

The broader area of the research (i.e. the overarching topic)
The specific focus of your research (i.e. your specific context)
Indication of research design (e.g. quantitative , qualitative , or mixed methods ).

For example:

A quantitative investigation [research design] into the antecedents of organisational trust [broader area] in the UK retail forex trading market [specific context/area of focus].

Again, some universities may have specific requirements regarding the format and structure of the title, so it’s worth double-checking expectations with your institution (if there’s no mention in the brief or study material).

Acknowledgements

This page provides you with an opportunity to say thank you to those who helped you along your research journey. Generally, it’s optional (and won’t count towards your marks), but it is academic best practice to include this.

So, who do you say thanks to? Well, there’s no prescribed requirements, but it’s common to mention the following people:

Your dissertation supervisor or committee.
Any professors, lecturers or academics that helped you understand the topic or methodologies.
Any tutors, mentors or advisors.
Your family and friends, especially spouse (for adult learners studying part-time).

There’s no need for lengthy rambling. Just state who you’re thankful to and for what (e.g. thank you to my supervisor, John Doe, for his endless patience and attentiveness) – be sincere. In terms of length, you should keep this to a page or less.

Abstract or executive summary

The dissertation abstract (or executive summary for some degrees) serves to provide the first-time reader (and marker or moderator) with a big-picture view of your research project. It should give them an understanding of the key insights and findings from the research, without them needing to read the rest of the report – in other words, it should be able to stand alone .

For it to stand alone, your abstract should cover the following key points (at a minimum):

Your research questions and aims – what key question(s) did your research aim to answer?
Your methodology – how did you go about investigating the topic and finding answers to your research question(s)?
Your findings – following your own research, what did do you discover?
Your conclusions – based on your findings, what conclusions did you draw? What answers did you find to your research question(s)?

So, in much the same way the dissertation structure mimics the research process, your abstract or executive summary should reflect the research process, from the initial stage of asking the original question to the final stage of answering that question.

In practical terms, it’s a good idea to write this section up last , once all your core chapters are complete. Otherwise, you’ll end up writing and rewriting this section multiple times (just wasting time). For a step by step guide on how to write a strong executive summary, check out this post .

Need a helping hand?

structure organisationnelle dissertation

This section is straightforward. You’ll typically present your table of contents (TOC) first, followed by the two lists – figures and tables. I recommend that you use Microsoft Word’s automatic table of contents generator to generate your TOC. If you’re not familiar with this functionality, the video below explains it simply:

If you find that your table of contents is overly lengthy, consider removing one level of depth. Oftentimes, this can be done without detracting from the usefulness of the TOC.

Right, now that the “admin” sections are out of the way, its time to move on to your core chapters. These chapters are the heart of your dissertation and are where you’ll earn the marks. The first chapter is the introduction chapter – as you would expect, this is the time to introduce your research…

It’s important to understand that even though you’ve provided an overview of your research in your abstract, your introduction needs to be written as if the reader has not read that (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). So, your introduction chapter needs to start from the very beginning, and should address the following questions:

What will you be investigating (in plain-language, big picture-level)?
Why is that worth investigating? How is it important to academia or business? How is it sufficiently original?
What are your research aims and research question(s)? Note that the research questions can sometimes be presented at the end of the literature review (next chapter).
What is the scope of your study? In other words, what will and won’t you cover ?
How will you approach your research? In other words, what methodology will you adopt?
How will you structure your dissertation? What are the core chapters and what will you do in each of them?

These are just the bare basic requirements for your intro chapter. Some universities will want additional bells and whistles in the intro chapter, so be sure to carefully read your brief or consult your research supervisor.

If done right, your introduction chapter will set a clear direction for the rest of your dissertation. Specifically, it will make it clear to the reader (and marker) exactly what you’ll be investigating, why that’s important, and how you’ll be going about the investigation. Conversely, if your introduction chapter leaves a first-time reader wondering what exactly you’ll be researching, you’ve still got some work to do.

Now that you’ve set a clear direction with your introduction chapter, the next step is the literature review . In this section, you will analyse the existing research (typically academic journal articles and high-quality industry publications), with a view to understanding the following questions:

What does the literature currently say about the topic you’re investigating?
Is the literature lacking or well established? Is it divided or in disagreement?
How does your research fit into the bigger picture?
How does your research contribute something original?
How does the methodology of previous studies help you develop your own?

Depending on the nature of your study, you may also present a conceptual framework towards the end of your literature review, which you will then test in your actual research.

Again, some universities will want you to focus on some of these areas more than others, some will have additional or fewer requirements, and so on. Therefore, as always, its important to review your brief and/or discuss with your supervisor, so that you know exactly what’s expected of your literature review chapter.

Now that you’ve investigated the current state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the existing key theories, models and frameworks, its time to design your own research. Enter the methodology chapter – the most “science-ey” of the chapters…

In this chapter, you need to address two critical questions:

Exactly HOW will you carry out your research (i.e. what is your intended research design)?
Exactly WHY have you chosen to do things this way (i.e. how do you justify your design)?

Remember, the dissertation part of your degree is first and foremost about developing and demonstrating research skills . Therefore, the markers want to see that you know which methods to use, can clearly articulate why you’ve chosen then, and know how to deploy them effectively.

Importantly, this chapter requires detail – don’t hold back on the specifics. State exactly what you’ll be doing, with who, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, for every design choice you make, make sure you justify it.

In practice, you will likely end up coming back to this chapter once you’ve undertaken all your data collection and analysis, and revise it based on changes you made during the analysis phase. This is perfectly fine. Its natural for you to add an additional analysis technique, scrap an old one, etc based on where your data lead you. Of course, I’m talking about small changes here – not a fundamental switch from qualitative to quantitative, which will likely send your supervisor in a spin!

You’ve now collected your data and undertaken your analysis, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. In this chapter, you’ll present the raw results of your analysis . For example, in the case of a quant study, you’ll present the demographic data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics , etc.

Typically, Chapter 4 is simply a presentation and description of the data, not a discussion of the meaning of the data. In other words, it’s descriptive, rather than analytical – the meaning is discussed in Chapter 5. However, some universities will want you to combine chapters 4 and 5, so that you both present and interpret the meaning of the data at the same time. Check with your institution what their preference is.

Now that you’ve presented the data analysis results, its time to interpret and analyse them. In other words, its time to discuss what they mean, especially in relation to your research question(s).

What you discuss here will depend largely on your chosen methodology. For example, if you’ve gone the quantitative route, you might discuss the relationships between variables . If you’ve gone the qualitative route, you might discuss key themes and the meanings thereof. It all depends on what your research design choices were.

Most importantly, you need to discuss your results in relation to your research questions and aims, as well as the existing literature. What do the results tell you about your research questions? Are they aligned with the existing research or at odds? If so, why might this be? Dig deep into your findings and explain what the findings suggest, in plain English.

The final chapter – you’ve made it! Now that you’ve discussed your interpretation of the results, its time to bring it back to the beginning with the conclusion chapter . In other words, its time to (attempt to) answer your original research question s (from way back in chapter 1). Clearly state what your conclusions are in terms of your research questions. This might feel a bit repetitive, as you would have touched on this in the previous chapter, but its important to bring the discussion full circle and explicitly state your answer(s) to the research question(s).

Next, you’ll typically discuss the implications of your findings . In other words, you’ve answered your research questions – but what does this mean for the real world (or even for academia)? What should now be done differently, given the new insight you’ve generated?

Lastly, you should discuss the limitations of your research, as well as what this means for future research in the area. No study is perfect, especially not a Masters-level. Discuss the shortcomings of your research. Perhaps your methodology was limited, perhaps your sample size was small or not representative, etc, etc. Don’t be afraid to critique your work – the markers want to see that you can identify the limitations of your work. This is a strength, not a weakness. Be brutal!

This marks the end of your core chapters – woohoo! From here on out, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

The reference list is straightforward. It should contain a list of all resources cited in your dissertation, in the required format, e.g. APA , Harvard, etc.

It’s essential that you use reference management software for your dissertation. Do NOT try handle your referencing manually – its far too error prone. On a reference list of multiple pages, you’re going to make mistake. To this end, I suggest considering either Mendeley or Zotero. Both are free and provide a very straightforward interface to ensure that your referencing is 100% on point. I’ve included a simple how-to video for the Mendeley software (my personal favourite) below:

Some universities may ask you to include a bibliography, as opposed to a reference list. These two things are not the same . A bibliography is similar to a reference list, except that it also includes resources which informed your thinking but were not directly cited in your dissertation. So, double-check your brief and make sure you use the right one.

The very last piece of the puzzle is the appendix or set of appendices. This is where you’ll include any supporting data and evidence. Importantly, supporting is the keyword here.

Your appendices should provide additional “nice to know”, depth-adding information, which is not critical to the core analysis. Appendices should not be used as a way to cut down word count (see this post which covers how to reduce word count ). In other words, don’t place content that is critical to the core analysis here, just to save word count. You will not earn marks on any content in the appendices, so don’t try to play the system!

Time to recap…

And there you have it – the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows:

Acknowledgments page

Most importantly, the core chapters should reflect the research process (asking, investigating and answering your research question). Moreover, the research question(s) should form the golden thread throughout your dissertation structure. Everything should revolve around the research questions, and as you’ve seen, they should form both the start point (i.e. introduction chapter) and the endpoint (i.e. conclusion chapter).

