How to Write Your Best Dissertation: Step-by-Step Guide

The first thing we should take a look at what is actually a dissertation? The dissertation is the final work that PhD candidates have to present in order to gain the doctoral degree. The dissertation is also used to present the outcome of research and independent work for an undergraduate program. Sometimes people confuse the dissertation with a thesis. The thesis is performed to complete the Master’s degree.

Although the dissertation can be for PhD candidates or undergraduate program, the form of this assignment is very related. But the PhD project is more difficult and serious. This article will allow PhD candidates and undergraduates who are working on their dissertation, as well as students who are working on theses for MA program to acquire new useful knowledge.

We must say it now that it is not easy to write a decent dissertation. However, by learning more about this type of work your chances increase gradually. Most students put themselves in the enthusiastic mood, trying to be motivated. But when they actually start to dive into this field they may get thrown into despair. All your previous works are nothing like this one. The process of research, planning, and the very writing is, probably, the most complex and longest challenge you’ve faced with. Through this period it’s most likely that you’ll have some obstacles on your way to overcome, but the results will be very spectacular. Here are the most common issues student have difficulties with during writing their dissertation.

Procrastination. ‘I have all the time…’

Very often students think they have a lot of time to perform the research, writing part and etc, constantly delaying the start of the working process. Actually, it may influence the dissertation in a bad way, as you’ll be stressed out, using everything you’ve found (relevant-irrelevant, necessary-unnecessary information) during the research just to execute it when the deadline approaches.

Don’t have enough of research skills

Students have experience of essay writing, but they are not confident researchers. That’s why they think that it is enough to find few relevant sources and use quotes from them. That is definitely not a good approach.

Don’t have enough of writing skills

This is a serious paper that requires following the strict rules of academic writing. The things like language, style, the form should be proper. If you know How to Write an Impressive GRE Essay, it will be easier for you to follow the requirements.

Step 1: Come up with the unbeaten dissertation proposal

Now, when you are already familiar with what the dissertation is, it’s time to learn about dissertation proposal. This is a short version o your dissertation, you should present a significant point and a plan of the assembling information to it. In order to make it more understandable here is the list of the questions that will help you write your dissertation proposal:

What problem is going to be the main in your dissertation?
Why do you want to find the solution?
What are the methods that will help you to resolve the problem?

All these questions need to be included in the proposal. But, you also have to come up with the topic that lays the foundation for your dissertation. Don’t rush when being on this stage, your task is to brainstorm the themes to find the unique, interesting, valuable and reasonable.

Let’s take a look at the structure of the dissertation proposal.

The Title of the dissertation
Objectives- Try to settle with three objectives. You can seem unfocused with more objectives.
Literature – Talk to your mentor about the list of specific references. If it is not an option for you, ask at least about the other useful sources of information on your subject.
Methodology – When writing the dissertation you can use non-empirical or empirical methods. Explain the method you’ve used to collect the data.
Outcomes- Explain what you expect after research and analyzing.

Step 2: Do an effective research

There are three main things you need to do at this stage.

1. Make a timeline for the research stage

You can’t spend all your time reading every source that has something related to your dissertation. Many students forget about this simple tip and get confused with all the information that fell down on their heads.

2. Make sure you have the right place to look for the sources

Of course, you can use the Internet as your start point. However, the information that you find on the Internet is not always the truth. Check the information to make sure that it comes from a reliable source. Wikipedia is not the option for the dissertation, but it can give you the list of reasonable references.

3. Organize your resources.

Always use notes. You can be confused with so many references and you won’t be able to recognize which one stands for the different arguments.

Step 3: Write an outstanding dissertation

It is the most crucial stage in your dissertation writing process. By this time you already did a lot of a great job. Now, you have to get the final result of your hard work.

Start with an outline. The outline is composed of the followings:

Introduction. In this chapter you should write about the background of the problem, and its statement. Clarify the research question and explain the purpose of your dissertation. Give the clear definitions of the important topic terms. And, don’t forget about your expectation of the final outcomes.
Literature Review. The second chapter is about your research process.
Methodology. This section is based on the ways you’ve found the resources, and how you implemented the information to get the results.
Findings. It is very important to keep in mind that this is the most important part, as it reveals your intellectual capacity. Here you will explain the results you’ve found, giving the reasons how you came up to them. In a few words, you will answer the key questions of your dissertation.
Conclusions. In this final section, you will summarize your study. You have to write how these results can be implied in practice. Don’t forget to write “Recommendations for future research” at the end of this chapter.
Bibliography. Make sure all the sources you’ve used during the writing and research process are included.