Parts of Dissertation 

Title page:

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.

Acknowledgements:

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.

Abstract:

The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150–300 words long. In the abstract, make sure to:

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

Table of contents:

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.

List of figures and tables:

If you have used a lot of tables and figures in your dissertation, you should itemize them in a numbered list.

List of abbreviations:

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

Glossary:

 If you have used a lot of highly specialized 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.

Introduction:

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 contextualize 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 research questions and objectives
• Give an overview of your dissertation’s structure

Literature review / Theoretical framework:

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 analyzing 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 summarize 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

Methodology:

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 analyzing 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

Results:

Next, you report the results of your research. You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses, or themes.

However, in quantitative and experimental research, the results should be presented separately before you discuss their meaning:

• Concisely state each relevant result, including relevant descriptive statistics (e.g. means, standard deviations) and inferential statistics (e.g. test statistics, p-values).
• Briefly state how the result relates to the question or whether the hypothesis was supported.
• Include tables and figures if they help the reader understand your results.
• Report all results that are relevant to your research questions, including any that did not meet your expectations.
• Don’t include subjective interpretations or speculation.

Conclusion:

The dissertation conclusion should concisely answer the main research question, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of your central argument and emphasizing what your research has contributed.

Reference list:

You must include full details of all sources that you have cited in a reference list (sometimes also called works cited list or bibliography).

Appendices:

Your dissertation itself should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question.

Editing and proofreading:

Making sure all the sections are in the right place is only the first step to a well-written dissertation. Leave plenty of time for editing and proofreading. Grammar mistakes and sloppy formatting errors can drag down the quality of your hard work.