I hope this post has provided you with clarity about the traditional dissertation/thesis structure and layout. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below, or feel free to get in touch with us. Also, be sure to check out the rest of the Grad Coach Blog .

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

36 Comments

many thanks i found it very useful

Glad to hear that, Arun. Good luck writing your dissertation.

Such clear practical logical advice. I very much needed to read this to keep me focused in stead of fretting.. Perfect now ready to start my research!

what about scientific fields like computer or engineering thesis what is the difference in the structure? thank you very much

Thanks so much this helped me a lot!

Very helpful and accessible. What I like most is how practical the advice is along with helpful tools/ links.

Thanks Ade!

Thank you so much sir.. It was really helpful..

You’re welcome!

Hi! How many words maximum should contain the abstract?

Thank you so much 😊 Find this at the right moment

You’re most welcome. Good luck with your dissertation.

best ever benefit i got on right time thank you

Many times Clarity and vision of destination of dissertation is what makes the difference between good ,average and great researchers the same way a great automobile driver is fast with clarity of address and Clear weather conditions .

I guess Great researcher = great ideas + knowledge + great and fast data collection and modeling + great writing + high clarity on all these

You have given immense clarity from start to end.

Morning. Where will I write the definitions of what I’m referring to in my report?

Thank you so much Derek, I was almost lost! Thanks a tonnnn! Have a great day!

Thanks ! so concise and valuable

This was very helpful. Clear and concise. I know exactly what to do now.

Thank you for allowing me to go through briefly. I hope to find time to continue.

Really useful to me. Thanks a thousand times

Very interesting! It will definitely set me and many more for success. highly recommended.

Thank you soo much sir, for the opportunity to express my skills

Usefull, thanks a lot. Really clear

Very nice and easy to understand. Thank you .

That was incredibly useful. Thanks Grad Coach Crew!

My stress level just dropped at least 15 points after watching this. Just starting my thesis for my grad program and I feel a lot more capable now! Thanks for such a clear and helpful video, Emma and the GradCoach team!

Do we need to mention the number of words the dissertation contains in the main document?

It depends on your university’s requirements, so it would be best to check with them 🙂

Such a helpful post to help me get started with structuring my masters dissertation, thank you!

Great video; I appreciate that helpful information

It is so necessary or avital course

This blog is very informative for my research. Thank you

Doctoral students are required to fill out the National Research Council’s Survey of Earned Doctorates

wow this is an amazing gain in my life

This is so good

How can i arrange my specific objectives in my dissertation?

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Dissertation

What Is a Dissertation? | Guide, Examples, & Template

A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program.

Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you’ve ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating to know where to begin.

Your department likely has guidelines related to how your dissertation should be structured. When in doubt, consult with your supervisor.

You can also download our full dissertation template in the format of your choice below. The template includes a ready-made table of contents with notes on what to include in each chapter, easily adaptable to your department’s requirements.

Download Word template Download Google Docs template

In the US, a dissertation generally refers to the collection of research you conducted to obtain a PhD.
In other countries (such as the UK), a dissertation often refers to the research you conduct to obtain your bachelor’s or master’s degree.

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Dissertation committee and prospectus process, how to write and structure a dissertation, acknowledgements or preface, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review, methodology, reference list, proofreading and editing, defending your dissertation, free checklist and lecture slides.

When you’ve finished your coursework, as well as any comprehensive exams or other requirements, you advance to “ABD” (All But Dissertation) status. This means you’ve completed everything except your dissertation.

Prior to starting to write, you must form your committee and write your prospectus or proposal . Your committee comprises your adviser and a few other faculty members. They can be from your own department, or, if your work is more interdisciplinary, from other departments. Your committee will guide you through the dissertation process, and ultimately decide whether you pass your dissertation defense and receive your PhD.

Your prospectus is a formal document presented to your committee, usually orally in a defense, outlining your research aims and objectives and showing why your topic is relevant . After passing your prospectus defense, you’re ready to start your research and writing.

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The structure of your dissertation depends on a variety of factors, such as your discipline, topic, and approach. Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an overall argument to support a central thesis , with chapters organized around different themes or case studies.

However, hard science and social science dissertations typically include a review of existing works, a methodology section, an analysis of your original research, and a presentation of your results , presented in different chapters.

Dissertation examples

We’ve compiled a list of dissertation examples to help you get started.

Example dissertation #1: Heat, Wildfire and Energy Demand: An Examination of Residential Buildings and Community Equity (a dissertation by C. A. Antonopoulos about the impact of extreme heat and wildfire on residential buildings and occupant exposure risks).
Example dissertation #2: Exploring Income Volatility and Financial Health Among Middle-Income Households (a dissertation by M. Addo about income volatility and declining economic security among middle-income households).
Example dissertation #3: The Use of Mindfulness Meditation to Increase the Efficacy of Mirror Visual Feedback for Reducing Phantom Limb Pain in Amputees (a dissertation by N. S. Mills about the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on the relationship between mirror visual feedback and the pain level in amputees with phantom limb pain).

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo.

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The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150 to 300 words long. Though this may seem very short, it’s one of the most important parts of your dissertation, because it introduces your work to your audience.

Your abstract should:

State your main topic and the aims of your research
Describe your methods
Summarize your main results
State your conclusions

Theoretical framework

Your literature review can often form the basis for your theoretical framework. Here, you define and analyze the key theories, concepts, and models that frame your research.

Checklist: Dissertation

My title page includes all information required by my university.

I have included acknowledgements thanking those who helped me.

My abstract provides a concise summary of the dissertation, giving the reader a clear idea of my key results or arguments.

I have created a table of contents to help the reader navigate my dissertation. It includes all chapter titles, but excludes the title page, acknowledgements, and abstract.

My introduction leads into my topic in an engaging way and shows the relevance of my research.

My introduction clearly defines the focus of my research, stating my research questions and research objectives .

My introduction includes an overview of the dissertation’s structure (reading guide).

I have conducted a literature review in which I (1) critically engage with sources, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of existing research, (2) discuss patterns, themes, and debates in the literature, and (3) address a gap or show how my research contributes to existing research.

I have clearly outlined the theoretical framework of my research, explaining the theories and models that support my approach.

I have thoroughly described my methodology , explaining how I collected data and analyzed data.

I have concisely and objectively reported all relevant results .

I have (1) evaluated and interpreted the meaning of the results and (2) acknowledged any important limitations of the results in my discussion .

I have clearly stated the answer to my main research question in the conclusion .

I have clearly explained the implications of my conclusion, emphasizing what new insight my research has contributed.

I have provided relevant recommendations for further research or practice.

If relevant, I have included appendices with supplemental information.

I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.

I have listed every source in a reference list at the end of my dissertation.

I have consistently followed the rules of my chosen citation style .

I have followed all formatting guidelines provided by my university.

Congratulations!

The end is in sight—your dissertation is nearly ready to submit! Make sure it's perfectly polished with the help of a Scribbr editor.

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Writing your dissertation - structure and sections

Posted in: dissertations

In this post, we look at the structural elements of a typical dissertation. Your department may wish you to include additional sections but the following covers all core elements you will need to work on when designing and developing your final assignment.

The table below illustrates a classic dissertation layout with approximate lengths for each section.

Hopkins, D. and Reid, T., 2018. The Academic Skills Handbook: Your Guid e to Success in Writing, Thinking and Communicating at University . Sage.

Your title should be clear, succinct and tell the reader exactly what your dissertation is about. If it is too vague or confusing, then it is likely your dissertation will be too vague and confusing. It is important therefore to spend time on this to ensure you get it right, and be ready to adapt to fit any changes of direction in your research or focus.

In the following examples, across a variety of subjects, you can see how the students have clearly identified the focus of their dissertation, and in some cases target a problem that they will address:

An econometric analysis of the demand for road transport within the united Kingdom from 1965 to 2000

To what extent does payment card fraud affect UK bank profitability and bank stakeholders? Does this justify fraud prevention?

A meta-analysis of implant materials for intervertebral disc replacement and regeneration.

The role of ethnic institutions in social development; the case of Mombasa, Kenya.

Why haven’t biomass crops been adopted more widely as a source of renewable energy in the United Kingdom?

Mapping the criminal mind: Profiling and its limitation.

The Relative Effectiveness of Interferon Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C

Under what conditions did the European Union exhibit leadership in international climate change negotiations from 1992-1997, 1997-2005 and 2005-Copenhagen respectively?

The first thing your reader will read (after the title) is your abstract. However, you need to write this last. Your abstract is a summary of the whole project, and will include aims and objectives, methods, results and conclusions. You cannot write this until you have completed your write-up.

Introduction

Your introduction should include the same elements found in most academic essay or report assignments, with the possible inclusion of research questions. The aim of the introduction is to set the scene, contextualise your research, introduce your focus topic and research questions, and tell the reader what you will be covering. It should move from the general and work towards the specific. You should include the following:

Attention-grabbing statement (a controversy, a topical issue, a contentious view, a recent problem etc)
Background and context
Introduce the topic, key theories, concepts, terms of reference, practices, (advocates and critic)
Introduce the problem and focus of your research
Set out your research question(s) (this could be set out in a separate section)
Your approach to answering your research questions.

Literature review

Your literature review is the section of your report where you show what is already known about the area under investigation and demonstrate the need for your particular study. This is a significant section in your dissertation (30%) and you should allow plenty of time to carry out a thorough exploration of your focus topic and use it to help you identify a specific problem and formulate your research questions.

