Dissertation Chapters

The major parts of a dissertation include the abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, discussion, and conclusion. Some professors also require you to submit a proposal prior to the main dissertation.

Abstract

The dissertation abstract is a summary of the major parts of the dissertation including the purpose, methodology, results, discussions, and the conclusion. This is often placed at the start of the dissertation to provide the audience with an overview of the paper.

There is another purpose to writing an abstract and this is for research purposes. Some writers who intend to write about a specific topic will attempt to search for related papers to serve as a source. In order to do this, they will skim through published abstracts to find out whether they cover the same topic. This is why it is important to include all necessary details of the dissertation concisely in this part of the paper.

Lastly, abstracts are written in the past tense because it is a result of a thorough study of the subject matter. So while it is placed at the start of the dissertation, it is, in fact, the last chapter that should be written.

Introduction

The dissertation introduction is basically the reason behind why you chose to write on this topic and why this is important to the furtherance of the subject matter. This is also the right venue to introduce your research problem, thesis, and the hypothesis. Vis-à-vis the abstract, your introduction does not have any word limit so you are able to expand as needed.

You can start your introduction by narrating the history behind your subject matter. You can discuss previews study and the aspects, which these previous studies failed to discuss. Naturally, these missing aspects should be addressed in your dissertation.

Your introduction should also introduce the methodology that you will use to conduct your study. Identify the steps that you intend to take in order to address said aspects. Likewise, you can also introduce the scope and limitation of your dissertation to give your audience a heads up on what not to expect from your paper.

Literature Review

The dissertation literature review is a compilation of relevant publications related to your subject matter. It serves two purposes and those are to educate or to establish. When your readers do not necessarily have a background of the subject matter, then it will be to educate. Otherwise, this part of the dissertation will establish and serve as a refresher to your readers.

When selecting relevant publications, make sure that they are only from primary and secondary sources. In addition, do not just simply collate all these materials. Make sure that you actually crunch the information and provide a thorough analysis of these sources.

Moreover, if there are actually contradicting studies, you might want to delve deeper into it and provide answers that will ultimately support your own thesis.

Methodology

The dissertation methodology provides how you gathered all your primary and secondary sources, how you intend to analyze all the materials you have gathered, and the overall process in which you will attempt to interpret all your materials and confirm your thesis.

The importance of methodology is that it plays a crucial role in your findings and interpretations. Additionally, you will have to explain why you are choosing this particular method over other methods. As an example, if you are using surveys, interviews, and questionnaires, you have to describe them thoroughly and answer why any or all is the best approach to your research.

There will be times that you will apply not just one but several methods. In this case, you have to ensure that you describe each one as thoroughly as possible because the assumption is your readers do not know what it is.

Discussion Chapter

The dissertation discussion chapter is basically where all data or information should go. It includes the overview, purpose, methodology, description of all data gathered, and all the hypotheses introduced at the start of your introduction.

When discussing your findings, make sure to reference the materials you provided in your literature review. As much as possible, try not to use any jargon or technical term in order to simplify your analysis. Again, the assumption is that your audience does not know about your subject matter.

Remember, when discussing this chapter, you have to be very thorough in crunching your data because it is going to be the foundation from which you will draw your conclusions from.

Conclusion

The dissertation conclusion should include a number of things: a brief summary of your entire dissertation, the conclusions you drew from your discussion chapter, the important of your dissertation, any recommendation for future research, and a final paragraph.

The conclusion, like in any other paper, is basically a repetition of your introduction, but this time, confirming your thesis or any hypothesis introduced in your dissertation. Conclusions do not have to be long and you can keep it as short as possible.

Proposal

The dissertation proposal is basically an overview of what your dissertation is about. This will be required for submission and approval before you can proceed to write your main dissertation. Some professors might require you to submit several proposals to give them options.

The proposal practically includes an introduction, your objectives, the methodology, literature review, and possible research constraints.

In conclusion

Before working your dissertation, always ensure to fully understand the following chapters so you can better navigate your way through your dissertation.