A dissertation is an extended piece of writing of between ten and twenty thousand words on a topic set by a department or one chosen by the student him or herself. It is usually divided into chapters and may contain headings and sub-headings, and these are sometimes (though not always) numbered as in a report.

Dissertations answer a particular research question and can either report on an empirical study or on a literature-based study.

Although the purpose of a dissertation is to answer the question, the process is more important than the actual findings. Even if you produce no usable data whatsoever, you can still get a first in your dissertation - as long as you can show that you have learned about the research process and are able to analyse it and understand why you were unable to answer the question as successfully as you may have wished.

Research

In order to prepare the literature review and to conduct further research into your chosen topic, you will need to search for relevant information. You may also need to conduct experiments or studies involving questionnaires and/or interviews. Time and care are needed for this process.

Your supervisor is the person who will advise on how to conduct studies - the form of the study, its scope, how to choose representative samples of respondents, any ethical issues, how to write questions to yield the kind of information required, the format of the questionnaire and so on.

Parts of a dissertation

These should always be agreed with your supervisor as they can vary. This is a typical structure but not an exclusive one.

The title

Getting this right is more crucial than you may think. If you decide on a title which is too vague, you run the risk of the dissertation lacking focus or cohesion and not making any specific points worthy of note.

Construct a title which forces you to concentrate on something in particular, ask a specific question or make a specific comparison.

You could have a two-part title where the first part, the main title, is short and perhaps rather general in nature but the second part very focused, picking up a particular aspect of the main title.

Alternatively, make the main title enigmatic, cryptic or apparently contradictory, followed by a sub-title which begins to explain what it is all about. This will make the reader curious to read more.

Abstract

This is a short summary, usually about 300 words in length, of the contents of the dissertation and perhaps its conclusions. Abstracts are filed in a database so that those searching for information of interest to them can see quickly whether or not your work will be of any use to them.

Despite the fact that it is placed at the beginning of the work, it is much easier - and will save you a great deal of trouble - if it is written last of all; that way, you can ensure that the contents of the abstract exactly match the contents of the dissertation.

Introduction

The should include (this list is not exclusive):

Aims and objectives of the research.
Context of the research.
Explanation of any key terms used.
Acknowledgement of any limitations or exclusions (This research will not cover...) if necessary.
Description of the structure/shape of the dissertation.

Literature review

The literature review places your dissertation within the body of existing research and literature and justifies your choice of question. See the page on Literature Reviews for more detail.

Methodology

This is an explanation of how you are going to answer the research question. You need to explain what methods you will be using to collect and analyse your data and justify any decisions you have made with reference to more literature as appropriate.

Findings and discussion

If you have undertaken an empirical study generating primary data then these will probably be written as two separate sections - perhaps with a 'results' section first. If you have undertaken literature based research using secondary data then they tend to be written together (this is not a strict rule and you should always discuss it with your supervisor).

The findings explain your data and the results of your analysis to the reader. They should be clear and logical.

The discussion is the central part of your dissertation. It should include no new information or data but look at the meaning of your findings. You should also discuss any problems and your explanation of why they occured and how they could be solved or avoided in any future research.

Conclusion (and sometimes recommendations)

How well did your research answer the question? Summarise what you can now say about the title of your dissertation. Suggest where the research could go from here.

References/bibliography

These are not the same.

A reference list is a list of all the works from which you have quoted or which you have specifically referred to in the dissertation.
A bibliography is a list of all works you have read or part-read during the preparation of the dissertation, including those to which you have not made any reference at all, but which have helped you formulate your ideas or given you further information.

Sometimes, departments allow you to combine the two - check this with your supervisor.

If you are worried about the quality of your referencing, check out our Referencing pages.

Appendices

These include anything that the marker may wish to see but which is not included in the main text. This often includes blank questionnaires, covering letters, letters of consent, any original statistical analysis (tables).

You will rarely be asked to include all of your raw data such as completed questionnaires or full transcripts of interviews. Your supervisor will advise you.