You should approach the literature review with the critical analysis dial turned up to full volume. This is not simply a description, list, or summary of everything you have read. Instead, it is a synthesis of your reading, and should include analysis and evaluation of readings, evidence, studies and data, cases, real world applications and views/opinions expressed. Your supervisor is looking for this detailed critical approach in your literature review, where you unpack sources, identify strengths and weaknesses and find gaps in the research.

In other words, your literature review is your opportunity to show the reader why your paper is important and your research is significant, as it addresses the gap or on-going issue you have uncovered.

You need to tell the reader what was done. This means describing the research methods and explaining your choice. This will include information on the following:

Are your methods qualitative or quantitative... or both? And if so, why?
Who (if any) are the participants?
Are you analysing any documents, systems, organisations? If so what are they and why are you analysing them?
What did you do first, second, etc?
What ethical considerations are there?

It is a common style convention to write what was done rather than what you did, and write it so that someone else would be able to replicate your study.

Here you describe what you have found out. You need to identify the most significant patterns in your data, and use tables and figures to support your description. Your tables and figures are a visual representation of your findings, but remember to describe what they show in your writing. There should be no critical analysis in this part (unless you have combined results and discussion sections).

Here you show the significance of your results or findings. You critically analyse what they mean, and what the implications may be. Talk about any limitations to your study, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your own research, and make suggestions for further studies to build on your findings. In this section, your supervisor will expect you to dig deep into your findings and critically evaluate what they mean in relation to previous studies, theories, views and opinions.

This is a summary of your project, reminding the reader of the background to your study, your objectives, and showing how you met them. Do not include any new information that you have not discussed before.

This is the list of all the sources you have cited in your dissertation. Ensure you are consistent and follow the conventions for the particular referencing system you are using. (Note: you shouldn't include books you've read but do not appear in your dissertation).

Include any extra information that your reader may like to read. It should not be essential for your reader to read them in order to understand your dissertation. Your appendices should be labelled (e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B, etc). Examples of material for the appendices include detailed data tables (summarised in your results section), the complete version of a document you have used an extract from, etc.

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Knowledge Base
Dissertation

How to Write a Dissertation | A Guide to Structure & Content

A dissertation or thesis is a long piece of academic writing based on original research, submitted as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter).

The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes:

An introduction to your topic
A literature review that surveys relevant sources
An explanation of your methodology
An overview of the results of your research
A discussion of the results and their implications
A conclusion that shows what your research has contributed

Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an argument by analysing primary and secondary sources . Instead of the standard structure outlined here, you might organise your chapters around different themes or case studies.

Other important elements of the dissertation include the title page , abstract , and reference list . If in doubt about how your dissertation should be structured, always check your department’s guidelines and consult with your supervisor.

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Acknowledgements, table of contents, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review / theoretical framework, methodology, reference list.

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation’s title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo. Many programs have strict requirements for formatting the dissertation title page .

The title page is often used as cover when printing and binding your dissertation .

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The acknowledgements section is usually optional, and gives space for you to thank everyone who helped you in writing your dissertation. This might include your supervisors, participants in your research, and friends or family who supported you.

The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150-300 words long. You should write it at the very end, when you’ve completed the rest of the dissertation. In the abstract, make sure to:

State the main topic and aims of your research
Describe the methods you used
Summarise the main results
State your conclusions

Although the abstract is very short, it’s the first part (and sometimes the only part) of your dissertation that people will read, so it’s important that you get it right. If you’re struggling to write a strong abstract, read our guide on how to write an abstract .

In the table of contents, list all of your chapters and subheadings and their page numbers. The dissertation contents page gives the reader an overview of your structure and helps easily navigate the document.

All parts of your dissertation should be included in the table of contents, including the appendices. You can generate a table of contents automatically in Word.

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If you have used a lot of tables and figures in your dissertation, you should itemise them in a numbered list . You can automatically generate this list using the Insert Caption feature in Word.

If you have used a lot of abbreviations in your dissertation, you can include them in an alphabetised list of abbreviations so that the reader can easily look up their meanings.

If you have used a lot of highly specialised terms that will not be familiar to your reader, it might be a good idea to include a glossary . List the terms alphabetically and explain each term with a brief description or definition.

In the introduction, you set up your dissertation’s topic, purpose, and relevance, and tell the reader what to expect in the rest of the dissertation. The introduction should:

Establish your research topic , giving necessary background information to contextualise your work
Narrow down the focus and define the scope of the research
Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing your work’s relevance to a broader problem or debate
Clearly state your objectives and research questions , and indicate how you will answer them
Give an overview of your dissertation’s structure

Everything in the introduction should be clear, engaging, and relevant to your research. By the end, the reader should understand the what , why and how of your research. Not sure how? Read our guide on how to write a dissertation introduction .

Before you start on your research, you should have conducted a literature review to gain a thorough understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic. This means:

Collecting sources (e.g. books and journal articles) and selecting the most relevant ones
Critically evaluating and analysing each source
Drawing connections between them (e.g. themes, patterns, conflicts, gaps) to make an overall point

In the dissertation literature review chapter or section, you shouldn’t just summarise existing studies, but develop a coherent structure and argument that leads to a clear basis or justification for your own research. For example, it might aim to show how your research:

Addresses a gap in the literature
Takes a new theoretical or methodological approach to the topic
Proposes a solution to an unresolved problem
Advances a theoretical debate
Builds on and strengthens existing knowledge with new data

The literature review often becomes the basis for a theoretical framework , in which you define and analyse the key theories, concepts and models that frame your research. In this section you can answer descriptive research questions about the relationship between concepts or variables.

The methodology chapter or section describes how you conducted your research, allowing your reader to assess its validity. You should generally include:

The overall approach and type of research (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, experimental, ethnographic)
Your methods of collecting data (e.g. interviews, surveys, archives)
Details of where, when, and with whom the research took place
Your methods of analysing data (e.g. statistical analysis, discourse analysis)
Tools and materials you used (e.g. computer programs, lab equipment)
A discussion of any obstacles you faced in conducting the research and how you overcame them
An evaluation or justification of your methods

Your aim in the methodology is to accurately report what you did, as well as convincing the reader that this was the best approach to answering your research questions or objectives.

Next, you report the results of your research . You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses, or topics. Only report results that are relevant to your objectives and research questions. In some disciplines, the results section is strictly separated from the discussion, while in others the two are combined.

For example, for qualitative methods like in-depth interviews, the presentation of the data will often be woven together with discussion and analysis, while in quantitative and experimental research, the results should be presented separately before you discuss their meaning. If you’re unsure, consult with your supervisor and look at sample dissertations to find out the best structure for your research.

In the results section it can often be helpful to include tables, graphs and charts. Think carefully about how best to present your data, and don’t include tables or figures that just repeat what you have written – they should provide extra information or usefully visualise the results in a way that adds value to your text.

Full versions of your data (such as interview transcripts) can be included as an appendix .

The discussion is where you explore the meaning and implications of your results in relation to your research questions. Here you should interpret the results in detail, discussing whether they met your expectations and how well they fit with the framework that you built in earlier chapters. If any of the results were unexpected, offer explanations for why this might be. It’s a good idea to consider alternative interpretations of your data and discuss any limitations that might have influenced the results.

The discussion should reference other scholarly work to show how your results fit with existing knowledge. You can also make recommendations for future research or practical action.

The dissertation conclusion should concisely answer the main research question, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of your central argument. Wrap up your dissertation with a final reflection on what you did and how you did it. The conclusion often also includes recommendations for research or practice.

In this section, it’s important to show how your findings contribute to knowledge in the field and why your research matters. What have you added to what was already known?

You must include full details of all sources that you have cited in a reference list (sometimes also called a works cited list or bibliography). It’s important to follow a consistent reference style . Each style has strict and specific requirements for how to format your sources in the reference list.

The most common styles used in UK universities are Harvard referencing and Vancouver referencing . Your department will often specify which referencing style you should use – for example, psychology students tend to use APA style , humanities students often use MHRA , and law students always use OSCOLA . M ake sure to check the requirements, and ask your supervisor if you’re unsure.

To save time creating the reference list and make sure your citations are correctly and consistently formatted, you can use our free APA Citation Generator .

Your dissertation itself should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents you have used that do not fit into the main body of your dissertation (such as interview transcripts, survey questions or tables with full figures) can be added as appendices .

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How to Structure a Dissertation – A Step by Step Guide

Published by Owen Ingram at August 11th, 2021 , Revised On September 20, 2023

A dissertation – sometimes called a thesis – is a long piece of information backed up by extensive research. This one, huge piece of research is what matters the most when students – undergraduates and postgraduates – are in their final year of study.

On the other hand, some institutions, especially in the case of undergraduate students, may or may not require students to write a dissertation. Courses are offered instead. This generally depends on the requirements of that particular institution.

If you are unsure about how to structure your dissertation or thesis, this article will offer you some guidelines to work out what the most important segments of a dissertation paper are and how you should organise them. Why is structure so important in research, anyway?

One way to answer that, as Abbie Hoffman aptly put it, is because: “Structure is more important than content in the transmission of information.”

Also Read: How to write a dissertation – step by step guide .

How to Structure a Dissertation or Thesis

It should be noted that the exact structure of your dissertation will depend on several factors, such as:

Your research approach (qualitative/quantitative)
The nature of your research design (exploratory/descriptive etc.)
The requirements set for forth by your academic institution.
The discipline or field your study belongs to. For instance, if you are a humanities student, you will need to develop your dissertation on the same pattern as any long essay .

