Traditional dissertation structure

The academic community, particularly from developing countries, makes a significant effort to write and publish articles – especially in English – in quality journals. But if the papers are published during the masters or doctorate research, it avoids employing valuable time in writing a traditional style thesis.

1 The introduction chapter presents the core research question and aims. 2 The literature review chapter assesses what the current research says about this question. 3 The methodology, results and discussion chapters go about undertaking new research about this question. 4 The conclusion chapter (attempts to) answer the core research question.

How to structure a dissertation or thesis. 1 Title page. 2 Acknowledgements page. 3 Abstract (or executive summary) 4 Table of contents, list of figures and tables. 5 The core chapters (the “meat” of the dissertation) Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature review Chapter 3: Methodology Chapter 4: ... 6 Reference list. 7 Appendix.

You begin with a Prospectus, which is essentially an overview of what you plan to do. This serves the purpose of a traditional outline: gaining clarity on your area of focus, your research methods, and what you hope to accomplish with the study. If you’re at that stage, take a look at our article on writing a dissertation prospectus.