How to Write Dissertation Step-by-Step?
You can write a dissertation by gathering relevant information about a topic, conducting research and analysis before arriving at a conclusion. Dissertations can take much longer to write depending on a student’s current academic level and other factors.
A dissertation is an academic piece written after research and submitted as the final step to complete a PhD program. Dissertations usually require prolonged research and analysis coupled with long-form writing.
Many students struggle when it comes to writing dissertations from scratch. It could be a time and energy-consuming assignment, but writing dissertations can be easy when students have access to relevant information.
Let’s see how to write a dissertation step-by-step through information in this guide along with other relevant details. Follow the steps in this guide to easily put your dissertation together and secure academic excellence with ease!
How to Write a Dissertation Step-by-Step
Step 1: Select Your Topic
Your dissertation supervisor or advisor might recommend a topic for you. In other fields, you might need to choose topics on your own and get the approval of a review committee.
Step 2: Conduct a Pilot Study
You’ll have to conduct a preliminary study about your topic before going ahead with it. You may need to run tests, visit archives, read through scholarly articles and journals depending on your specialization area.
Step 3: Read Existing Literature
Next, you need to read existing literature with information related to your chosen topic. Some of the literature you read in this step will feature in your dissertation; however, they should appear in your words with proper citing of the author(s).
Step 4: Write (and Defend) a Proposal
Some fields require students to write and submit a dissertation proposal before approval; others need candidates to defend these proposals. You may have to defend your dissertation proposal in a seminar. Proposals are usually between 10 and 20 pages long.
Your advisor(s) can provide vital information to help you expand your proposal into a dissertation.
Step 5: Conduct Research
Dissertations make a stronger contribution to existing information than theses and requires an enormous amount of research. You may need to examine several sections of a particular topic to retrieve vital information that will produce findings for your dissertation. Your field of study determines what kind of research you will have to conduct.
Step 6: See Previous Related Dissertations
Writing a dissertation from scratch could be mind-numbing and seem impossible. However, you can reduce the stress by looking at previous dissertations related to your topic and take guidance from these works.
Step 7: Document the Skeletal Part of Chapters
Write drafts for your introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Step 8: Write the Main Elements of the Dissertation
Expand your written drafts to contain all sections that should be in your dissertation.
Step 9: Edit
Proofread and edit your dissertation to remove errors, eliminate plagiarism, ensure coherence, and confirm proper citation of sources.
Step 10: Get advice from your supervisor
Show your advisor(s) the final draft for suggestions and recommendations. Follow the recommendations, if any, and study ahead of your defense date.
Sections to Write in a Dissertation
Your dissertation should follow this step-by-step template:
Title page – displays the topic of your dissertation, your name and student ID no, your department and other basic information
Preface & acknowledgements – peripheral information about your essay (preface) and recognition of academic contacts, research groups, and key loved ones who contributed to your dissertation.
Abstract – is a summarized paragraph of the dissertation that includes information about the objectives, methods, and findings of your research
Table of contents – a section that shows the title and location (page number) of every essential part of your dissertation
Introduction – Introduces your dissertation proper; contains a brief background to your research, states problems, aims, objectives, research questions, hypotheses, scope, significance, and other vital elements of your dissertation.
Review of literature – this review helps readers see how you understand the academic work of others on topics related to your dissertation. It also helps you write more information about the topic to bridge gaps in existing literature.
Theoretical framework – the section provides an opportunity to analyze crucial concepts, models, or theories that guide your dissertation. It is not a compulsory addition to most dissertations.
Methodology – the methodology stage reveals essential information about the methods used to get results in your dissertation. It contains sub-sections like the area your dissertation covered during research, methods used to collect and analyze data, etc.
Results – the results pages shows vital details pointing to how your methods produced findings from data. Most dissertations that require analysis will have calculations in this section along with a brief explanation of findings made
Discussion – the section contains information about studies with findings in line with your research or against it. This part of your dissertation also contains information about unexpected findings, study limitations, and an explanation of the practical applications of your findings.
Conclusion – the closing summary of your dissertation, recommendations made as a result of findings, and suggestions for further studies all appear here
Reference list/bibliography – this is a list of vital information about sources you cited within your dissertation. The reference list contains information such as the author’s name, book title, year of publication, publisher, page numbers of sources, etc.
FAQs
1. How Long Should a Dissertation Be?
A dissertation could be anywhere between 10,000 and over 50,000 words long depending on your academic level. Dissertations required to earn a PhD are usually much longer than essays to fulfil requirements for a master’s or undergrad degree.
2. What Determines the Length of a Dissertation?
The time you have to complete your dissertation, how long your research will take, and your topic determines how many pages long you need to write.
Some dissertations could involve extensive research and writers could require up to two or three times as much pages than standard academic essays.
Final Word
Writing a dissertation step-by-step could be long and challenging, but you should know how to get it done properly. Correctly writing your dissertation ensures you represent all facts and arguments from your research in clear terms. A well-written dissertation also ensures you add valuable research to the existing body of knowledge.
Follow the steps in this guide and maximize the potential of your dissertation while you guarantee academic excellence in your field of study.