This will include developing an overall argument to support the thesis statement and organizing chapters around theories or questions. The dissertation will be structured such that it starts with an introduction , develops on the main idea in its main body paragraphs and is then summarised in conclusion .

However, if you are basing your dissertation on primary or empirical research, you will be required to include each of the below components. In most cases of dissertation writing, each of these elements will have to be written as a separate chapter.

But depending on the word count you are provided with and academic subject, you may choose to combine some of these elements.

For example, sciences and engineering students often present results and discussions together in one chapter rather than two different chapters.

If you have any doubts about structuring your dissertation or thesis, it would be a good idea to consult with your academic supervisor and check your department’s requirements.

Parts of a Dissertation or Thesis

Your dissertation will start with a t itle page that will contain details of the author/researcher, research topic, degree program (the paper is to be submitted for), and research supervisor. In other words, a title page is the opening page containing all the names and title related to your research.

The name of your university, logo, student ID and submission date can also be presented on the title page. Many academic programs have stringent rules for formatting the dissertation title page.

Acknowledgements

The acknowledgments section allows you to thank those who helped you with your dissertation project. You might want to mention the names of your academic supervisor, family members, friends, God, and participants of your study whose contribution and support enabled you to complete your work.

However, the acknowledgments section is usually optional.

Tip: Many students wrongly assume that they need to thank everyone…even those who had little to no contributions towards the dissertation. This is not the case. You only need to thank those who were directly involved in the research process, such as your participants/volunteers, supervisor(s) etc.

Perhaps the smallest yet important part of a thesis, an abstract contains 5 parts:

A brief introduction of your research topic.
The significance of your research.
A line or two about the methodology that was used.
The results and what they mean (briefly); their interpretation(s).
And lastly, a conclusive comment regarding the results’ interpretation(s) as conclusion .

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Tip: Make sure to highlight key points to help readers figure out the scope and findings of your research study without having to read the entire dissertation. The abstract is your first chance to impress your readers. So, make sure to get it right. Here are detailed guidelines on how to write abstract for dissertation .

Table of contents is the section of a dissertation that guides each section of the dissertation paper’s contents. Depending on the level of detail in a table of contents, the most useful headings are listed to provide the reader the page number on which said information may be found at.

Table of contents can be inserted automatically as well as manually using the Microsoft Word Table of Contents feature.

List of Figures and Tables

If your dissertation paper uses several illustrations, tables and figures, you might want to present them in a numbered list in a separate section . Again, this list of tables and figures can be auto-created and auto inserted using the Microsoft Word built-in feature.

List of Abbreviations

Dissertations that include several abbreviations can also have an independent and separate alphabetised list of abbreviations so readers can easily figure out their meanings.

If you think you have used terms and phrases in your dissertation that readers might not be familiar with, you can create a glossary that lists important phrases and terms with their meanings explained.

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Introduction

Introduction chapter briefly introduces the purpose and relevance of your research topic.

Here, you will be expected to list the aim and key objectives of your research so your readers can easily understand what the following chapters of the dissertation will cover. A good dissertation introduction section incorporates the following information:

It provides background information to give context to your research.
It clearly specifies the research problem you wish to address with your research. When creating research questions , it is important to make sure your research’s focus and scope are neither too broad nor too narrow.
it demonstrates how your research is relevant and how it would contribute to the existing knowledge.
It provides an overview of the structure of your dissertation. The last section of an introduction contains an outline of the following chapters. It could start off with something like: “In the following chapter, past literature has been reviewed and critiqued. The proceeding section lays down major research findings…”
Theoretical framework – under a separate sub-heading – is also provided within the introductory chapter. Theoretical framework deals with the basic, underlying theory or theories that the research revolves around.

All the information presented under this section should be relevant, clear, and engaging. The readers should be able to figure out the what, why, when, and how of your study once they have read the introduction. Here are comprehensive guidelines on how to structure the introduction to the dissertation .

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Literature Review

The literature review chapter presents previous research performed on the topic and improves your understanding of the existing literature on your chosen topic. This is usually organised to complement your primary research work completed at a later stage.

Make sure that your chosen academic sources are authentic and up-to-date. The literature review chapter must be comprehensive and address the aims and objectives as defined in the introduction chapter. Here is what your literature research chapter should aim to achieve:

Data collection from authentic and relevant academic sources such as books, journal articles and research papers.
Analytical assessment of the information collected from those sources; this would involve a critiquing the reviewed researches that is, what their strengths/weaknesses are, why the research method they employed is better than others, importance of their findings, etc.
Identifying key research gaps, conflicts, patterns, and theories to get your point across to the reader effectively.

While your literature review should summarise previous literature, it is equally important to make sure that you develop a comprehensible argument or structure to justify your research topic. It would help if you considered keeping the following questions in mind when writing the literature review:

How does your research work fill a certain gap in exiting literature?
Did you adopt/adapt a new research approach to investigate the topic?
Does your research solve an unresolved problem?
Is your research dealing with some groundbreaking topic or theory that others might have overlooked?
Is your research taking forward an existing theoretical discussion?
Does your research strengthen and build on current knowledge within your area of study? This is otherwise known as ‘adding to the existing body of knowledge’ in academic circles.

Tip: You might want to establish relationships between variables/concepts to provide descriptive answers to some or all of your research questions. For instance, in case of quantitative research, you might hypothesise that variable A is positively co-related to variable B that is, one increases and so does the other one.

Research Methodology

The methods and techniques ( secondary and/or primar y) employed to collect research data are discussed in detail in the Methodology chapter. The most commonly used primary data collection methods are:

questionnaires
focus groups
observations

Essentially, the methodology chapter allows the researcher to explain how he/she achieved the findings, why they are reliable and how they helped him/her test the research hypotheses or address the research problem.

You might want to consider the following when writing methodology for the dissertation:

Type of research and approach your work is based on. Some of the most widely used types of research include experimental, quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
Data collection techniques that were employed such as questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, observations etc.
Details of how, when, where, and what of the research that was conducted.
Data analysis strategies employed (for instance, regression analysis).
Software and tools used for data analysis (Excel, STATA, SPSS, lab equipment, etc.).
Research limitations to highlight any hurdles you had to overcome when carrying our research. Limitations might or might not be mentioned within research methodology. Some institutions’ guidelines dictate they be mentioned under a separate section alongside recommendations.
Justification of your selection of research approach and research methodology.

Here is a comprehensive article on how to structure a dissertation methodology .

Research Findings

In this section, you present your research findings. The dissertation findings chapter is built around the research questions, as outlined in the introduction chapter. Report findings that are directly relevant to your research questions.

Any information that is not directly relevant to research questions or hypotheses but could be useful for the readers can be placed under the Appendices .

As indicated above, you can either develop a standalone chapter to present your findings or combine them with the discussion chapter. This choice depends on the type of research involved and the academic subject, as well as what your institution’s academic guidelines dictate.

For example, it is common to have both findings and discussion grouped under the same section, particularly if the dissertation is based on qualitative research data.

On the other hand, dissertations that use quantitative or experimental data should present findings and analysis/discussion in two separate chapters. Here are some sample dissertations to help you figure out the best structure for your own project.

Sample Dissertation

Tip: Try to present as many charts, graphs, illustrations and tables in the findings chapter to improve your data presentation. Provide their qualitative interpretations alongside, too. Refrain from explaining the information that is already evident from figures and tables.

The findings are followed by the Discussion chapter , which is considered the heart of any dissertation paper. The discussion section is an opportunity for you to tie the knots together to address the research questions and present arguments, models and key themes.

This chapter can make or break your research.

The discussion chapter does not require any new data or information because it is more about the interpretation(s) of the data you have already collected and presented. Here are some questions for you to think over when writing the discussion chapter:

Did your work answer all the research questions or tested the hypothesis?
Did you come up with some unexpected results for which you have to provide an additional explanation or justification?
Are there any limitations that could have influenced your research findings?

Here is an article on how to structure a dissertation discussion .

Conclusions corresponding to each research objective are provided in the Conclusion section . This is usually done by revisiting the research questions to finally close the dissertation. Some institutions may specifically ask for recommendations to evaluate your critical thinking.

By the end, the readers should have a clear apprehension of your fundamental case with a focus on what methods of research were employed and what you achieved from this research.

Quick Question: Does the conclusion chapter reflect on the contributions your research work will make to existing knowledge?

Answer: Yes, the conclusion chapter of the research paper typically includes a reflection on the research’s contributions to existing knowledge. In the “conclusion chapter”, you have to summarise the key findings and discuss how they add value to the existing literature on the current topic.

Reference list

All academic sources that you collected information from should be cited in-text and also presented in a reference list (or a bibliography in case you include references that you read for the research but didn’t end up citing in the text), so the readers can easily locate the source of information when/if needed.

At most UK universities, Harvard referencing is the recommended style of referencing. It has strict and specific requirements on how to format a reference resource. Other common styles of referencing include MLA, APA, Footnotes, etc.

Each chapter of the dissertation should have relevant information. Any information that is not directly relevant to your research topic but your readers might be interested in (interview transcripts etc.) should be moved under the Appendices section .

Things like questionnaires, survey items or readings that were used in the study’s experiment are mostly included under appendices.

An Outline of Dissertation/Thesis Structure

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FAQs About Structure a Dissertation

What does the title page of a dissertation contain.

The title page will contain details of the author/researcher, research topic , degree program (the paper is to be submitted for) and research supervisor’s name(s). The name of your university, logo, student number and submission date can also be presented on the title page.

