A Comprehensive Guide On Writing A Dissertation

By Cathlyn H.
June 28, 2022
6 Min Read

Dissertation Writing Guide Featured Image

Once you have completed your academic qualification, you need to submit a dissertation known as a research project. Once you are near the end of your bachelor’s or your Master’s degree, it is a well-written piece of dissertation that helps you secure a well-paid job. After all, a Postgraduate or a master’s is subject-oriented.

A student pursuing their favorite course is subjected to getting findings on subject-specific questions in a dissertation. Most of the dissertation is all about research and requires expertise. This is why you need the assistance of professional dissertation writers to help you pen down a well-rounded dissertation.

What Is A Dissertation?

A dissertation is a massive piece of academic work submitted at the end of your educational program or course. This means it is the total of what you have learned. In the true sense, what a dissertation means is an academic argument based on in-depth research, facts, and data for support.

This research is carried out by the student while undergoing their doctoral degree. The primary purpose dissertation is to bring together all the skills and knowledge that the student has grasped. Among them are research and methodology skills that they have learned.

A dissertation also means a grand finale of all the assignments and essays written by them throughout their study. This comprises the compilation of data and arranging it in an academic format for readability.

But while writing their dissertation, students face a fair number of the following challenges:

Not being able to define the dissertation or its goals in a proper manner
Thinking of completing the dissertation at the last minute
Inadequate research skills
Poor Writing ability

This is why our guide is here to help you get a complete understanding of how to write a doctoral dissertation.

Things To Consider While Writing A Dissertation

Length Of A Dissertation

The length of your dissertation mainly depends on the level of your study and the country you are studying. For example, a Master’s group or MBA requires you to write between 15,000 -25,000 words, whereas a Ph.D. dissertation is more than 50,000 words.

Font Details

For font clarity, you can use fonts such as Arial or Georgia of Times New Roman with 10-12 point sizes to go by with.

Margins

Left Margin: 1.5 inches for entire pages
Right Margin: 1.5 inches for entire pages
Top Margin: 2 inches for Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables, every chapter, Bibliography, and Appendices. Other pages are 1.25.
Bottom Margin: 1.25 inches for complete pages

Spacing

It would be best if you did double spacing for Block quotations, Footnotes, and Bibliographies. Single spacing can be done to list tables, a list of figures or illustrations, and long tables. This will be within the entry, but the double spacing between every entry.

The drafting procedure of a dissertation is writing a proposal. The dissertation proposal is like the prelude to the upcoming research that the author works on. This proposal must be 10-15 pages long as it prepares you to write the main body.

Outline And Length Of The Proposal

Since your proposal is the introduction, the draft, and outline are incredibly crucial.

The introduction shall be 2 to 3 pages with a brief on the importance of the subject. This shall be a summary of what is about to come.
The methodology should be 3 to 6 pages. This will be about how you want to extract your data and how you will approach this. Your research tools and equipment should be revealed in this section.
Objectives must be 1 to 2 pages which is the hypothesis of what you want to establish.
6 to 10 pages will be for a Literature review that speaks of works you have done to complete your research.
Research constraints should be 1-2 pages. This will speak of the disclaimer of the limit maintained for your research.
Your research timetable should be one entire page. This will outline the pivotal sections of your dissertation proposal.

Your dissertation proposal will majorly rest on the particular requirements of the course you are pursuing.

Difference Between Dissertation And Thesis

The main difference between them is that the Thesis is written for a Master’s, and doctoral students write a dissertation. Also, ‘thesis’ is an American term, whereas European academic institutions prefer a dissertation.

The Thesis is more of an academic paper that you write and research as a part of an undergraduate-level course. With a thesis, you can explore the topic, and evaluate and make sense of how aspects relate to your topic or subject.

But with a dissertation, you take clues from others’ research papers for your hypothesis, theory, or concept. Just keep in mind that a doctoral dissertation is supposed to be extensive and prolonged as it involves plenty of background and research data.

Highly Recommended Dissertation Topics You Can Refer

Education-Based Dissertations

Drinking style categories in college students
Clues of flossing behavior in university crowd
Importance of homework assignments in the lives of overseas students
The behavior of students when they work as cab drivers

Dissertation Topics For MBA

Workplace ethics when working for a multinational company like GE Capital
A business plan that targets the production of electrical equipment
Evaluation of strategy-based business plan
How to keep up with Millenials

Law Topics For Dissertation

How to war on terror has led to an alteration of criminal laws at a global level
A detailed analysis of the law of omissions liability
An assessment of criminal negligence in relation to the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act 2007
Reviewing cases in the arena of criminal justice
The part of gender and race in connection with the criminal justice system

Dissertation Topics For Technology

How full-text databases affect search engine results
An assessment of the applications designed for improved energy efficiency
Latest found ways to risk management based on a particular software
Repetition and fault improvement on the 4G wireless network

Researching On Dissertation

Before even beginning to write your dissertation, ensure that you find a database and find related works associated with your field. If the result of your dissertation does not satisfy you, you can go ahead and place an order for an online dissertation essay written by professional writers.

Here are some tips which can help you wade through the course of your research:

Craft a timeline while researching

Make a proper timeline at the research stage of the dissertation. This saves the student a lot of time reading and evaluating all that is written about the topic. It is significant to create a timeline to reach deadlines.

Pick accurate sources

Since the internet is full of information overload, you must check the authenticity of the information. Google Scholar is an intelligent tool you can use to find credible academic sources. You can even take the help of librarians at the stage of your project development. They assist you in searching for unique sources.

Arrange your resources correctly.

It is best to take notes when you need to arrange your resources. In this way, you will not be lost and forget a critical source that could be used for your dissertation. This activity will help you keep your references in check. Evernote or Penzu are online tools that help you arrange your chosen sources to deal with any confusion.

Work on the Structure of the Dissertation

Your dissertation structure will depend on varying factors such as location, discipline, topic, and approach. For example, a humanities-based dissertation will be lengthy, whereas a sciences or social sciences dissertation will have divided chapters that you may combine at times.

Your dissertation order can also be based on fields as well as countries. For example, some colleges want the conclusion to come before the discussion.

Here is the most commonly used dissertation structure: