What are the Chapters Involved in a Comprehensive Dissertation Writing?

You now have a solid idea of what dissertation writing entails, have decided on a topic, and hopefully have had your research proposal approved. Awesome! Now is the time to begin the real process of writing your thesis or dissertation.

The classic dissertation/thesis structure and layout that is typically utilized for social science research in universities across the US, UK, Europe, and Australia will be covered in this post. However, this structure could alter slightly in some universities (extra chapters, merged chapters, slightly different ordering, etc).

Chapter 1: Introduction

After the Title page, Acknowledgements, Abstract or executive summary, and Table of contents. It’s time to move on to your core chapters now that the “admin” sections have been completed. At the core of your dissertation, these chapters are where you’ll get graded. The introductory chapter is the first chapter, and as you may anticipate, this is where you introduce your study. However, BAW (2021) mentioned it is customary to finish the beginning of a dissertation last.

Introduction to a dissertation

It’s crucial to realize that, even though your abstract gave a general overview of your research, your introduction must be written as if the reader hasn’t already read it (remember, the abstract is essentially a standalone document). As a result, your introduction chapter must begin at the beginning and should answer the following inquiries:

• What will you be looking into (in a broad, simple manner)?
• Why is that something to look into? How does academia or industry benefit from it? How does it have enough originality?
• What is the purpose(s) and/or questions of your research? Keep in mind that the research questions may occasionally be offered after the literature review (next chapter).
• What is the purview of your research? What exactly will you and won’t you cover, then?
• How will you conduct your study? What approach, in other words, will you take?
• What format will your dissertation take? What will you do in each of the main chapters and what are they?

These are the very minimum specifications for your introduction chapter. Make sure to thoroughly study your brief or speak with your research supervisor if you think the introduction chapter needs more bells and whistles because some colleges may require them.

Chapter 2: Literature review

The literature review is the next stage now that your introduction chapter has established a clear path. To comprehend the following questions, you will analyze the current research in this area (which is often published in reputable industry journals and academic journal articles).

• What is currently being written about the subject you are researching?
• Is there enough or enough established literature? Is it split or in conflict?
• What role does your study have in the overall scheme of things?
• What original contribution does your research make?
• How can the methods of earlier research aid in the creation of your own?

A conceptual framework (or theoretical framework), which you will test in your actual research, may also be included toward the end of your literature review, depending on the nature of your study (Jansen, 2019).

Once more, certain colleges will want you to concentrate more on some of these areas than others, while others may have different criteria. As always, it is crucial to examine your brief and/or speak with your supervisor so that you are clear on the requirements for your literature review chapter. A lot of students also prefer to hire a dissertation writing service instead of writing one as it is very difficult to research.

Chapter 3: Methodology

It’s time to plan your research now that you’ve examined the present state of knowledge in your literature review chapter and are familiar with the prevalent key theories, models, and frameworks. The most “science ” of the chapters is the methodology chapter.

• The dissertation’s structure’s most important chapter is the methodology chapter.
• You must address two crucial questions in this chapter:
• What is your desired research design, and how exactly will you carry it out?
• Why specifically have you decided to proceed in this manner (i.e., how do you defend your design)?

Keep in mind while do my dissertation that the dissertation component of your degree is primarily about honing and showcasing your research talents. The markers want to know that you are knowledgeable about the appropriate approaches to use, that you can clearly explain why you choose them, and that you are skilled in their efficient application.

Don’t hold back on the details since this chapter needs them. Clearly describe what you’ll be doing, who you’ll be doing it with, when, for how long, etc. Moreover, be careful to provide a rationale for every design decision you make.

Chapter 4: Results

Now that you have gathered your data, you can analyze it using qualitative, quantitative, or blended methodologies. You’ll offer the unprocessed outcomes of your analysis in this chapter. You might show the demographic information, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, etc. in the case of a quant study, for instance.

The chapters on analysis and findings

Typically, Chapter 4 does not examine the significance of the data; rather, it merely presents and describes the facts. In other words, it is more descriptive than analytical; Chapter 5 discusses what this means. Nevertheless, some institutions will request that you combine chapters 4 and 5 so that you can simultaneously present and understand the meaning of the facts. Ask your institution what preference they have.

Chapter 5: Discussion

It’s time to examine and analyze the data analysis outcomes now that you’ve presented them. It’s time to talk about what they signify, particularly concerning your study question, in other words (s).

What you discuss here will be greatly influenced by the methods you use. If you used a quantitative approach, you might, for instance, talk about the relationships between the variables. If you chose a qualitative approach, you may talk about the major themes and their implications. It all depends on the choices you made for your research design.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

You’ve made it to the last chapter! Once you’ve stated how you interpreted the findings, it’s time to start over with the conclusion chapter. Alternatively put, it’s time to (try to) respond to your initial research questions (from way back in chapter 1). Outline your conclusions concerning your research questions. Although you may have touched on this in the prior chapter, it is crucial to bring the subject full circle and present your answer(s) to the research question precisely (s).

dissertation chapter conclusion

You usually address the ramifications of your findings after that, right? That is to say, you have found the answers to your research questions. However, what does this signify in terms of the actual world (or even academia)? What has to be changed now that you have this new knowledge?

Finally, you should talk about the research’s limits and what this means for other studies in the field. No research is flawless, let alone one at the master’s level. Talk about the limitations of your study. It’s possible that your technique was insufficient, your sample size was insufficient or not representative, etc. The markers want to see that you can see the limitations of your work, so don’t be reluctant to criticize it. This is not a weakness, but a strength. Be ruthless!

Your main chapters are now complete, yay! From this point on, everything goes quite smoothly.

References

Derek Jansen (2019). Dissertation Structure & Layout 101:

How to structure your dissertation, thesis or research project.. https://gradcoach.com/dissertation-structure/

BAW (2021). How to Structure Your Dissertation – From Start till Success?. https://bestassignmentwriter.co.uk/blog/how-to-structure-your-dissertation-from-start-till-success/