What is the purpose of adding acknowledgement?

The acknowledgements section allows you to thank those who helped you with your dissertation project. You might want to mention the names of your academic supervisor, family members, friends, God and participants of your study whose contribution and support enabled you to complete your work.

Can I omit the glossary from the dissertation?

Yes, but only if you think that your paper does not contain any terms or phrases that the reader might not understand. If you think you have used them in the paper, you must create a glossary that lists important phrases and terms with their meanings explained.

What is the purpose of appendices in a dissertation?

Any information that is not directly relevant to research questions or hypotheses but could be useful for the readers can be placed under the Appendices, such as questionnaire that was used in the study.

Which referencing style should I use in my dissertation?

You can use any of the referencing styles such as APA, MLA, and Harvard, according to the recommendation of your university; however, almost all UK institutions prefer Harvard referencing style .

What is the difference between references and bibliography?

References contain all the works that you read up and used and therefore, cited within the text of your thesis. However, in case you read on some works and resources that you didn’t end up citing in-text, they will be referenced in what is called a bibliography.

Additional readings might also be present alongside each bibliography entry for readers.

Organizing and Formatting Your Thesis and Dissertation

Learn about overall organization of your thesis or dissertation. Then, find details for formatting your preliminaries, text, and supplementaries.

Overall Organization

A typical thesis consists of three main parts – preliminaries, text, and supplementaries. Each part is to be organized as explained below and in the order indicated below:

1. Preliminaries:

Title page (required)
Copyright page (required)
Abstract (required) only one abstract allowed
Acknowledgments (optional) located in the Preliminary Section only
Preface (optional)
Autobiography (optional)
Dedication (optional)
Table of Contents (required)
List of Tables (optional)
List of Figures (optional)
List of Plates (optional)
List of Symbols (optional)
List of Keywords (optional)
Other Preliminaries (optional) such as Definition of Terms

3. Supplementaries:

References or bibliography (optional)
Appendices (optional)
Glossary (optional)
List of Abbreviations (optional)

Preliminaries

These are the general requirements for all preliminary pages.

Preliminary pages are numbered with lower case Roman numerals.
Page numbers are ½” from the bottom of the page and centered.
The copyright page is included in the manuscript immediately after the title page and is not assigned a page number nor counted.
The abstract page is numbered with the Roman numeral “ii”.
The remaining preliminary pages are arranged as listed under “Organizing and Formatting the Thesis/Dissertation” and numbered consecutively.
Headings for all preliminary pages must be centered in all capital letters 1” from the top of the page.
Do not bold the headings of the preliminary pages.

Preliminaries have no page number on the first two. Then it is numbered with roman numerals.

A sample Thesis title page pdf is available here , and a sample of a Dissertation title page pdf is available here.

Refer to the sample page as you read through the format requirements for the title page.

Do not use bold.
Center all text except the advisor and committee information.

The heading “ Thesis ” or “ Dissertation ” is in all capital letters, centered one inch from the top of the page.

Your title must be in all capital letters, double spaced and centered.
Your title on the title page must match the title on your GS30 – Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form

Submitted by block

Divide this section exactly as shown on the sample page. One blank line must separate each line of text.

Submitted by
School of Advanced Materials Discovery
School of Biomedical Engineering
Graduate Degree Program in Cell and Molecular Biology
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology

If your department name begins with “School of”, list as:

School of Education
School of Music, Theatre and Dance
School of Social Work

If you have questions about the correct name of your department or degree, consult your department. Areas of Study or specializations within a program are not listed on the Title Page.

Degree and Graduating Term block

In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the Degree of
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado (do not abbreviate Colorado)

Committee block

Master’s students will use the heading Master’s Committee:
Doctoral students will use the heading Doctoral Committee:
The Master’s Committee and Doctoral Committee headings begin at the left margin.
One blank line separates the committee heading and the advisor section.
One blank line separates the advisor and committee section.
Advisor and committee member names are indented approximately half an inch from the left margin.
Titles before or after the names of your advisor and your members are not permitted (Examples – Dr., Professor, Ph.D.).

Copyright Page

A sample copyright page pdf is available here.
A copyright page is required.
A copyright page is included in the manuscript immediately after the title page.
This page is not assigned a number nor counted.
Center text vertically and horizontally.
A sample abstract page pdf is available here – refer to the sample page as you read through the format requirements for the abstract.
Only one abstract is permitted.
The heading “ Abstract ” is in all capital letters, centered one inch from the top of the page.
Three blank lines (single-spaced) must be between the “ Abstract ” heading and your title.
Your title must be in all capital letters and centered.
The title must match the title on your Title Page and the GS30 – Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form
Three blank lines (single-spaced) must be between the title and your text.
The text of your abstract must be double-spaced.
The first page of the abstract is numbered with a small Roman numeral ii.

A sample Table of Contents page pdf is available.
The heading “ Table of Contents ” is in all capital letters centered one inch from the top of the page.
Three blank lines (single-spaced) follow the heading.
List all parts of the document (except the title page) and the page numbers on which each part begins.
The titles of all parts are worded exactly as they appear in the document.
Titles and headings and the page numbers on which they begin are separated by a row of dot leaders.
Major headings are aligned flush with the left margin.
Page numbers are aligned flush with the right margin.

The text of a thesis features an introduction and several chapters, sections and subsections. Text may also include parenthetical references, footnotes, or references to the bibliography or endnotes.

Any references to journal publications, authors, contributions, etc. on your chapter pages or major heading pages should be listed as a footnote .

Text and Supplementaries use Arabic numbering starting at 1

The entire document is 8.5” x 11” (letter) size.
Pages may be in landscape position for figures and tables that do not fit in “portrait” position.
Choose one type style (font) and font size and use it throughout the text of your thesis. Examples: Times New Roman and Arial.
Font sizes should be between 10 point and 12 point.
Font color must be black.
Hyperlinked text must be in blue. If you hyperlink more than one line of text, such as the entire table of contents, leave the text black.
Margins are one inch on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right).
Always continue the text to the bottom margin except at the end of a chapter.

Please see preliminary page requirements .
Body and references are numbered with Arabic numerals beginning with the first page of text (numbered 1).
Page numbers must be centered ½” from the bottom of the page.

Major Headings

A sample page pdf for major headings and subheadings is available here.
Use consistent style for major headings.
Three blank lines (single-spaced) need to be between the major heading and your text.
Each chapter is started on a new page.
The References or Bibliography heading is a major heading and the formatting needs to match chapter headings.

Subheadings

A sample page pdf for major headings and subheadings is available here .
Style for subheadings is optional but the style should be consistent throughout.
Subheadings within a chapter (or section) do not begin on a new page unless the preceding page is filled. Continue the text to the bottom of the page unless at the end of a chapter.
Subheadings at the bottom of a page require two lines of text following the heading and at least two lines of text on the next page.

Running Head

Do not insert a running head.

When dividing paragraphs, at least two lines of text should appear at the bottom of the page and at least two lines of text on the next page.

Hyphenation

The last word on a page may not be divided. No more than three lines in succession may end with hyphens. Divide words as indicated in a standard dictionary.

The text of the thesis is double-spaced.
Bibliography or list of reference entries and data within large tables may be single-spaced. Footnotes should be single spaced.
Footnotes and bibliography or list of reference entries are separated by double-spacing.
Quoted material of more than three lines is indented and single-spaced. Quoted material that is three lines or fewer may be single-spaced for emphasis.

Poems should be double-spaced with triple-spacing between stanzas. Stanzas may be centered if lines are short.

Consult a style manual approved by your department for samples of footnotes.
Footnotes are numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis.
Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page on which the reference is made.
Footnotes are single-spaced.
Consult a style manual approved by your department for samples of endnotes.
Endnotes are numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis.
Endnotes may be placed at the end of each chapter or following the last page of text.
The form for an endnote is the same as a footnote. Type the heading “endnote”.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should follow immediately after first mentioned in the text or on the next page.
If they are placed on the next page, continue the text to the bottom of the preceding page.
Do not wrap text around tables or figures. Text can go above and/or below.
If more clarity is provided by placing tables and figures at the end of chapters or at the end of the text, this format is also acceptable.
Tables and Figures are placed before references.
Any diagram, drawing, graph, chart, map, photograph, or other type of illustration is presented in the thesis as a figure.
All tables and figures must conform to margin requirements.
Images can be resized to fit within margins
Table captions go above tables.
Figure captions go below figures.
Captions must be single spaced.

Landscape Tables and Figures

Large tables or figures can be placed on the page landscape or broadside orientation.
Landscape tables and figures should face the right margin (unbound side).
The top margin must be the same as on a regular page.
Page numbers for landscape or broadside tables or figures are placed on the 11” side.

Supplementaries

These are the general requirements for all supplementary pages.

Supplementary pages are arranged as listed under “Organizing and Formatting the Thesis/Dissertation” and numbered consecutively.
Headings for all supplementary pages are major headings and the formatting style needs to match chapter headings.

Arabic numbers continue into the supplementaries.

References or Bibliography

The References or Bibliography heading is always a major heading and the formatting style needs to match chapter headings.
References or Bibliography are ordered after each chapter, or at the end of the text.
References or Bibliography must start on a new page from the chapter text.
References are aligned flush with the left margin.
The style for references should follow the format appropriate for the field of study.
The style used must be consistent throughout the thesis.
Appendices are optional and used for supplementary material.
The Appendices heading is a major heading and the formatting style needs to match chapter headings.
As an option the appendix may be introduced with a cover page bearing only the title centered vertically and horizontally on the page. The content of the appendix then begins on the second page with the standard one inch top margin.
Quality and format should be consistent with requirements for other parts of the thesis including margins.
Page numbers used in the appendix must continue from the main text.

