Writing a dissertation is a complex process for students in the UK. Yet, it’s a rather important step they cannot avoid. Unfortunately, most students also have to deal with and contend with the challenges of their academic life while writing. And that causes several hiccups along the way.
However, the first step is not to panic. How? By following what our team has to offer. PhD Dissertation has an answer to help you write your dissertation. You must follow the dissertation structure guide below to learn how to structure a dissertation.
What is a Dissertation Structure?
Writing dissertations can be more difficult than students’ expectations. That’s okay because the first step to scoring is understanding how to structure a dissertation. But how can students do that effectively? Well, they first need to know what structure is and how it can help them score good grades. Don’t worry. It’s not complex. Essentially, it’s a format that helps the flow of your work. Thus, allowing readers to follow along with the core argument, answer, or claim. And remember, that’s not difficult. So, don’t panic.
Our team at PhD Dissertation has a dissertation step-by-step guide! We’ll help you understand what experts in our team do to score grades.
Use the ‘how to structure a dissertation guide’ table below to jump between information:
Table of Contents
How to Structure a Dissertation (Step by Step)
Many students struggle to understand the somewhat complicated structure of a dissertation. However, we have incredible teams ready to help along the way. Our experts know what structure means. Therefore, we have made a simple list to guide you to a perfect grade. Below is an explanation of each element included in a dissertation’s structure. Students can use them when formatting their work. Thus, allowing you to write like our PhD dissertation writing service.
Title Page
This is the first element people reading your dissertation see. The title page. Therefore, you must make it stand out accordingly while conveying all the necessary data. It should include your name, supervisor’s name, title, special statement, institution’s name and date.
Usually, this element is easy to understand when learning how to structure your dissertation. This is because it follows a similar pattern for all students. However, please ensure you check or inquire what your institution requires you to add on your title page. After all, every institute is different and may have other requirements too. So, it’s always good to follow their brief accurately.
Acknowledgements Page
As a student, the acknowledgements page may seem like a waste of time. However, our PhD dissertation proofreading and editing services know that’s not true. The acknowledgements page is just as vital to your work like any other element. It is a short part that says thank you to the people who help you during the writing process.
Students can mention any helpers here. After all, dissertations do require input from various sources. So, it’s a good way to let your readers know that you appreciate the small efforts of others. Follow our guides for writing your acknowledgements page.
Abstract (or Executive Summary)
The next step in our dissertation step-by-step guide is the abstract or executive summary. It’s a short form paragraph with a summary of your thesis contents. The section has one goal – providing the reader with an overall goal of the dissertation.
But students should note that its requirements depend on your university or department. For example, it can have a specific word count.
However, the standard for abstracts or executive summaries usually isn’t very complex. After all, the main focus is on letting readers understand the main points of interest. Therefore, our team recommends you find out before writing. So, try focusing on learning how to summarise your thesis while effectively conveying the intended direction.
Table of Contents, List of Figures and Tables
The next stage is simple. It’s the table of contents. We don’t think it needs much explanation. But students need to help readers easily go back and forth between different sections. So, use a table with information, page numbers, details, and more. This will allow your readers to analyse and find relevant information quickly.
The Core Chapters
Once you’ve gathered everything above, we can move on to the meat and potatoes of your work. This will be a little more complex than the simply contents above. However, you can make it easier by following our dissertation step-by-step guide.
There are six chapters in total. They include the following: Introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Chapter 1: Introduction
The introduction is the first chapter. And follows the abstract. But it is often considered one of the most important. Why? Because it’s the first thing professors and moderators will read. Therefore, students need to put extra effort into this section to clearly and concisely emphasise their writing. So, how do you write this section correctly?
Here’s what our experts say:
Students need to explain the outline of their dissertation. In addition, they must include the goals, plans, desires, and reasons behind their work. The introduction has to explain the thoughts to the audience. But remember not to extend it too long. Instead, express your thoughts briefly.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 2 is your literature review. Most students never have a problem with this element of their dissertation. They look for blogs like “10 Tips that’ll Help You Become a Better Researcher” to find relevant information, which is fine. However, they must also focus on the details to create a striking literature review! They cannot simply state what current research says and be done with it. After all, it is a review. So, they have to connect it to your work. If not, there’s no point in including the literature.
Therefore, students should only include current research as long as it’s relevant to their topic. Thus, giving the reader a clear picture of the landscape surrounding their research topic and questions. In addition, they must also focus on an in-depth reading of every research source.
Chapter 3: Methodology
Next is the methods chapter of your dissertation – something many students struggle with. This is because it’s more detailed than the previous two chapters.
It explains your methods and approach to answering the research questions. Here we recommend you to take or follow a step-by-step approach to guide the audience. Explain what you did, how you did it, and the reliability or validity of your actions. Thus, allowing readers to evaluate the direction and results for themselves.
Moreover, students should include the type of research, method of collection, data analysis, limitations and justifications.
Chapter 4: Results
After your research method, it is time to record results. Sometimes, students can present both their findings and discussions together. In comparison, certain institutions require them to be separate. Whatever the case may be, this is where charts, histograms and tables are included. These are exceedingly useful in showing the findings and results of your work.
Chapter 5: Discussion
Following the results is the discussion chapter of your dissertation. And this element is extremely crucial. This is because, as the name suggests, you must discuss the results and findings while tying them all to your previous statements.
