A dissertation is a book-sized manuscript describing the original research performed to earn the Ph.D.

Your dissertation is a direct demonstration of your academic excellence and serves as an illustration of your field expertise. Conversely, this document demonstrates that you have earned your stripes and can transition from being a student to becoming a scholar.

Your dissertation timeline will depend on the topic you have chosen and the amount of time you will need to complete your research. In most cases, plan to spend up to 18 months on doing the prep work for your dissertation and around 3-5 months on actually writing the manuscript.

The two main descriptors of a dissertation are:

• Originality  your dissertation should provide some novel, unique hypnosis or evidence to it.
• Substantial  while you certainly cannot capture all the research, theories, and experimentation that you undertook during your Ph.D., your dissertation should fully cover the key findings you have made during your work.

The Standard Dissertation Structure Explained

The goal of a dissertation is to provide formal arguments that back up your thesis. To keep the narrative coherent and well-organized, you are expected to organize all your scientific knowledge into specific categories dissertation chapters.

One of the most commonly used structures for the dissertation is as follows:

1.    Abstract

2.   Introduction

3.   Literature review

4.   Methodology

5.   Research findings

Now, let^'s zoom in on each one of them!

1.    Abstract

An abstract is a summary of your dissertation that appears at the beginning of the document. It provides readers with a concise explanation of your research question, objectives, methods, and your most meaningful outcomes. However, this is not always a mandatory inclusion. You should double-check the normal practices within your expected industry.

2.   Introduction

A dissertation introduction is somewhat of a technical part that states the nature of the problem you plan to explore (your thesis) and lists the research questions. It also defines the significance of the research, communicates the key terminology, and briefly discusses prior/related work in the field.

3.   Literature Review

The literature review section showcases that you already did background research on the matter and understand what other experts in your domain think on the same subject.Typically, this section should explain the conceptual or theoretical framework that you are using and then provide a brief review of all the sources you have read in your research, organized by a certain theme.

4.   Methodology

Methodology stands for a detailed description of your research methods. This includes an overview of your research participants, setting, data collection methods, instruments, and data analysis. Here are some key points that you must mention:

• Whether you will use quantitative methods, qualitative methods, or both.
• Why you have chosen these methods.
• How you collected data.
• How you analyzed the data.
• Tools you used while conducting research.

  5.   Research Findings

Research findings will constitute the bulk of your dissertation. They can take up to 2 3 separate chapters (some dissertation topics demand that level of depth).

All of your findings should be logically organized, either by research questions or hypotheses, and reinforce the initial thesis statement that you have made. The findings section is usually the most challenging to write and organize, so do not push yourself to write it well for the first time. Instead, plan more time for it during the dissertation editing stage.