A Foreign Language Thesis

Occasionally, theses are written in languages other than English. In such cases, an English translation of the title and abstract must be included in the document.

Submit one title page in the non-English language (no page number printed).
Submit one title page in English (no page number printed).
Submit one abstract in the non-English language (page number is ii).
Submit one abstract in English (page number is numbered consecutively from previous page – example: if the last page of the abstract in the foreign language is page ii the first page of the abstract in English is numbered page iii).

Multipart Thesis

In some departments, a student may do research on two or more generally related areas which would be difficult to combine into a single well-organized thesis. The solution is the multi-part thesis.

Each part is considered a separate unit, with its own chapters, bibliography or list of references, and appendix (optional); or it may have a combined bibliography or list of references and appendix.
A single abstract is required.
The pages of a multi-part thesis are numbered consecutively throughout the entire thesis, not through each part (therefore, the first page of Part II is not page 1).
The chapter numbering begins with Chapter 1 for each part, or the chapters may be numbered consecutively.
Pagination is consecutive throughout all parts, including numbered separation sheets between parts.
Each part may be preceded by a separation sheet listing the appropriate number and title.

Home » Dissertation Methodology – Structure, Example and Writing Guide

Dissertation Methodology – Structure, Example and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

Dissertation Methodology

In any research, the methodology chapter is one of the key components of your dissertation. It provides a detailed description of the methods you used to conduct your research and helps readers understand how you obtained your data and how you plan to analyze it. This section is crucial for replicating the study and validating its results.

Here are the basic elements that are typically included in a dissertation methodology:

Introduction : This section should explain the importance and goals of your research .
Research Design : Outline your research approach and why it’s appropriate for your study. You might be conducting an experimental research, a qualitative research, a quantitative research, or a mixed-methods research.
Data Collection : This section should detail the methods you used to collect your data. Did you use surveys, interviews, observations, etc.? Why did you choose these methods? You should also include who your participants were, how you recruited them, and any ethical considerations.
Data Analysis : Explain how you intend to analyze the data you collected. This could include statistical analysis, thematic analysis, content analysis, etc., depending on the nature of your study.
Reliability and Validity : Discuss how you’ve ensured the reliability and validity of your study. For instance, you could discuss measures taken to reduce bias, how you ensured that your measures accurately capture what they were intended to, or how you will handle any limitations in your study.
Ethical Considerations : This is where you state how you have considered ethical issues related to your research, how you have protected the participants’ rights, and how you have complied with the relevant ethical guidelines.
Limitations : Acknowledge any limitations of your methodology, including any biases and constraints that might have affected your study.
Summary : Recap the key points of your methodology chapter, highlighting the overall approach and rationalization of your research.

Types of Dissertation Methodology

The type of methodology you choose for your dissertation will depend on the nature of your research question and the field you’re working in. Here are some of the most common types of methodologies used in dissertations:

Experimental Research

This involves creating an experiment that will test your hypothesis. You’ll need to design an experiment, manipulate variables, collect data, and analyze that data to draw conclusions. This is commonly used in fields like psychology, biology, and physics.

Survey Research

This type of research involves gathering data from a large number of participants using tools like questionnaires or surveys. It can be used to collect a large amount of data and is often used in fields like sociology, marketing, and public health.

Qualitative Research

This type of research is used to explore complex phenomena that can’t be easily quantified. Methods include interviews, focus groups, and observations. This methodology is common in fields like anthropology, sociology, and education.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research uses numerical data to answer research questions. This can include statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques. It’s common in fields like economics, psychology, and health sciences.

Case Study Research

This type of research involves in-depth investigation of a particular case, such as an individual, group, or event. This methodology is often used in psychology, social sciences, and business.

Mixed Methods Research

This combines qualitative and quantitative research methods in a single study. It’s used to answer more complex research questions and is becoming more popular in fields like social sciences, health sciences, and education.

Action Research

This type of research involves taking action and then reflecting upon the results. This cycle of action-reflection-action continues throughout the study. It’s often used in fields like education and organizational development.

Longitudinal Research

This type of research involves studying the same group of individuals over an extended period of time. This could involve surveys, observations, or experiments. It’s common in fields like psychology, sociology, and medicine.

Ethnographic Research

This type of research involves the in-depth study of people and cultures. Researchers immerse themselves in the culture they’re studying to collect data. This is often used in fields like anthropology and social sciences.

Structure of Dissertation Methodology

The structure of a dissertation methodology can vary depending on your field of study, the nature of your research, and the guidelines of your institution. However, a standard structure typically includes the following elements:

Introduction : Briefly introduce your overall approach to the research. Explain what you plan to explore and why it’s important.
Research Design/Approach : Describe your overall research design. This can be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Explain the rationale behind your chosen design and why it is suitable for your research questions or hypotheses.
Data Collection Methods : Detail the methods you used to collect your data. You should include what type of data you collected, how you collected it, and why you chose this method. If relevant, you can also include information about your sample population, such as how many people participated, how they were chosen, and any relevant demographic information.
Data Analysis Methods : Explain how you plan to analyze your collected data. This will depend on the nature of your data. For example, if you collected quantitative data, you might discuss statistical analysis techniques. If you collected qualitative data, you might discuss coding strategies, thematic analysis, or narrative analysis.
Reliability and Validity : Discuss how you’ve ensured the reliability and validity of your research. This might include steps you took to reduce bias or increase the accuracy of your measurements.
Ethical Considerations : If relevant, discuss any ethical issues associated with your research. This might include how you obtained informed consent from participants, how you ensured participants’ privacy and confidentiality, or any potential conflicts of interest.
Limitations : Acknowledge any limitations in your research methodology. This could include potential sources of bias, difficulties with data collection, or limitations in your analysis methods.
Summary/Conclusion : Briefly summarize the key points of your methodology, emphasizing how it helps answer your research questions or hypotheses.

How to Write Dissertation Methodology

Writing a dissertation methodology requires you to be clear and precise about the way you’ve carried out your research. It’s an opportunity to convince your readers of the appropriateness and reliability of your approach to your research question. Here is a basic guideline on how to write your methodology section:

1. Introduction

Start your methodology section by restating your research question(s) or objective(s). This ensures your methodology directly ties into the aim of your research.

2. Approach

Identify your overall approach: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Explain why you have chosen this approach.

Qualitative methods are typically used for exploratory research and involve collecting non-numerical data. This might involve interviews, observations, or analysis of texts.
Quantitative methods are used for research that relies on numerical data. This might involve surveys, experiments, or statistical analysis.
Mixed methods use a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

3. Research Design

Describe the overall design of your research. This could involve explaining the type of study (e.g., case study, ethnography, experimental research, etc.), how you’ve defined and measured your variables, and any control measures you’ve implemented.

4. Data Collection

Explain in detail how you collected your data.

If you’ve used qualitative methods, you might detail how you selected participants for interviews or focus groups, how you conducted observations, or how you analyzed existing texts.
If you’ve used quantitative methods, you might detail how you designed your survey or experiment, how you collected responses, and how you ensured your data is reliable and valid.

5. Data Analysis

Describe how you analyzed your data.

If you’re doing qualitative research, this might involve thematic analysis, discourse analysis, or grounded theory.
If you’re doing quantitative research, you might be conducting statistical tests, regression analysis, or factor analysis.

Discuss any ethical issues related to your research. This might involve explaining how you obtained informed consent, how you’re protecting participants’ privacy, or how you’re managing any potential harms to participants.

7. Reliability and Validity

Discuss the steps you’ve taken to ensure the reliability and validity of your data.

Reliability refers to the consistency of your measurements, and you might discuss how you’ve piloted your instruments or used standardized measures.
Validity refers to the accuracy of your measurements, and you might discuss how you’ve ensured your measures reflect the concepts they’re supposed to measure.

8. Limitations

Every study has its limitations. Discuss the potential weaknesses of your chosen methods and explain any obstacles you faced in your research.

9. Conclusion

Summarize the key points of your methodology, emphasizing how it helps to address your research question or objective.

Example of Dissertation Methodology

An Example of Dissertation Methodology is as follows:

Chapter 3: Methodology

Introduction

This chapter details the methodology adopted in this research. The study aimed to explore the relationship between stress and productivity in the workplace. A mixed-methods research design was used to collect and analyze data.

Research Design

This study adopted a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews to provide a comprehensive understanding of the research problem. The rationale for this approach is that while quantitative data can provide a broad overview of the relationships between variables, qualitative data can provide deeper insights into the nuances of these relationships.

Data Collection Methods

Quantitative Data Collection : An online self-report questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. The questionnaire consisted of two standardized scales: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measure stress levels and the Individual Work Productivity Questionnaire (IWPQ) to measure productivity. The sample consisted of 200 office workers randomly selected from various companies in the city.

Qualitative Data Collection : Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants chosen from the initial sample. The interview guide included questions about participants’ experiences with stress and how they perceived its impact on their productivity.

Data Analysis Methods

Quantitative Data Analysis : Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the survey data. Pearson’s correlation was used to examine the relationship between stress and productivity.

Qualitative Data Analysis : Interviews were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis using NVivo software. This process allowed for identifying and analyzing patterns and themes regarding the impact of stress on productivity.

