A Brief Review of Integral Components of a Dissertation
Composing a dissertation is the most difficult academic task that students might be required to complete. One of the important things that you should learn to complete this assignment successfully is how to structure your paper properly. If you don’t know what integral components your thesis should consist of, it isn’t likely to impress your committee.
The Main Chapters to Include in Your Dissertation
- The introduction.
- The literature survey.
- The methodology description.
- The discussion of results.
- The conclusion.
In this chapter, the author should present the overall area of their study and list the exact questions that their project is going to answer. Also, the author should prove why conducting research on the chosen topic is important for their field. At the end of the chapter, the author should briefly describe what to expect from the following sections.
This chapter should provide the readers with an overview of the main sources that the author consulted during their research. It’s important to describe both theoretical materials and previous studies related to the topic chosen by the author.
Here, the author should describe the set of methods that they’ve picked to conduct their study. Then, they should prove that their methodology suits their topic better than any other. The main purpose of this section, however, is to thoroughly describe each activity that the author has taken to conduct their study.
Once the author has described their methods of research, they should present the results of their work. It’s important to not only demonstrate the raw figures but also interpret their meaning and discuss the significance of these findings for the development of the field.
In this chapter, the author should sum up everything they presented and discussed earlier. Also, they should provide the readers with a number of topics related to their study area that other scholars may research in the future.
Other Important Sections of a Dissertation
- A list of references.
- Appendices.
Right after the main body of their paper, the author should provide a full list of books, articles, previous studies, and other sources that they used in their research.
At the end of their paper, the author should have a section for different tables, pictures, and graphs that would be very inconvenient to place in the body chapters.
So, now that you know about the essential parts of any thesis, you’ll be able to structure your own paper in a proper way. To play it safe, however, show your outline to you instructor before you begin the writing process.