As a course-end work or at the end of a degree program, you will also be required to submit a dissertation or a thesis to the academic institution. The higher education institutions give a very high weightage to this part of the coursework and you should pay special attention to it to get good marks and get a distinction. In this post, I have described some critical factors that can produce an exceptionally well dissertation.
The first part of a dissertation is the selection of the topic. The topic should match the degree course and your area of interest. You should not select a topic already worked on and for which, extensive material is already available in web and print sources. There should be some novelty and uniqueness in your topic that could justify your research and you could claim that you are filling some gap in the existing academic literature.
A dissertation is divided into five chapters including a) Introduction b) Literature Review c) Methodology d) Findings and Discussion e) Conclusion and Recommendations. First, you will present the research proposal for which you are only required to present the first three chapters of a) Introduction b) Literature Review, and c) Methodology. These chapters should be presented in the present and future tense because it is a research proposal, which may or may not get approved by the university management.
In the Introduction chapter, present the introduction to the topic, background, and problem statement. Additionally, you can also include the rationale of the study and the significance of the study. A problem statement is where you highlight the issue or business opportunity that built the foundation of conducting this study. You will also present research objectives, research questions, and research hypotheses in the Introduction. For the Literature Review chapter, present a critical review of the academic literature related to the topic of the study. The literature review should be organized into relevant themes. At an advanced stage, you can also conduct a systematic literature review for which you will have to follow a scientific research methodology and short-list articles using this methodology. The literature review chapter is also a good place to present the theoretical or conceptual framework of your study.
In the Methodology chapter, present the research design/method (quantitative/qualitative), data source (primary data, secondary data), the instrument of data collection (questionnaire, interviews), population/sample, sampling strategy, data analysis method (SPSS, thematic analysis), and ethical considerations.
Once your research proposal is approved, you will need to change the tenses in the first three chapters to past tense. In the Findings and Discussion chapter, first, present the findings of your study. In the case of primary data collection, the findings will be the questionnaire responses or interview data. In the case of secondary data collection, present the themes that emerged from the secondary data review. In the Discussion section, compare the findings of primary data with the existing literature. This will show if the primary data confirmed those findings or resulted in the emergence of new themes and patterns.
In the Conclusion and Recommendations chapter, summarize the key findings of your study and answer the research questions. The results of hypotheses testing should also be mentioned for a quantitative study. Based on the results, present recommendations to the professionals, policymakers, and academic community. You should also write a section on Implications for Future Research. If you consider these guidelines in preparing your dissertation, you will surely produce a good draft and impress your audience and academic faculty. All the best in your research endeavors! For any academic assistance, feel free to contact us through this website.