Reliability and Validity

To ensure reliability and validity, standardized measures with good psychometric properties were used. In qualitative data analysis, triangulation was employed by having two researchers independently analyze the data and then compare findings.

Ethical Considerations

All participants provided informed consent prior to their involvement in the study. They were informed about the purpose of the study, their rights as participants, and the confidentiality of their responses.

Limitations

The main limitation of this study is its reliance on self-report measures, which can be subject to biases such as social desirability bias. Moreover, the sample was drawn from a single city, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.

Where to Write Dissertation Methodology

In a dissertation or thesis, the Methodology section usually follows the Literature Review. This placement allows the Methodology to build upon the theoretical framework and existing research outlined in the Literature Review, and precedes the Results or Findings section. Here’s a basic outline of how most dissertations are structured:

Acknowledgements
Literature Review (or it may be interspersed throughout the dissertation)
Methodology
Results/Findings
References/Bibliography

In the Methodology chapter, you will discuss the research design, data collection methods, data analysis methods, and any ethical considerations pertaining to your study. This allows your readers to understand how your research was conducted and how you arrived at your results.

Advantages of Dissertation Methodology

The dissertation methodology section plays an important role in a dissertation for several reasons. Here are some of the advantages of having a well-crafted methodology section in your dissertation:

Clarifies Your Research Approach : The methodology section explains how you plan to tackle your research question, providing a clear plan for data collection and analysis.
Enables Replication : A detailed methodology allows other researchers to replicate your study. Replication is an important aspect of scientific research because it provides validation of the study’s results.
Demonstrates Rigor : A well-written methodology shows that you’ve thought critically about your research methods and have chosen the most appropriate ones for your research question. This adds credibility to your study.
Enhances Transparency : Detailing your methods allows readers to understand the steps you took in your research. This increases the transparency of your study and allows readers to evaluate potential biases or limitations.
Helps in Addressing Research Limitations : In your methodology section, you can acknowledge and explain the limitations of your research. This is important as it shows you understand that no research method is perfect and there are always potential weaknesses.
Facilitates Peer Review : A detailed methodology helps peer reviewers assess the soundness of your research design. This is an important part of the publication process if you aim to publish your dissertation in a peer-reviewed journal.
Establishes the Validity and Reliability : Your methodology section should also include a discussion of the steps you took to ensure the validity and reliability of your measurements, which is crucial for establishing the overall quality of your research.

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Dissertation Structure Strategies: A Roadmap to Academic Success

Dissertations, often hailed as the pinnacle of academic achievement, represent the culmination of years of research, dedication, and intellectual prowess. They are your opportunity to make a significant contribution to your field of study, a chance to leave your mark on the academic world.

What might surprise you, however, is that the average dissertation contains roughly 80,000 to 100,000 words—equivalent to a short novel! These comprehensive research projects require not just intellectual prowess but also a clear, well-structured roadmap to guide readers through your academic exploration.

These research documents are vital as they allow scholars to delve deeply into a particular subject, fostering a deeper understanding of complex topics and offering the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to their respective disciplines. Structuring a dissertation effectively is crucial to communicating these contributions clearly and coherently.

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How to Structure Your Dissertation

The structure of a dissertation is the blueprint that underpins your entire research endeavor, a scaffold upon which the intricate layers of your study will be built. Like a skilled craftsman, a well-structured piece ensures that your ideas flow logically, offering readers a clear and engaging path through your scholarly exploration. In the following sections, we will delve into the essential dissertation chapters that compose its structural framework, equipping you with the knowledge and tools necessary to create a research document that stands as a testament to your academic rigor and expertise.

Introduction

The introduction is your first opportunity to set the stage, frame the research problem, and provide a roadmap for what lies ahead. This section typically encompasses the following key elements:

Contextualization : Begin by introducing the broader context of your research. Why is the topic important, and how does it fit into the larger field of study? For instance, if your own research, as outlined on the title page, explores the impact of climate change on agriculture, you might highlight the growing global concern over environmental issues and their implications for food security.
Problem Statement : Clearly state the specific problem or research question your research aims to address. Make it concise and thought-provoking. For example, 'How can sustainable agricultural practices mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on crop yields in developing countries?'
Objectives and Hypotheses : Outline the objectives of your research and any hypotheses you intend to test. For the above problem statement, you might state that your objectives are to analyze existing agricultural practices, assess their sustainability, and test the hypothesis that sustainable methods can enhance crop resilience in the face of climate change.
Justification : Why is your research significant? What knowledge gaps will it fill? Perhaps you'll mention the lack of comprehensive studies on sustainable agriculture in specific regions or the urgency of addressing food security in the face of climate-related challenges.
Scope and Limitations : Define the scope of your academic writing, setting clear boundaries on what you will and won't cover. Mention any potential limitations, such as constraints on data availability or time for fieldwork.

Questions to Consider :

What led me to choose this topic, and how does it resonate with my academic interests?
How does my research relate to existing knowledge in the field?
What are the specific challenges or gaps in the current literature that my actual research addresses?
What are the broader implications of my research findings?

By addressing these components in your introduction, you'll provide readers with a solid foundation for understanding the purpose and significance of your research project. It's your opportunity to engage their interest and prepare them for the intellectual voyage that follows in the subsequent chapters.

Experimental Design

In these pivotal parts of a dissertation, you'll delve into the heart of your research process: the experimental design. Here, you will describe in detail how you conducted your study, the methods employed, and the rationale behind your choices. The chapter typically consists of the following key components:

Research Methodology : Begin by explaining the research methodology you've chosen. Common methodologies include qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, case studies, surveys, or experiments. Each has its own strengths and limitations, so justify your choice based on what best suits your research question.
Data Collection : Describe how you collected the data. What instruments or tools did you use? For instance, if your study involves surveys, specify the survey questions and distribution methods. If it's a laboratory experiment, explain the equipment and procedures.
Sampling : Detail the process of selecting your sample. Who or what is included, and why? If your research involves human subjects, address ethical considerations and provide evidence of any necessary approvals from ethics committees.
Variables and Measurements : Clearly define the variables under investigation and the measurements you used. Explain how each variable was operationalized. If you're measuring something like crop yield in agriculture, specify the units of measurement, tools, and techniques.
Data Analysis : Briefly introduce the statistical or analytical methods you'll employ to analyze the data. If your research is qualitative, describe the approach you'll use for coding and thematic analysis.
Pilot Study : Mention any pilot studies or pre-tests you conducted to refine your methodology. This demonstrates your commitment to the rigor of your research.
Validity and Reliability : Address the validity and reliability of your research methods. How did you ensure that your data collection tools measure what they are supposed to, and how consistently do they do so?
Limitations : Acknowledge any limitations in your experimental design. No study is perfect, and recognizing limitations demonstrates transparency and thoughtful evaluation of your research.
Why did you choose this specific methodology and data collection techniques?
How did you mitigate potential biases or confounding variables?
What challenges did you encounter during data collection, and how did you overcome them?
What steps did you take to ensure the credibility and trustworthiness of your findings?

The Results chapter is where the fruits of your research labor come to light. Here, you'll present the outcomes of your study, providing a clear and objective account of the data you've collected. This section is crucial for demonstrating the empirical support for your research hypothesis or objectives. It typically includes the following components:

Data Presentation : Begin by presenting your data in a clear and organized manner. This can involve tables, graphs, charts, and textual descriptions. Make sure to label and title all visual representations and use clear, concise language when discussing the findings.
Descriptive Statistics : If applicable, provide descriptive statistics, such as means, medians, and standard deviations, to summarize your data. This helps readers quickly grasp the central tendencies and variations in your results.
Inferential Statistics : If your study involves statistical analysis, present the results of your tests or models. Explain the statistical significance of your findings and their implications for your research question.
Relationships and Patterns : Interpret the data by discussing any observed relationships, patterns, or trends. Are there any noteworthy correlations or variations? Are the results in line with your expectations, or do they challenge your initial hypotheses?
Validity and Reliability : Reflect on the validity and reliability of your results. Discuss any potential sources of error or bias and explain how you addressed them during the data collection and analysis phases.
Negative or Null Results : Be candid about any findings that did not support your hypotheses or expectations. This transparency is essential for a comprehensive research account.
Comparisons : If your study involves multiple groups, conditions, or variables, make comparisons to highlight differences or similarities. Use appropriate statistical tests to support your comparisons.
Visual Aids : Consider using visual aids, like charts and graphs, to illustrate key findings. These can make complex data more accessible to your readers.
How do the results align with your research objectives and hypotheses?
What are the most important findings, and what do they mean in the context of your study?
Are there any unexpected or anomalous results, and how can you explain them?
How do the results contribute to the broader understanding of the topic in your field?

The Discussion chapter is the intellectual nucleus of your dissertation, where you dissect and interpret the results you've presented in the previous section. According to our essay service experts, here, you'll not only explain the significance of your findings but also relate them to existing knowledge in your field.

Interpretation of Results : Begin by interpreting the results of your study. Explain what the data you've presented in the Results chapter means in the context of your research objectives and hypotheses.
Comparison with Existing Literature : Relate your findings to the existing research in your field, as explored in the literature review chapter. Discuss how your results align with or differ from previous research, and articulate the implications of these comparisons.
Theoretical Framework : If your research is rooted in a particular theoretical framework, discuss how your results support, challenge, or expand this framework.
Answering Research Questions : Address each of your research questions or hypotheses one by one, indicating whether they were confirmed or refuted by your data.
Limitations Revisited : Revisit the limitations you identified in the earlier chapters and discuss how they may have influenced your results. This demonstrates your awareness of the study's constraints and their potential impact, underscoring your research skills in critically evaluating your work.
Implications : Explore the broader implications of your findings. How do they contribute to the advancement of knowledge in your field? Are there practical applications or policy implications stemming from your research?

