Dissertation Writing Guide – Making It Student Friendly!

A dissertation forms part of the coursework for a degree. For some courses it is linked with work experience. It provides you with an opportunity to undertake a piece of individual research work and really examine an aspect of the subject you are studying closely. This is your first attempt at serious 'research'.

You could consider it as an extended essay or assignment. However, although a dissertation can be seen as a difficult piece of work, it is a good idea to think of it as providing a real opportunity to explore something that you are really interested in within your course. Working on it should be a very exciting time for you.

When writing dissertation Keep in mind that your thesis or dissertation topic should address an unresolved problem or knowledge gap in your subject area that needs to be explored and that concerns society as a whole. Your choice of topic should be something that you are interested in and which is within your and your capabilities. Your thesis or dissertation topic should be unique in that it should add something new to the existing literature. Merely digging up answers that already exist does nothing to contribute to an academic or professional field of knowledge. Simply put, a thesis or dissertation topic should be based on new knowledge and new solutions to existing problems—not on simply churning up old answers. However, conducting research on questions that have already been answered is considered part of the literature review and is a useful exercise to find out if someone has already conducted research on your proposed research topic.

When doing research for your dissertation, consider the following questions and think like professional dissertation writers.
• What is the Research Question in the Study?
• Did the Researcher Focus on the Wrong Group/subjects?
• Did the Research Leave Some Group/Something Out?
• Is the Methodology Faulty?
• Were the Findings Faulty?
• Can I Pursue the Author’s Recommendation for Future Research?
• What Are the Limitations of the Study

Normally a dissertation can be divided into the following six chapters by a dissertation writer

Chapter One: Introduction (approx. 10% of total words)
Chapter Two: Review Of Literature (approx. 25% of words)
Chapter Three: Methodology (15-20% of words)
Chapter Four: Presentation Of The Data (approx. 10-15% of the words)
Chapter Five: Discussion, Analysis & Interpretation Of The Data (approx. 15 - 20% of words)
Chapter Six: Summary And Conclusions (approx. 10 - 15% of words)

Remember that do not plagiarize. Other people's ideas must be recognized and not included as your own. Obvious plagiarism will disqualify completely the whole project. The literature review should not be a collection of quotes from other writers but a critical review of relevant literature.