A Simple Guide for writing a Dissertation

Writing a dissertation could be tough without prior planning or the right approach. Yet, it is an integral part of your curriculum that you must undertake to complete your academic career – whether it is a graduation programme or a PhD. Much of the success depends on the amount of effort you put in and your unwavering attention.

To help you stay on the right track throughout the process of writing the Dissertation, here’s a simple guide:

Take time to consider your Dissertation topic:

• While selecting the topic of your Dissertation, make sure that you have enough confidence in it. You should also be passionate enough to do research on it and find a solution to the problem. Yes, passion is the key word here; but don’t go overboard!
• Stay clear of topics that are vague, too grand or too complicated to pull off. Time and resources could be your biggest constraints. Instead, narrow down on topics that are simple yet interesting, relevant and current.
• A good topic needs a title to go with it. An interesting title could fetch you some extra points from your reader (in this case your professor).
• Ensure that sufficient research material is available on the topic of your choice. This includes previous studies, observation instruments, tested survey, up-to-date theoretical data, etc.

Prepare and organize:

• Give careful thoughts to understand the requirements laid down by the Dissertation committee.
• Think about your research – the steps that you are going to take, the categories and sections that are to be added, the guiding questions for framing your research, etc.
• At this point, you may want to conduct a preliminary study to analyse some of your research ideas.
• You should also consider the help that you might need and where you are going to get them –faculty members, advisory committee, your research participants, etc.
• Take time to consider about the particular research methodology you may want to follow – whether the methodology is going to be qualitative or quantitative or both.
• Make a journal to jot down the ideas as they come up.
• Plan a schedule. Set a specific milestone for each phase and an achievable goal. Periodically update your milestones as you go along.

Writing the Dissertation:
Dissertation writing involves recognizing a gap or a problem in the existing knowledge or a system. For example, if you have identified low employee morale in a company or in an institution, this problem could be the possible fall out of some other problems, like multi tasking, prolonged work hours, intense work pressure, etc. If this has never been investigated before, this could be the ‘gap in the system’ you are looking for – the subject of your dissertation or the basis of your study.

Write the easiest sections first: Instead of starting with Chapter 1, it is advisable to begin writing those sections that you find most comfortable and finish them. Once you have completed all the sections, spread them out in front of you and sequence them as best as you can or in the manner you want them to be.

Structure of Dissertation

• Abstract: Since an abstract gives an overview or a general idea to the reader about what this dissertation is all about, it is written in the preliminary pages. It usually completes within 2-4 paragraphs, not exceeding 250-350 words, and sometimes even less. In an abstract, the first paragraph states the problem and the purpose of its study. The second paragraph highlights the method(s). The third paragraph deals with the findings, while the last one includes conclusions and recommendations.
• Table of contents: This is actually invaluable to you. It shows the main sections and sub sections along with their respective page numbers. Table of content allows you to sequence your sections in the most logical manner. If you have missed out any section inadvertantly, you can easily insert it in the table and improve your dissertation.

• Chapter 1: Contains the introduction. Explains in details about your research question and why it is so important. Here you also present your hypothesis and a brief account of the conclusion. You may also leave writing the first Chapter for the end after finishing all other chapters. This chapter comprises roughly 10% of your dissertation
• Chapter 2: This includes literature review. In this chapter, you compare other people’s theories and ideas with your own research. You should give comparisons from a minimum of 10 different sources. This chapter comprises approximately 20% of your dissertation.
• Chapter 3: This section comprises methodology. Here you present the method (s) you adopted in conducting your research. For instance, for data collection you might have prepared questionnaires or interviewed your research participants. The main objective of this chapter is to give an experienced investigator sufficient data to duplicate your study and test it.
• Chapter 4: This includes the findings on the basis of your detailed analysis of the empirical data and comprises about 30% of your project. Make sure that you do not draw conclusion over here.
• Chapter 5: This includes dissertation defense. This is the toughest part of the dissertation as you would find yourself defending your interpretations. This is also the time when there will be exchange of ideas and to show how well prepared you are.
• Chapter 6: This is the concluding part of your dissertation where you draw your conclusion (s) based on your research. Here you make sure that the questions that were raised in the earlier chapters have been addressed. You can also give your recommendations/ideas for future research.

Finally, do not forget to add Bibliography and appendices on separate pages. This completes your dissertation.