A dissertation proposal is an essential part of the academic writing process for many students. Whether you are doing a doctorate, master’s or even undergraduate dissertation, it’s essential to know how to organize your dissertation structure to maximize its impact on readers.
How to develop a dissertation proposal structure?
The dissertation is a formal, written document that outlines the research you intend to conduct and the findings you hope to achieve. In many ways, it is also an opportunity for you to explain why this is necessary research.
This document should be written in the third person, not in the first person, as we often write our papers or articles. This is because we are not writing about our ideas and theories—we are proposing them so others can review them and improve upon what we have come up with ourselves!
Dissertation Proposal Structure Components
A dissertation proposal structure must include an introduction, literature review, methodology, results and discussion. The conclusion section is optional. The following sections will explain each of these components in detail.
Structure of a Dissertation
You will want to begin with your introduction and then move on to the literature review, methodology and results. Then, you can discuss what you found and end with a conclusion.
Suppose you are writing a dissertation based on research or experimentation, such as an experiment in social psychology or behaviourism. In that case, you must also include information about the design of your study. This includes sample size, time and place of testing/interviewing/observation etc.
Dissertations vary by subject, university, and course.
The format of your dissertation is bound to change depending upon your subject, university and course requirements. For example, some universities require you to write your thesis as an essay. You will have to present a strong argument supported by evidence and examples. In this instance, you must use a suitable structure for your work. The most common structure used in dissertations/thesis is the ‘argumentative essay’ or ‘cause-effect essay’, allowing writers to express their thoughts using logical arguments supported by evidence from different sources (books, articles etc.).
The results and discussion are often interwoven.
Except for some qualitative social science, results and discussion are usually separated. In some cases, however, the results and discussion will be woven together rather than separated. For example, in certain kinds of qualitative social science, the results and discussion will be woven together rather than separated. The ultimate aim of such studies is to describe a phenomenon or experience; therefore, your research questions must be always linked to your findings.
As with any document structure, you should consider how far apart different sections should be placed from each other on the page. In general:
- Do not put two sections immediately next to each other if they are quite disparate in content (e.g., Results followed by Discussion).
- Consider breaking up long sections into subsections if they become too long for reader comfort (e.g., Results).
Detailed results are the ultimate aim of the project.
Results are the project’s ultimate aim and should be presented in detail. This means that they should not be just a summary of what you found but an accurate description of all your results, with tables and figures included wherever necessary. Presenting results will make it easier for readers to follow your findings and ensure that you do not miss anything or include any statistical errors.
Your findings should be presented according to your goals.
Whatever your specific goals are, you should present your findings to support those goals. This can be done by using different types of visual representations:
- A report may use tables and graphs to present results. This is often the case with scientific papers and dissertations.
- An essay might have a strong narrative structure, which means it will not include many tables or graphs.
- A table or graph alone does not tell an exciting story; it’s only when they are placed within a larger context (such as an essay) that they can effectively communicate meaningfully to readers who want to understand the data presented.
Conclusion
The critical structure of the dissertation is the literature review. It is also one of the most time-consuming parts to complete, and best practice suggests that it should be written last. Your aim here should be to overview what has been done before, where knowledge gaps exist, and why your project will fill those gaps. The aim is not just about covering the topic but also about setting a rationale for why your research is valuable.
Author’s Bio
Carmen Troy is a research-based content writer. He has worked in various healthcare, technology, Education, and finance industries. He is currently working as a writer in Penophile, famous for academic content editing and improvement services. When Carmen is not writing or researching, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also loves traveling and learning about new cultures.
