How to Write a Dissertation in 10 Steps

Writing a dissertation is a compulsory part of the modern-day educational curriculum. One semester or the other, you have to write a dissertation on some relevant topic. And thus, it is better for you to be prepared for the same. Prior ideas will help you organise the flow of work better than ever. This blog intends to help you with the same. Keep reading to get a detailed idea on how to write a dissertation. Let's begin.

What is a Dissertation?

It is an extensive academic research paper that aims to contribute new knowledge to a particular field of study. It is typically the final requirement for completing a PhD program and is a crucial component of the academic journey.

As you write a dissertation know that it is a challenging task that demands a high level of research, analytical, and writing skills. It requires identifying a research problem, conducting comprehensive research, analysing data, and presenting evidence-based arguments in a clear and concise manner.

To ensure that your paper meets the requirements of your department and academic standards, it is crucial to familiarise yourself with the formatting guidelines. Your supervisor is an invaluable resource to help you navigate the process and answer any questions you may have.

To make the process easier, you can follow a comprehensive ‘write a dissertation’ template that you can download in various formats. The template comes with a pre-made table of contents that you can customise to meet the specific needs of your department. It also includes detailed instructions on what should be included in each chapter, giving you a clear roadmap to follow.

How to Write a Dissertation?

It is time for you to master the process of how to write a dissertation. Make sure to follow the following 10 steps for the same.

1. Choose The Topic

Selecting a topic for a dissertation writing is crucial, particularly for doctoral work. It's important to make sure your research is relevant and substantial enough to meet the page requirement.

Try to organise your thoughts around a thesis statement or research question when selecting a topic. A research question is just a question that your research aims to answer; a thesis statement, on the other hand, is a single sentence that summarises the main point you're trying to make.

2. Conduct Preliminary Research

After you've chosen your subject, do some initial research to get a solid understanding of its current situation. After completing this step, you should at least know where to look for the answers, even if you don't yet need to fully address your research question.

As you go through the sources, take note of any important discoveries or widely held beliefs about your subject. Write down any questions you may have so that you can later locate the answers. Consider your work’s structure as well; it will be useful when submitting a research proposal.

3. Prepare Research Proposal

You might be required to submit a research proposal prior to starting an advanced dissertation writing, such as one for a PhD programme. In this section, you outline your goals for the paper, including the methodology you'll employ and how you intend to fill a research gap. Your supervisor will then decide whether to approve or reject the proposal based on its merits.

4. Conduct Principal Research

One of the most crucial phases in the dissertation writing process is principal research, which you should start as soon as your preliminary research is complete and your proposal is approved.

Acquiring as much knowledge as possible about your subject is the aim here, ideally taking into consideration all the information that has been gathered up to this point by researchers. To ensure that you know precisely what to test or analyse on your own, you should define the exact parameters of your research gap.

5. Make an Outline Of The Research

Organising your work can be a daunting task, but a research paper outline can greatly aid in this process. While not mandatory, it is a valuable component of dissertations as it provides structure and organisation. In this kind of writing with use of an outline, you can reorder the topics, arguments, and supporting details before writing each section.

To make sure you cover all the necessary areas as you "write my dissertation" nclude the topics you plan to discuss in the introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion in your content outline. Additionally, it's a good idea to make a note of the location of any direct quotes or passages you plan to use in your dissertation outline so that you won't have to look for them again.

6. Write The First Draft

A dissertation writing can take days, months, or even years to complete. So be prepared. If you take your time creating your outline, writing the first draught becomes as simple as following the outline and adding more detail. Your paper's body should be fairly straightforward: just provide the data or analysis, point by point, as best you can. Your study and conclusions will be able to speak for themselves.

Many students find it difficult to write an introduction. Since the introduction chapter focuses on thinking abstractly and broadly rather than just providing a list of details, it can be more difficult to read. Similarly, the conclusion of a research paper necessitates a broader discussion of the subject and can be more challenging to write.

Read Also: Thesis and Dissertation Conclusions Writing: A Guide with Examples

7. Go For Consultation

You can get assistance from your adviser at any time during the dissertation writing process. While you are writing the first draught, don't hesitate to ask them any questions and follow up with them frequently.

Ask your adviser to review your first draught after you've finished it. They'll be able to identify any trouble spots or suggest new lines of action. They are there to answer questions, so don't be scared to ask.

