A dissertation is a long piece of academic writing. This document is based on original research and submitted as part of a master’s or Ph.D. degree. Writing a successful dissertation depends on a lot of factors. However, the major factor is its structure. A dissertation that is not structured as per the standard guidelines is never called successful academic writing work. Thus, you should first know the tips to structure a successful dissertation. As you are here, it means you do not know any tips. Well, worry not. In today’s post, we are going to discuss the pro tips to help you structure a dissertation. Before that, let’s know about the structural elements of a master’s dissertation.
The structural elements of a dissertation
A dissertation is a combination of many elements. The table of contents, list of figures, list of tables, abstract, and acknowledgment are some of those elements. However, the major structural elements of a successful dissertation are as follows:
- A strong introduction to the chosen dissertation topic
- A literature review to take a survey of the current body of knowledge
- An explanation of the chosen research methodology
- Presentation and discussion of the obtained research results
- A conclusion that shows what you have obtained
Pro tips for structuring a successful dissertation
After reading the information above, you now have a good idea of the major structural elements of a dissertation. Do you know what goes into those elements and the tips to craft them? NO! Hence, a brief description of the pro tips in this context is as follows:
1. Writing the introduction
The first and most important element of a successful dissertation is an attention-grabbing introduction. The introduction is the first opening chapter of your dissertation that discusses what the research study is and what its importance is. In order to write an effective and strong introduction, you should open the discussion with a hook or topic sentence. Afterward, explain what the research study is about and discuss its significance. If there are some difficult terms used in the introduction, explain all of them one by one in the introduction. At the end of this section, enlist the research aims, objectives, and questions.
2. Taking the survey of the literature
The literature review is the second chapter of a dissertation. To craft a successful dissertation, it is important that you structure this element in the right way. A literature review is about taking a survey of all published knowledge in your field and discussing it in relation to your dissertation topic. When writing this chapter, make sure that you have gone through a good number of research articles and papers. Also, collect the research papers from credible and authentic websites, such as ResearchGate, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The research data on these websites is both authentic and credible.
3. Explaining the research methodology
The next structural element of a successful dissertation is known as the research methodology. It is the section where you describe the chosen research methodology and states the reasons behind their choice. The tip for writing this chapter is that you should first explain the methodology chosen and then the research methods that fall under it. Also, make sure that you describe each research method in this section. As the writer and researcher, you should give the procedure of each method in this section.
4. Present and discuss the results
The 4th and second last major element of a dissertation is the research results. It is sure that you will obtain some research results after the application of chosen research methodology and the methods involved. It is time to discuss those obtained results. The tip here is that first, you should only present the obtained research results. To do this, use presentational devices like graphs, charts, lines, and figures. Secondly, discuss the results in relation to the research questions developed at the start. It is the most difficult part. So, if you face any difficulty in discussing the results, get dissertation help UK.
5. An effective conclusion
Lastly, the only remaining major section of a successful dissertation is the conclusion. The conclusion is the summary of what you have discussed and obtained in your research study. In this section, you should briefly state the main research results and explain how they have answered the research questions. It is important to know that a conclusion does not include a new piece of information. It is developed based on what you have done in your study. The limitations and recommendations can come in this section.
Conclusion
To sum up, there are 5 major structural elements of a successful dissertation. Without writing them in the perfect way, you cannot think of your dissertation to be successful. The pro tips for writing those elements are discussed above. Hence, go through all of them and write the next dissertation accordingly.