Step-By-Step Guide To Creating A Perfect Dissertation Structure

Majority of the students require help with dissertation writing as it gets pretty intimidating to start. However, if you are looking to do this humongous writing task on your own, this blog will help you understand the structure and the essential elements of your dissertation.

Before you start, it is highly advisable to countercheck with your supervisor about the specific structure and dissertation writing guidelines. A general structure includes:

1. Title Page:

Include details like the title of your dissertation, your name, institution and department’s name, name of the course, and the submission date in this section.

2. Acknowledgement

Many universities keep this section optional. You can thank your valuable sources like your fellow researchers, professor, supervisor, or whoever helped you.

3. Abstract:

It is a summary; don't exceed more than 300 words. It should include the main subject and the aim of the project. Describe the methodology and briefly state the results in your conclusion.

4. Content table:

List out all the chapters along with relevant sub-headings and page numbers. Your content table acts as an overview of your dissertation and helps a reader to navigate easily.

5. Tables, Figures, and abbreviations:

Don’t forget to list out the figures and tables you have used in your dissertation. Use the Insert Caption feature in Word to generate the list automatically. Also, make a glossary of the abbreviations used alphabetically so that your reader can quickly lookup for meaning.

6. Introduction:

Write a strong introduction discussing the topic, purpose of the study, and what's in store for the readers. Don't add irrelevant information. Clearly state the problem, talk about the existing research and give an overview of the structure.

7. Theoretical Framework:

Define and analyze the essential theories, study models, primary concepts that make a vital contribution to your research. You must aim to highlight what the reader will gain from the analysis.

8. Methodology:

This section discusses the approaches taken by you to research like qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic, or experimental, the method used to collect data, methods and tools used to analyze the collected data, and evaluation of the whole process.

9. Results and Discussion:

Here you should the outcome of your research. You can add sub-questions or hypotheses that are relevant to the research topic. Consult your professor for the right format to present you gathered data. Discuss in detail the result where it was as per your expectations.

10.  Conclusion:

Your conclusion must answer and restate the primary argument without introducing any new information. You must show how your findings contribute to this field of study.

11. List of references:

Include all the sources you have used for writing your dissertation. Follow a proper citation style, like APA, MLA, or Harvard. You can also use online tools to save some time.

12. Final editing and proofreading:

Leave enough time for proofreading and editing. Remove all sloppy formatting, grammatical, typos, spelling, and syntax errors.

Dissertation writing is an integral part of the bachelor's, master's, or a PhD program. It is a lengthy piece of work based on 100% original research. So, plan well and work hard to get the best results.