8. Ask For Feedback

Ask your adviser for feedback, but also see if anyone else can look over your work. Though a professional opinion from someone with experience in your field would be ideal, anyone familiar with dissertation help writing can offer helpful advice on how to make yours better. It is best to receive as much feedback as possible prior to the final draught.

9. Prepare The Final Draft

Write a final draft that incorporates all of the changes and improvements after gathering all of your feedback. Certain sections might not need to be changed at all, while others might need to be rewritten entirely. Cutting any sections that don't directly relate to your main topic is another excellent idea at this point. Simultaneously, you might have to include whole new sections for problems that the first draft didn't cover.

10. Proofread

Crafting a dissertation is a rigorous and demanding process that requires your utmost dedication and commitment. After months of hard work, it is essential to ensure that your dissertation meets the highest standards of quality. Before submission, it is imperative to undertake a thorough review of your dissertation to make any final edits and corrections. We recommend going through your paper meticulously, paying close attention to detail, and reviewing it several times to ensure that it is error-free. Our online spell checker is a useful tool that can help you identify any spelling or grammar errors in your paper, giving you the confidence that your dissertation writing is of the highest quality.

Once you follow these guidelines, writing a dissertation won't be as difficult. Read it thoroughly and highlight the significant portions; this will make it easier to follow.

What You Need to Include in a Dissertation?

1. Title Page

When you write a dissertation, it's crucial to choose a clear and descriptive title that accurately reflects your research question or thesis statement. The title should make it evident to anyone who reads it what your work is about.

Regarding the formatting of your title page, this will vary depending on the style and guidelines of your school. Typically, you will need to include the date, name of your university and program. For more specific information, it's best to consult with your academic advisor.

2. Acknowledgement

If you're looking for a way to acknowledge the people who provided support and guidance during the process of writing your dissertation, you can add a special section to your work. This section serves a similar purpose to a dedication page or acceptance speech and offers you the opportunity to express your gratitude. It's important to keep this section brief and formal, allowing you to convey your appreciation in a concise and professional manner.

3. Abstract

The core content is briefly summarised in the abstract, which opens the paper. It covers every important topic covered in your paper and frequently includes a brief mention of the methodology. An abstract should consist of just one paragraph, roughly 300–500 words.

Executive summary and abstract are frequently used interchangeably. Although common usage implies they are equivalent, they are not, in fact, the same: An abstract does not address the research's conclusions or findings; an executive summary does.

4. Table of Contents

All chapter, heading, and subheading titles are included in the table of contents, along with the relevant page numbers. Additionally, the appendices, glossary, list of abbreviations, and optional sections like a list of figures and tables, bibliography, and glossary are all included in the table of contents.

5. List of Figures & Tables

Papers with a lot of data may use a lot of figures or tables as visual aids. You can list all of the images in your content, along with their page numbers, at the start of the document if it makes extensive use of them. Consider this to be similar to a table of contents for charts and pictures.

6. List of Abbreviations

Similar to this, if your work uses a lot of acronyms, you should include an alphabetised key explaining each one at the beginning of the paper. This is particularly crucial if your content makes use of industry-specific acronyms that readers outside of the industry might not be familiar with.

7. Glossary

When you write a dissertation the glossary serves as a valuable tool that helps readers understand the technical terms used in your paper. It functions like a miniature dictionary, providing clear definitions of complex terms and concepts. If your paper includes a lot of technical jargon that is unfamiliar to readers outside of your field, a glossary can be especially helpful. It is similar to a list of acronyms but provides more in-depth explanations, making it an essential component of any technical document. By including a glossary, you can improve the clarity and accessibility of your paper, ensuring that your readers can easily follow your arguments and ideas.

8. Introduction

Your introduction, the first of the "core chapters", and the formal start of your work, introduces your research topic and gives the background information needed to comprehend it. Here, you should clearly state your research question or thesis statement and provide an overview of how your paper will address it.

Usually, the introduction is organised so that each chapter has a brief synopsis. It should provide a brief overview of your methodology, approach, and current state of the field's research so the reader understands how your research work fits into the larger picture.

9. Literature Review

You will have gathered and scrutinised the best primary and secondary sources pertinent to your subject while you write a dissertation . Literature reviews, as the name implies, are where you assess and provide commentary on these sources, not only summarising their conclusions but also highlighting their shortcomings and making connections between them.