Questions to Consider as per our dissertation service experts:

What do your results reveal about the topic of your dissertation?
How do your findings compare to previous research, and what do these comparisons signify?
What theoretical, practical, or policy implications can be drawn from your research?
How have you addressed the research questions or hypotheses that guided your study?

Whether you buy dissertation or write yourself, remember that the discussion chapter is an opportunity to articulate the broader significance of your research. By providing a clear and insightful analysis of your findings and their implications, you create a compelling narrative that underscores the value of your work.

While learning how to structure a dissertation, the Conclusion chapter serves as the culminating segment as it brings together the key elements of your study. This is your chance to offer a succinct yet comprehensive synthesis of your work and its implications. This section typically comprises the following components:

Restate Research Objectives : Begin by reiterating the primary research objectives or questions that guided your research project. Concisely remind your readers of the core focus of your study.
Summary of Key Findings : Provide a condensed summary of the most significant findings from your research. Highlight the main takeaways without delving into exhaustive detail.
Contributions to the Field : Emphasize the contributions your research has made to the field. Discuss how your study has added to existing knowledge, addressed research gaps, or opened new avenues for exploration.
Practical and Theoretical Implications : Elaborate on the practical and theoretical implications of your findings. Consider the real-world applications, policy recommendations, or theoretical advancements your research suggests.
Final Thoughts on Hypotheses : Reflect on whether your research hypotheses were supported by the data. If they were not, discuss what this means in the context of your study and the broader field.
Closing Remarks : Offer some closing remarks that encapsulate the essence of your research. This is an opportunity to leave a lasting impression on your readers by tying together the threads of your study.
Research Journey Reflection : Share your personal reflections on the research journey. Discuss the challenges you encountered, the insights you gained, and the significance of the experience.
Future Directions : Suggest possible avenues for future research based on the findings and questions that have emerged from your work. Highlight the ongoing conversation in your field and how your research can contribute.
How do your findings and contributions align with your initial research objectives and the broader context of your field?
What key messages do you want readers to take away from your research project?
How has your research advanced the academic discourse and addressed gaps in the literature?
What further research opportunities have emerged as a result of your study?

Final Perspective

As you learn how to write a dissertation , it's essential to keep in mind that this journey is not just about academic rigor; it's also an opportunity for personal and intellectual growth. Along the way, you'll encounter challenges, make discoveries, and contribute to the ever-evolving landscape of human knowledge.

Here are some unique and specific education dissertation topics you may find useful for your endeavor:

Digital Privacy and Surveillance in the Age of Smart Cities : Investigate the ethical and legal implications of increased digital surveillance in urban environments.
The Psychology of Decision-Making in Extreme Environments : Analyze the cognitive and emotional factors influencing decision-making in high-stress, life-threatening situations, such as emergency medicine or space exploration.
The Role of Music Therapy in Pediatric Pain Management : Explore the effectiveness of music therapy in alleviating pain and anxiety in children undergoing medical procedures.
Preserving Indigenous Languages in the Digital Age : Investigate the role of technology and social media in revitalizing and preserving endangered indigenous languages.
Psychological Impact of Virtual Reality (VR) Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) : Evaluate the therapeutic potential of VR in treating PTSD and related mental health conditions.

These topics cover a wide range of subjects and offer unique perspectives that can make your master's dissertation or journal articles both engaging and impactful within your chosen field.

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Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

How to Write a Music Essay: Topics and Examples

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Dissertation Structure & Layout 101 (+ Examples)
Time to recap…. And there you have it - the traditional dissertation structure and layout, from A-Z. To recap, the core structure for a dissertation or thesis is (typically) as follows: Title page. Acknowledgments page. Abstract (or executive summary) Table of contents, list of figures and tables.
PDF A Systems Approach to Understanding Organizational Structure and
n organizational struc. tilizes asystems approach to understand the holistic context by analyzing the nee. of the dec. makers and value recipients of organizational structures in the technology sector. This thesis. specificset of criteria by using the. Enterprise Strategy (ARIES) framework.
Dissertation & Thesis Outline
This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline. Tip You can find a thesis and dissertation outline template below, as well as a chapter outline example, and example sentences ...
PDF A Complete Dissertation
dissertation—that is,precursor of what is to come, with each element being more fully developed and explained fu. ther along in the book.For each key element, explain reason for inclusion, quality markers, and fr. OVERVIEWFRONT MATTERFollowing is a road map that briefly outlines the contents of. an enti.
What Is a Dissertation?
A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program. Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you've ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating ...
PDF Thesis: Structure & Organization
Most thesis and dissertation proposals include an introduction and a review of relevant studies on the topic. Most also include a formal or informal explanation of the methodology that will be used. In the social sciences, these three elements are typically presented as separate chapters.
Outline the Organization of the Study
In this activity, you will provide readers with a roadmap to your dissertation that illustrates what they should expect: (a) in how the study was organized and conducted; and (b) in how the chapters ahead have been sequenced/organized. Generally, a component of the Organization of the Study is to spotlight the organizational "sign posts" to ...
Writing your dissertation
abstract, appendices, conclusion, discussion, essay title, introduction, literature review, method, references, results, structure. In this post, we look at the structural elements of a typical dissertation. Your department may wish you to include additional sections but the following covers all core elements you will need to work on when ...
Relationship of Organizational Structure and Capital Structure on
The organizational structure was statistically significant and positively related to financial performance (p = .006). Unexpectedly, the capital structure was not statistically significant (p = .074). As a key recommendation, leaders in the banking industry should focus on implementing an efficient organizational structure to promote the long-term
How to Write a Dissertation
The structure of a dissertation depends on your field, but it is usually divided into at least four or five chapters (including an introduction and conclusion chapter). The most common dissertation structure in the sciences and social sciences includes: An introduction to your topic. A literature review that surveys relevant sources.
How to Structure a Dissertation
The dissertation will be structured such that it starts with an introduction, develops on the main idea in its main body paragraphs and is then summarised in conclusion. However, if you are basing your dissertation on primary or empirical research, you will be required to include each of the below components.
Organizing and Formatting Your Thesis and Dissertation
The heading " Thesis " or " Dissertation " is in all capital letters, centered one inch from the top of the page. Title. Your title must be in all capital letters, double spaced and centered. Your title on the title page must match the title on your GS30 - Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form; Submitted by block
Dissertations / Theses: 'Structure of organisation'
List of dissertations / theses on the topic 'Structure of organisation'. Scholarly publications with full text pdf download. Related research topic ideas.
Dissertation Methodology
The structure of a dissertation methodology can vary depending on your field of study, the nature of your research, and the guidelines of your institution. However, a standard structure typically includes the following elements: Introduction: Briefly introduce your overall approach to the research.
Dissertations / Theses: 'Organisational performance'
The organisation was divided into 60 areas or business units that were stratified throughout the organisation. ... This research investigates the features of organization from three angles - on the one hand, the structure and process (functional) aspects, and on the other, the purposeful behaviour of humans. ... Dissertation (MBA)--University ...
PDF Quelle est l'importance de la structure organisationnelle
ganisationnelle ?feuillet no. 1Objectifs des feuilletsLes feuillets IDEOS se veu-lent un moyen d'accompa-gner les organismes . o-cation sociale et sans but lucratif dans un processus d'amélioration continue. Ils peuvent contenir, selon le thème, de l'information (concepts et définitions), des pistes d'amélioration, des canevas, des.
PDF The Organisation and Writing of a Postgraduate Law Dissertation
Topic Outline and Summary: 1. The Dissertation: (i) Length: The regulations specify a length of 15-20,000 words (excluding footnotes and bibliography) typed, double spaced and fully referenced. (ii) Structure: The normal structure of the LLM Dissertation is as follows: Title: This should be a clear description of the subject matter of the research.
Dissertations / Theses: 'Organisational structure and design ...
Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Organisational structure and design' To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Organisational structure and design. Author: Grafiati. Published: 4 June 2021 Last updated: 30 January 2023 Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles ...
Dissertations / Theses: 'Organizational structure and culture'
This dissertation explored changes in structure, governance, perception and practice within Florida's child welfare system over a ten-year period (2001-2011) inclusive of two concurrent, statewide reform efforts: the privatization of child welfare services and implementation of a Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration. ... Varje organisation består ...
Dissertation Structure Strategies: A Roadmap to Academic Success
The structure of a dissertation is the blueprint that underpins your entire research endeavor, a scaffold upon which the intricate layers of your study will be built. Like a skilled craftsman, a well-structured piece ensures that your ideas flow logically, offering readers a clear and engaging path through your scholarly exploration. ...
Dissertations / Theses: 'Organizational Structures'
Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Organizational Structures' To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Organizational Structures. Author: Grafiati. Published: 4 June 2021 Last updated: 27 April 2022 Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles ...
Dissertations / Theses: 'Flexibilité organisationnelle'
Video (online) Consult the top 22 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Flexibilité organisationnelle.'. Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA ...

Dissertation Structure & Layout 101: How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.

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How to Structure a Dissertation – A Step by Step Guide

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Organizing and Formatting Your Thesis and Dissertation

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Submitted by block

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Table of Contents

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Running Head

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Tables and Figures

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The Caveat