Students should explain findings in detail while forming different relationships from literature in the literature review. In addition, present recommendations to help improve issues in the discussion.
Readers will have to look at your findings’ relevance and/or significance. Simply put, the discussion chapter is here for you to interact with and explain the research findings coherently and thoroughly.
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Lastly, we come to the final chapter of your dissertation. Of course, this isn’t the end as we have two more points. But in terms of your thesis statements, questions, and flow, it is the end of your research.
Let’s first understand the purpose of a conclusion. Firstly, it is to state answers to the main research questions. Secondly, it reflects and summarises the entirety of your research. After that, you make specific recommendations for future work on your topic. Lastly and most importantly is for students to show what new knowledge they contribute to the existing literature.
However, it’s also good to note the conclusion often relies on containing similar elements to the discussion. And therefore, it can sometimes be combined with the previous chapter. But this also depends on your institution.
Please note that you should never include new data in your conclusion. Simply make broad statements and um up everything you focused on before.
Reference List
If you’re worried about this section, you’ve come to the right dissertation guide. We add a reference list at the end of your document in a numerical format to make the retrieval easy. Students should add each and every borrowed thought or citation mentioned in their work. But pay attention to the style of reference formatting. It may differ according to the manual terms. (MLA, APA, etc.)
Try this if you’re wondering how long the reference list should be. The longer your assignment, the greater number of references it will require. Therefore, generally, there should be at least 8 – 12 references for every 1,000 words. However, it should also be determined depending on the context of the above considerations.
Appendix
The last thing on our list is the appendix. But this part of your paper isn’t always obvious. However, dissertations will always be more expert when you use additional materials. Therefore, you can do the following: Use images, graphics, lists, scales, etc. By adding a few such elements, you will be able to create a spectacular presentation of your research.
That concludes our dissertation step-by-step guide on the structure. But that’s not the only thing students can do to make a difference in their dissertation. We have other guidelines below you can follow even if you cannot write well. Call us If you need help learning how to write a dissertation or how to write a dissertation proposal.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when structuring your dissertation:
Adding fluff. Always refrain from adding irrelevant information. No matter how tempted you are just to write everything you have learned in the class, it is never a good idea to put even a single sentence that doesn’t add value to the entire write-up.
Starting a new idea without concluding. Sometimes information is well-sorted in our heads, but when we put them on paper, it comes across as all over the place. One excellent way to avoid that kind of confusion is to never start a new argument or point without concluding the previous one. In this way, you can ensure connectivity, which will grab the reader’s attention until the very end of your document.
Writing without a process. One sure-fire way of submitting a disorganised dissertation is to write it without a defined process. This means not adding information without keeping track of the references and citations. Since to be human is to err, you are definitely going to make one mistake or another. And when that happens, not having the reference of a claim or argument will thus leave a gap in your dissertation.
Skipping editing. Finally, a huge mistake any student can make is submitting an unedited document without fear of missing a deadline. If anyone does that, their work will not only be rife with typos and grammatical mistakes but will probably be disorganised and unstructured.
Other Dissertation Structure Guidelines
There are many things students can do to overcome the obstacles they face with structure. Here’s what you can try while following the above steps:
Choose a problem: Dissertation topics are wide. That’s why a student should focus on the main problems! Explain the meaning, and observe how it can improve the situation. And remember, each dissertation should have a constructive sense. In addition, the problem definition should also explain its value for audiences and scientists;
Make priorities. A student has many different tasks to do when writing a dissertation structure. But they can’t complete them without precedence. So, make notices about literature, references, previous research, etc. This approach allows students to make the best structure for their dissertation.
Add a kind of logical validation. Each and every dissertation, no matter its type, needs a rationale side to function. Therefore, students should defend their methodology while describing both the advantages and disadvantages. Then, writers can use philosophical predispositions in their dissertation structuring to make it stand out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dissertations can be a little difficult to write. After all, they require a lot of planning, research and writing. That’s why many students fail to complete them effectively. Unfortunately, it results in poor grades. But we can help you write a dissertation. All you need is the structure. So, here’s what you can do! Follow this quick step-by-step guide:
• Title Page
• Acknowledgements Page
• Abstract (or Executive Summary)
• Table of Contents, List of Figures and Tables
• The Core Chapters
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Literature Review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Discussion
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Reference List
• Appendix
A dissertation is one of the most challenging papers any student will ever write. And yes, they are very long. The average is around 60000 words for a PhD-level dissertation. That’s why many students fall behind with writing. Fortunately, they don’t take long if you have the right help. That’s why we recommend calling our team. We can help you finish a dissertation very quickly. So, give us a quick call. And speak to our dissertation guide experts.
Completing a dissertation is a very lengthy process. You need to write and research a lot! And the average word count is roughly 60000. So, it’s no wonder most students want to know how quickly they can complete it. It’s important to note that there’s no fixed way to speed up your dissertation writing. However, you can always speak to our team.
We’ll connect with a specialist and help you with your work. It will definitely be a lot faster with our team at your side. So, call now.
Dissertation topics are not easy to choose. There are many options for students to analyse and pick from. But we recommend doing the following:
• Select a topic you find personally interesting
• Choose something different
• Don't be too vague with your topic
• Don't be too narrow in scope
• Research! Research! Research!
• Be objective and consider the impact
• Ask for advice from your tutor