The term "research gap," which describes particular areas of a topic that have not yet received enough attention in the literature, is one of the main ideas in a literature review. The best topics to write a dissertation are these blind spots, which you should attempt to fill in with fresh information or analysis. The research gap and how you write a dissertation to fill it should be thoroughly explained in the literature review.

10. Methodology

The reader can confirm the validity of your research by reading the methodology chapter, which details how you carried out your study. Usually, you provide a thorough explanation of the procedures you followed for data collection, test administration, data analysis, and method selection. Along with naming any instruments or equipment you used for your research, you also provide specific details like the location and timing of your tests. Here, you can also mention any challenges or setbacks. If there are any biases in your topic, describe how your methods helped you avoid them.

11. Results

The results chapter, which serves as the content’s core, carefully examines your findings. This is where you will present your original analysis or data along with any supporting visuals, like charts or graphs.

In empirical papers, arrange the results section according to the specific data findings, each of which should be thoroughly examined. When organising this section of a non-empirical paper, consider the themes, patterns, or trends that emerged from your investigation. Remember to connect your results to the main research question or thesis statement.

12. Discussions

Following the presentation of findings in the previous chapter, the discussion chapter provides an in-depth analysis and contextualisation of the data. The discussion chapter aims to answer questions such as the meaning of the topic's data, its alignment with the conceptual framework, and the impact it has on our cognitive processes. Furthermore, it offers a comprehensive exploration of these topics, providing more detailed insights.

You are encouraged to share any surprises or unexpected outcomes you encountered during your research in this chapter. Transparency is essential in establishing credibility, and this chapter provides an excellent opportunity for expressing your personal views about the research process.

13. Conclusion

As you write a dissertation, the conclusion is the final chapter that brings together all the research and findings. The conclusion should either provide a clear response to the research question or reexamine the thesis statement. It is important to recap and restate the earlier findings instead of introducing new information or supporting evidence in the conclusion. It is essential to ensure that the conclusion is well-written and free from any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.

14. Bibliography

Every source that was used is fully cited in the bibliography, along with information about when and where it was published. The bibliography is referred to as a reference page in APA style and as a works cited page in MLA style.

The format of a bibliography when you write a dissertation varies based on the style you choose. To ensure you are following the correct guidelines, make sure to review our citation guides for the APA, MLA, and Chicago styles.

15. Appendices

Different sections of unnecessary material that are still pertinent to the subject are included in the appendices. Maps, transcripts of interviews, and tangential explanations are examples of supplemental materials that belong at the end of this section, but the essential materials belong in the body of the paper. An appendix is the singular form of appendices, and it refers to each piece of content.

Read Also: How to Write a Questionnaire for a Dissertation?

How Long Should a Dissertation Be?

If you ask someone how long is your paper, you would not find any common response. The word count or page length varies based on the country, school, degree, and area of study.

However, to give you a sense of what to anticipate, here are some ballpark estimates:

• Bachelor's: 35–50 pages, 10,000–15,000 words
• Master's: 65–80 pages, 18,000–22,000 words
• Doctorate: 200–300 pages, 80,000–100,000 words

As you can see, writing a PhD paper is equivalent to writing a book, so it requires significant investment. However, keep in mind that actual lengths are more flexible and that these numbers are merely estimations. For instance, when you write a dissertation in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and math—it is going to be shorter than research paper in other fields.

FAQs About How to Write Dissertations?

1. How to Write An Abstract For a Dissertation?

The abstract you write for your thesis or dissertation should briefly explain to the reader why the research you conducted was necessary, as well as what you did, discovered, and why it matters. The majority of individuals who come across your thesis, including potential employers, are probably only going to read the abstract.

2. What Are The Steps To Writing A Dissertation Literature ?

Step 1: conduct a literature search. You must have a well-defined topic before you can start your literature search.

Step 2: Assess and choose your sources.

Step 3: Determine the debates, themes, and gaps.

Step 4: Describe the format of your literature review.

Compose your literature review in step five.

3. How Can I Manage Time Effectively While Writing A Dissertation?

4. What Should I Include In The Discussion Section Of My Dissertation Writing?

The discussion should show how your findings fit with existing knowledge, what new insights they contribute, and what consequences they have for theory or practice.

5. How Can I Ensure The Quality Of My Dissertation’s Writing And Research?

• Begin broadly before delving into the details.
• Acquire the ability to identify reliable sources.
• Check information by consulting multiple sources.
• Be receptive to unexpected responses.
• Remain arranged.
• Make use of the materials in the library.